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Politics in Fenspace
Politics in Fenspace
#1
(too meta for the Gazeteer, but possibly worthy of discussion)
Got into a discussion last night about the possibility of a Fenspace/'Danelaw conflict sometime in the future, and the question arose about fandom's political leanings. I didn't really have a good answer at the time, so I went back and read a little, took stock of the various characters and tried to distill it all into a couple of positions. These aren't faction political parties or societies or even really hard statements of belief. This is all pretty soft, broad and vague. That said, I see four major positions in fandom's political climate as of SOS-Con:
1) Apathists: "The 'Danelaw doesn't care about what we're doing out here, and we're too busy cracking rocks, herding comets and building domes to really care about the 'Danelaw. Things are just fine the way they are, so why freak out?"
2) Nationalists: "Fenspace is a frontier and like all frontiers it's a bit wild and wooly. Sooner or later though, civilization catches up with the frontier. Mundane laws and government will establish themselves, and that's not a bad thing - we all grew up under them and we came out okay, right? Naturally, the 'Danelaw countries what we came from at first get dibs, since they're the nations we know and love best. And as the sphere of civilization expands, the frontier will also expand, to the outer system and then to other star systems. That's the way we spread civilization."
3) Globalists: "Earth is the biggest, most powerful economic engine in the solar system. If we're going to not just survive, but thrive, we need to latch onto that engine and become an important part of it. All of our big projects depend on money from Earth, and if the money stops they stop. It's not even a question of politics, it's a question of keeping the Earth's engine turning Fenspace's wheel."
4) Separatists: "The solar system has a gigantic resource base, and history has shown us what happens to cultures that have resources but no industry that come into contact with cultures with industry but no resources. We must become self-sufficient, through breeding quirk-free wavetech, building our own hardtech industry or preferably both. If we can keep it together for a little while, we'll be strong enough to stand up for ourselves. And why give up this great situation? Why give up our country just so we can live in someone else's? Seriously why get involved in the 'Danelaw's squabbles?"
Naturally this isn't the sum total of political thought in Fenspace, but it's a start - relatively broad positions that cover some of the more important issues faced in space colonization. There's some overlap, nationalists and globalists being tricky to tell apart from a distance, same with apathists and seperatists. And there's room for variance within each position: a globalist could be anything from a L. Neil Smith libertarian to a hardcore communist, but they agree that trade with Earth is key to survival.
The status quo as of SOS-Con favors the apathist stance. Aside from a few almost half-hearted forays into cislunar space the 'Danelaw powers have turned their backs on the solar system at large. Without an overriding concern to draw people to the more committed stances, nationalists globalists & seperatists are reduced to yelling at each other at Conventions or on the SMOF/BNF political boards. The aftermath of SOS-Con and the Zwilnik War will shift this around some, but unless the conflict starts drawing attention from the 'Danelaw space powers the balance of power will remain in the apathist's court for a while yet.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#2
and concomitant to politics in Fenspace is Law Enforcement in Fenspace, of which I suspect there is little, but I know nothing at the moment. Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979Wire Geek - Burning the weak and trampling the dead since 1979
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Politics in Fenspace
#3
> unless the conflict starts drawing attention from
> the 'Danelaw space powers the balance of power will
> remain in the apathist's court for a while yet.
Which doesn't stop more than a few Fen from laying groundwork for what they confidently expect to happen five or ten years down the line and trying to recruit BNFs to their agendas, for example, it's surprising how often Morden's name crops up in discussion over the Globalist view - as in he's surprised by how many people think that he's with them and that thus, there are a 'them'.
D for Drakensis

You're only young once, but immaturity is forever.
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#4
There's another possible large group:
5) Ex-Pats: "Just because our old homes in the 'Danelaw gave up on us because we got biomodded or otherwise got too close to 'wavium doesn't mean we've given up on our old homes in the 'Danelaw. We're out here because for a while we had no place else to go - it might be safe to head back home, or it might not, but we've grown comfortable among the 'natives'. But that doesn't mean we've forgotten our true homes, back on Earth. Maybe we'll go back someday. Maybe..."
Edit: Then there's the "We're going to run things out here my way" group, also known as "Boskonians"...

-Rob Kelk
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."

- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#5
I'd think expats as a group would qualify as a subset of nationalists - they're just waiting for the mountain to come to them, as it were.---
Mr. Fnord
http://fnord.sandwich.net/
http://www.jihad.net/
Mr. Fnord interdimensional man of mystery

FenWiki - Your One-Stop Shop for Fenspace Information

"I. Drink. Your. NERDRAGE!"
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#6
I'd think the anarchist movement would also be fairly large. Space being one of the few places where they would be free from the goverment.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#7
I'd think that the anarchist and survivalist types would probably fall somewhere in between apathist and survivalist when it starts to matter. The anarchists are probably at the "small but significant" stage pre-SOS, but the Boskonian arc is going to hit their support base hard.
Actually, there'd be a fair number of folks somewhere in the apathist/seperatist spectrum that would be going out to space to try new and more interesting governmental forms. The anarchists are just the most obvious.
Sudden realization: If we ever do get affordable space travel, even intrasolar, then it's likely to have much the same effect on government as the internet has on society and subculture. Suddenly, the strange folks are going to have a place to go out and try it on their own, without fear of the dominant paradigm. Of course, there are those who aren't waiting, even now.
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#8
I wonder if the survivalist types would be able to function. The way Fenspace seems to be at this stage, there is a lot of dependency on outside supply, least until the terraforming efforts get a lot further than they seem to be.---------------
-Jon
Being the Mariner hitting coach is like being the Defense Against the Dark Arts teacher at Hogwarts.
-Poster on USSMariner.com
---
Jon
"And that must have caused my dad's brain to break in half, replaced by a purely mechanical engine of revenge!"
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Re: Politics in Fenspace
#9
Recyling + Handwavium as a foodgroup. They should be able to, just not very comfortably.
E: "Did they... did they just endorse the combination of the JSDF and US Army by showing them as two lesbian lolicons moving in together and holding hands and talking about how 'intimate' they were?"
B: "Have you forgotten so soon? They're phasing out Don't Ask, Don't Tell."
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