I remember absolutely loving the idea and structure of the New Spanish government(federalized monarchies have always been a favorite of mine) and was eager to see the struggle between republicanism and monarchism play out in the New World-ehrm, I mean Novamund. Its a damn shame it had to end this way.
Look to the West Volume V: To Dream Again
- Thread starter Thande
- Start date
Is there information on how the Siamese Empire is run? I don't remember much about it. I think it would be a good candidate for a federal monarchy.
The other thing about the Societists is that most cultural superiority folks hark back to the past. Their culture is better than the others because it always has been, and history proves it, as long as you look at the right bits. The Societists say that, historically, their culture was as bad as everyone else's, but what they have now is superior because they're the only ones who realised this and completely abandoned it. I guess there's something of a parallel to the USSR and China tearing down symbols of the old empires, but I'm not sure it's quite the same thing.
(And yes, I'm sure Societism -- or at least Combine Societism -- is full of unquestioned assumptions that would make an outside observer think "This is clearly descended from the UPSA", but they won't see that.)
Even just Nova Latina.
I'm sure such an artificial language was chosen by pure coincidence.
There's not enough scholarship to impose Old Eurasian dammit!Even just Nova Latina.
I'm sure such an artificial language was chosen by pure coincidence.
Given the existence of things like Laryngeal theory, there's not enough scholarship about Proto-Indo-European to begin with.
@Thande I just realized that I've been bothered for all of Part VI by a tiny, almost irrelevant detail that has ballooned out of proportions due to constant exposure. What is precisely an "electride lamp"? I swear, 25 chapters and I still can't picture it in my mind.
Even just Nova Latina.
I'm sure such an artificial language was chosen by pure coincidence.
Modified Latin is hardly an artificial language.
It is not even something obviously Meridian.
Danubia has developed and spread its own modified Latin, Martial Latin and will be Societist too.
However, Societism is also based on old-style cultural norms, but homogenised. They believe that the cultures were nowhere near as different as other people claim it was.
Just that? Then I wonder where the "electride" part of the expression comes from, since the word for gas in the LTTW world is luft. After all, mentions of "luftlights" become a feature in almost every chapter after another member pointed out the inconsistency of the term "gaslights" being thrown around in the text.
Ever since I came across that term I thought there had to be some connection with electricity, though we all know that ITTL research on electromagnetism is at least half a century (if not more) behind schedule. So what's the genesis of the word "electride"?
xsampa
Banned
For example, the emphasis on a State religion and the nuclear family is something found across cultures all over the world. How natalist would be the Combine be by chance?
And we complete another chapter in this epic. They'd better have managed to hold onto Hope in that box, because they're going to need it.
Looking at the map, seems a bit unlikely to me that the "Aryan void" has remained in existence this long: people don't like anarchy (of the leather and spikes Mad Max warlord type ), and local strong men seem likely to have constructed some sizable states in that area by now, locals rallying around people seen likely to restore order. Unless there's heavy outside meddling that _keeps_ the area a mess?
Random thought, but was "Sehnor Oliveira" at all inspired by this Tintin character?
(Have I asked that question before? Who are you people? What is this glowing square I sit in front of?)
Looking at the map, seems a bit unlikely to me that the "Aryan void" has remained in existence this long: people don't like anarchy (of the leather and spikes Mad Max warlord type
), and local strong men seem likely to have constructed some sizable states in that area by now, locals rallying around people seen likely to restore order. Unless there's heavy outside meddling that _keeps_ the area a mess? Random thought, but was "Sehnor Oliveira" at all inspired by this Tintin character?
(Have I asked that question before? Who are you people? What is this glowing square I sit in front of?)
Thank you!
I don't understand how I managed to miss that readily-available translation but that's one less doubt, at least.Looking at the map, seems a bit unlikely to me that the "Aryan void" has remained in existence this long: people don't like anarchy (of the leather and spikes Mad Max warlord type
The 1896 global map notes that "the significance of the local rulers versus lawless chaos [is] often unknown to European or indeed Asien powers".
Local authorities do exist, but depopulation, impoverishment and isolation of the region would make it difficult to establish sizable states and for more pro-active local strong men it could be more lucrative to raid and invade more prosperous adjacent territories like Guntoor.
xsampa
Banned
Societism, at its core, is uniquely modernist, perhaps even more than communism and fascism. Specifically, the degree of rational planning, the tradition less cosmopolitanism, and the focus on utility. Neither fascism nor communism planned for world conquest as detailedly as Societism, with 25 Zones covering the whole Earth, with every mountain and city, ocean and river, numbered and categorized. Neither fascism nor communism was capable of incentivizing groups ignorant of their ideology to achieve its goals. Just on a simple personal level, Societism's use of its teenage female members as sexual inducers to get disabled vets to "serve" as kamikazes requires ahem a degree of planning only available to moderns. Tradition less cosmopolitanism is another highly unique feature resulting from modernity. Societism actually th tries to realize it through Zonal Rotation, the imposition of a world culture and a world faith. Finally, societism emphasizes rationality and questioning one's biases, similar to the rationalist movement IOTL, and being unemotional as possible.
Agree with most of this, but I'm not sure the idea of "Put your attractive eligible women in charge of recruiting men into your cause" is really that modern a concept.
I think what Thande was trying to invoke there might have been the historical tendency of even Britons themselves to refer to Britain as 'England' - often for dramatic purposes - that persisted for a long time after the Acts of Union. (Like, for example, "England expects that every man will do his duty".) Which makes even more sense in a work written in the LTTW-timeline, given the present-day state of the British Isles. But of course those are just my assumptions and I can't speak for the author.