 The show explores the lives of a group of people who fought on the losing side of a civil war and others who now make a living on the fringe of society , as part of the pioneer culture that exists on the fringes of their star system . In this future , the only two surviving superpowers , the United States and China , fused to form the central federal government , called the Alliance , resulting in the fusion of the two cultures . According to Whedon 's vision , " nothing will change in the future : technology will advance , but we will still have the same political , moral , and ethical problems as today " . 
