Not This...

Climate change has nearly destroyed humanity. Large masses of the Southern Hemisphere are rendered uninhabitable. Latin America, Africa, Middle East and Asia have all been stricken by massive humanitarian crises, and wars over the most basic of resources have become a commonality. The wealthy classes of the world have attempted to migrate from the planet in search for better lives, leaving the rest to fight over the scraps.   In this age of constant struggle however; the Northern countries of the world would stand tall. The warming of their territories allowed for the exploration of the Arctic, establishment of new trade routes, discovery of new natural resources, and the opening of massive new ripe lands for agriculture and green energy. The once forsaken lands of the Northern Hemisphere have become the battery and breadbasket of the world.   And among these new powers is a single country that dominates the rest without equal: Russia. Having established a near monopoly status in the world's agricultural and energy market; the Russian people that once used to see its wide Siberian wastelands as a burden, now see it as its greatest strength. Once frozen steppes are now massive farmlands, green energy farms, and fossil fuel facilities; desolate villages along its Arctic borders were now bustling trade ports and sprawling metropolises. People of the world were all flocking to Russia for opportunities in the now-warm Siberia, the New World of the 22nd century. The Russian State had expertly used this opportunity to become a world power, expanding its reach far beyond their historical sphere of influence.   The influx of migration from all over the world had made sure Russia could outcompete any other state in labor productivity, and it had the effect of turning Russia into a multicultural melting pot of societies. Once seeing themselves as a nation whose history was driven by the strength and hardiness of its native Slavic people, the historical perceptions that had once defined Russian society had irrevocably changed with the radical upturn of their socioeconomic conditions. Russia was no longer a poor and destitute country, and the cultural perceptions and conservative trends that rose from those dark days now seemed outdated. Russia could no longer define itself as a vanguard of conservative tradition against the West. For all intents and purposes, it was the West now. And there were many who loved the idea of that, and many more that had hated it.   The Russian government was a relic; once formed as a provisional technocracy during a period of instability and social stratification, it managed to stay in power through legitimizing its paternalistic governance with the incredible economic boom it brought to the country for decades. However, the times of economic expansion had long passed and Russian society once again saw itself at the looming edge of stagnation. Due to the lack of ideological justification for the perpetuation of its existence, the people were beginning to see the current government as the last shackle to break in its path to reach the maximum potential of Russia.   There were massive protests by the people against a government they saw as no longer required to ensure stability, and they demanded a new form of government that better fully represented their interests and visions for Russia's future. There were those who wanted to preserve Russia's historical prestige, cultural identity and homogeneity; there were those who sought a free and liberal Russia as a capital of the world's wealth and culture; and there were the ones who saw Russia's current global position as one that has a moral imperative to revive a worldwide revolution of socialist prosperity.   It was becoming difficult for the government to prevent polarization in a country where almost every person seemed to have a different vision of how Russia should be. Its political discourse had been poisoned by the endless outpouring of jingoistic and alarmist discourse (ones that it largely perpetuated to cause fragmentation among its opposition, but soon ended up losing control over) that made it incredibly difficult for its citizens to make up their minds with the most informed of facts and statistics.   A new trend in the fringes of Russian politics hadbeen starting during this time. Virtual simulations of Russia operating in accordance to whatever political ideologies their respective groups espoused. These simulations had become an efficient way to advertise to people the direct material and social benefits to them if Russia was to follow their political ideology. As these simulations became more and more realistic throughout the years, and became an even better tool to inform the populace, the Russian government had began to implement these simulations into its institutional practices. While it initially started off as a way for psychological testing among its government and military officials, the idea soon rose that these simulations can actually be implemented into a new democratic process.   Virtual Panarchy, they called it. A collection of hyperrealistic virtual realities, that each simulated a different version of Russia according to a political ideology. While primarily inhabited by artificially intelligent bots, people could choose to temporarily live in whatever alternate version of Russia they wanted. The Panarchy's aim was for the people to live in alternate Russias shaped by many different political ideologies, so they can pick the one they prefer only after they had fully experienced it.   The government had created many different simulations for the people to live in. Whoever that died in a single reality can either to choose to continue living in it again, or choose a different simulation to try out. The simulations with small amount of inhabitants would be deleted one by one until the final, most popular political ideology is left. The idea is that once only a single simulation is left standing, the real-life government would begin reforms to transform into the government of that respective simulation. Even though time in these simulations are highly accelerated compared to real life, it would still take years for the majority of Russia to reach an ideological consensus, but the Russian State has expressed that this length of time is worth it for Russia to finally become the country its citizens truly want.   The initial rollout of the Virtual Panarchy had over 40 different ideological realities for the people to choose from. But as of today, there were now only 3 different Russias remaining:   The far-left Union of Soviet Republics of Europe and Asia   The hard-center Eurasian Commonwealth of Independent States   The far-right Great Eurasiatic Empire of the Holy Roman Nation   The future of Russia lies in whichever simulation remains the most popular. Whether it follows the left, the center or the right is left to the preference of the Russian people.