[gurps] Water World and Society Construction

[Onno Meyer]

I think this debate is missing a few key points. Water World doesn't
exist in a vacuum, except for the most literal sense. 

* We do not know how common habitable worlds are. In a 'many worlds'
  setting, individual worlds may be considered the property of their
  discoverers. In a 'few worlds' setting, the homeworld governments
  would insist on keeping control, which might result in a complete
  adoption of their legal systems. 

* As habitable worlds go, water world is marginal. Even breathable 
  air and a human-compatible ecology cannot compensate for a total 
  lack of dry land. It might actually be easier to settle a vacuum 
  world. 

Water world can't be settled by 'individual homesteaders' who then 
form a social contract, government, and legal system. Colonization
must be either by individuals who organize themselves on homeworld
to build a floating island as a condominium, or by (corporate?) 
investors who can afford an entire floating island. Settlers have 
to agree on the rules FIRST, before they immigrate. That opens the
gates for legal constructs like a 'condominium of condominiums' 
for global (rather than local) infrastructure projects, or rules
to waive certain rights (like free trade in condominium shares).

Of course the second or third generation of water worlders never 
entered into the initial contracts, and they might want to rebel,
but by then the initial system has been running for some time. 
But the system might have to adapt itself to the fact that people
are born into this system which was not of their choice. One way 
would be to regulate what floating island owners can do - maybe 
even forcing them to become non-profit organizations ...

Another factor is that water world will never be powerful in the 
military or industrial sense. That means they can't afford to go
against the will of the homeworld on major issues like patent/IP
law. Whatever they decide on must be compatible with homeworld 
legal practices. 

Onno Meyer