(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!"
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!"
