Third-person POV
The thick, casebound books of essays offered mirrors to Earth's sociological, economic, and technological flaws. One section discussed the dangers of currency hyperinflation. They brought the cases from Zimbabwe and Venezuela, as well as post-WWII Hungary, as primary examples. This is why currencies in this world were often co-official with goods and rejected paper cash (Ruslav was a recent newcomer with its goods and Ruslav Pesos).
Another one was on the inequalities between rural and urban. The section, written by 10 scholars and historians over the span of 110 years, argued that the rural areas are as essential as the urban cities. They brought the cases of modern-day Japan, South Korea, and India. This is why both kinds of environment had near equal essential infrastructure and services (like in Falleta's national railway system and Pantano's own diverse but decentralized transit system).
Katsuko and Ormoc were on the section that despised brutalist architecture as 'killjoys' of natural and man-made beauty. The scholars and architects of traditional styles argued that traditional architecture is not the filthy bourgeois oppressors of the working-class people; rather, they are expressions of objective beauty and glory for the people, the deities, and the state.
Basilio and Helena were also focusing on another book that spoke on the dangers of volatile markets on Earth. It said that markets should not be based on speculative markets and stocks, and they should return to the fundamentals of good old commodities and services. Also, they argued that governments should also regulate prices for these essential and non-essential commodities. This is why Pantano and Dacuinia had regulated prices on everything they sell and export.
Another one was for Kahraman, Viviana, and Romana on the rejection of corporations. The 21-page section (with charts and other visual representations) showed the dark side of multinational corporations in countries outside of their headquarters. This is why almost everything countries produced and made were in the hands of localized and regional guilds (either state-owned or private). Even vehicles like buses and trucks tended to be independent by their operators who received the Driving Skill (AAA-ranked skill) by Araç the god of vehicles (the visual depiction of him tended to be a young man in a dark blue attire of a bus driver and with a logo of a steering wheel in the front).
But the one that was a jewel was another volume that railed against ethnic cleansing and one-race superiority, supremacy, and unity. The idea of persecuting minorities in countries (like in Myanmar and Syria) was a black hole against the uniqueness of people. This is why countries like Pantano and Dacuinia focused on the unity of all peoples by nationalism rather than by one race (humans, elves, etc).
As Maximilian was relaxing with an essay volume on the flaws of brutalism, the group across the sprawling library were in awe to see how these shaped the world they are now living in. Basilio felt the economic and social kinship in these essays when he had co-declared that the Ruslav Pesos and bartering as co-official currencies in Ruslav and the rejection of brutalist styles when he commissioned the private-public schools in Ruslav.
"Guys," Maximilian said to them, "if you want these books, I'll recommend bookshops that sold these books before you guys made your trip home."