Economy, Law, and Government of Atlaan
Is an Imperial Corporatist City State with a mixed economy and practices the social system of cosmopolitanism
Government
Unofficially, Atlaan is ruled by the cartels and corporations. Officially, this is their structure.
President: Is formally elected by the citizens of Paradis. Must be a citizen, 18 or older to vote. Even though there is a very low barrier to vote in Atlaan, most of it is gerrymandered or there are various other ways to obscure the vote, also sometimes they just don't count it, lol. The Mayor of Atlaan is voted for the same way. In Atlaan, you must be a citizen of the city, and 18 or over to vote.
Legislation: Legislature is elected by the public. See above for requirements. Paradis and Atlaan passed laws so they could become part of the Union, begrudgingly leaving the dark ages in matters of social equality, but other than that it's not really that great outside of larger towns in terms of social protections and gender equality.
Judiciary: Is appointed by the executive. Being a judge is a lifetime appointment with little to no oversight, so whenever a law gets passed that the corporation or cartels don't like, judges are easily bought off, killed, or threatened.
Even though Atlaan is a democracy on paper, realistically it is an imperial corporatist state because corporations and cartels run it like a monarchy. At best its an oligarchy or even a fucking kakistochracy.
Cosmopolitanism did not occur purposefully on Atlaan, it just happened because of the many immigrants that live there. The city government realized they helped boost their economy with cheap slave labor. They also realized allowing more people meant more business, and therefore more profits. The city of Atlaan is basically a very complicated business model.
Economy
Atlaan is a mixed economy with a focus on laissez-faire policies concerning tourism and trade. If not for their religious views on protecting the environment, Atlaan would lean all the way in for a purely laissez faire capitalist system with little to no oversight. Atlaan doesn't put a lot of taxes on imports, but plenty on exports to make up for the difference, and to force ships passing through to pay more taxes. There is universal healthcare, but a shoddy education system. There is little regulation on corporations, retail, etc. Most of the regulations pertain to land/home ownership, since most of Atlaan is made up of water, land is much more precious.
Because of the emphasis on tourism and trade as their biggest sources of income, there is no regulation on it. No politician would dare regulate it, as all classes and races of Atlaan society are employed in tourism. The lax laws on travel and tourism is what directly influences the higher rate of prostitution in Atlaan, furthering the issue. People complain about the crime rate and sex trafficking but aren't willing to give up their income or pay more taxes to fight it. Just like real life, LOL.
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Law
Illegal or Banned
Life Imprisonment
Treason
Illegal abortion if the mother's life is not in danger
Planned murders, murders of children or the weak
Fines
Obscenity (rarely enforced)
Corporate fraud(rarely enforced, lol)
Prostitution (sporadically enforced)
Death Penalty
There is no death penalty :)
Kind of bites them in the ass because people will do as much crazy shit knowing they won't get killed, or they can always break out of prison
Jail time
Slavery
Murder, usually manslaughter or murders of passion
Sale of illegal drugs(rarely enforced)
Consumption of illegal drugs.(heavily enforced)
Assisted Suicide
Sex trafficking
Legal and Regulated
Gun control
Sale of Alcohol, tobacco, and marijuana
Gambling
Abortion, in the case of the mother's life is in danger
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Politics
It's not all doom and gloom in the beautiful, yet corrupted city of Atlaan. Many people fight for the rights of the poor, refugees, immigrants, and women. And they will not be deterred by gang violence. Some people truly believe in what they fight for and are the best of society. Thanks to their efforts in Atlaan is why abortion is legal(albiet only if the mother's life is in danger), why there is maternal leave, and why corporations face fines for their fraud. Before activism took root in Atlaan, there wasn't even a punishment. Ridiculous.
The main groups of politics in Atlaan are Civil Rights Activists, Corporate Lobbyists, Criminal Prosecutors, and Family Rights Advocates.
Civil rights activists focus on… well expanding civil rights, lol. Their biggest enemy are corporate lobbyists, and they sometimes get along with family rights advocates except in more liberal issues.
Corporate lobbyists have the attention of criminal prosecutors because they fund their campaigns, and therefore they listen to them and the cartels.
Criminal Prosecutors have to walk a fine line of doing their job, or accidently arresting a drug lord and getting whacked while shopping for groceries.
Family Rights Advocates are the pushback against the sudden liberalism that sprung up in Atlaan over the years due to the influx of immigrants. Their main goals are to limit immigration, make Ahanaism a state endorsed religion, and end any kind of legalized abortion in Atlaan. Their aim is to also try and stop the decriminilization of prostitution. Traffickers are still arrested by the street walkers themselves rarely are.
Crime
Atlaan has a terrible crime problem. And surprisingly it's not its fault. A town isn't cursed, the government just sucks ass. Major factors that contribute to higher crime rate in Atlaan are
Location: The city of Atlaan is on the planet of Paradis, which is a gateway for many ships to pass through the universal gate. Lots of people claiming they are there for legal business really aren't.
Lack of social integration and racism: There is a lot of social segregation, even though it's not legal. Many immigrants and refugees are forced to do illegal things for basic necessities.
Lack of government enforcement: The Free City of Atlaan gives zero shits about what happens outside of money and corporate gains. Most income is from travel, the military and tourism. Outside of that Atlaan doesn't care. The only reason prostitution is illegal is because the Galactic Union requires it be illegal for Paradis to enter the Union. Prostitution is common in Atlaan because of sex trafficking and the high amount of tourists, but its rarely enforced and mostly decriminilized.
Overwhelmed police department: Atlaan is a HUGE city with a large population including tons of immigrants and refugees. The police department is understaffed, and no one wants a job that doesn't pay a lot while also getting shot at.
Corruption: Since the name of the game is money in Atlaan, if it's outside the scope of that, a politician doesn't really care. Most of the government's laws are focused around the economy, tourism, and whatever bare minimum they need to stay in the Union
Drug Cartels: Many cartels make their home in Atlaan since it's a hub for travel and tourism. Their main sources of income are selling drugs, sex trafficking, prostitution and extortion
Huge Wealth Disparity: Paradis took in a ton of refugees and immigrants to spite the Empire because it has tried many times to colonize them. It also created an entire class of cheap, sometimes slave labor! A win win for the late stage capitalistic town of Atlaan. A loss for the people. Many of them live in slums and there is a shrinking middle class, a growing lower class, and an upper class that controls it all. Atlaan used to be a town to make your dreams come true, but now it's near impossible to afford basic necessities. The cartels cash in on this by hiring young unemployed youths for their lower ranks, further increasing the crime rate.
Punishment doesn't fit the crime: In respone to look like they are doing something about crime, legislators in Atlaan simply crack down on prostitution and occaisionaly(but not really) drug trafficking. It makes them look like they are doing something when the largest factors for crime are simply wealth inequality, and government corruption. There will always be drugs and prostitution, so fighting these makes the fight long lasting and distracts the people
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Cartels
Federals
The Federals is the cartel that Alto, Nero, and friends™ all work for. They are required to pay monthly dues to The General, their leader. Higher rank, means more payment. Higher rank also means more benefits. So to keep their luxurious lifestyle they have to keep breaking the law to pay The General. He never appears in the story, but he is mentioned a few times.
Alto is a Lieutenant, in the grand scheme of a Cartel hierarchy. He has many people that work for him but prefers to do a lot of things himself because people are stupid and mess things up, he kind of likes the violence, and he isn't the sort of person who likes to sit at home often. Nero, as Alto's husband, technically works for the Federals but more like a support role.
Nero was taught by Alto how to run certain aspects of the business in case anything happened to him, but he's not good at it. Azara is much better in this aspect and she has been in the Federals much longer. Azara tends to do behind the scenes stuff, while Alto does the dirty work, and Nero sometimes helps. Alto taught Nero how to use a gun, fight, use blackmail, and how to use sex as coercion. The last one was used often for Alto to kill his enemies.
The Federals make most of their money from the sale of drugs and money laundering.
They are not good people. Obviously.
Enemy
Enemy is the biggest cartel in the city of Atlaan. They hold most of the territory in town, and the only other gang who is close to meeting their territory is The Aecor. Enemy makes most of their money off of sex trafficking, money laundering, and the sale of drugs. To make sure their territory is kept in the city, Enemy has plenty of people in the government that work for them, and in return they get many benefits.
Duchess and Usher work for Enemy simply for the money and benefits.
To say they are not good people is an understatement.
The Aecor
A cartel made up of the Kina, children of the land and the sea, human and fish hybrids, from looking fully human to more fish than human. They're led by a Goldfish... Mr.Carassius Auratus and his personal bodyguard and son, a shark-man, Araka Auratus. Don't try and figure out how a talking goldfish and a shark-woman had sex. I assume it was a very difficult time, parents trying to conceive have it rough enough already.
They use Triangle Corporation as a front for their illegal and shady bussiness deals.
The Aecor make most of their money off money laundering, extortion, and the sale of drugs. They keep their place in Atlaan by giving immigrants jobs, and have inserted themselves into every facet of society by using the Triangle Corporation as a front for their illegal activities. It's pretty smart, but they're still evil….
Everyone is pretty aware of what Triangle Corp. is, but no one wants to lose all the profits the town makes, and even if you do tell the police, what will they even do about it, LOL?