The all-encompassing theory of how to keep Post-Burnout America stable for an indefinite period.

“Stability”, or the ideal state of America, is determined relative to the Pre-Burnout country. The central idea is to keep the country’s political, economic, resource, and social systems from interacting in a way that produces a “failure-spiral” that will culminate in another Burnout. The parameters are defined as:

• There must be an overarching acknowledgement of the Burnout’s occurrence and its causation by the last society’s failures.
• There must be an overarching commitment to “redevelopment” or the creation of a Post-Burnout civilization that is morally superior to its predecessor.
• There must be a general willingness to study and replicate Pre-Burnout developments in all fields as is considered necessary for redevelopment. 
• There must be a general understanding that Pre-Burnout developments must be adapted, manipulated, or discouraged to fit the present civilization’s needs or to minimize inherent flaws.
• There is not a concerningly high population that lacks a sense of responsibility or obligation, and there are non-endangering outlets available for said population.
• It is extremely difficult and impractical for individuals to acquire extreme personal wealth, and there are no overarching systems to give them absolute protection.
• There are no overarching systems to provide absolute protection or “golden parachutes” to high-ranking individuals or do anything that will keep them from being held accountable for irresponsible actions. 
• Factions are able to keep their populations consistently engaged on large projects or initiatives, be they industrial, social, militant, or survival-oriented.
• Minorities/cultural solidarity
• Large-scale war should be supplemented with frequent skirmishing or petty conflicts.
• Material quality of life should have an inverse correlation with personal freedom. (eg. someone who has their every need provided for would be an official or political leader who is bound by rules and duties whereas a hunter-gatherer can do as they please.) 
• Hereditary rights should not include any kind of political or decision-making position.

Known to different factions as “Geneva Suggestions Mk. 2”, “guiding principals”, or “tenets”, these recommendations form a concrete list, but are not formally enshrined. Any politicker, Caller, or even Steel-Tongue worth their salt is familiar with these arguments, yet they have no common name. This is by design; as some of the earliest contributors to Grand Theory realized that a definite form for their project would end up being restrictive to its adherents. Each faction tailors this list to reflect their culture and political strategy. There have been loose comparisons between GT and the Constitution of Pre-Burnout America, with each being the “foundational work” of their respective society. Relative to the Constitution, GT is an ephemeral creation with far greater scope and implications.

Separate from the list of recommendations is GT’s stress on creating “equilibrium between polarities”. Polarities are defined as the extremes of different society variables. Say, the resource polarity of Warden communities and San-Fran’s administrators in the West Range Federation, with each group representing an opposing polar extreme. “Equilibrium” as defined by GT does not mean that both polarities can peacefully coexist or cancel each other out by having the same influence and power— what’s important is that they can maintain flux between them. Groups caught in the middle of the polarities will gravitate towards one or the other depending on the Federation’s conditions. It is also assumed that a polarity, whatever form it takes, will actively try to preserve itself. The administrators could push for more roads to be restored in Warden land, the Wardens can recruit more valuable workers who have become dissatisfied with stripping. These actions draw the “neutral” populace towards either pole. If a pole becomes too strong, then nonpolar factions will lose their neutrality and oppose what they perceive as a threat. This of course gives vast amounts of power to the other pole, which can then lead to extended cycles of violence that last for decades. In GT, this is what equilibrium looks like. The specific theory of equilibrium is influenced by the biology concept of “carrying-capacity”: a single pole can only have so much power, once it exceeds a certain threshold the environment will respond and reduce its power. Thus, skilled leaders will do whatever is necessary to keep their faction from exceeding this capacity. 

This is the main problem in GT: it is anti-progress. A civilization fully “aligned” with GT would be trapped in the petty wars and relative ignorance of Pre-Burnout antiquity with an elite minority that actively works to perpetuate these “struggles”. There are two arguments for this system:

• Alignment with GT makes a civilization incredibly “stable” and unlikely to have any kind of systemic collapse. Presumably, the continual skirmishing and low quality of life is superior to the suffering in another Burnout— and it does not risk extinction or irreversible biological collapse. Thus, GT is more utilitarian than attempting “full” redevelopment. 
• Assuming that the typical person does not truly want intellectual enlightenment or political freedom, and instead only craves survival, community, and the feeling that their struggles aren’t for nothing, then GT is the best option. GT provides constant social/religious “meaning” to the average citizen. By keeping a majority of the factions in constant material want, or in a state of war, there is almost no room for decadence, consumerism, or ennui. 

GT is designed to give stability and contentment to the average person. Ideally, it also has loopholes and offshoots so Individuals who do not fit into this system can exist peacefully in alternate states, or as the controlling elites in GT. 

GT in the “abstract” (Sometimes called “GT-W) is designed to be applied to any Post-Burnout human civilization. GT as it is practiced in America, or “GT-A” has some key differences(It is widely assumed that the term “GT-A” was popularized as a sardonic reference to the videogame franchise). 

In 2067, the current GT-A is dependent on the cultural and geographic separations of the country’s regions. Largely inspired by Tara’s dealings with Graler over the Westrange Federation, a crude version of GT-A, sometimes called the “Conver-Compact” was developed in Conver during their first meeting in 2042 with the following “roles” envisioned for each part of the country.

• The Federation would be kept culturally stagnant and produce a consistent flow of strip to prop-up the developing economy.
• The chaotic infrastructure of the Swells (due to U3C’s mining efforts) would serve as a “buffer” for groups that had been displaced due to conflict or radicalization.
• The Strets would be the country’s nexus for intellectual development and “high-culture”
• Verdance would function as a “counterweight” to the Strets’s (And Formers’s) influence with its emphasis on mysticism and cultural distinction.
• Most importantly, the Passage Lands would provide all of the material processing and national entities needed for redevelopment.

The Conver-Compact wanted to make a GT-A oriented around sustainable interactions between the Guild and Great Clans. Most of the population was already in these groups. The representatives present argued that a majority of Pre-Burnout political theory and historical examples would be applicable to these groups, making their behavior more predictable. They also believed that keeping most of the population in these “nation-style” factions would be essential for rebuilding the unity and spiritual faith lost during the Burnout. It also guaranteed that future generations would be grounded in the moral codes and beliefs of their parent faction, providing greater social stability.

25 years later, and GT-A according to the Conver-Compact is teetering on collapse. Some argue that the first blow was only a few years after the Compact was agreed upon. The advent of Dreadnaughts created a deep schism between the Guild’s cities and the population directly involved with the super-vehicles. Dreadnaughts also contributed to militarization across different factions. 

Problems with the Compact became more apparent in 2055 with the invasion of Verdance. Although many factions already had self-sustaining practices in terms of mysticism, the philosophy of Immersion had lost its formal seat of power. The Verdant refugees in the Swells began pushing out the non-immersed factions, with many going over to the Strets. This influx began to skew the Strets towards greater technocracy and violence. 

And now in 2067, the collapse of the Westrange Federation— the country’s economic backbone. All trade systems in the country are, at least partially, reliant on the assumption that San Fran will keep producing strip. This also means that all of the factions in the Federation need to find new niches, or compete with existing groups for survival. 

In practice, the high-command of a faction will usually have a stage in their decision-making process to discuss how their actions align with GT. Some questions or talking points include:

• Will this action lead to problems that someone else will have to deal with 30 or 50 years later?
• Is this going to push other groups towards radical action?
• What are some ways that our decision can be used as a precedent?
• Is this reminiscent of late 20’s America?
• Is this who we are? Are we a kind of people who does this?

There is an argument that Grand Theory is only possible due to the existential altruism present in leaders who survived the Burnout. The prerogative for these individuals was to avoid another end-of-society scenario by any means necessary. This prevailing mindset helped establish some of the country’s most valuable institutes. However, this also raises the question of if future generations, even properly indoctrinated, will share this mindset. Perhaps the policy decisions in America’s factions will eventually resemble the self-centered modus operandi of Pre-Burnout nations. 

At some point in the 22nd century, the last person born before the Burnout will have died. This “Year of Complete And Total Separation” (Y-CATS) is viewed as the most important juncture in Post-Burnout civilization. For survivors, it will be the ultimate test of their collective labors: to see if their visions of a spiritually and socially redeemed America will endure after they are gone. Burnout civilization. For survivors, it will be the ultimate test of their collective labors: to see if their vision will endure after they are gone.