The job of a government is to promote the will of the people.
But... what if the people have no will? ... or many wills?
This was the problem faced by the Solar System governments of Year Seven. The many social revolutions started by the access to Mirondian products and technologies had left many humans head's spinning.
What was right? What was OK? What was wrong?
Many humans didn't know for sure anymore. Many didn't... but those who became fanatic did. And because they "knew", they started getting into positions of power, and when they did, governments started doing crazy things.
In Year Seven, many parts of the Solar System community plunged into anarchy. The world governments would make pronouncements, but the locals would pay no attention to them. At the local level, incumbent governments were replaced, and being declared "ineffectual" by those who were replacing them. At first the replacements were through legal processes -- elections, recalls, and the like. Titan Colony, for instance, voted in a "Blip! friendly" slate in it's election of that year. But the Moon Boosters, you remember the Moon Boosters?, made history when they, in the words of Good Time Charley Monson, "We kicked those Blip!-friendly bastards out. Threw them out on their Blip!-happy kiesters, and told them to go take a ride in space!"
What the Moon Boosters wanted was their fair share. Monson and his group proposed levying a tax on L-5 transit, and using the military facilities on the Moon to enforce their request. He argued that L-5 was in the Moon's orbit, so it should be considered part of the Moon.
The whole thing was pretty crazy sounding. Part of what made it crazy was that the military on the Moon was not under Moon Booster authority, and had never been under any Lunar authority. The military on the Moon took its orders from Earth military command. Monson was spouting pure hot air when he rattled that saber.
But these were crazy times, and the media picked up the story and spread it around. And when other fanatics thought they saw that the Moon Boosters had taken power with force, they saw the light.
Within weeks, there were a dozen coups in a dozen places -- some were successful, some weren't. Over the next six months there was a steady stream of coups and counter coups around the Solar System, and each announcement brought word of more violence in the process.
At first these coups were all rather independent. Each was brought about by its own mix of issues, and there wasn't much coordination between them. But the chaos did bring intrigue, and one logical group to seek alliance with was the Mirondians.
At first the Mirondians steadfastly refused to get involved in local intrigues. "This is a passing phase. You will find your way, and we want to be there for you at the end of this painful journey." they said.
But in month Nine a new ingredient was stirred into the pot: the first kidnapping of Mirondians. Kidnapping has a long tradition on Earth, where wide open spaces, abandoned buildings and hostile clans are common. But it's a rare way to treat people when you spend your entire life in a ship-like environment. The Mirondians had heard of kidnapping from their Earth history studies, but it was just another wacky Earth custom in ten thousand wacky Earth customs... before now.
When Mirondians first came visiting, they were treated like demigods. Likewise, the first MSE's who worked with humans on Blip! projects were treated with the utmost respect. But familiarity bred contempt, and the chaos that the Earth communities were slipping into brought opportunity....
The first time it happened, the Mirondians complied quickly, and there was no harm done. But, like the Moon Booster Coup did for political groups, the first kidnapping opened eyes for a lot of criminals. There were now ten thousand MSE's scattered around the Solar System... hmm....
And a dozen kidnappings followed in the next three weeks -- Mirondians learned their first lesson about kidnappings very quickly.
Two things fell out of the kidnappings. First, the Mirondians and MSE's showed they could get really cautious. Second, the ransoming and anti-kidnapping business brought the Mirondians into dealing with local politicians in ugly, back-handed ways. They lost their virginity real quickly, and they were now taking sides along with everyone else in the Solar System community.
All-in-all, a year full of changes.