Earthborn Inferiority
I fear this may be too broad, but I am looking for reasons earthborn humans would be considered inferior to those born on various space colonies. For example, it is important to reference the distinction when introducing oneself (I am AG Weyland, Earthborn, or I am AG Weyland, Starborn) to reinforce one's place in society.
This is set several hundred years in the future on Pallas, a large waterworld that orbits a red dwarf and has a very long "day" and a very long "night" due to a slow rotation (like Mercury). So what are some reasons being born on our (still-habitable) home planet would make a person inferior or lesser than those born in space colonies (think caste system)?
Earthborn people can still be rather successful, but they will still be viewed as lesser and could never hold public office or marry into a wealthy, established Starborn family, for example (similar to those in the merchant class versus the established aristocracy in England in the 1700s).
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2 answers
It might be for the same reason that someone with a home, good job, and family, might feel superior to someone who lives in the ghetto.
Earth is the birthplace of humanity, but in this future it's also a backwater slum where no one lives that doesn't need to. Most people see earthers as bums who live on the dole, unable or unwilling to put in the work to get ahead and get off planet. It's not that there aren't opportunities to get ahead on earth, but the number who do are statistically insignificant enough that they are seen as the exception that proves the rule.
Any earthers who actually do manage to pull themselves up want to get off planet as quickly as possible to avoid the skyrocketing taxes, political corruption, crowded living conditions, pollution, and a host of other factors that make living on earth undesirable.
This is also reinforced by the attitudes of the people who get out of it, who see those that are still trapped there as lazy unfortunates who could improve their situation if they were just willing to try a little harder, and if the government wasn't making it so easy to just stay there in poverty.
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Earthborn people are of lesser value because they were born on a planet that's almost depleted its resources leading to less genetic modifications
They may be similar to Starborn people, but their only chance to make sure that their bloodline will thrive is by getting away from their old, basically resource-deprived, planet and coming to the new and fancy Star where humanity established the next step of their evolution should take place.
While Earthborn still have old-fashioned traditional values Starborn not only know about the advantages of genetically modifying their people, but they are embracing it as part of becoming the next step in human evolution. Earthborn are currently on a similar evolutional level, but they won't be for long.
Earth is old. Star is new.
New is always better. And people who are better should be treated better.
By giving your Starborn a similar outlook on Earthborn you can easily establish a caste system. You can even reinforce this by making the Star better suited for genentic modifications and thereby making every Starborn for example more long-lived than an Earthborn. This will make the Earthborn feel inferior and make them desire to one day become a full-fledged Starborn. Though they themselves can't achieve this they can do everything to allow their future children to become real grand Starborn.
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