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Nirvana in the Cosmos:

Pilum

Despite humanities escape from Earth, our habits as a species continue into the cosmos. A few prosper while the majority are stuck in the machine of economics. Nirvana in the Cosmos addresses the idea that, for humanity to actually move forward in a meaningful way, we have to begin to treat each other right. We have to value life and live for new experiences. In the end all you have is the knowledge you accumulate throughout your relatively brief existence.
Throughout the novel we see the coming about of three ideals on how humanity can get back on track.

The first is the United Space Coalition. They operate in much the way modern economics and businesses do. They believe that carrying forward as humanity has always done will yield the best results.

The second is Omega. This society settled on a world on the far edge of explored space. Hidden in a nebula they have built a new society focused not on economics, but personal achievement. They reward citizens for achievement and mastery of whatever skill they choose.

The third is a rogue soldier. He believes humanity has been fundamentally lost for all of modern existence and the only way to correct this is to wipe the majority out to start a new.