About Mars

"The Big Rain," VI.

Although "Un-Man" is set mostly on Earth, one section is set on Mars. Although "The Big Rain" is set entirely on Venus, some information is imparted about Mars. Thus, the texts build up a picture of an inhabited Solar System.

On Mars:

although public officials must be professionally competent, education is open to all;
policy-making positions are elected;
elections prevent concentration of power;
citizens are free to choose where and with whom to live;
they have freedom of thought and occupation;
men are hired, not assigned, for planetary engineering projects;
government regulates society but not individuals;
some goods are still rationed;
actions that would endanger a city have to be forbidden.