Also, don't worry. Even though the America First Party lasts awhile Z-Thought doesn't have legs so it won't stick around too far beyond the 2020s!
Last edited:
Good luckFinished a short story set in this universe for the SLP Alternate Antarcticas anthology! Fingers crossed it gets picked up!
Thanks so much! It's kept me busy and I haven't been able to do as much with this in the meantime. Anybody with new setting questions? I had an idea for a deeper dive into Zoranist theology but it isn't ready for primetime yet and answering questions helps me process.Good luck
Too tired to make my original idea work, so have another one I cooked up! In my Power Without Knowledge verse, City on a Hill! holds pride of place as the first true work of Antarctic literature, published in 2080 by an anonymous American exile under the pseudonym Fabian Palmer. Functionally similar to Reds!, the novel is a mix of prose and epistolary uchronia, describing a slightly different history of the 21st century that lessens the Shatter of the big three American parties and in the process leads to a stronger Commonwealth Party able to turn the coup against their 2060 electoral victory into a successful Cosmicist Revolution, eventually culminating in the birth of the United Commonwealths of Columbia. Here's the state of the Seventh Party System just before the final American election:
- The Radical Reform Party was forged by Pat Buchanan during his second term, having fully purged the Nader and Perot wings from the Reform Party and absorbed large swathes of the Republican and Libertarian parties in the wake of an even less successful War on Terror. The party of right wing reaction and militant anticommunism, the party has occasionally held the Senate in the past forty years, but has never won the White House with the popular vote. The Radical color is gold and their symbol is an eagle. Major factions: neoconservative, Laroucheite, Objectivist. Paramilitary: Myrmidon Militia/Minutemen.
- The New Democratic Party is centrism made flesh, bolstered by "compassionate conservatives" cast off from the Republicans and Perotist Reformers. Demographic shifts and escalating climate change have delivered them a recurring slim if comfortable lock on the House and every time they've lost the White House but won the popular vote rest assured they're always magnanimous in defeat. The NDP retain Democratic blue but extended an olive branch to the reasonable Republicans and traded in the donkey for a tapir as a middle ground. Major factions: neoliberal, conservative, radical centrist. Paramilitary: PMCs (too lukewarm for motivated partisan street fighters).
- The Commonwealth Party* was organized around a core formed by the Citizens Party (itself having butterflied the Democratic Socialists of America and the Green Party), bolstered by an influx of progressive Democrats, Nader Reformers, and the Manifest Destiny! Party (after they managed to purge the white nationalists, black separatists, and ethnocacerists). The Commonwealthers are organized around the principles of neopopulism, bringing together an emphasis on syndicalism, intersectional social democracy, environmentalism and political devolution. Their color is purple and they use a bee as an electoral symbol. Major factions: neopopulist, Left Regressive, councilist, Cosmicist. Paramilitary: Bonus Army (Cosmicist-dominated).
*In PWN proper the Commonwealth Party used teal, but the lack of a Shatter leaves purple on the table and creates more thematic resonance with the burgundy of the Cosmicist faction that will eventually become the dominant face of the party and the new regime.
They're going well, thank you for asking! Quick trip this weekend and then a work conference all of the week after next, lots of irons in the fire and running around as per usual. When I get a free moment I've got some updates for this TL and I should probably finish the one planned for my syllabus thread and I could probably crank out an addendum for King in Yellow. My vignette for this TL is still being considered for the SLP Antarctica anthology, so I'll be sure to let you all know how it goes 🤔 Any new lore questions come to mind?How're things going for the story and your personal life @Born in the USSA?
Entertainment is like any other industry* in a Cosmicist system, with a blend of government-owned producers, cooperatives, and independent creators. The focus on cooperatives and indie stuff combined with the mandate for full unionization** gives writers, actors and technical staff a lot of leverage. Generally things like noncompetes are a nonstarter, so even if a particular actor or director was primarily associated with a specific cooperative as an owner-creator there are plenty of procedures in place for them to transfer to a competitor or freelance for a smaller outfit either short or long-term.It's good to hear that you're doing well Born! Nice to hear that progress on your projects is coming along nicely! Without further adieu, on to the lore questions!
1. With the recent amount of strikes in the entertainment industry, that makes me curious, what's the entertainment industry like in the ARC?
I think South America was discussed in a random side snippet, though I can't remember 🤔 Since the Soviets have managed to recover from a brief economic downturn they're back to high Cold War levels of support for friendly regimes in Latin America, though any hint of Posadism is stamped down on hard. One major change— the aftereffects of a much more expansive Falkland's War has moved Argentina firmly into the Soviet sphere*** and there's tons of lingering tension with its neighbors.2. I can't really recall if South America was covered much in this story, so until we get an update that covers it in more detail, what's the continent like by the present day?
There's some work on the concept but they're nowhere near ready yet. The general consensus is that a focus on new varieties of drones is the better path to transporting cargo and people should be left to drive themselves around. Macondo is the leading edge in drone development, something that will later come in handy (and still later backfire horribly) in Antarctica.3. Are self-driving cars still a thing in this universe, and if so, how do they differ from Tesla's terrors of the street?
I haven't considered a Discord, my fear is that I won't have time to properly focus on it 😅4. This isn't really a lore question, but have you ever considered creating a Discord server focused on discussing and worldbuilding for these projects of yours? I'd honestly be done to join it. Could be fun And it would make asking lore questions like a lot easier, that's for sure.
No worries! I love lore questions 😂Alright, that's all for now, until next time Born!
I work for a nonprofit, why do you ask?What do you do in life?
Sometimes I think you have a conception of political systems a bit too scholastic or ideological, but overall you often really put down the work to build systems significantly different from the one we live in, with a good thought for details. Not many in this website can do this. I was curious if you worked with something like this IRL.I work for a nonprofit, why do you ask?
Nope, not even a little 😂 My pet peeve with AH ideologies a lot of the time (aside from the fact there aren't enough!) is when they don't go deep enough with their concept. Any proper ideology should have a mass appeal and a theory each of history, government and political economy to be properly fleshed out IMO. Cosmicism arose in response to neoliberalism, so the ARC economy is not structured to pursue profit at all costs (though profit is generated as a byproduct), but rather to simultaneouslySometimes I think you have a conception of political systems a bit too scholastic or ideological, but overall you often really put down the work to build systems significantly different from the one we live in, with a good thought for details. Not many in this website can do this. I was curious if you worked with something like this IRL.