Nothing is yours. It is to use. It is to share. If you will not share it you cannot use it. Ursula K. Le Guin Nothing is the-listener. The-known-thing is for-use. The-known-thing is for-sharing. If the-known-thing not-is-shared-maybe-by the-listener, then the-known-thing not-be-used-can-by the-listener. miTRum Pone aSeln. aTRum Pone gruTyr. aTRum Pone gruBoth. Gysk aTRum miBothyme aSeln, Dog aTRum miTyryme aSeln.

About Anarres Urras and Anarres form a twin planet system, and together they orbit the star Tau Ceti (12 light-years from Earth). Urras is a planet of nation states with capitalist or managed economies; Anarres was settled from Urras by anarchist followers of the philosopher Odo, and its inhabitants self-organise as a series of collectives, cooperatives and syndicates. Anarres does not have a money economy, personal possession of anything but trivial items is frowned on, and non-anarchistic behaviour is vetoed by collective action – sometimes fatal for the transgressor. There is no "rule of law" on Anarres (no authority, no prisons, no legal system), which means that similar offences can produce very different outcomes, dependant on local circumstances and the offenders themselves rather than the type of offence. The precepts of Odo act as a guide to personal and collective action, but they do not act as rulebook. Anarres has oceans, but it is mostly land, and the land is mostly desert. It is also geologically more unstable than Earth, and earthquakes are frequent. There are few species native to the planet, and most are plants with only a few simple animals (insects). Some non-Anarresti plants were imported from Urras when the colony was formed, but no animals. Industry and science on Anarres are unsophisticated but not primitive, and much of the administration of the colony is done by computers – they are non-partisan and theoretically incorruptible. Anarres has a relatively small population (about 20 milllion) and officially a single culture, although the anarchistic nature of the society means that local conventions can and do exist. People move around regularly, however, so groups tend to form and disperse relatively quickly; there is usually not enough time for local conventions to become established as subcultures. There are, though, planet-wide syndicates for certain vocational choices, such as medicine, cooking, mining and transport.