the place of Blue sun in the 'verse by Geekmafia

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the place of Blue sun in the 'verse

POSTED BY: GEEKMAFIA
UPDATED: Wednesday, August 9, 2006 03:41
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Tuesday, August 8, 2006 11:21 AM

I recently got to thinking: what part does Blue sun play in the 'verse? It's an all pervasive company that quite clearly has a near total market share but what does that mean to the inhabitants of the verse? my thinking is mainly on two lines; how I became what it is and how people see it.

At a guess I'd say that blue sun owes its existence to the diaspora from earth-that-was. The supplies on board each of the ships leaving the planet couldn't have been enough to feed each successive generation at some point, I believe, a sort of production would be needed. my presumption is that on each ship the production would be handled by a few who excelled at each of their professions, the best weavers and bakers would be the most succesful and in the relatively small confines of each ship they would likely obtain a monopoly especially if the best of each required field were to ally themselves with each other. this would result in guild-like corporations which catered for every need. By the time each vessel reaches their destination (likely either sihnon or londinium at first) these independent economies would have to fight it out for the new larger market. In this situation an association of the best from one ship would have an advantage and may be able to achieve dominance over the whole market as it had the market of it's parent ship.

This to me seems more plausible than a company gaining this market share later after each group had found their own planet/moon/orbiting piece of rock.

Now if this is the case then our BDH's have probably grown up with Blue Sun. If so do they ever consider the idea of there being a rival? if you grew up with one company supplying everything would you question why there aren't other companies?

This brings me on to the second part of this post or, to be more specific, this brings me on to Jaynes shirt. In the show we see Jayne wearing a Blue Sun T-shirt but why does it have blue sun on it? I can see three possible options;

1) It has blue sun on it because it is made by blue sun, like a wal-mart t-shirt might have wal-mart on it.
2) It has blue sun on it because blue sun is a brand, like a tommy hilfiger shirt. The name signifies quality or style or some such.
3) It has blue sun on it because blue sun is a recognised part of culture. It's like a Che Guevara t-shirt it is not a product of the man it exists because of his impact on culture.

That last one would mean that it's impact on culture is recognised, much like we would recognise that microsoft or coca cola are huge companies which have an impact on society beyond their products they may be disliked or trusted for their large market share but either way it is racognised.

Now if this dominance were recognised why is it that we see no objection to the position? Surely those who strive for independence would not accept a company having a kind of influence rivaling even the alliance government.

Or is it just that any objection is Dealt with?

Tl;Dr why does jayne wear a blue sun t-shirt and why doesn't mal care that while he strives for independence he buys all his goods from one hugely influential company?

I'd really like to hear others thoughts on this (they might help to clear up my own

).
And apologies for the thoroughly too long post

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Tuesday, August 8, 2006 2:01 PM

TEACHDAIRE

One possibility is that it's the ONLY corporation of ant real size in the verse (think Weyland-Yutami from the "Aliens" universe, in that it's just called "the company").

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For every battle honour, a thousand heroes die along, unremembered and unsung...

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Tuesday, August 8, 2006 2:30 PM

DONCOAT

I think it's a dead-lock certainty that we'd have gotten a lot more detail about Blue Sun had the series continued. It could easily have been a major plot element. Joss was certainly setting it up for that role.

The fact is, a large monopoly is extremely tough to break. If a small competitor arises for any one part of its market, the monopoly can afford to lower its prices far below cost, drive the competitor out of business, and then have the field clear for itself.

That's why modern capitalist societies have anti-trust laws that attempt to enforce fair trading practices. That seems to be missing in the 'verse at the time of Firefly. There could be any number of reasons for that, but the one I'd lean toward is that Blue Sun is deeply tied into the government itself.

This is happening right now in the US, to a lesser degree, with the "revolving door" between the Washington lobbyists, government (elected or staff), and corporate America. (As an example, look at the way the Bush administration developed its "energy policy".) It's not too much of a stretch to imagine the distinction between these three functions becoming blurrier and blurrier over time.

I believe that's exactly what Joss was thinking, and that he would have eventually made this clear. Joss' work may not be overtly political, but he's not above throwing in a few "caveats" about dangerous social trends. The BDM is Exhibit A.

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I'm pointin' right at it!

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Wednesday, August 9, 2006 3:41 AM

INDIGOSTARBLASTER

Also, after the political merger between the U.S. and China, I imagine there would have been a greater acceptance of monopolistic private/public hybrids -- state-owned or state-operated for-profit corporations, that sort of thing.

Indigo S.

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