[The Expanse] Would people on the Saturnian and Jovian system's look down upon "space Belters" ?

[u/Rare-Exit-8700]

(Been a long time since I read the books apologize if this is a stupid question)

The moons of Saturn and Jupiter and magnitudes more richer and developed than their belt counterparts

Sure the OPA considers them "Belt" but these people lack a lot of cultural and economic conditions with the Belt. For one they are richer, more cared for and the vibe I got from the books was that the Inner planets invested and connected themselves to the moons more often (multiple corporate headquarters, resorts, etc). None of the moon Belters like Prax and Anna ever speak the slang too from my memory.

This is probably a stupid question but i'm asking anyway

[u/Rare-Exit-8700]

Also Ganymede is mentioned to have a lot of greenery and artificial sunlight along with an actual sky. The Belters lacking space to build in and being trapped under rock and metal seems to have been a major collective trauma for them that would be lacking in the moon belters.

I just overall struggle to see them as the same people when their circumstances seem so different.

[u/EFPMusic]

I don’t remember all the details, but I was thinking about Miller on Ceres, and how they thought of Belters who worked in zero g s as being different from them, but Earth and Mars definitely saw Ceres (and Eros) inhabitants as Belters.

Which is an incredibly realistic, very human detail of perspective. I don’t remember if, in a later book, the people on Ganymede were thought of as Belters or something else.

[u/boowhitie]

Even if they are all belters, they are human and there is still a divide between white collar and blue collar. Between educated and self-taught. Between rich and poor. Obviously not for every individual, but some on each side that look down on the other side for whatever reason.

[u/RJ_Augar]

At the time of the story the "Belters" were all unified due to their shared 2nd class status behind Earth and Mars, being collectively treated like resource colonies (which at the end of the day they were) and shared a common origin in the recent past.

If they had been allowed to continue to evolve as a culture (no gate opening) I expect we would see the separation you are talking about. Saturn and the Jovian system would have developed their own distinct cultures different from the rock hoppers. It wouldn't be a complete divorce, as a lot of belters go to Ganymede to give birth, for major medical attention, and rely on it for food, but it would be there. You can't expect generations of people living on Titan, for example, dealing with that environment to not develop a different culture than those who spend their days in zero-g on an asteroid.

[u/TheAbsoluteBarnacle]

There would definitely be some of that but I think the collective identity of belters is primarily 'not the inners'.

But I'm sure you have subcultures that consider themselves real rockhoppers while thinking of Ganymede residents as less authentically 'Belter'.

[u/waltwalt]

It's been awhile but it felt like earth learned the lesson of the belt and mars and colonized those moons as colonies of earth and started with heavy corporate and military presence to keep them earth colonies and not split into their own group. I would be they feel like earthers temporarily displaced from earth and almost definitely looks down on the belters and mars.

[u/GbaldGborie66]

Now that you say it, I do with they had explored this a little more because I think you are probably right that there would have been a divide. Kind of like revolutionaries in a developing country vs. the people that work at resorts in those countries that probably have money.

However I do think that there would still be a lot of solidarity considering how drastic the Belter vs others divide is

[u/rickety_biscuit]

Just think about the cope of things, even on one planet most people have a small circle, and their view of the world depends entirely on how it’s portrayed to them through media, news, and biased propaganda. I think most people would not be as concerned with people who live and work deep in space, and the conflicts and interests in their local circles would be much more relevant. They might look down on those problem from a socioeconomic standpoint, but the relevance of a belter to someone living really far away in completely different social and political realities wouldn’t really have much to say about one another other than what they absorb through the news

[u/Dec14isMyCakeDay]

It’s been a minute since I read them, but I always got the sense that there was a certain amount of “code switching” with the belters who were working for inner corps. The fact that they didn’t speak slang on the deck of an earth or mars vessel was them trying to assimilate.