Entertainment in the Federation
Though entertainment is not ranked among the four primary needs for an individual – shelter, food, security and a sense of freedom – it certainly deserves consideration as the fi fth. Once those first four are satisfied, once a semblance of stability is established, entertainment is one of the fi rst priorities to arise; some way of keeping the mind occupied now that all its effort is not required for survival. In any case, there are few better indicators of the success of a society, or better yardsticks by which to understand the society, than the entertainment it offers its people.
In the early days of the Federation, the new government gave little thought to providing any kind of entertainment to its people. Just as with an individual, the Federation’s first priorities were far more basic, mirroring those of a single person. The Federation sought security by cementing its power, food to feed a hungry and war-weary populace and shelter for its continuation in a codified system of laws and government.
Once that time was past, however, once the Federation felt secure in its role as the first global government, once it had begun to tame the Solar system and had proved solutions for the basic needs of its people, it began to turn to other matters. Federation social scientists pointed out the importance of a regular supply of entertainment to keep a population satisfi ed and content. Just as a constant diet of the same food day after day, no matter how healthy it might be, results in a discontent and grumbling populace, so too does a lack of any forms of entertainment to occupy the mind lead to the same unwelcome result. In response, the Federal Council approved its first measures to provide financial support of the arts, cultural enrichment programmes that have only grown more and more generous and innovative throughout the centuries.
The kinds of entertainment available to the citizens and civilians of the Federation are as many and varied as the people of the Federation themselves. From the latest entertainment programming and interactive games to sports events to ancient tribal dances and folk festivals kept alive as part of any of the dozens of cultural preservation programmes active throughout the UCF, the people of the Federation truly have their pick of ways to occupy their spare time.
By far, the largest purveyor of entertainment in the Federation is FedNet. Begun in the earliest days of the Federation as a means of disseminating information from the government to the public, FedNet still fulfi lls that role but has added so many others. FedNet offers hundreds of viewing channels, the vast majority of them dedicated to some manner of entertainment. From the highbrow to the lowbrow and everything in between, from documentaries on the lifecycle of the Arkellian sand beetle and scholarly discussions of the failings of previous societies to topless Zegama surfing (parents can delete these channels) and virtually plotless movies replete with explosions and gunfire, FedNet offers it all. Any time of the day or night, a citizen or civilian can turn on FedNet and find any kind of entertainment he desires.
Though FedNet is certainly the largest outlet of entertainment in the Federation, it is hardly the only one. Museums, symphonies and theatres are all still popular means of entertainment and cultural enrichment throughout the Federation, and many of them are supported financially by the Federal Council, which has joined hands with the private sector to build venues for such things in most major cities throughout Federation territory. Such is the UCF’s commitment to these arenas of artistic endeavour that Social Services will often send a representative to attend performances or preview museum showings, simply to ensure the citizens and civilians spending their hard-earned money and precious free time get their money’s worth out of the experience.
Sporting events are also an extremely popular form of entertainment in the Federation, both for participation and for spectators. Several sports that were very popular in the days before the Disorders no longer survive. Golf, for example, requires a huge amount of land to construct a course – and in the days after the Disorders, clean and arable land was far too precious a resource to spend on what was considered a frivolous pastime. Many other sports that required large amounts of land, such as football, soccer, baseball or horse racing, were all but forgotten for a long time. Horse racing in particular never made a comeback, as the Disorders had also come very close to rendering the species extinct.
Those sports that did re-emerge also had to be redesigned to accommodate smaller fields and smaller venues. The most successful redesigns eventually evolved into the creation of entirely new games, such as fieldball, a game that is a direct descendant of American football. Certainly the most popular sport in the Federation today, fieldball is played on an indoor field that measures 125 feet by 40 feet and emphasises lightning-fast plays and acrobatic movement on the field to carry the ball to the scoring zones at either end. Fieldball is the source of intense rivalries between schools, cities and worlds, and the most skilled and talented players on professional teams can earn more in a single game than most civilians will make in their entire lives.
