They say that a trapped rat is the most dangerous.
They say that those with nothing to lose will take risks that they otherwise would never take.
Thorough-out history societies have faced major upheavals (revolutions) when the oppressed majority have reached the breaking point. The French revolution is the typical example.
In America, the promise of being able to improve one's position in life is fundamental to society. It is the dream that keeps parents working hard to give their children opportunity. It is what draws immigrants to the country. It is also what prevents the masses from turning on the 1%.
The lack of upward mobility creates social unrest. Heavy handed policing predictably leads to riots every few decades.
This brings us to Withmore.
Is upward mobility even part of the theme?
Do the corporations dangle the carrot of a better life in front of the masses to keep them docile?
Do corporations need to maintain the illusion that hard work in the Mix could lead to a more comfortable life topside?
Does the media need to craft content that furthers the illusion of the "Average Citizen" making it big? (Even if "big" is nothing more than a cramped apartment with 6 people in a corporate high rise and a steady Grid connection so the kids can get an "education".)
Or is it just Jack Boots and Jake Enforcer IIs? Kicks to the teeth and bullets to the brain pans of anyone who grumbles about inequality?
(I ask this because my perception is that this is ill defined. The lack of definition leads to diametrically opposed roleplay around the divide.)
opinion incoming, take this with a grain of salt
If corporations have to maintain the illusion of advancement, then every PubSIC tirade from a corporate citizen about Mixers being subhuman could potentially be the straw that breaks the camel's back and kicks off the latest round of rioting.
If oppression is the norm, then Gold is much too safe in its current iteration. It should be more like the occupied territories.
Corpies looking over their shoulders nervously every time the E7 arrives from the Red sector. Fearful that today it is their turn to take a few 6mm slugs to the back, or a bat to the side of the head.
WJF Guards hoping that they survive long enough to get promoted to the safety of Green, where they are not expected to hold back the masses with just a baton.
CorpSec agents hoping that their charges are content to eat lunch on company property, or that they don't have any meetings on the other side of the sector today.
