Different Shades of Socialism - an alternate Cold War

[walmart]

group of pro-Soviet communists who are told by the Moscow to do not attempt anything that will endanger relations with the United States.

I don't see how invading an Islamic republic is going to cause issues with United States ?

Being neutral is more profitable for Libya during 1970s and early 1980s as it can trade oil with everyone for exchange of sweet dollars.

That is not going to be apparent in the aftermath of the coup assuming it is true. In otl the Soviet allied Arab states did sell oil to the West and Western Allied Countries so this isn't going to be an issue.

 

[Imielin]

I don't see how invading an Islamic republic is going to cause issues with United States ?

Islamic Revolution is being overthrown by the democratic forces openly supported by the US. Interference of communist Iraq is hard to explain beyond the war of aggression. Too many American ships in the area, too many of American aircraft in the air to be not mistaken while shooting. Basically, the Soviet Empire is falling one by one and the Politburo tries to defend what's left.

That is not going to be apparent in the aftermath of the coup assuming it is true. In otl the Soviet allied Arab states did sell oil to the West and Western Allied Countries so this isn't going to be an issue.

Gaddafi is to important asset for the US to be included by the Soviets or Europeans. Beyond Turkey he's the only ally in the region and they'll support him just like they supported OTL dictators in exchange of being anti-Soviet.

 

[Sarthak]

If my knowledge about Nepal is correct, then I think that monarchy could be abolished on 11 November 1950, when the people's government was formed. I don't known many things about Bhutan (aside of the banning of TVs, Internet and expelling 20% of its population), but I think that overall Asian political situation and close proximity of socialist states would made monarchy much more unpopular. Maybe some sort of a hermit kingdom?

Impossible. The revolution of the people's democratic movement happened with the support of the king against the Rana Dynasty who had kept the royal family under house arrest for the past 70 years and had become virtual dictators of the nation. The support of the king also made the majority of the noble families pull their support for the democratic movement and around 4/10 of the democratic leaders were nobles and royalty. And the entire movement was funded by the royalty. The movement would have teppered out without the monarchy very very very fast. You're going to need to take a huge leap of faith to get that to happen.

 

[Imielin]

Impossible. The revolution of the people's democratic movement happened with the support of the king against the Rana Dynasty who had kept the royal family under house arrest for the past 70 years and had become virtual dictators of the nation. The support of the king also made the majority of the noble families pull their support for the democratic movement and around 4/10 of the democratic leaders were nobles and royalty. And the entire movement was funded by the royalty. The movement would have teppered out without the monarchy very very very fast. You're going to need to take a huge leap of faith to get that to happen.

I didn't know that. I've made some research on the Asian countries but unfortunately my knowledge about that is still not enough. It seems that several things will have to be corrected l, together with Gaddafi as @Noscoper said.

 

[Imielin]

I've corrected last chapter. Libya is now the part of the United Arab States while Iraq gained some border adjustments in exchange of neutrality during the 1983 revolution in Iran (US really wanted to prevent Iran from falling into Soviet sphere).

 

[Imielin]

The first attempt on making civilian use of the newest electronic technologies to establish a network similar to the Internets was made on 1957, when Anatoly Kitov connected the Moscow-based experimental bureau with neighbouring textile factories and a local sovkhozy to demonstrate the basis of the Economic Automated Management System before the First Secretary Khrushchev. The first connection was crude and simple in design - transmission of production quotas from Moscow to the local terminals, production levels, salaries and number of staff working from local terminals to Moscow. Neverthless, that simple demonstration impressed Khrushchev who hoped that every corner of the Soviet Union could be subjected to the "one central computer building". While he wasn't that far from truth, by the time where most of the Soviet Union has been linked to the EAMS successor, sizes of computer has changed from the giant machines that needed whole room to the smaller versions capable of being placed on the First Secretary's desk. Thus, Khrushchev concluded that there is no need for complicating the local Party structures by dividing soviets between political and economical matters, instead making the push for decentralized, worker-based factory committees linked with the Gosplan through the "computer lines". On 1958, the Institute of Cybernetics has been established in Moscow to coordinate efforts on a Khrushchev grandiose designs that were intended to once and for all defeat capitalism and European revisionism. Reforms had to be done, as input-driven economy of the Soviet Union was simply unsustainable in the wake of population losses sustained during the Great Patriotic War.

The next step of cybernetization was an OGAS system, created by Viktor Glushkov, a friend of Anatoly Kitov and future father-in-law of his kid. While Kitov demonstrated that sharing of resources between military and civilian sector would achieve some degree of success, Glushkov went even further - instead of using military complexes' computers with economists working where military did not use them, he called for the creation of something truly massive - OGAS. All-State Automated System for the Gathering Processing of Information for the Accounting, Planning and Governance of the National Economy, USSR envisioned a real-time, remote-access national computer network built on preexisting and future-constructed telephony wires that would reach every factory, enterprise and city in the planned economy. Once computer in Moscow would connect to 200 midlevel computer that would connect 20,000 terminals across the whole Soviet Union and, in the most ambitious projects, the entire Eurasia. OGAS system was accepted on 1961 but to do create such ambitious project, the Soviet computer technology had to be vastly expanded. The Seventh Five Years' Plan of 1961-1966, accepted in the wave of Soviet scientific successes and resurgence of the enthusiasm about future of hi-tech socialism (Cyberkult) envisioned massive investments into the electronic and space technology with the overly optimistic goal of achieving lunar landing on 1965 and completing OGAS one year later. Reality was harsher to the Soviet planners, however the first terminals of OGAS were placed in the factories on 1968 achieving some successes. Even resurgence of conservatives following the fall of Khrushchev from power (1968) did not stopped OGAS from developing into larger and larger all-union network.

In the European Community, University of Marie-Curie and University of Sorbonne linked themselves into the Réseau Académique on 1964. With the invention of microprocessor, designs all over the world started to be more sophisticated, leading to the creation of revolutionary design - European Network on 1971, linking universities in the European Community. Since late 1970s the network was exploited by the local communes neighbouring the universities, leading to the adoption of broader, All-European Net by 1979 when linking of communes into the larger network started. Similar attempt on linking universities was conducted in the Soviet Union on 1974 with the creation of Academset network when the Kiev Polytechnic was linked with the Academy of Sciences of the USSR. By the end of 1977, Leningrad, Riga, Sverdlovsk, Novosibirsk, Alma-Ata, Tashkent, Khabarovsk and Vladivostok.

Enver Hoxha attempts on providing every bunker a secure military network terminal failed due to isolation of Albania and insufficient computer technology. However, he had established the Institute of Computer Technology in Tirana on 1973, creating basis for the Albanian Internecism.

 

[danybhoy]

The image is broken I think

 

[Imielin]

The image is broken I think

I've changed it. Now it should work fine.

 

[Imielin]

Except for German countries, the European Community extends from Lisbon to the Bug river. In Scandinavia, the social democratic Sweden had joined, with the king being granted a state pension by the Royal Commune in Stockholm. Finland is a neutral country - experimenting with the anarchosyndicalism while maintaining good relations with the Soviets. Countries of the former Eastern bloc - satellite states of the Soviet Union made a good transition inside the EC, increasing their standards of living after a short recession of 1983-1985 due to rapidly increasing oil prices. By now, they rely more on the nuclear power - i.e Polish communes operate three Soviet-era nuclear power stations and six nuclear power station built with the cooperation from the Western communes. Across the largest cities of Europe, local councils prohibits use of private-owned internal combustion cars due to raising fears of the climate change (and unofficially, about the Soviet and Arab domination of the oilfields) causing a further development of busing and appearance of a more and more electric cars - since the early 1990s European Community becomes more of a leader in the world production and use of electric cars, bicycles and the public transport.

Paris is de facto multinational city - hosting the Congress of the People's Communes and most of the international EC agencies' headquarters, the representative of anarchosyndicalist architecture achievements is full of Spanish, Portuguese, Wallons, Flemish, Poles, Italians, Serbs and many other nationalities. French language is taught in every school of the EC as it slowly replaces Russian as a lingua franca in East and English in the West. Since 1980s birthrates of other regions of EC increased, threatening the French de facto hegemony and shifted the average Total Fertility Rate at 2.1. Right to housing is universal for the citizens, paternal and maternal leave is guaranteed by the law, kindergartens are more and more common, while married couples that have more than two children have additional tax cuts. Population of EC steadily rises - there are 66 million French, 60 million Italians, 41 million Poles, 40 million of Spanish and 27 million Yugoslavians. Seeing female or a male student with a child while at university is not uncommon and condemned only by the older generations. Overall situation is more family-friendly due to standards of living that allows to have more children at home. Unusual high birthrates of France that replaced 150 years of stagnation are often jokingly linked with the patriotic behavior to overbreed Germans. Speaking German in Paris in public can still get one a rather unpleasant comments. While the oil recession of 1983 caused temporary fall of TFR, the second oil crisis of 1999 triggered by the war between United Arab States and Israel seems to have a way smaller effect due to lessened reliance on oil.

Europeans are optimistic about the future - economy steadily rises, the ongoing space program sparks innovation and introduce the newer technologies to the civilian lives. TFR is rather high, so there are still more workers than elderly receiving pensions. Nearly all of the communes, barring some extreme believers of monarchism or capitalism are since 1970s linked to the European Network and All-European Net, maintaining big amount of computerized industrial planning and generally speaking, following suggestions of the Economic Planning Institute from Paris that since 1970s attempts to shape the country on the path of economical prosperity. Only unclear situation in the United States of America are scaring European policy-makers - after ten years of governments dominated by the Social Democratic Party of the United States, infighting inside the Left Coalition caused the Prime Minister John Conyers to accept the snap election for the Congress due to failing in the vote of confidence after the Green Party of USA left the government.

 

[traveller76]

So what is the status of immigration and emigration between the EC and other countries?

 

[Imielin]

So what is the status of immigration and emigration between the EC and other countries?

There is some migrations - student exchange programs cause some of non-European people to remain in the EC, while some of EC students stay in India or other countries. There is also migration of technical experts - specialists hired by the local communes or governments, engineers and qualified industrial workers - creation of first nuclear power plants in EC, India and other countries is done mostly by the French as they have the most of expertise and are less costly than those of other countries. However, with a more stable country from late 1970s, there's less war refugee problem - with those scary nuclear platforms in orbit, the last thing you need is useless increase of international tensions by provocation or accident. Civil wars are still a thing but are less common than OTL.

 

[Imielin]

First Cold War has been pretty tough for the United States - for the duration of 1945-1989, the American government maintained a state of constant preparation for the conflict with global communism - the Soviet Union and later, the European Community. Thousands of nuclear warheads had been produced with all means to carry the deadliest weapon man ever conceived - strategic bombers of World War II-era, post-war ICBMs, submarines equipped with the nuclear weapons, orbital nuclear platforms. In the peak of national paranoia, government placed one of the nuclear platforms in the lunar orbit, to serve as a third strike mean - if there was a nuclear war between United States and the Soviet Union, lunar station would serve as a weapon of last revenge - even in the case of complete EMP strike on USA, it would shoot nearly 100 warheads against predetermined targets, burying all hopes on a surprise victory. Contrary to the hopes of Harry Truman, Western Europe fell to the communism - causing loss of a giant buffer between forces of socialism and capitalism - President had hoped that it would serve as a battleground where forces of both superpowers would clash. Unfortunately, it was not be - European coast of Atlantic Ocean has been contaminated by the red ideology, presenting "a dagger held at American throat". From 1945 to 1978 and 1983 to 1989, conscription was used to fill vacant positions inside the US Army, including both wartime forces and peacetime troops garrisoned on the East Coast of the US and since 1962, in the area of the Gulf of Mexico. Great Britain, Ireland and Norway served as a first defence of American forces and bases for the atomic strike against the Soviet Union, European Community and their allies. In the Middle East, only Iran remained firmly on the American side - with the exception of Islamic rule from 1979 to 1983. Since 1983 it hosted American ground troops located in northern provinces and missile bases aimed at the Soviet Union, Iraq and India.

All while domestic policy was in a state of chaos. Too many elections thrown into the Congress sparked the political reform movements that demanded imposition of the modified British-style system - president elected by the popular vote and Congress elected in a proportional constituences. Radical president Ronald Reagan has been elected by the Congress twice - on 1968 and 1972, all time sparking conntroversy and attempting controversial policies. While President Jerry Brown supported the political reform and won the first general election with majority of EC votes since 1968, he lost his bid for a second term to the AIP president who won the presidency after throwing election to the Congress. Reinstatement of military draft, attempting to rollback the Equal Rights Amendment, social conservative domestic policies while expanding overseas' military, threatening to nuke Indonesia and Brazil, promoting racism and sparking international crises were unpopular views among the more left and liberal population, especially when combined with the oil crisis of 1983, another election thrown into Congress and the second term.

And then came 1988. Once again, neither candidate received majority of electoral votes. However, this time it was all different - part of the Democratic party under leadership of uncommonly young Senator from Vermont refused to support either candidate, forcing several states to be confirmed as lacking of majority, including New York and California - two the most populous states of the Union. With no President and no Vicepresident, Speaker of the House Birch Bayh became the President. And led the political action to call the Second Constitutional Convention.

As the Second Constitutional Convention progressed in the United States, wrecking havoc on the political system that existed since 1776, American allies across the world try to deduce the future of their main ally. Japan, where US still stations their forces due to increasing fear of communism has been adopting social reforms since mid 1980s to appease growing discontent at home. Great Britain under "the Red Prime Minister" Jack Jones has been promoting the syndicalist model of management through the last decade while maintaining allegiance to NATO. Even South Korea and North Korea, countries that fought brutal war had reunited while Iran became a de facto social democracy after revolutionary overthrow of Islamic government. Only Mexico, ruled by the National Action Party since 1970s experienced the Mexican economic miracle that was characterized by the massive economic growth, partially stimulated by the American companies placing their manufacturing jobs there due to lower costs of labor and rising oil prices of 1980s. Diversification of Mexican economy kept it afloat even after fall of oil prices when the Middle Eastern situation calmed down.

The election for the Constitutional Chamber were a mess. Proportional representation replaced the FPTP ordination that was present in the American system since the beginning. Many parties found themselves weaker than expected and many smaller ones entered the Chamber to the surprise of millions. Population of the United States at the 1989 which had a right to vote was about 183 million, so the system was drafted to accommodate a number of 30,000 voters to the one representative - meaning that there would be 6100 seats for the convention. And results were pretty much varied, depending on the region. In the end, 19 political parties appeared in the Constitutional Chamber. Factional fighting in the Democratic Party caused a division between the Social Democratic Party that wanted to follow the European Community lead in the social welfare programs and creation of the "capitalism with a human face", Progressive Democratic Party composed of the progressives and liberals that wished to do not fundamentally change the system and wanted to avoid implementing more socialist measures in America and a remnant - the Democratic Party composed of moderates and conservatives that did not join the American Independent Party. AIP was divided too - between proponents of free market and those who saw social programs acceptable for the white working class. Some of the free-marketers left the party and joined the Libertarian Party, together with free-market Republicans. Republican Party was also divided, between more social conservative wing that formed the Conservative Republican Patrty and the moderate-liberal wing that stayed in the GOP. One of the surprise victories were the Green Party that advocated conservationism, shifting out fossil fuels from American economy and the expansion of civilian nuclear energy sector and the Anti-Nuclear Movement that wanted to get rid of nuclear proliferation policies and to dismantle the orbital nuclear platforms. Hamburger-Loving American Party was a satirical group, often linked with the Polish Party of Beer-Lovers (causing the proliferation of a joke that the Polish American person eats hamburger with beer). Christian Liberty was a religious conservative group advocating a return to the social conservatism, limitation of trade unions to the non-socialists and a cooperation between classes of society to achieve the Christian Democracy. Hispanic Unification League became an umbrella party for those to represented Hispanics, while the Party of Women's Liberation advocated immediate reconstruction of American society in favor of gender equality. With the agreement that the party with the largest popular vote is tasked with the formation of the first, transitional government, young politician from Vermont became the Prime Minister of the United States.

Social Democratic Party - 12,32% - 751 seats
Progressive Democratic Party - 11,99% - 731 seats
American Independent Party - 8,74% - 553 seats
Conservative Republican Party - 8,71% - 531 seats
Green Party - 8,67% - 528 seats
Anti-Nuclear Movement - 7,98% - 486 seats
Socialist Party of America - 7,50% - 457 seats
Libertarian Party - 7,49% - 456 seats
Republican Party - 5,47% - 333 seats
Democratic Party - 5,05% - 308 seats
Hamburger-Loving American Party - 3,27% - 199 seats
Industrial Workers' Liberation Front - 2,62% - 159 seats
Communist Party of the United States - 2,26% - 137 seats
Christian Liberty - 2,06% - 125 seats
Syndicalist Action - 1,42% - 86 seats
Hispanic Unification League - 1,18% - 71 seats
Party of Women's Liberation - 1,12% - 68 seats
Union of Californian Politics - 1,1% - 57 seats
Solidarity - 1,05% - 64 seats

Government of Bernard Sanders:
Coalition: Social Democratic Party, Progressive Democratic Party, Green Party, Socialist Party of America, Syndicalist Action, Party of Women's Liberation, Industrial Workers' Liberation Front, Hispanic Unification League, Solidarity. (2915/6100) with approval of: Communist Party of the United States (3052/6100)

With nine political parties in the coalition, the constitution drafting was pretty much hard. Instead of outright drafting the new document, the Provisional Basic Law for the United States was accepted during the first session of the Constitutional Chamber, regulating the electoral system as the proportional without the threshold, legalizing all non-genocidal political parties, holding the number of people per electoral district as 30,000 for the future elections until the proper Constitution could be confirmed. Easier said than done, as the minority government relied massively on the representatives from other parties voting for similar policies and on the support of the Communist Party that provided "the almost majority". Both the Constitutional Committee and the first government of Bernard Sanders lasted for four years, when the new election was to be held according to the constitutional obligations. Backroom deals, internal disagreements and other argues once against shifted the political landscape.

The second government of Bernard Sanders (1993-1996):
Coalition: Social Democratic Party, Green Party, Progressive Democratic Party, Socialist Party of America, Industrial Workers' Liberation Front, Party of Women's Liberation, Solidarity (3798/6100)

With a firm majority of 62% (67% in communists and the left-leaning anti-nuclears voted in favor of legislation) Sanders introduced several sweeping reforms to change the United States. Mandatory vacation time for workers of 14 days per year, mandatory 30-minute break during the workday (included in the workhours) for employees, maternity allowance for women giving birth while being employed, universal healthcare system, reforms of the education and others were implemented during these four years. By 1995, the new Constitution of the United States was accepted by the Constitutional Chamber and the Constitutional Convention, providing a basis for the next decades of American politics. The parliament was reduced to House of Representatives of 1000 seats and the Senate of 500 seats both elected in the proportional franchise. Framers of the Constitution wanted to avoid electoral deadlock and two-party system as much as possible with this view being reflected by the lack of electoral threshold. President of the United States designs a person who will lead and compose the government, then the both houses of parliament gather to make a vote of confidence for the coalition. In case of the lack of vote of confidence three times in a row, new elections are called with the "technical government" being formed out of the Speaker of the House of Representatives with members selected by all major parties (that is, those occupying more than 10% of seats) until the election concludes.

By 1996, three largest political parties strengthened their hold in politics - Social Democratic Party was favored due to relatively successful policies and successful adoption of new Constitution as a popular incumbent, while American Independent Party gained some ground around the anti-socialist voters and those who opposed new Constitution. Pro-nuclear stance of Greens during previous governments and decreasing prices of electricity due to the expansion of nationalized energy generation industry allowed them to seize some more seats in the parliament.

Election of 1996 to the House of Representatives:

Social Democratic Party - 29,4% - 288 seats
American Independent Party - 24,1% - 238 seats
Green Party - 18,3% - 183 seats
Republican - 9,07% - 91 seats
Progressive Democratic Party - 8,21% - 82 seats
United Socialist Party of America - 5,41% - 54 seats
Libertarian Party - 3,1% - 30 seats
Anti-Nuclear Movement - 2,3% - 18 seats
Communist Party of the United States - 1,1% - 10 seats
Democratic Party - 0,4% - 4 seats
League of Women - 0,2% - 2 seats

Election of 1996 to the Senate:

Social Democratic Party - 31% - 161 seats
American Independent Party - 26,8% - 139 seats
Green Party - 19% - 99 seats
Republican - 9% - 49 seats
Progressive Democratic Party - 6,5% - 15 seats
United Socialist Party of America - 2% - 13 seats
Libertarian Party - 3% - 9 seats
Anti-Nuclear Movement - 1% - 5 seats
CPUSA - 1,0% - 5 seats
Democratic Party - 0,5% - 3 seats
League of Women - 0,2% - 2 seats

Government of John Conyers (1996-2000):

Coalition of: Social Democratic Party, Green Party, United Socialist Party of America (525/1000) (273/500)

Previously left-wing coalition broke down over the issue of nationalization of energy and armaments industries by the government and increase of workers' participation in the economical decision-making, forcing Social Democrats to make coalition with Greens and United Socialists. Conyers government was relatively successful in the further transition of United States into the social democracy however his foreign policy is not as stellar - his refusal to support Israeli annexations in Palestine is often cited as a reason for the outbreak of the Arab Coalition War on 1999. SDP and Greens lost much of the Jewish American vote, which can cost them a snap election. With the resurgent Soviet Union that reformed itself and using the peace dividends during the American Constitutional Period expanded its civilian economy, the spectre of Second Cold War is looming behind the horizon.

Government of John Conyers lost the vote of confidence after Greens left the coalition after ecological disaster of massive oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico and the federal limited relief action.

 

[Imielin]

Indonesian War ended on 1975, with the capture of Jakarta by the Indonesian People's Liberation Army and it's paramilitaries formed out of the anti-American militias. Contrary to the homegrown revolution of Russia, Spain and the democratic nature of socialist takeover of Europe, Indonesian War was a more nationalist - at first it was seen as a colonial war of liberation against Netherlands but since 1960s when Sukarno was overthrown by the pro-American putsch, it was seen as a struggle against American imperialism. During early days of Lyndon Johnson's presidency Suharto forces aided by the US Air Force and American military advisors cleared the major cities out of communist guerillas, leading to the great loss of life and property. Reversion of the land reforms, implementing authoritarian means of governing to stop the Soviet, Chinese and Indian aid from coming to Indonesia sparked discontent among the poorer layers of society, causing Suharto assassination of 1965 and a series of military juntas leading the country. Arrival of American ground troops, often formed out of conscripted people only polarized the society - more and more people saw military juntas as mere puppets of Washington. Escalation of Ronald Reagan and strategic carpet bombing caused international outrage and only aided the anti-American coalition. By 1975, American troops have been largely pulled out of the country. International crises that arose during the Indonesian War (sinking of Soviet ship transporting weapons, bombing the international medical aid vehicles) has led the Federal government to withdraw, abandoning most of their former anti-communist allies.

Since 1975, Indonesia experiences unprecedented economical growth - land reform has been introduced, the mass literacy programs for both adults and children sharply rises the population of literate people. Greater access to the vaccines provided by the other socialist states, reduced infant mortality due to the creation of state-owned public healthcare, growing urbanization and improvement of standards of living created a demographic explosion that caused even more Indonesians in Indonesia - by 1990, population was 200 million, slowing down to 248 million in 1999. Urbanization and growing number of often government-supported feminist organizations mean that more women are abandoning traditionalism much to despair of older generations. Land is owned by the peasants and often linked into larger, grassroots collectives. Energy, armament industries are largely nationalized, with most of smaller sectors of industry being left in a private hands. Sharia law is illegal in Indonesia, sparking fears of a new civil war due to opposition of more conservative population of rural areas. 79% of people are Muslims - 60% of them self-identifies as a non-denominational "Just a Muslim". 5% is Protestant, 3% are Catholic, 2% are Hindu, 1% are Buddhist. 10% people are irreligious/atheist. State sponsors secularism and constantly reminds that the majority of religious leaders collaborated with the foreign troops during the Indonesian War. To weaken the largest groups, government promotes smaller religions - Mormons, Church of Scientology, Jehovah's Witnesses, Buddhism and Confucianism.

Indonesia operate three nuclear power plants of Indian design - fifth one, built on 1982 by the Soviet Union suffered recently a meltdown, causing leakage of radioactive isotopes to the atmosphere and spike of cancers in Surabaya. Power plants was closed down on 1997.

 

[Imielin]

Political formations of the European Community by 2000:

Modernizers (Association pour la modernisation technologique et le progrès civique/
Asociación para la Modernización Tecnológica y el Progreso Cívico/Associazione per lo sviluppo tecnologico e il progresso civico/Stowarzyszenie Rozwoju Technologicznego i Postępu Obywatelskiego)

Established: 1976
Major issues:
Nuclear environmentalism
Electronic socialism
Industrial Cooperativism
Europeization

Territorial Congresses of the People's Communes (105280/329000)
Congress of the People's Communes: (1247/3290)
Executive Council of European Community: (16/32)

Short description:

Originally a political club for the delegates elected by a more progressive communes, the group grown into a full-fledged political association after election of their first delegates to the Congress of the People's Communes. Most of their voters are younger people, often too young to remember workers' struggle before and during World War II, brought up in the society already being governed by the people. Technology is known for them since infancy, just like previously impossible dreams of sci-fi authors. They often oppose policies of austerity and conservatism. Modernizers support greater access to the medical care, expansion of factory kindergartens and preschools, Europeization of communes by eradicating differences such as wage gaps, term limits for delegates at the Executive Committee and Congress of the People's Communes, imposition of obligation for the Executive Committee to hold referendum when the grassroots motion gather at least 500 thousands signatures. They also argue to the balanced investments across the EC to compensate gap between poorer East and wealthier West. Another issue supported by the Modernizers is expansion of existing highway web and creation of the high-speed rail. They are not ideologists who strive for the perfect, utopian society but rather people who believe in their own branch of the New Left. Their response to the falling birthrates is simple - provide free housing and guarantee better daycare for children of working parents.

Traditionalists (Fédération du travail - tradition!/federación de trabajadores - la tradición!/federazione del lavoro - tradizione!/Federacja pracy - tradycja!)

Established: 1976
Major issues:
Anarcho-syndicalism
Direct democracy
Labor unionization

Territorial Congresses of the People's Communes (92120/329000)
Congress of the People's Communes: (1050/3290)
Executive Council of European Community: (8/32)

Short description:

Originally the Federation of Labor, composed from the various syndicalist organizations was formed by the revolutionaries, freedom fighters who fought during World War II against Germans and their allies. By 1970s, these older politicians formed the political association to strengthen labor laws, expand the role of autonomous territorial communes governing the industries and maintain the status quo of socialist-syndicalist political and economical alliance. They were those who launched the first Europeans into space, supervised lunar landings and appearance of digital revolution. Their voters are mostly older generations who are more conservative than the Modernizers but still, in their hearts are the revolutionaries that started the "Greatest Experiment on Earth".

Left Alliance (Alliance de gauche, Alianza de izquierda, Alleanza di sinistra, Sojusz Lewicy)

Established: 1976
Major issues:
Communism
Industrial Centralism

Territorial Congresses of the People's Communes (86124/329000)
Congress of the People's Communes: (459/3290)
Executive Council of European Community: (4/32)

Formed out of the communist parties in the EC, the Left Alliance pledges to achieve communism and unite the proletariat of the world. Alliance wants to impose new social order, where there is no nation-states and no social classes using the middle system of socialism between the capitalism and communism. They want to create a socialist state with a system of fully participatory workers' councils that form the executive powers organized in a centralized democracy, transforming EC in a centralized federation - ruling from the top instead of ruling from the bottom of legislative system. Currently, they push for the increased industrial centralism - expansion of communal offices dealing with the economical planning, expansion of the regulatory commissions for the local communes, pushing energy industry under control of the Executive Committee.

 

[Imielin]

1953 - Colonel Anatoly Kitov translates the Norbert Wieners' Cybernetics into Russian.
1956 - Red Book letter, indicating possibility of the creation of "Computers for Communism" arrives at Khrushchev's desk, sparking his interest in practical applications for cybernetics and computer technology.
1957 - Soviet Union launches Sputnik (September) - the first artificial satellite of Earth, discovering the Vernov's Radition Belts around Earth. In US, the first MOSFET transistor is produced by Mohammad M. Attalla and Dawong Kahng. The first cell of the Economic Automated Management System is created in Moscow. Ministry of Electronic Industry replaces the Ministry of Radio Technology's monopoly in the computer technologies.
1960 - the first MOS integrated circuit is created in the US.
1961/1962 - John Kennedy announces intention of American lunar landing following Yuri Gagarin's flight into space.
1963 - Argon-11S, digital computer for control of the manned spacecraft is created in the Soviet Union.
1967 - Intel 4004, the first microprocessor is manufactured.
1969 - K-202, the fastest microcomputer at that time is created in Poland by Jacek Karpiński. State Institute of Cybernetics is founded in Warsaw.
1970 - Xerox Alto become the first true personal computer with a Graphic User Interface, mouse and desk metaphor.
1974 - Elektronika BK-0010 becomes the first personal computer in the Soviet Union.
1976 - Japanese manufacturer Casio presents the first of computer watches.
1984 - IBM Simon Personal Communicator, the first computer phone is released.
1987 - Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) of Australia conducts a failed experiment to detect exploding mini black holes the size of an atomic particle that will become a WiFi - offering capabilities of the wireless local area network.
1988 - Mars 5, a sample return mission lands on Earth with Martian rocks holding evidence of the microbial life on the red planet.
1992 - first HDTV broadcast - from the Olympic Games held in Barcelona.
1995 - European mission Galileo lands on Europa, conducting research of the underground ocean of liquid water. Liquid water is discovered on the Jovian moon.
1996 - Korean state-corporation LG Electronics publishes the first computer phone with a large capacitive touchscreen, LG Prada as a product of cooperation between Italian fashion commune Prada, Korean State University of Technology and LG. Second Five Years' Plan for the National Economy of Korea predicts rise of computer phone production for domestic and foreign use.
1999 - Apple Inc. releases the first American computer phone with a capacitive touchscreen - iPhone 1.

 

[Trixy]

Wow, technology evolve quickly !

 

[Imielin]

Wow, technology evolve quickly !

In our timeline, Soviet socialists behaved like competitive capitalists while capitalists behaved like socialists - Soviets divided their efforts in space towards various rivaling bureaus, wasting money, technical expertise and time while Americans centralized their efforts into government-ordered projects, unifying several space programs of 1950s into one, state-controlled NASA. Development of computer technology was plagued by the internal infighting between the Army and civilian projects - Kitov was tried by a secret court and expelled from the Party because his letter to Khrushchev was intercepted by the military. Here, the Army is smaller and weaker politically than OTL due to lack of alliance between US and EC (both Soviets and Americans view EC as too anarchistic and too divided to wage offensive war), weaker US (they are maintaining larger peacetime army than OTL due to relatively hostile European mainland) so they can shift parts of OTL expenses towards R&D easier. And holding the super heavy space launcher, Soviets are capable of doing much more in space than OTL. And their puppet state are not telling computer geniuses to feed pigs but instead allowing them to work.

 

[Trixy]

I see. Basically, everyone is organized better !

 

[Imielin]

I see. Basically, everyone is organized better !

Well, yes. Even America isn't do deregulated as it basically reformed into European-style social democracy.

 

[Imielin]

Do you remember 1989, when the UN confirmed existence of Martian life in the for of microbes? Or 1995 when Europeans discovered liquid water beneath surface of Europa? World has changed and it changed for good. After the Mariner malaise when it became clear that we won't meet Martian civilization, we realized that the life is present in the space and it can be fairly developed - but not in the way we thought it would be. - Revisionist Posadism.

Nuclear war is inevitable. The truce of the Cold War is only temporary - United States created only facade of welfare state while maintaining capitalism, while the Soviet Union did not even attempt to wither the state from people's consciousness but strengthened their grip instead. China still maintains neo-Stalinist bureaucracy ruling over false hope of reforms. European Community does not view workers' self-management as a tool to introduce socialism and communism, but as the end goal of syndicalist revolution. Indonesia is still authoritarian, while other countries are too weak to take handle of the guiding hand of communism. The only hope for destruction of last vestiges of capitalism for Posadas is a full-scale nuclear war that will destroy all states and all bureaucrats, all red fascists and all dictators. From the ashes of burned world, the people's consciousness will arise. And people will plea for help to the alien civilizations of a vast space as only communist state would achieve the stage of interstellar civilization.

Events of 1988/1989, eight years after death of J. Posadas revived interest in his fading ideology, while events of 1995 caused a spike of popularity among the Trotskyist communist movements across the world. Mainstream Posadism took a more moderate approach, promoting advancement of science, childbearing in space and further exploration of space, hoping to find communicable alien star systems. Since 1980s there are several other groups - Neo-Posadism advocates a return to the roots and preaches that only nuclear war can solve problems of humanity but remains a fringe ideology. Revisionist Posadism claims that mankind can be the first civilization to achieve communism in the future and should develop ethical methods of uplifting less developed alien species. Both mainstream and Revisionist Posadism starts to spread throug the Internets - younger members of the groups persuaded party organs to operate in the digital area, becoming the first political party to hold annual newspaper on the nets, organize discussion groups of nets' users raising concerns among the older generations about appearance of a new countercultures.

Across dachas of the Soviet Union, flats of China and streets of Paris rumors are circulating. Rumors that if true, could change the world forever. No one truly knows but rumors that the newly appointed Premier of the Soviet Union is a Posadist raises concerns about nuclear safety of the world. Think about all those nuclear orbital platforms - there is no hope if someone activates them. But of course, Weekly World News is not a newspaper that you fully believe.