Chapter 5 Chapter 5 After the Disaster

It is agreed that no society is immune to the profound impact of the "Great Turmoil" on human civilization in all aspects.In fact, the collapse of the global financial system and markets alone would not have been enough to plunge the world into such catastrophe; if so many lives had not been lost, the initial crisis would have been nothing more than a comic misstep.Obviously, the crisis has its deep internal reasons. The most exasperating thing is that the world's political leaders first denied that there was a problem with the economy, and then took some drastic measures respectively.These measures are inconsistent and confusing.In the end, they turned their hands away in desperation and watched the global crisis worsen and expand step by step.

Under the pressure of voters, the governments of various countries continued to increase the intensity of negotiations, which made the efforts of international coordination in trouble and finally failed. In hindsight, there is at least one obvious problem with the process of the so-called "internationalization of the world" taking place in the 21st century.Internationalization, and even interstellarization (if you consider space colonies), has indeed been achieved in most important areas such as communications, trade, transportation (including interplanetary traffic), cash management, peacekeeping, information exchange, and environmental protection, but most of the The treaties of most international institutions have an additional clause that allows the contracting parties to withdraw from the treaty under certain circumstances with a short notice, so that each country has the right to unilaterally suspend the international organization's actions when it is not satisfied. international commitment.

Before the emergence of Rama in 2130, the world economy experienced a good time of prosperity and stability.After people recovered from the disaster that the comet hit the earth in 2077 and destroyed the city of Padua in Italy, the economy developed steadily and in balance for half a century.With the exception of a few brief, mild recessions, living standards have improved in most countries during this period.Although local wars in underdeveloped countries also occurred from time to time, they failed to lead to major chaos after the intervention of global peacekeeping forces.At that time, there were no serious crises to test the new League of Nations.

With Rama's sudden arrival, dizzying changes take place. First of all, the "Excalibur" observatory and other projects related to Rama exhausted the emergency funds of various countries; then, from 2132 onwards, there were endless calls for tax cuts and repayment of money to the people, and the resulting consequences, It has greatly weakened the necessary service functions of these international organizations; before the end of 2133, most of the newly established international organizations are already in the predicament of insufficient personnel, insufficient funds, and low efficiency.

The crisis came at a time when people were deeply skeptical about the efficacy of these international network institutions.At the onset of the financial turmoil, one country after another hastily withheld contributions to global funds and international agencies.In fact, if the money is used properly, it can quickly stop the expansion of the crisis.Unfortunately, short-sighted political leaders ruined it all. Hundreds of history books depict the horrors of the great upheaval. In the first two years, unemployment and bankruptcy spread like a flood across the country, with businesses and individuals declaring bankruptcy.Financial difficulties come second, and the biggest problem is the ever-increasing population of tens of thousands of homeless and hungry people.

In the winter of 2136-2137, the parks of all the big cities were full of tents and poor shacks made of cardboard boxes.The local government tried its best to help these refugees who had lost their jobs and were starving, which somewhat eased the depressing situation.However, if the economy does not recover for a day, these shacks full of sewage will not disappear.They have actually become irremovable warts in urban life, like cancer cells. As time passed, people in 10 communities began to lose patience.In the starving camps in the center of the city, people's grievances are boiling like powder kegs, ready to explode at any moment and destroy everything.

In the cold winter at the turn of 2137 and 2138, the sword of Damocus hung above people's heads; in the wilderness of human civilization, the howling of wild beasts came from time to time. In early 2138, a series of events took place in Italy, and a young man named Michael Ballatrice became news.He is a Catholic Franciscan monk from Siena, a city in central Italy.This is an outstanding figure who combines genius mind, religious spirituality and political skills.He quickly became a household name in this crisis-ridden society, and he was dubbed "Michael of Siena." Michael has the charisma of a leader, is proficient in many languages, has a keen intuition and a resolute character.He came from a remote place, suddenly appeared on the world stage, and comforted those who seemed to have been abandoned by this world with passionate religious emotion.His followers grew rapidly, and his influence spread beyond national borders to countries.He unwaveringly called for people to unite and solve the problems that plagued mankind together.Politicians from all over the world panicked.

In June 2138, Michael was brutally murdered. The flame of hope that had gradually gathered in the hearts of the people over the past few months was extinguished, and the world that had just been inspired by the power of enlightenment collapsed again. During the four years from 2138 to 2142, the days were even more difficult. There was no end to the endless pain, famine, disasters and crimes could be seen everywhere, and local wars and rebellions came and went one after another.The basic institutions of modern civilized society seem hopelessly and on the verge of destruction.With the exception of a privileged few, everyone lives a life in flux over which they have no control.

This world is over.Even the efforts of the most compassionate people are of no avail, because all initiatives have only local effects, while the problem is global. Chaos spilled over to the space colonies, bringing human feats of space exploration to a screeching halt.When economic catastrophe raged on the home planet, the space colonies were instantly forgotten outcasts; the supply of money, supplies, and personnel that had ensured their survival to the colonies scattered across the solar system was stopped. Therefore, before 2140, half of the colonists returned to Earth, and the colonies became dead cities in space, unable to stay any longer.

However, the earth like a stepmother is not a paradise for these immigrants. They face double difficulties: to adapt to the heavy gravity of the earth, and to endure poverty and hardship. The two years 2141 and 2142 are known as the "Machina Unrest" because of the catastrophic shortage of spare parts in the artificial ecosystems in space and the space robot fleets that maintain the space colonies, and the return of immigrants hastened. Around 2143, there were only a few colonies on the moon and Mars struggling to support them.Communications between Earth and the remote colonies became sporadic and intermittent, as the funds to maintain radio contact ran out.

The "Star League" closed its doors two years ago because there were no more "all-human" space issues to discuss. The "Government Association" stopped meeting as early as 5 years ago. The two remaining colonies are still alive, struggling desperately, trying to escape the fate of destruction. In 2144, the last manned space launch took place.It was a rescue operation, captained by a Mexican woman named Binetta Cassia.Cassia and her three crew members drove a "Jerry-class" spacecraft assembled from patchwork of old parts, and managed to get close to the "James Martin" cruise that had been drifting in orbit for a long time due to malfunctions. Ship (this was the last interstellar transport and supply ship still in service at the time), this ship was filled with 100 women and children returning to Earth from Mars.After unloading the cruiser with life-saving supplies, they also rescued 24 people. In the eyes of aerospace historians, the rescue operation was a watershed moment, because less than six months later, the cruiser-humanity's last space station-was also abandoned.Since then, no manned rocket has been launched into orbit until forty years later. By 2145, the struggling world finally understood the importance of the international organizations that were mercilessly denigrated and spurned when the Great Upheaval began. Things were not too bad in the first decade or two of this century, when some of the most talented people were far from the center of political storms, and now they are beginning to realize that the restoration of civilized life can only be achieved by collective intelligence. At any rate, things have turned a little bit, and a little progress has been made; optimism finally emerges.Slowly, slowly, the seeds of human civilization have sprouted small leaf buds again. After another two years, the economy began to fully recover.But at this time, that is, in 2147, the global GDP has dropped to 7% of what it was six years ago; the average unemployment rate in developed countries is as high as 35%; 90% of the total population. According to statistics, in the terrible year 2142 alone, 100 million people starved to death due to the famine caused by the prolonged lack of rain in the tropics.By 2150, the astronomical death rate and extremely low birth rate have reduced the world's population by one billion.Yes, understandably, who would want a child to be born into such a hopeless world! The "Great Turmoil" left scars on the hearts of an entire generation.Years passed, and the children born at that time became teenagers, but the scars in the hearts of the parents did not disappear.The children discovered that the parents carefully concealed their inner fears. In the 1960s and 1970s, parents were very strict with their teenagers, because the generation of parents always remembered the terrible trauma caused by the upheaval.To them, life is not laughter and games in the park.Only self-discipline, firmness, and dedication to ideals can lead to happiness. In contrast to the laissez-faire climate of 50 years ago, society has undergone profound and dramatic changes. During the long period of 50 years, many old organizations, such as the United Nations, the Holy See, the Commonwealth of Nations, etc., have resumed their activities.Of course, the reason for the revival of these organizations is that they took decisive actions after the "big turmoil" to lead people to rebuild their homes. In the late 1970s, society finally began to stabilize, so people turned their interest to space again, and the newly formed International Space Agency launched new detection and communication satellites.The initial activities were cautious, the space agency's budget was small, and only developed countries actively participated in these activities.The Academy of Astronautics began enrolling students, and four years later, the first students graduated. For most of the 20 years leading up to the arrival of Rama 2 in 2196, conditions around the globe slowly but steadily improved.According to experts, in 2196, human beings have fully recovered to the level of 70 years ago in various fields, which is the situation when "Rama 1" came.Undoubtedly, spaceflight experience is much less than it was then, but in many key technical fields, such as medicine and intelligence management, compared with 2130, people have made great progress. Clearly, the two generations that met Rama were very different.After these long and painful years of great upheaval, people—especially the elderly and those in power—understand the meaning of the word "horror."At the time of the Second Encounter with Rama, this cursed word will continue to dominate the thoughts and actions of people, especially in determining what should be prioritized in the tasks of human action.