Build Your Own Galactic Empire

DO and DON'T lists for pan-galactic supremacy

Build Your Own Galactic Empire
Copyright 2009 CE by Harry Heyoka


In the late 1980s, science fiction writer and editor Brian Aldiss called the galactic empire the most ridiculous idea ever proposed. Neither SF writers nor readers seem troubled much by the concept’s absurdity, but logical thinkers see what may be insuperable obstacles to its realization.

The most obvious obstacle is the immense scale of the concept. The Milky Way, a fairly typical galaxy in this part of space-time, is around 100,000 light-years across and contains hundreds of thousands of millions of individual stars. Around each one of them may orbit one or more planets inhabited by thousands of millions of people, plus innumerable moons, asteroids, and artificial habitats (potentially supporting millions of millions in any one system). If humans colonize our galaxy and propagate at anything near historical rates, someday its population could easily number a million million times more than 21st century Earth’s several thousand millions.

If we assume (sticking conservatively with Einsteinian physics) that no object or bit of information can ever exceed the speed of light, then a centrally located Emperor could not get news from (and much less suppress revolts in) remote sectors for tens of thousands of years. Decentralization and distributed intelligence might ease this critical administrative problem; but if power is so decentralized, can the galaxy really be an empire?

If we very liberally assume that faster (or even instantaneous) travel and communications are somehow developed, the Galactic Emperor still faces administrative difficulties many orders of magnitude beyond those of any other endeavor in human history. No human agency has yet managed to control all of even one planet. The complexity of governing even a sizable portion of a well-populated galaxy staggers the imagination.

Whether the impossibilities prove to be facts or mere failures of imagination, we persist in suspending disbelief to enjoy yarns spun from the Empire’s imaginary substance. So when ideas for the Spiral Realms series began occurring to me in the 1990s, I wondered just what it would actually take for such a vastly oversized polis to exist. As I developed background for the stories, I made notes of things that would have to happen (or must not happen) in order for that ultimate absurdity to have a chance to arise in the far future.

After much thought and research, I don’t claim to have final answers. What follows is my short “do” and “don’t” lists for galactic empire builders. Take my recommendations as seriously or lightly as you like, with or without salt or adult supervision. Users' results may vary, and unforeseen side effects may occur.

And remember: fiction writers are “pretend” experts, so please DO NOT TRY THIS AT HOME! Not in my galaxy, anyway. Please!


DO NOT:

Try to solve most of Earth’s problems before colonizing space.

Commit species suicide through war, fanaticism, or other stupidities.

Meet and challenge powerful aliens who are even nastier than humans.

Stagnate long at any one level of development.

Stop exploring, creating, and settling new environments.

Stop evolving, even in “stable” environments.


DO:

Get some eggs out of Earth’s lone basket by colonizing space as soon as practicable.

Keep progressing, both technically and socially, for many centuries at least.

Expand and adapt to new environments continually.

Find ways to travel and communicate much faster than light.

Maintain vigorous interstellar (and eventually galactic) trade.

Find practical ways to organize human activities on a galactic scale.


These recommendations are generalized and hardly comprehensive. Some may prove beyond our control or contrary to physical reality.
Though I could write at least a chapter in support of each of these premises, the author vouches for the possibility, likelihood, and morality of none of them. Readers are urged to think for themselves.
And if you think I’m wrong, I’d love to hear why.


Harry Heyoka
http://www.smashwords.com/profile/view/HarryHeyoka