They didn't set an expiry. It's my only complaint.
After some thought, assuming that everything Farsight tells me is true, I kind of come to terms with the prison planet scheme. Perhaps it's just a means of my exerting diplomacy.
I'm not particularly bothered by the idea of a prison planet overall. People are bad enough, you can't get rid of them, there's a whole industry of merchants happy to take them off your hands. So the equation is satisfied. You do the crime, you do the time. Who knows, perhaps I lived a life at one time that warranted some prison time. I don't really feel it in my bones but I get the idea.
So the only complaint I have is there was no expiry date. Should we find our emancipation, I would probably advocate that we do continue arranging a prison service, but we don't deal with people who think it's ethical to throw away the key.
Don't waste too much time on this thread, but just a thought.
Ummm.... "prison" planet is a misnomer, because it's not like we actually did any crimes that warrant such a thing.
Besides which, even if 'we' did something in a time gone by, there's no logical reason why we should need to reincarnate - it's so much easier to just implant a new memory so that we'd never commit those crimes again.
Punishment for a soul is irrational.
The better term to use would be 'prisoner of war camp'. Or Gulag, where "undesirables" would be sent to be controlled or indoctrinated.
And, if it's more like a Matrix, and there are ETs that are basically psychic vampires that thrive on negative energy, then it's more like a slave planet.