People interact together on the basis of reciprocal and `whole person' relationships which are to their mutual advantage. ... Members of Gemeinschaft bodies follow collective sentiment.... But with the onset of industrialism, the mutualism to be found in Gemeinschaft gives way to the competitiveness of Gesellschaft society in which relationships are fragmented, self-motivated and egocentric. ... If a future society based on the Gaian principles of interdependence, mutuality and interrelatedness is to be achieved, a reemergence of some form of Gemeinschaft is essential[1]
Since the nineteenth century social theorists have been suggesting that the historical progression is from Gemeinschaft to Gesellschaft, which is the result and condition of modernity.[2] But on Earth2 the process proceeds in the opposite direction, perhaps coming round full circle. Within the colonist community it is an ongoing struggle. The Council, with its cold calculation and ruthless plan for exploitation of G889 is the epitomy of industrial spirit of Gesellschaft.