The Anglo-Saxon Social Model - The Expanded Universe

Though I think the division of the Indonesian states seem quite weird
A more reasonable one is like this
1. An Aceh State
2. An North Sumatran state (called Batak state)
3. An state having territory similar
OTL West Sumatra called Minangkabau state
4. An confederation of Jambi,Bengkulu,South Sumatra, and Lampung called Sumatran Confederation having capital in Palembang
5. An Pasundan state having territories similar OTL Banten and West Java
6. An Jakartan city state (already exists)
7. An Javanese state headed by Yogyakartan monarch
8. An Bali state
9. An federative state between West and East Nusa Tenggara
10. An Dayak state
11. An Banjar state
12. An West Kalimantan state
13. An Makassar state with territory similar to OTL South Sulawesi
14. An North Sulawesi state
15. An Sulawesi state having territory similar to OTL Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southwest Sulawesi
16. An Maluku state
17. Instead of calling it New Guinea a better name would be Papua
I would like to hear your thoughts
 
A little something that is a hint to the longer project I've been working on.

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Anglo-American plc is an American-Commonwealth mass media and broadcasting company with operations around the world but located primarily in the Commonwealth and the United States. The company is headquartered and listed in London with a secondary listing in New York. It was formed in 1908 as Anglo-American Newspapers Limited, amalgamating the pre-existing newspaper properties, The Times, The New York Times and The Observer and has since expanded to include major broadcasting networks and other newspapers.

The origins of the company lie in the personal and political reversals of William Waldorf Astor in the late 19th century. When he lost an election for the US Senate in 1881, Astor found his political failure to be regular fodder for gossip columns and negative press coverage. This was then compounded by a public feud with his aunt, Lina Astor, from 1890. In 1891, Astor purchased The New York Times from the estate of former owner George Jones and used it in an attempt to improve his reputation. This attempt proved unsuccessful and Astor left New York in 1892, settling in London.

Despite his move, Astor retained an interest in his growing media empire, supplementing it with the purchase of The Pall Mall Gazette in 1893, The Observer in 1905 and The Times in 1908. Upon the purchase of the last title, Astor amalgamated The Observer and his two ‘Times’ titles into one called The Anglo-American Times (Monday-Saturday) and The Anglo-American Observer (Sunday). Under his tenure, this flagship title became the most prestigious news organisation of its day on both sides of the Atlantic. Its pro-American stance is credited with both shoring up support for American entry into the Great War in 1913 and British intervention on the side of the Allies in 1917.

Astor died in 1919 and the business would be taken over by his sons Waldorf and John Jacob. Over the next two decades, the company expanded its newspaper holdings, buying newspapers in Canada and Australia. The more high-brow ‘broadsheet’ newspapers would then find themselves folded into the Times and Observer titles while the lower-brow ‘tabloids’ would be allowed to retain their names and corporate identities. This led to allegations of sharp business practice, with many journalists finding their newspapers bought only to then be sacked and replaced by Astor appointees. Nevertheless, by the outbreak of the World War, the company was the largest media empire in the world, rivalled only by the CBC.

In the postwar period, the company was quick to identify the growing medium of television. ITV was founded in 1954 as a commercial television organisation with various media franchises around the Commonwealth. In 1962, the company purchased the largest number of shares when the American government privatised the National Broadcasting Company. In 1986, they completed the takeover of NBC and brought it private.

As of 2020, Anglo-American plc is a holding company still majority owned by the Astor family. Current chairman, Lord Astor, is the fourth generation of his family to head the company. It is headquartered in London with major offices in New York, Chicago, Philadelphia, Los Angeles, Karachi, Nairobi and Sydney. Its operations are divided between television, online and newspapers. NBC is one of the United States three national cable channels and ITV is the largest private television and media channel in the Commonwealth.

The company operates nine newspapers in addition to the flagship Anglo-American Times and Anglo-American Observer titles. Of these, one, The Free Press, is an online-only publication (since 2013) and one, The Pall Mall Gazette, is distributed free both online and in print. All the others have online subscription schemes in addition to print publications. All have significant online footprints with a number, including the Pall Mall Gazette, The Daily Telegraph and The New York Post, having significant international following outside of their traditional publication areas (London, Sydney and New York, respectively). The Anglo-American Times and The Anglo-American Observer, commonly referred to simply as “The Times” and “The Observer,” respectively, are among the most prestigious and well known newspapers in the world. They have an estimated 14,500,000 online subscribers as well as a daily print circulation of over 1,000,000.

In addition, the company produces the weekly Anglo-American Review of Books (AARB), which publishes longer form essays on literature, culture, economics, science and current affairs. Beginning publication in 1963, as a successor to various literary supplements in other Anglo-American publications, the AARB has been described as one of the most prestigious and well known reviews in the world, with a circulation of nearly 250,000 per issue.

Since its creation, The Times and The Observer have observed strict neutrality rules and have not formally endorsed a political party or individual politicians. However, critics have pointed out that the publications have adopted political positions, from taking a bellicose attitude towards Germany in 1913, support for left wing economic policies (both Soviet market socialism and Progressive New Deal programs) in the 1940s and 1950s and opposition to the Commonwealth’s departure from NATO in the 1960s. Because of the paper’s history and prestige, it is often thought of as having close connections with the American and Commonwealth political, cultural, religious and business establishment.

The company’s other titles have made open declarations of political support: it’s primary British tabloid, The Daily Herald, has traditionally taken a pro-trades union stance while The New York Post has adopted pro-Republican stances (albeit in both cases with occasions of support for the Liberals or the Progressives). The tone of the AARB has been described as “consistently radical.”

Alongside its various publications and businesses, the company is known for its cosmopolitan and internationalist corporate culture. This has been satirised on many occasions, most notably in the NBC sitcom 30 Rock (2006-2013) in the relationship between the American writer Liz Lemon (Tina Fey) and the Anglo-Irish executive Jack Donaghy (Pierce Brosnan).

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The TTL ITV would be a grouping of regional stations, like until the 90s OTL, or a national, unitary station (like from the 2000s onwards OTL)?
 
The TTL ITV would be a grouping of regional stations, like until the 90s OTL, or a national, unitary station (like from the 2000s onwards OTL)?

The former. TTL's ITV is really an umbrella organisation for a whole bunch of regional franchises around the Commonwealth but mostly in the UK
 
Review: AARB, Volume LX, Issue 5
So, this is something I've been working on for quite a while. As you can tell, graphic design isn't really my forte and most of what I've been doing has been trying to get the various 'voices' right. I think it's a fun way to get a new angle on TTL and hope you do too. Let me know if you have any problems opening it.
 

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Though I think the division of the Indonesian states seem quite weird
A more reasonable one is like this
1. An Aceh State
2. An North Sumatran state (called Batak state)
3. An state having territory similar
OTL West Sumatra called Minangkabau state
4. An confederation of Jambi,Bengkulu,South Sumatra, and Lampung called Sumatran Confederation having capital in Palembang
5. An Pasundan state having territories similar OTL Banten and West Java
6. An Jakartan city state (already exists)
7. An Javanese state headed by Yogyakartan monarch
8. An Bali state
9. An federative state between West and East Nusa Tenggara
10. An Dayak state
11. An Banjar state
12. An West Kalimantan state
13. An Makassar state with territory similar to OTL South Sulawesi
14. An North Sulawesi state
15. An Sulawesi state having territory similar to OTL Gorontalo, West Sulawesi, Central Sulawesi, Southwest Sulawesi
16. An Maluku state
17. Instead of calling it New Guinea a better name would be Papua
I would like to hear your thoughts
I like those thoughts but I think that's probably too many Indonesian states. The idea of the divisions as I presented them is that they're basically the country level divisions. So, for example, the states would propose at 13-15 above would probably be sub-level state administrative divisions within the state of East Indonesia. The fact is that the individual parts of the Benelux are basically independent states with a shared citizenship, foreign and trade policy (and a shared bancor account at the ICU). But thanks for your comments - it's given me food for thought and I'll definitely be changing NewGuinea to Papua at least.

Great, do you have an idea of the franchises involved?
I'm afraid I don't, to hand. I can work on that and get back to you but I've got a few things I want to do first.
 
So, this is something I've been working on for quite a while. As you can tell, graphic design isn't really my forte and most of what I've been doing has been trying to get the various 'voices' right. I think it's a fun way to get a new angle on TTL and hope you do too. Let me know if you have any problems opening it.
You’ve outdone yourself here. Awesome work.
 
Global Ranking: Professional sports leagues by revenue
In each case, the figures for "revenue" are for the last completed season with the exception of the figure for the World Test Championship, which is from the most recent calendar year. The figure for revenue per team is an average and, while some leagues operate on an equal revenue-sharing arrangement, in practice there is a certain degree of income inequality between teams in most leagues. Rankings for the biggest baseball, rugby, cricket, football and hockey leagues are available on request.

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Cricket: Leading women's leagues
With credit to @sarahz , who has always, correctly, held my feet to the fire whenever I've neglected the women's game in my sport updates.

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Women’s cricket is the form of cricket that is played by women. The first recorded match was in England in July 1745. Historically a strictly amateur sport, restrictions on payments to players in most countries were removed in 1980.

The first women’s cricket club was formed in Yorkshire in 1887 and in 1890 a team known as the Original English Lady Cricketers became the first professional women’s team. A women’s cricket league was set up in Australia in 1894 and in the same decade women’s clubs were also formed in South Africa and Canada. The Women’s Cricket Association was established as a governing body in 1926, with representatives from England, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, the United States, Denmark and the Netherlands. The first international game was contested between England and Australia in 1934 and these matches became a common part of Ashes tours alongside the men's teams for the next few decades. From 1958, the teams competed for the Poulett-Harris Cup, named after the Australian pioneer of the game.

However, although the women’s matches attracted large crowds and profits for the organisers, the players were required to remain amateur. In 1976, the England captain Rachael Hayhoe was banned by the WCA for accepting payments during England’s tour of Australia. Shortly following her ban, Hayhoe entered secret discussions with Lord Astor, who had recently taken over his family’s media empire and was keen to add cricket to its television offering in both the United Kingdom and Australia. By the end of the 1976-77 Australian domestic season, Hayhoe and Astor had signed up over two dozen English and Australian players.

Following a lengthy court case with both the ICC and the WCA, the first World Series Cricket season began in 1978, featuring teams from England, Australia and the Rest of the World. Because the rights to cricket’s rules were owned by the Marylebone Cricket Club, World Series Cricket was played according to subtly different rules, the most obvious of which was that each team was restricted to one innings of a maximum of 60 overs each. Despite not being able to be played at first class cricket grounds, the competition proved a success, with a second season taking place in Australia in 1978-79 and a third back in England in 1979. At the same time, several WCA-run amateur tournaments had to be cancelled due to a lack of interest and players.

The reunification of women’s cricket occurred in 1980, with the WCA accepting professionalism and reorganising the game along Astor’s and Heyhoe’s proposed lines. Most notably, the limited-overs format was adopted for all top-level women’s games going forward. In 1995, the domestic game was reorganised, with clubs adopting a franchise format and regularising the international calendar.

In contrast to its male counterpart, the women’s game is dominated by domestic cricket, although the sport has competed at the Olympics since 1996 and the Poulett-Harris Cup continues to be contested in odd years. The most popular domestic leagues are the Big Bash League (featuring teams from Australia and New Zealand), the Euro Cricket Slam (featuring teams from the United Kingdom, the Benelux and the Nordic Union) and the National Women’s Cricket League (featuring teams from the United States). Other notable leagues include the Caribbean Super League in Puerto Rico and the West Indies, the Pakistan Super League in Pakistan and the Super Four Provincial Cup in Ceylon. Controversially, professional women’s cricket remains banned in India.

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Great Men: Samuel Coleridge-Taylor
Samuel Coleridge-Taylor (15 August 1875 - 1 September 1952) was an English composer and conductor. One of the leading conductors of his generation, Coleridge-Taylor’s career bridged a number of eras, including late-19th century romanticism, early 20th century modernism, the fusion of classical music with big band in the 1920s and finally the incorporation of traditional west African music in the 1940s. He was also a pioneer in various forms of musical promotion and distribution, gaining widespread fame in the process. In the decades since his death, Coleridge-Taylor has consistently been one of the most frequently performed and recorded of all composers: in 2016 a CBC Music Magazine survey of 151 composers ranked three of his symphonies in the top ten symphonies of all time.

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Of mixed race birth, Coleridge-Taylor achieved early success in the 1890s with his three cantatas based on the epic poem, Song of Hiawatha by Henry Longfellow. The first section premiered in 1898 and led to offers to tour the Commonwealth and the United States, as well as to judge numerous music festivals. Frustrated at the racism he faced in the Britain of the time, Coleridge-Taylor left the United Kingdom in 1924 and moved to Atlanta, where he became a key part of the flowering of African American culture known as the Atlanta Renaissance.

During his five years in Atlanta, Coleridge-Taylor was heavily influenced by African American music, developing a then-new fusion of jazz and classical music known as stride. Among the musicians and composers he influenced and collaborated with at this time were Tomas Waller and Roland Hayes. A particularly fruitful collaboration proved to be with Duke Ellington, resulting in the lasting fusion of classical and big band music, ensuring the continued popularity and relevance of the genres for decades to come.

In 1929, Coleridge-Taylor returned to the United Kingdom to take up the role of Chief Conductor of the London Symphony Orchestra, where he would remain until his retirement in 1945. Although his stride and big band-classical compositions found less favour among a British audience than in America, his innovative and demanding standards ensured his reputation as one of the greatest opera conductors, particularly as an interpreter of Wagner, Brahms and Dvorak.

In his retirement, Coleridge-Taylor began to explore his west African roots more and moved to Sierra Leone in 1947. His last opera, Thelma, premiered in 1950 and was heavily influenced by these sounds.

Coleridge-Taylor was 77 when he died in 1952 and was buried in King Tom Cemetery. He married an Englishwoman, Jessie Walmisley, who predeceased him by ten years and had two children, a daughter Avril and a son Hiawatha, both of whom became composers and conductors.
 
One thing which has also confused me about the canon of this TL is that the UK has the same population as OTL - even though it had massively improved living conditions from 1870-WW1, lost no where near the same amount of men to WW1, experienced it's own roaring 20's (lots of urban growth), had a post-war boom TTL (which means more kids), better healthcare and just in general is better.

Seems strange.
 
One thing which has also confused me about the canon of this TL is that the UK has the same population as OTL - even though it had massively improved living conditions from 1870-WW1, lost no where near the same amount of men to WW1, experienced it's own roaring 20's (lots of urban growth), had a post-war boom TTL (which means more kids), better healthcare and just in general is better.

Seems strange.

That's an interesting question, actually. I think ultimately it might just be a contradiction, given that I have decreased the populations of Pakistan, East Africa and Rhodesia from their OTL equivalents to take into account their living standards are roughly equivalent to OTL rural US states. That being said, I'd say a couple of things which would explain the unchanged population levels: firstly, living standards aren't actually all that different from OTL until we get to the post-1945 period (I'd say the 'take-off' as against OTL economically is probably growth after 1945, whereas most of the changes beforehand are on the level of politics and the constitution); secondly, I don't think affluence=greater population in any strict sense. Quite to the contrary, I could see the 'native' population of TTL UK declining (as in OTL Japan) but being replenished by Commonwealth migrants.

But overall I think there is a bit of a contradiction there. When I started working out population levels for the UK when I started this TL I just used OTL as a way of keeping myself sane. If it's not too much of a cop out answer, I'd say that I'm willing the suspension of disbelief.
 
That's an interesting question, actually. I think ultimately it might just be a contradiction, given that I have decreased the populations of Pakistan, East Africa and Rhodesia from their OTL equivalents to take into account their living standards are roughly equivalent to OTL rural US states. That being said, I'd say a couple of things which would explain the unchanged population levels: firstly, living standards aren't actually all that different from OTL until we get to the post-1945 period (I'd say the 'take-off' as against OTL economically is probably growth after 1945, whereas most of the changes beforehand are on the level of politics and the constitution); secondly, I don't think affluence=greater population in any strict sense. Quite to the contrary, I could see the 'native' population of TTL UK declining (as in OTL Japan) but being replenished by Commonwealth migrants.

But overall I think there is a bit of a contradiction there. When I started working out population levels for the UK when I started this TL I just used OTL as a way of keeping myself sane. If it's not too much of a cop out answer, I'd say that I'm willing the suspension of disbelief.
I mean if changing Pakistan, East Africa and Rhodesia didn’t drive you insane Britain seems reasonable.
 
That's an interesting question, actually. I think ultimately it might just be a contradiction, given that I have decreased the populations of Pakistan, East Africa and Rhodesia from their OTL equivalents to take into account their living standards are roughly equivalent to OTL rural US states. That being said, I'd say a couple of things which would explain the unchanged population levels: firstly, living standards aren't actually all that different from OTL until we get to the post-1945 period (I'd say the 'take-off' as against OTL economically is probably growth after 1945, whereas most of the changes beforehand are on the level of politics and the constitution); secondly, I don't think affluence=greater population in any strict sense. Quite to the contrary, I could see the 'native' population of TTL UK declining (as in OTL Japan) but being replenished by Commonwealth migrants.

But overall I think there is a bit of a contradiction there. When I started working out population levels for the UK when I started this TL I just used OTL as a way of keeping myself sane. If it's not too much of a cop out answer, I'd say that I'm willing the suspension of disbelief.
Oh no - I completely understand why you'd do it, as this timeline is so detailed :).

It is an interesting debate though. Because I'd argue that the acceleration of the process which all nation's will undergo in Japan is more because of their culture and work laws.

I can understand the argument for it staying the same, and kind of understand the argument for it decreasing, but I think that an increase to around ~90-100million is most likely. I'll give my reasons why:

1. Social security comes in earlier, this OTL resulted in a large drop in infant mortality due to less deprivation.
2. Ireland won't be an economic backwater for decades (at least post-1945), meaning that it won't go through the ridiculousness of people having 4 children for generations but the population stagnating because of the massive levels of migration
3. Whilst prosperity = less kids holds true post-1960s - it definetley didn't in the 50s and 60s. TTL the UK would likely go through, if not a US level boom, certainly a more significant one than their OTL lacklustre one (in comparison to the USA)
4. The effect of lower WW1 casualties cannot be overstated - that, I think, 500-700 thousand less dead could easily represent 3-4million modern Britons. Mainly because the fertility rate post-WW1 won't collapse like a house of cards - which feeds into my next point.
5. The Roaring Twenties, TTL is a UK thing aswell! Kids, kids, and more kids. Massively improved technology coupled with actually having a sufficient amount of males means that the UK's population should grow notably in the interwar period, definetley more so than OTL.
6. Greater economic prosperity and security means less emigration - higher population time!
7. What seems to be a healthier society (Lots more Co-Ops is mentioned, and time for hobbies/excercise) should cut down at least a little on the spectres of modern society - obesity and smoking. This works in tandem with what seems to be a better funder and more efficient NHS. Whilst not being overly large, it could have a noticeable effect (possibly an extra million?)
8. Whilst it isn't incorrect to say that prosperity = less kids. This is true in comparison to Victorian times, but can't be used to explain why fertility rates went from around 2.0 in the 1980s to firmly below by now. Of course, greater female empowerment and a general trend are obvious factors - but the major thing stopping people having kids today is cost. With the avoidance of Neo-Liberalism, a much higher GDP per capita, a shorter work week and some form of UBI, this is fairly countered.
9. Access to a large, educated and reliable pool of migrants since the 1940s should really have an effect.
10. Tens of Northern communities haven't withered TTL - as we avoided long-term Thatcherism.

So yeah, that's just my head-canon really. 90-100million for me. Of course there are plenty of reasons to argue that it wouldn't happen, I just like being optimistic!
 
I think they're all good points and, to be honest, I agree with most of them. What I might say in my defence is that there is probably a fair bit of emigration to other Commonwealth countries like Australia and Canada, although that doesn't explain why their populations aren't different from OTL so *shrugs*...
 
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