Story Background

the genre is sci-fi, and story would fall into the category of man vs. man, or perhaps more precisely man vs. the system.
The premise is after nearly destroying the earth (actually I call my planet Dirt) with overpopulation, pollution, soil erosion, global warming, etc. world war three breaks out bringing humankind to the brink.
Before the war there was over 7 billion people, after the war, there was less than 1.  Humankind rebounds with a one world government, two mega-corporations, and a single military force.  The war left planet Dirt devastated, now it can barely produce enough food to keep the less than a billion alive.. The United Dirt Government enforces strict population control. When the jump drive is invented the military snatches it up and keeps the technology humankind’s best kept secret.  The ten nearest and most likely habitable worlds are explored, and three of these are found to be useful, and are colonized.
The book begins 40 years after colonization.(Known as the exodus)  Life on the colonies is harsh, run by the greedy mega-corporations.