NationStates Jolt Archive

Well, recently I've taken a three-month sabbatical from NS while my studies caught up with me, and during this time, I got involved with some antiwar activists and found the whole movement and people very interesting.

Until I can figure out the IC status of my nation (I was at war when the term started, and another one is starting next month) there isn't much I can do internationally with a government, so I hit upon an idea - RP'ing activists of some political persuasion (more likely a leftist bent) working abroad. They can be pursuing a goal of anything from more religious tolerance to helping domestic political activists resist state repression to outright anarchy.

There will be direct action, and lots of it. Black blocs, traffic jamming, riots, and God only knows what else. Depending on the nation or nations that respond, there may be several different possibilities, including entire organisations being crippled, governments collapsing under the weight of international criticism, systems changing, alliances disintegrating, or even a once-proud empire being reduced to ruins by the rot of its own decadence.

If you're interested, please post.

Your fellows would probably need to think a while to find something to riot about in Zinaire (unless you count massive income disparity and the systematic destruction of the country's environment), but my cops would love to try out their new billy clubs.

Nadia still you leader?

I don't know how applicable this really is to me (Praetonian political divisions are really a world away from Kahanistani ones) but I would like to get some kind of RP going with you since our old set just kindof fizzled out in similar circumstances to you, really, first term at uni led to rather few II posts. Anyway if you can think of some way to involve Praetonia in this, or can think of some other RP for us, I'd be pleased to hear it.

I'd like to take part, but theres little to moan about in Parilisa. If anything the Government would be more likely to fund such groups so they can campaign in other nations.

Zinaire: While communism is somewhat less powerful in Kahanistan now than in days past, given that the average citizen has a full belly, decent entertainment, and military protection from Praetonia and its allies, and most of the hard-line communists are more interested in getting their own house in order than in messing around in other countries, there are still plenty of lefties around who wouldn't be too happy about income disparity or environmental destruction. Float an idea by me.

Imperial: Yes, officially. De facto, however, the government was taken over by another powerful general during the war. While he has mild pro-Kregaian sympathies, he won't collaborate with a nation while it's bombing his people, though. He'd be pissed to learn that Kregaia's burying the hatchet with Doom, though - his political alignment is heavily dictated by fascist nationalism and anti-Catholicism. Nadia's free because of her popularity with the people and her reputation as a military commander.

Praetonia: Well, that would be a great idea. I suppose I could have the Communist Party of Kahanistan fund and help organise Praetonian communists for a common goal. Of course, that assumes they didn't meet the same fate as, say, Doomani communists (who, IIRC, if there are any left are in deep cover) and the CPK can get to them without arousing much suspicion.

Parilisa: Sure, maybe you can do what I'm doing, use this thread to find a nation you can run such a campaign in.

Praetonia does indeed have communists [omg] but not of the common or garden variety. They are called the Communalist League or just Communalists. There are about 15m of them and there are 2 seats in Parliament which they de-facto control the appointment of because their communes contain the majority of the electors in the constituencies concerned.

They differ from normal communists in that they actually live on communes, which they own under the normal laws of the land, and they don't - generally - want to impose the lifestyle on the rest of the populace. The principal disagreement they have with the government is that it levies the Land Value Tax (the only tax that exists in Praetonia) on their communes in the same way as on other land. As they are basically anarchists, they do not believe they should have to pay this, or at least not to the central government. Views on this vary within the CL. Most people disagree with it but limit this to fairly passive political disagreement, since it isn't very expensive. THey also actually have a fairly large minority of the populace backing them on that issue. There are of course extremists, who simply do not think the central govt is legitimate and would probably be up for anything up to an IRA style bombing campaign, depending on what you want to do.

There are also people who believe that all land should be held in common, in the sense that they believe the LVT should be paid as a sort of dividend directly to all citizens rather than used to fund the military. The vast majority of people who believe land should be held in common would identify themselves as capitalists and are members of the anarchist Commonwealth Party (~15% of seats in Parliament). You could help these people if you like, but I don't know if you'd want to. The view that all land should be held in common by the establishment of a central politburo controlled by a dictatorial plutocracy that exercises direct powers of ownership is very very rare, but you could always start something up I suppose.

As for 'getting to them without arousing suspicion'... well, what you do might well be considered suspicious by various people, but Praetonia isn't libertarian for nothing, you would have to actually harm someone or damage their property before you could be arrested.

Imperial: Yes, officially. De facto, however, the government was taken over by another powerful general during the war. While he has mild pro-Kregaian sympathies, he won't collaborate with a nation while it's bombing his people, though. He'd be pissed to learn that Kregaia's burying the hatchet with Doom, though - his political alignment is heavily dictated by fascist nationalism and anti-Catholicism. Nadia's free because of her popularity with the people and her reputation as a military commander.
well things turn bad for her i could take her in

As the Tolvanic Home Islands are located in the NS equivalent of the Caribbean, I have massive plantations and large factories full of underpaid, overworked, low skilled labor (mostly of African descent). So far most attempts to unionize them have failed. You could try something like that.

This sounds like an interesting idea.

Well... I should have the time to run two or three RP's at once these days. On 20 January, things start going to hell for me, but I'll try to keep the threads going.

I think I can run something with Prae, and probably Zinaire and/or Tolvan, but I'd rather not hog all the offers when Parilisa seems interested in doing something similar. I could see communists going over to Praetonia, maybe anarchists of some sort in Tolvan. Since I don't know anyone's availability, if you're interested in starting a thread, go ahead and post on II, I'll check back regularly over the next few days.

Unfortunately, "political activism" for a typical Confederacy anarchist would involve a loaded assault rifle, grenades and ATGMs, guerrilla warfare against a established government, covert assassinations and rigging statues of the "great leader" with bombs. And in less violent terms, brass knuckles and stones to break neonazis in street fights without any policing.

I doubt they would blend well.

Likewise, there is no reason for political activism against the Confederacy, unless it involves a bunch of hippies advocating gun control laws or the lifting of the unofficial ban on scientology and doomani catholicism..

Of course a central thread with links to the sub-threads is the best way to keep this sort of ambitious rp organized.

Well... I should have the time to run two or three RP's at once these days. On 20 January, things start going to hell for me, but I'll try to keep the threads going.

I think I can run something with Prae, and probably Zinaire and/or Tolvan, but I'd rather not hog all the offers when Parilisa seems interested in doing something similar. I could see communists going over to Praetonia, maybe anarchists of some sort in Tolvan. Since I don't know anyone's availability, if you're interested in starting a thread, go ahead and post on II, I'll check back regularly over the next few days.
I should be available, but I don't know what to put in a new thread since I'm not sure who you're sending to support whom.

Parilisa would support any democratic, left-wing, liberal or anti-fascist political activists, or something along those lines. I could RP a group of Parilisan funded members in someone elses nation.

Sounds entertaining, but I dunno how many leftists are left in Parthia. Probably none, or if there are any, they hide well. Hell, they have to hide well overseas, lest SAVAK take them out, unless they're in a nation which is leftist like say Arridia or someplace like that.

Though you probably could make headway with some of the ethnic minorities, if you wanted.

I should be available, but I don't know what to put in a new thread since I'm not sure who you're sending to support whom.

Well, the CL might be good allies if their actions against the Praetonian government can be intensified. The Communist Party of Kahanistan is officially non-violent, but some of the younger and brasher members are probably up for rioting in the streets and smashing shops, especially the ones they see as greater threats in Kahanistan. CPK leadership won't want the attacks pinned on them, so they'd try to claim the attackers were radical extremists or even fascist infiltrators. They won't support an IRA-style bombing campaign, but the CPK people who would go to Praetonia would probably turn a blind eye to it unless civilian casualties mounted.

What you could use to start a new thread might be some of the more extreme CL members planning something, and someone pointing out a bunch of foreign-looking people showing up at the commune towards the end.

Sounds entertaining, but I dunno how many leftists are left in Parthia. Probably none, or if there are any, they hide well. Hell, they have to hide well overseas, lest SAVAK take them out, unless they're in a nation which is leftist like say Arridia or someplace like that.

Though you probably could make headway with some of the ethnic minorities, if you wanted.

Kahanistan's pretty leftist, but not as far-left as it was before the Praetonians got their corporate foot in the door. Its intel service isn't nearly as developed as SAVAK and tends to be subordinated to the National Police or the military, depending on if it's civil or military intelligence. (At least two incursions from Canadstein caused massive National Police manhunts for agents. They're getting better, though - especially if foreign incursions become a chronic problem.) It's got a pretty big Arab population, though, so if Arabs are an ethnic minority in Parthia, you might get Arab nationalists, Islamic radicals, maybe hippies / leftists / anarchists who happen to be or can pass as Arabs, etc.

I might participate if I had the time. Are you moving to pragmatism slowly?

I might participate if I had the time. Are you moving to pragmatism slowly?

Well, it's still considered something of a dirty word in Kahanistanian politics. As for the government, when I left off it had been taken over by a fascist general, but he won't crack down too badly on individual freedom while he needs the support of the people - he'd more likely promote militant nationalism and blame previous governments for the recent military history. He's probably the most pragmatic guy to get a position of power in recent times, but he wouldn't use the term to describe himself for the same reason Hitler never said, "I am a genocidal madman."

So, what's the status of your government? Anything that might piss the lefties off enough for foreign lefties to come in? I haven't seen any other threads recently and nobody's telegrammed me with a reply thread.