Soon after the colonization of Unan Besar, large plantations undersold free yeomen who became subsistence farmers unable to afford improvements because of the high price of antitoxin. A single bad year would force them to sell to plantation owners. Falling into the grip of moneylenders could lead to slavery.
Some peasants, foreseeing the loss of land, sold it and moved to the Trees where they needed:
cash for antitoxin and tools;
not enough wealth to attract the great lords;
distance both from urban corruption and violence and from rural ignorance and poverty;
"...mutual helpfulness..." -"The Plague of Masters," XIII, p. 122.
These four needs are described as:
"'...necessities of survival as free men.'" (ibid.)
The ethos of mutual helpfulness in particular is an important defiance of the inhumane Biocontrol regime.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
The leaders of the people who eventually settled in Ranau were unusually able and far seeing! The only other alternative I can think of would have been for them to sell their land and move away from Unan Besar to another planet. And that was probably not practical even so early in Unan Besar's history.
Ad astra! Sean
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