The Basic Living Stipend, or BLS, was a type of welfare payment issued to the poorest class of citizens in the People's Republic of Haven, commonly known as Dolists. First instituted at the turn of the 18th Century PD, as part of the Economic Bill of Rights, the BLS was a source of conflict between the Dolists and the People's Republic's government. The Dolists felt that they were entitled to an ever increasing BLS, for which the government was incapable of providing due to the need to maintain the sprawling bureaucracy and huge military. Efforts to freeze or lower the stipend caused growing violence against the government by the Dolists and other groups. Under the DuQuesne Plan, Haven annexed neighbouring star nations in order to acquire the economic assets needed to prop up the BLS and o