Chapter 173: Honor System

Wayne picked up a savory meat pie, took a small bite, and rich gravy immediately filled his mouth. He couldn’t help but praise, “Victoria, your baking skills are getting better and better.”

“Really? Thank you!” Victoria smiled happily as she sat down at the table, still wearing her apron, to enjoy her breakfast.

“Don’t praise her, all she knows how to make are these pies!” Zack said playfully. He had one in each hand, completely ignoring his son.

The little guy, Tommy, was desperate for a bite. He sat in his high chair, shouting for attention, but no one seemed to notice him.

The two men had never imagined they would end up marrying women from entirely different parts of the globe. However, after surviving the apocalypse together, they realized that people from all over the old world were fundamentally the same.

The group ate while discussing the current state of society.

“Overall, it’s not bad. But I always feel a little embarrassed and uneasy taking supplies for free…” Victoria admitted.

“Yeah, I feel the same way. It’s better to just buy things with the new currency; it feels more legitimate and reliable,” Wayne agreed.

As they ate, they remarked on how difficult it was for people to change their deeply ingrained habits, yet it seemed some shifts were already happening.

Money had become less important. Being rich was of little use in the Federation. Besides, there weren’t any truly wealthy people left.

Money could no longer buy social status; at most, it only bought a few extra daily necessities. The old culture of materialism had completely vanished. The Federation promoted wisdom and knowledge, and people now only respected those who possessed those traits.

It was unclear exactly when this shift in the social atmosphere happened. It seemed to have developed naturally.

Their conversation eventually drifted to the failed social experiments of Earth’s past.

Throughout human history, there had been similar attempts to build utopian societies. The most famous example was the “New Harmony Commune.”

Back in 1824, a visionary thinker named Robert Owen purchased over 12,000 hectares of land in Indiana and established the New Harmony Commune, launching a grand experiment in egalitarian living. The commune operated on the principles of shared property, equal rights, democratic management, and shared labor. Every member was expected to perform their duties and contribute to the best of their abilities.

From this perspective, the goals of the New Harmony Commune were remarkably similar to those of Jason and the current administration. Given that this concept originated in the 19th century, those early thinkers were truly great pioneers.

At first, the commune thrived. The experiment attracted widespread attention across the Western world, drawing in over a thousand participants. Even prominent intellectuals of the time traveled there to enthusiastically help build the new community.

However, the New Harmony Commune wasn’t isolated from the rest of the world. It was surrounded by a capitalist system, and the people who joined had diverse motives and beliefs. Conflicts soon erupted among the members, and the community became far less “harmonious” than its name suggested.

Members gradually grew lazy and refused to do physical labor. The commune’s production fell below its consumption. Over time, the local economy became completely unsustainable. After just four years, the New Harmony Commune declared bankruptcy, and the experiment failed.

“…However, our situation is a bit different,” Wayne said, letting out a small burp. “For one, our social productivity and ideological awareness are much higher today. Plus, our system is far more refined.”

“People in the 19th century didn’t have a unified vision, nor were they as educated. In contrast, the citizens of the Federation are united by a shared goal.”

“External threats, at the very least, serve as a strong driving force for our progress.”

After finishing breakfast, the group headed to their respective jobs to begin a new day.

——

Jason looked at the report on his desk with a strange expression.

Things hadn’t turned out as badly as they could have. There had been no riots or looting. Across all twenty-five residential sectors, there wasn’t a single reported incident of theft.

It made sense. After all, the government had already been completely transparent about the rules. If the New Harmony Commune of the 19th century could last four years, the Federation could certainly do better.

The citizens of the Federation were highly educated and much more socially aware than people from the 19th century. They understood their boundaries and knew what the government would tolerate.

Under normal circumstances, people naturally followed the rules set by authorities.

Even if a few troublemakers wanted to cause chaos, they had to ask themselves if they had the nerve. The few individuals who used to spread rumors and stir up trouble had been imprisoned before. After undergoing Calvin’s strict reformation programs, they had become completely obedient.

Jason scanned a list of names; these were the individuals he had previously flagged as potential risks.

Surprisingly, these people were behaving quite well. Even though they claimed their share of free supplies, their overall resource consumption was below average.

It seemed that people instinctively avoided taking more than the mathematical average of the available resources. They carefully managed their usage, terrified of taking someone else’s share.

Everyone felt that taking public resources unnecessarily was extremely rude, especially in such a transparent system.

Furthermore, an odd trend had emerged: despite the inflated prices, many people still preferred spending their new currency to buy goods from the government. They felt that if they paid for something, they could consume it with a clear conscience.

This phenomenon had caught the administration off guard, but upon closer inspection, it made perfect sense.

No one wanted to be seen as greedy or morally bankrupt, so they hesitated to take extra supplies. They were overly cautious when taking free items, afraid of public judgment, but they happily consumed things they had purchased with their own money.

This was because the mainstream mindset was still firmly rooted in the concept of “private property.”

“If this keeps up, everything will just turn into an equal, flat distribution,” Jason muttered to himself, scratching his head in frustration.

While the citizens’ moral conduct was commendable, a perfectly equal distribution wasn’t what Jason and the administration wanted.

Many people refused to even claim their fair share, opting instead to buy expensive goods from the government. As a result, the stockpiles of resources in each sector remained largely untouched, and people’s actual living conditions were worse than anticipated.

“Distribution based on need” did not mean “equal distribution,” because everyone’s needs were different.

It was like cooking a large pot of stew. Some people had big appetites and needed to eat more, while others were satisfied with a small bowl. Both situations were perfectly reasonable.

The core issue was ensuring that every citizen understood what their true “needs” were. Moreover, with a limited supply pool, everyone had to exercise a degree of control over their desires.

It was a complex sociological problem, and there was no simple mathematical formula to solve it. Even Jason found himself stumped.

In ancient Earth philosophy, there was a concept of “civic temperance and moral duty,” which perfectly described the current situation. Individuals had to restrain their personal desires to align with the greater good of society.

This dynamic was surprisingly similar to the philosophy of the Viridians.

If Jason and the other high-ranking Federation officials could fully study the Viridian political system, they would realize that the alien race had inadvertently achieved a perfect utopian society.

The Viridians had very few basic survival needs; they sustained themselves purely on sunlight, water, and air. Throughout their entire history, their civilization had never developed the concept of “currency.” The idea of an “economy” was completely foreign to them until very recently.

The social structure of the Viridian Civilization was maintained entirely through a strict “Honor Code.” They believed that anything aligning with this code should be aggressively pursued, and scientific advancement naturally fell under that category.

While the Viridian system seemed bizarre to humanity, this strange alien culture effortlessly achieved a level of social harmony that human society had always struggled to reach.

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