This page is divided up into a number of sections covering different aspects of the nation of Minerva. These are listed below :
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The nation of Minerva was formed in 1898 when Michelle Montpelier, the Overman known as The Amazon, led L'Armee pour Liberation de la Femme (The Women's Liberation Army) and the Overman group known as Les Liberatrices (The Liberators) in the taking of the Pyreneean areas of both France and Spain while they were distracted by foreign wars (France by WWI in Russia, Spain by her war with the USA). The leaders of both nations were astounded by this sudden takeover, and even more astounded when it failed to fall under the assault of their armies. France and Spain were merely reduced to garrisoning the borders, sending in agents to (unsuccessfully) destabilise the new nation and making public statements that the so-called nation of Minerva would soon collapse because of the incapability of women in such matters.
However, this never happened and Minerva slowly built a solid industrial base using technologies developed by The Amazon herself. After some initial resistance by the local people it soon became obvious that The Amazon was ruling them better than either the French or Spanish ever did and as this happened the population of the country grew to be solidly behind the Amazons rule.
In 1908, years after its creation, the other nations of the world finally began to recognise Minerva, as it was obvious by now that it wasn't just going to go away. When this happened the Amazon issued an open invitation for all who were suffering hatred or discrimination to come to Minerva - she would never turn away people in need. Ever since then Minerva has accepted millions of refugees from around the world, integrating them all into its society which now numbers slightly more than 200 million people. All during this time, and in the following decades, the Amazon has restructured Minervan society in an attempt to create a truly stable and non-discriminatory nation, a process which by 1990 has in the main succeeded.
The overall look of Minerva is based on the cities pictured in the Appleseed manga by Masamune Shirow.
Minerva is ruled by the Amazon as a truly benevolent dictatorship, a position she has held since the creation of the country, uder a philosophy which has become known as Directionism (earning its followers the derogatory nickname of 'dinnies'). However, she also prefers to spend a lot of time in the laboratory, so she has had to delegate power to others. To do this she has created five ministerial posts - the Chancellorship (covering foreign affairs and international relations), and the ministers of Industry, Science and the Environment, the Interior (covering social affairs, defence and law and order) and Development (covering coping with increases in population, and things like expansion into space). However, the ministers do not have absolute power - major decisions must be forwarded to The Amazon for her approval.
There is also an Advisory Council who help the ministers and The Amazon in the making of decisions. Eight of the nine Council members are selected at random from a pool of qualified candidates, while the ninth member is the Gaea artificial intelligence. The Council also recommends citizens for the posts of Ministers, subject to the approval of the Amazon. To supplement the Advisory Council and aid in ministerial decisions referenda, mediated by the Gaea, are carried out to judge the opinion of the populace on major issues (although they have no actual power).
There are (unsurprisingly) no political parties in Minerva, but there are many pressure groups which lobby the people in order to gain their (and so hopefully the Amazons) support for various causes.
The state airline, Air Minervien, is the most technologically advanced commercial airline in the world, using hypersonic grav-thrust carriers.
Both French and Spanish are the native languages of Minerva, spoken by every citizen of the country, although given the large percentage of immigrants in the population many other languages are also common. However almost since Minerva was created a committee of academics under the Minister of the Interior have been slowly developing a language to be based on Esperanto and a de-gendered merging of French and Spanish, to be called Minervan. However this process is still decades away from completion and is now seen as much as a matter of principle as anything else.
In addition to this, the standard formal form of address, even for children, is Citizen. First names tend to be used only with close friends and family. This procedure was introduced almost immediately after the formation of Minerva.
Minerva is one of the richest nations on Earth. This has arisen for several reasons : the Amazons sound long-term economic planning, the recouping of investments made to help the rebuilding of western Europe after WWIII, Minerva's provding of a large percentage of the commercial space market and Minerva's holding of the patents on many technologies essential to modern life, from fusion power to grav-thrust technology. There are also occasional rumours of large quantities of gold and other precious metals, mined from the asteroids Roche 1 and 2, which back up Minerva's economy.
There is only one unit of currency in Minerva, the Credit. This is roughly equivalent to one British Penny or ten French Centimes. Cash began to be eliminated in Minerva during the 1930's, in favour of computerised credit transactions using personal smart cards, and since the early 1970's Minerva has been an entirely cash-less society.
No-one in Minerva has to work for a living. The country is rich enough that it can keep as many people as necessary without their having to work. However, all workers are respected for what they do, especially those who work in what are seen as the more important professions - Teachers, Scientists, Monitors, Managers and Healers (a uniquely Minervan profession combining both of general physical and mental health) are the main ones of these. All Minervan citizens, including children, are provided with a basic income sufficient to live fairly well on. Working, including caring for children and the home provides a larger income, but no visible taxation as it is all included in hat the worker receives. Because no-one has to work many citizens spend their time doing things which they want to do, such as various forms of art, or simply learning (either as a specific course or simply browsing through Minerva's vast libraries, all of which are available free to all citizens via Gaea and the Net).
Along with a basic income, the Minervan government also provides all citizens with a certain minimum level of housing, usually in an arcology (given Minerva's high population), guarantied clean and healthy and furnished as the occupants wish. In addition to this all Minervan places of work and education are provided with child-care facilities.
All Minervan children are educated from the time they can talk. All education is entirely free and from day one indoctrinates into children the fact that NO-ONE has the right to abuse them in any way, whether sexually or through violence, and that if it should happen then it is NOT their fault. They are also taught that they have no right to force themselves on others, whether sexually or otherwise. Part of this indoctrination includes an entirely confidential number any person can call at any time if they have been the victim of abuse.
Education is mandatory until a person is declared to be an adult and takes place in defined schools. All subjects are covered and included are lessons on home-keeping (for both sexes) and full sex education (including homosexuality and the emotional as well as the physical aspects). The age of adulthood varies from person to person and is considered to be when a person can pass a series of tests, taken over a week beginning on the Amazons birthday in April. These tests prove the potential adult has reached the required levels of knowledge and of psychological maturity. Tests for this test are taken yearly from the age of five onwards, and great Minerva-wide celebrations accompany those who qualify as adults. The age of sexual consent is also defined as the age at which a person becomes an adult. Most citizens pass the adulthood test between the ages of sixteen and eighteen, but a very few people never manage to qualify as adults, remaining wards of the state throughout their lives. Because of this procedure the basic level of education in Minerva is very high and includes a 100% literacy rate among adult citizens.
Any citizen can continue to be educated for as long as they wish after they become an adult, and if they leave education at any point then they can go back into it whenever they wish. Education once an adult can take place from the citizens home via the Net, or in University facilities for those subjects which require equipment and laboratory space. The state also provides funding for any student who wishes to study abroad.
All teachers are psychologically screened and intensively trained in child psychology and educational techniques as well as their subject of choice before they are allowed in contact with children. They take regular tests to confirm their continuing mental suitability for their job.
The Minervan police are known as Monitors. Because Minerva has no standing army they are also trained to serve as such in case of war. All potential police are psychologically screened for suitability, and are also screened at intervals (usually once a year) while serving. Training includes intensive courses in child care, psychology and sociology. Because of these facts the Minervan police has no corruption within it and is very much trusted by the general public. Also there are no low-life or no-go areas within Minerva. Monitors also provide information, help and guidance for people who need it. They are often assisted by Monitor Cub patrols made up of school-children who aid in the more mundane aspects of their duties. Another aspect of the monitors is their plain-clothes branch. This is made up of volunteers who in their spare time keep tabs on general social trends and conditions for the government (these people are screened as rigourously as uniformed officers before acceptance). The populace in general is aware of, and approves of, this plain-clothes activity.
All areas in Minerva are equipped with surveillance devices, but only those in public places are monitored (via Gaea) on a routine basis. The surveillance equipment in private areas are in general only used if there is some suspicion of illegal activity taking place, or if a person accused of some crime is being monitored for some reason.
The aspect of Minervan justice which causes the most concern amongst foreigners is the mandatory use of truth serum on anyone suspected of a crime. This is a drug, with no side effect, which, although it must be individually adjusted to a subjects metabolism (a fairly quick process), when administered, has no effect on the subject but to compel them to answer any question put them truthfully. It is generally considered to be a far less traumatic experience than being intensively questioned about a crime. The introduction of this drug in the late 1940's made the profession of lawyer a thing of the past in Minerva (and after several cases where the drug was abused a tracer was introduced which remains in the body for months after use, allowing abuses to be detected and dealt with). The only remaining trace of the lawyer in Minerva is the use of public prosecutors and defenders in trials, and who exist to perform duties such as locating witnesses, questioning the accused and any witnessess under truth serum and presenting evidence to the court. Because of the general use of a high level of psychology used in Minerva crime is a very rare thing and is seen not as something requiring punishment but as an illness needing treatment, the only question really being whether a person should be free to mix with others while being treated. Violent offenders are always confined during treatment.
The only continuing problem which requires Minerva keeping prisoners locked up for long periods is the fact that a very small percentage of crimes are committed by people who are in fact perfectly sane, but who seem to see crime as a challenge to their abilities...
All Minervan citizens are provided with comprehensive free medical care, both physical and mental, from the day they are born. Minerva is the only nation on Earth to use Greymalkin's psychological techniques to improve a whole society. All children are genetically screened in the womb, and gene therapy used to cure any child suffering from some inheritable disease. In order to aid in the determination and elimination of genetic disease all citizens genetic codes are recorded.
The society of Minerva is unlike any other in the world, in that, rather than developing as it will it has been consciously moulded in certain ways so as to eliminate discrimination and social injustice, and because of this the state is present in many areas of life which, in other nations, are normally considered private. Discussion with a Healer is mandatory before a couple marries, and whenever they decide to have a child. As part of Minerva's policy of every child being a wanted child (and also to help in keeping Minerva's population down), all citizens are obliged to use a medical contraceptive implant from puberty until they wish to have children. If they are judged capable to handling the responsibility a child entails then the implant is neutralised until after the child is born.
Because of the surveillance of public areas in Minerva and the generally very high level of mental health in the country people live very much without fear and tend to be honest and open in their responses to others - it is entirely possible to leave doors unlocked without worry. There also tends to be a fairly high level of community spirit.
All Minervan homes have free access to the Net and Gaea, which includes some of the best libraries on Earth. This also includes free communications to anywhere in the world.
Homosexuality is not illegal in Minerva, and neither are most of what would, elsewhere in the world, be classed as sexual deviations, as long as they are performed in private between consenting adults. However, sexual deviation is, in any case, fairly rare due to the general high level of mental health.
Although there are few social problems in Minerva, they do exist. The most prevalent is apathy, especially among the immigrant community - as no-one has to work some people succumb to the urge to do nothing, and then proceed to vegetate. There are even occasional suicides from sheer boredom (although this is rare due to the general high level of mental health). Another problem are the small percentage of perfectly sane people who become criminals, often apparently for the sheer challenge of it. Attempts are being made to find some way to reduce these problems, but these are, as yet, in their early stages.
Minerva will take any immigrant, no questions asked. However, all refugees are required to pass the Minervan adulthood test and submit to treatment for any criminal tendencies. Because very few immigrants can immediately pass this test they are kept isolated in separate arcologies (which are identical in quality to those for Minervan citizens) until their education and health (both mental and physical) is brought up to a level where they can integrate with Minervan society. This is done at least partly for the immigrants own protection as cases of extreme culture shock have been recorded.
Because of this policy most immigrants just walk straight into Minerva with no problems. However, the very few immigrants or visitors who try to enter the country covertly are soon discovered due to the general surveillance of public places.
Minervans tend to be justly proud of their countries record in almost every avenue of achievement. They wonder how the people of other nations can live with their general atmosphere of distrust and social maladjustment. Because of the very high level of general education in Minerva they also tend to view most foreigners as at least slightly ignorant. Because of this they can seem slightly arrogant or condescending to non-Minervans.
Non-Minervans tend to see Minervan citizens as arrogant, almost mind-controlled, sheep who tag along on the apron-strings of their government. They also mistrust the Minervan government for its presence in nearly all areas of the citizens life.
The Minervan flag consists of a golden Caducecus (a winged staff wrapped in snakes considered a symbol of healing) in a circle of seven golden stars on a background whose top half is blue (representing the sky), and whose bottom half is green (for the Earth).