Mega City One population.

[TordelBack]

My question has been answered. So wow, the big meg has been reduced to almost nothing in comparison.

Effectively MC-1 finally lost the Apocalypse War (750 million dead versus East Meg-1's 500 million, as a crude scorecard), they just didn't realise they were still fighting it 30 years on.  This may serve as the single most impressive coda in comics - after the somewhat gung-ho 'resolution' to the AW ('next time we get our retaliation in first'), Wagner hammers home the reality that in the age of nuclear weapons and germ warfare, there can't be any long-term winners, and even in asymmetric warfare there is little defence for the larger nation if they have lost the trust and support of their own people.   

[I, Cosh]

Proportionally, Dredd still wins.

However, I agree with everything else. Can't remember when, presumably the start of DoC, but I was thinking "more bloody Sovs " when it hit me that of course these people would still be out for even living for - revenge. It's only been thirty years and look how the Brits still go on about "the" war.

[JOE SOAP]

This may serve as the single most impressive coda in comics - after the somewhat gung-ho 'resolution' to the AW ('next time we get our retaliation in first')

Well he did try to remind them - in black & white no less - with his 30 year follow-up: "Units on the ground- only way to be sure." but that fakkin' poindexter General Poll had other ideas. You'd think they'd have learned- never doubt ole Joe.

[Proudhuff]

There are the Muties, Trogies and returnees to count now as well, where's PSU when you need em?

I wouldn't be surprised if MC2 bought some emptyspace for overspill, or if its the GRennie Droid:China buys it.

[Recrewt]

50 million is still a lot of people, especially if they are being kept within certain zones.  Assuming a very healthy poulation growth of 5% though, its going to take decades for the Meg population to get back to normal.  This is not a problem really - 50 million perps is still plenty for Dredd to work on but what I would like to see is some more stuff about how Justice Dept plan to deal with the city they now have on their hands.

OK, we have seen that blocks are being cleared of people (alive and dead) and some are getting knocked down but what is the bigger plan?  They can't leave loads of blocks empty or these will just become overrun with criminals.  And if they do knock them all down, what are they going to do with the space?  In the past it feels like we would have had some more unique MC1 ways of dealing with the extra space - a vast MC1 Jurassic Park built on the site of cleared blocks, a massive new mega-mall being built where citizens can spend their entire lives, sections of the city being covered in boing to keep out trespassers, etc....

[Fragminion]

When it comes to population numbers in the Dredd-verse. My question was always "If the world was basically a radioactive hell world..How come there are so many people living in the mega cities?"

[Molch-R]

When it comes to population numbers in the Dredd-verse. My question was always "If the world was basically a radioactive hell world..How come there are so many people living in the mega cities?"

Because the Mega-Cities were established before the Atomic Wars and, in the case of MC1, were (partially) protected by an anti-missile shield. Add into that the ability to grow artificial foodstuffs, and everything's hunky-dory. Just don't ask about fallout.

[IndigoPrime]

Just don't ask about fallout.

Radiation pills! And magic cloaks!

[shaolin_monkey]

Just don't ask about fallout.

Radiation pills! And magic cloaks!

Weather Control! No radioactive dust storms for MC1, oh no!

That said, it could be an interesting post-Chaos Day storyline. Presumably Weather Control is still out for a lot of the City? What's protecting the Cits from the rad storms now?

[The Adventurer]

I've got to say something feels fundamentally wrong when Mega-City 1 contains fewer people then the population of the current era United States.

[Frank]

I've got to say something feels fundamentally wrong when Mega-City 1 contains fewer people then the population of the current era United States.

Fewer people than the current era UK. The rationale for the harsh oppression of Justice Department was always that there were so many people to keep on top of in a relatively small space. If an author/editor was planning for the Judges to relax that grip and reintroduce democratic rule, removing the factor of the chaos caused by that huge population would be one way to have that happen.

[Judge Olde]

but are they happy? 

[Fragminion]

Fewer people than the current era UK. The rationale for the harsh oppression of Justice Department was always that there were so many people to keep on top of in a relatively small space. If an author/editor was planning for the Judges to relax that grip and reintroduce democratic rule, removing the factor of the chaos caused by that huge population would be one way to have that happen.

After so many decades of it being the way that the Old MC1 was. Would either the Citz or the Judges for that matter even know HOW to even at this point?

[Frank]

Aye, establishing a democratic culture where one hasn't previously existed ain't like dusting crops, boy. See Afghanistan, Iraq and Egypt just for recent examples.

The qualified successes of former Soviet dependencies aside, the general pattern in countries following the violent overthrow of autocracies (the English Civil War and its 'Glorious' aftermath, France, USA, Russia, South and Central America for most of the 20th C) is for power to change hands several times between revolutionary factions and/or for the ancient regime to return, before some equilibrium is found - sometimes only after internecine warfare.

Even in self-determining states formed after the peaceful change of power between oppressors and popular democrats, there's a tendency for things to degenerate into factionalism and even genocide - see most of Africa in the 20th C, India/Pakistan/Bangladesh, Vietnam and the Balkans. Thankfully, all of that sounds like excellent source material for a story.

[Fragminion]

So in other words it would be a case of...

MCCitizen1 "Yay. Were Free!"
MCCiitzen2 "Yes we are now free...so now what?"
MCCitizen1 "I dunno.....how about a Block War?*
MCCitizen2 "Works for me*