Starting from the Planetary Governor

Chapter 1455: Chapter 826: Internal Issues Within the Alliance

How can the Alliance’s system retain its vitality and maintain a decent upward mobility channel for its lower-class people under a highly centralized system?

This is a crucial and exceedingly challenging matter.

Having an upward mobility channel is not something achieved by mere words.

In the early days when the Alliance was established, a large group of people who fought together now occupy high positions, forming a new Interest Group.

The Interest Group within the Alliance is relatively straightforward. The level system dictates everything; whether it’s welfare subsidies or power and status, they are clearly linked to this system. Although some people have certain incomes outside the level system, it is not the mainstream of this society.

Thus, the so-called Interest Group in the current Alliance refers to those occupying high positions within the level system. The sources are somewhat complex, the most significant and fundamentally rooted being those who fought alongside the expansion and economic development of the Alliance. Another important component is the original aristocrats from various worlds who actively integrated into the Alliance’s system during this process.

After decades of development within the Alliance, there’s a noticeable convergence between these two groups. The fundamental reason is that any Interest Group naturally has the tendency to stabilize its collective interests once it secures its position.

The current upward channels in the Alliance primarily involve two paths: acquiring educational credentials as a stepping stone to enter higher positions within the social system, and then obtaining promotion through work performance within the system.

Alternatively, one might directly exhibit an outstanding performance at work, be promoted, receive educational opportunities for further training, and after additional training, use the résumé and performance to climb higher.

These two paths are not mutually exclusive or, rather, are two sides of the same coin. However, the former emphasizes rapidly advancing the positions of young geniuses, while the latter focuses on the emergence of late bloomers through accumulated experience.

In theory, within the Alliance’s system, even those without background or from ordinary origins, as long as they have talent and capability, these paths should enable them to stand out from the crowd.

However, this is merely the ideal scenario.

In practice, the upward mobility channels within the Alliance, though much smoother compared to most of the Empire’s society, can still be clogged by those who have preemptively secured their positions in the Interest Group.

Their actions are not particularly egregious. Openly monopolizing the advancement channels is not tolerated within the Alliance.

However, there are some methods that are beyond reproach.

Education? Just quietly raise the cost of education.

Acting through administrative orders would be too conspicuous; they often start by giving advanced education to nieces, nephews, and close juniors. With substantial family wealth, they can lead significantly during the foundational stage compared to children of civilians.

On this basis, while there are indeed geniuses among the children of the civilian class, given the larger population base, they can have the advantage in the proportion admitted into various academies. However, when it comes to the likelihood of success, the descendants of high-level individuals are certainly much stronger.

This is precisely something one cannot dispute.

Even Gu Hang must acknowledge that since this is about selecting talent, if someone truly invests in education and produces talents, it is impossible for academies to favor granting more spots to the civilian class during admissions, as that would, in turn, be unfair.

In fact, Gu Hang does not view talents differently based on their background. As long as they can contribute to the great cause of the Alliance, they should be accorded due respect, regardless of who they are.

For those so-called ’Interest Groups’ who occupy positions through educational investment, Gu Hang not only does not suppress them but rather encourages it. Especially for those within this bracket who were originally aristocrats from various worlds, their actions clearly signal a willingness to positively integrate into the Alliance’s system.

But there is a kind of behavior that may not work.

Investing in education, enabling their descendants to enter a good academy within the Alliance’s educational system, and then securing a good position… the successors of these aristocrats, due to possessing richer educational resources and broader insights, indeed have a higher success probability compared to ordinary people. Yet broadly, they compete in a fair environment. The vast number of civilian class individuals strive on this path, and despite the many advantages of aristocratic descendants, geniuses and highly determined individuals from the civilian ranks emerge victorious often.

The race track is too congested.

Naturally, some additional tactics are resorted to unwillingly.

For instance, so-called ’reserved spots’.

To enter top academies or good positions, assessments are required, aren’t they? They do not dare manipulate the fairness of the assessments, but they can certainly adjust the content of those assessments, custom-designing a whole set of special admission conditions for connected candidates.

A certain academy suddenly allocates several special admission spots for a specific Planet, purportedly to support the development of local talents;

Not everyone on the Planet can enjoy these spots, but only those specifically from certain areas, owing to contributions made by people from those locations;

Specify gender; restrict the age bracket tightly; impose another condition based on previous special experiences; require the possession of a specific ’special skill’… and so on.