📊 The Economist – Freeholder Series
Title: Matt Marmaduke’s Path to Planetary Stewardship
Interviewer: Cedric Penhaligon, Senior Correspondent, GeoEconomic Affairs
Date: June 11, 2440
Location: Private home theater, Marmaduke Homestead, Missouri Freehold
PENHALIGON:
Mr. Marmaduke, you control over 60% of Missouri’s active agricultural zones. Do you see yourself more as a farmer, a sovereign, or a strategic supplier?
MATT:
It’s actually closer to 75% if you count everything in my portfolio—both direct holdings and land under stewardship contracts. I’d like to see myself as just a farmer, honestly. But custom and necessity dictate that I’m much more. The agribusiness, the logistics, even the engineering firms—they all started as management tools. I didn’t build a corporate empire out of ambition. I built it because it was the only way to clean up the mess I inherited.
PENHALIGON:
You’ve kept keft under strict stewardship despite international demand. What principles guide your decision not to immediately monetize it?
MATT:
I have a lot of mouths to feed—human and V’ren both—and not just now, but long term. I’m a student of history. I’ve read what happens when leaders allow their people to go hungry. I’d rather be over-prepared and a little slower to market than become a cautionary tale. Keft is a gift. It’s resilient, high-yield, low-input, and bio-adaptable. If I let it become a commodity too quickly, it becomes someone else’s problem the minute it goes sideways. That’s not stewardship. That’s speculation.
PENHALIGON:
T’mari, in your words, what does citizenship in exile mean for the V’ren?
T’MARI:
I—and every other V’ren in our convoy—lost the right to reside on the planet of our birth. We were designated surplus population. There was no appeal. We weren’t rebels, we weren’t dissidents—we were statistically expendable. So we left. To be offered a chance not just to survive, but to become citizens in a territory governed by contract and honor… it is a privilege. One we intend to earn every day we are here.
PENHALIGON:
Matt, how do you define the line between providing sanctuary and exercising dominion?
MATT:
I accepted everyone on that first ship as a resident of my land the moment they landed. That wasn’t an act of conquest—it was hospitality. What they make of it beyond that is up to them. Dominion isn’t the goal. Stability is. Opportunity is. If that looks like sovereignty to someone from the outside, I won’t argue the point. But it’s not about owning anyone. It’s about owning the responsibility.
PENHALIGON:
T’mari, do you view your integration into Marmaduke Inc. as personal alignment, professional collaboration, or cultural diplomacy?
T’MARI:
All three—and some days, none of the above. One of Lord Marmaduke’s favorite expressions is that he “wears a lot of hats,” and I’m learning to do the same. Some days I’m a systems engineer. Some days I’m a cultural liaison. Some days I’m patching a generator in the field. The lines blur, and that’s okay. Integration isn’t about erasure—it’s about layering skills and trust until something new takes shape.
PENHALIGON:
Matt, some have suggested that your logistical empire is becoming a de facto government. Would you agree—or resist that framing?
MATT:
It’s been a functional government in everything but name for nearly twenty years. I run over a hundred freight haulers a day from the Port of Memphis to central Missouri. That’s not theoretical—it’s concrete. Before I stepped in, most carriers couldn’t manage that in a year. Now we move goods every fifteen minutes. That’s what pays for schools, clinics, and clean water. You want to call that a government? Fine. But to me, it’s just doing the job.
PENHALIGON:
Given the population you now feed—human and V’ren alike—what contingency plans exist if keft were to fail?
MATT:
Keft is hydroponically stable, and our redundancy plans are robust. I’ve got seven ships in orbit—each isolated, self-sustaining, and cross-supporting. No cross-contamination, no single point of failure. Plus, I have a roster of some of the best botanists and genetic engineers I’ve ever worked with, human and V’ren both. I’m not betting the farm on a single crop, but I’m betting we can solve problems faster than they develop.
PENHALIGON:
Do you foresee a future where the V’ren openly hold land in Missouri under their own name, or will everything remain in trust under your hand?
MATT:
Land does regularly come on the market, and I’d love to see some of the V’ren make bids—it would mean they’re prospering. But the truth is, I’ll outbid them. Not to hoard it, but to keep stewardship where it belongs. Private land ownership outside the trust system is what broke this country the first time. The collapse happened because we forgot that land isn’t a product—it’s a responsibility. And I take that duty seriously. That’s why I offer leaseholds instead: some span a year or two, some last two generations, and some are written to hold for 500 years. It’s not about control. It’s about continuity. I won’t let us fall into the same traps that broke the old world. Ask around—plenty of people came here from places where they “owned” land. Most of them will tell you my leases are better, safer, and a hell of a lot more honest in the long run.
PENHALIGON:
Final question: if this model works—mixed sovereignty, corporate citizenship, post-collapse integration—what happens next?
MATT:
Then we’ll have proven that trust can scale. That humans and V’ren, with different languages, values, and trauma histories, can still build something together. Not perfect, not utopian—but functional and fair. And if that works here in Missouri… maybe someone else tries it, too.
