@neostrider I was a political science major and can maybe help even this out a little bit. You're generally right but there's some details to even out. Socialism is typically (in theory) done democratically rather than by force. In practice this isn't the case (see Venezuela, a current socialist state). Communism is achieved by force following a revolution by the "proletariat" (working classes) to overthrow the owners of industry and the middle classes. Leninism (Soviet Communism, etc.) replaced the workers with a "vanguard" of intellectuals who lead the revolution and then later the Communist government. All of these governments, but especially Communism, emphasized a forced participation in the government's objectives for industry. The individual is subordinated to the will of the majority but is also (in theory) given equal share of the rewards. Capitalism isn't really a method but rather a model used to describe how economic systems function when they are left to their own devices. The primary point to be taken is that those who have money (capital) drive growth through investment. The follow-on critique is, of course, that this tends to concentrate capital in the hands of a few. Not going to delve into American left is/liberalism versus rightism/conservatism (@Solar said that already). As for the Nomads: Corregidor is a fairly idyllic socialist state. Everyone works, everyone benefits. The realities (even in an ideal socialist state) for those who choose not to participate are harsh: you leave, either on a ship or through an airlock. That said, Corregidor in the fluff seems like a decent enough place to live once you contribute your portion of the maintenance work. And it could be described as anarcho-socialist because the socialism came "from the bottom" rather than "from the top." That is, normal Corregidorians came up with and enforce the "everyone works" rules. Bakunin is... Strange? I can't give the system a good name based on modern political practices. The people who have mentioned that Mikhail Bakunin's theories apply better to Corregidor in the fluff are largely right. Bakunin seems to have a weird mix of libertarianism ("you do you") with very strictly enforced rules/lines ("don't fuck with the Social Energy"). Bakunin isn't really communal either in the sense that everyone sticks to their own hab. Tunguska, as described above, is basically just a corporation as a political body. Works pretty well with the gangster/Mafioso background. If you aren't breaking the corporate rules they'll let you be but if you do break the rules they will deal with you harshly and quickly. Tunguska would probably be the best place to live if you're a rules-follower and the worst if you're not. All in all I find the Nomads fluff to be really appealing and interesting. The different governances give the different motherships, and their peoples, unique character and lots to think about. Like the other societies in Infinity, they have some truly dark undersides, but for the average citizen, being a Nomad seems like it's probably a pretty decent life, with lots of ability to move if you don't like it too. (I should be done editing now!)
I like that idea, makes things simple, and does even give you some right in a decision making process, because you are a shareholder. I guess a cooperative is the right time to use then. They are in anarchism, where its up to the individual to join or leave the collective at any given time.
Anarchism is literally communism or 99% smilair. Communision is the end goal of socialism. This is why there's a perverse truth in the statement "real communism havn't been tried". Of course this is a lie, as communism has been attempted several times and failed every single time but communism is actually what they have failed to achieve every single time, so the true statement would be "real communism haven't been successful!" Socialism is the superstate that siezes all means of production, moderate and dictate all personal interactions of life, until everyone is equal. Everyone is essentially a hive mind. Everyone works for the collective. This is where a socialist state then needs to deconstruct itself as it no longer needs an army (the entire world is communist), it no longer need prisons or police (the collective deals the justice), it no longer needs to control the means of production (everyone do the best they can and only use what they need) etc. Of course this is an utopian fantasy that can never be achieved as one of the primary factors for this to work, is not only to alter the very fabric of how the human nature works, but also literally requires the world to be under the subject of socialism in order to work and for the state to deconstruct itself. Anarchism are only 1% smarter by realising that world wide socialism before entering communism is a retarded notion, so they want to cut the middleway and instantly etablish communism. They are essentially both lazy and realistic communists, if you think about it.
I had assumed the icons for the units in Nomads fit the color schemes of some current political movements for a reason. Black and red is Anarcho Communism. Black and Orange is Mutualism. Orange and White is Humanist Party. Then again I never read the fluff in enough detail to test that.
Yup, was pain to look upon but I endured and right now I love this thread as is. Guess sometimes one gotta dig though a layer of %^%&** to find a real treasure ;)
But what is the political ideology that leads to the different sizes of shell casing? clearly correg like to conserve ammo due to their dislike of waste, while Tunguska has the money for full auto and can fire more bullet per bullet. Im kind of hoping the Nomad RPG books goes into how smaller ships and the more stationary ships function, due to many swapping ships often I imagine although most nomads have a preference of government style they like they can likely adapt to each of the ships rules (apart from morlocks and other radicals) Most seem pretty familiar with Bakunin social energy money system, Corregs dont like the hippy money, but the cyber punk hackers on Tunguska like to make use of it. Personally id imagine the Nomad caravans and smaller function more like Tunguskan model, as they are effectively hiring and trade stations, and due to their political immunity from rest of the sphere (that the black hand abuses) id imagine they keep Tunguskan style strict rules. Also due to sharing with Haqq quite often id imagine they tone the anarchy down somewhat, I seem to remember there being fluff on Nomads being pretty good at diplomacy due to constantly adapting to new social movements and groups.
There is a reason why the Nomad police is called Moderators. ;) On toning down anarchy: I guess you still can do all your freaky shit in your quarters, and just out of curtsy and respect they don't do it in the presence of outsiders. On Bakunin it's probably reverse, because outsiders know what they are stepping into.
It's interesting because while PanO is supposed to be a super-state with lots of sub-states, in the background it's vaguely homogenous politically. Whereas the Nomad Nation is really complex and varied just based on essentially three space-borne city states. Each one runs its fleet in it's own way, but presumably there is a shared agreement on how caravanseries and such works? Tunguska model seems legit because they do provide the money and corporate power to operate them, as well as being the leadership of the Nation really. One thing I also love is that the Nomads, for all their differences, seem to actually cooperate extremely well. I imagine that the nature of their environment and such means they're very good at living alongside people very closely and just getting the job done, no matter the situation or the crisis. If you're in Bakunin, there's no difference between Corregidorians or Tunguskans and the hab next to you, they're all odd. When you're a Corregidorian, you respect people who live in space in any way, and you also respect those who get the damn job done. And when you're in Tunguska, it's all about working synergistically to get the best results you can. Fucking Nomad supremacy, comrades, live and breath it!
I know this is getting the topic a bit beyond fluff - but the same thing you just described translates to some of the Nomad players. This could be seen throughout two online events and in how our Facebook group works. Whereas some other factions might not be so friendly and cooperative - ours is certainly very welcoming. I have never played a miniature wargame, other than Infinity, where I could make real life friends with other players from my faction, that live across the globe. In Infinity and with mighty Nomads faction - I already made plenty, and some of them travelled across the ocean just to meet up - real life Krugs. TLDR is this: Plenty of Nomad players are embodiments of Nomads from fluff. This is awesome.
Corregidor is where anyone who doesn't belong can go. Alone together. People from all over the Sphere end up there.
Because it's a pre-planned, "if X gets killed, Y will be in charge," decided during mission briefing. Not a quick check of who is the next highest rank in the area and then shouting "My name is [ name ], I am the man in charge!" (which is how the US Navy currently does it in the middle of an emergency, and how I assume that it works in the Infinity setting)
Sometimes in an emergency, such as the bridge having been hit by a missile or the entire senior command staff having eaten a dodgy curry, things are a bit hectic and the 2IC/XO may also be missing presumed/in the head.
While yes, there is a chain of command in the ship, the highest-ranking person at the scene of the fire/flooding/whatever is the Man In Charge. This usually becomes the Executive Officer (2nd highest ranking on the entire sub) in short order, but until the XO arrives or if he goes down, it's whoever is highest-ranking at the scene. Usually an enlisted man, actually, since the Junior Officers are kept from being underfoot. For example, if there was a fire called away while I was on watch, my job as Messenger of the Watch was to haul ass there and start fighting the fire immediately, while the XO would be throwing his Oxygen Breathing Apparatus (OBA) on and hauling ass my way, and the off-watch guys suited up in full fireproof coveralls and OBA before grabbing the firehose one set of the on-watch guys set up. As soon as the first hose team showed up, the guys on watch would get told to go back. On a good ship, this was within 4 minutes. Problem was, you wouldn't be able to see your hand in front of your face due to smoke in 2 minutes. Because we usually had a bunch of really junior guys learning how to drive the ship (one of the first underway watches people learned), there were often 3-4 Messengers, plus a couple other roving watchstanders. I was usually the senior man in the Messengers, and about a third of the time I was equal in rank to whoever was roving. Usually it wasn't me as man in charge, because I was really junior in terms of time in service, and I made sure most folks knew that. But *someone* needs to be man in charge when more people start showing up. Usually, the XO is there right behind the on-watch guys. I never did let the XO beat us to the scene, but a couple times he was ~30 seconds behind us (hard to run while you're putting an OBA on, it's not like a firefighter's air pack).
well that and kusanagi is likely a cultural hero to 90% of Nomads, they may all think shes a religious nutter but she already proved herself in fluff to them that if shits going south she will take charge. Bakunin functions on social energy, where the respect you gain and the benefits you have (cheaper goods) come from having a high cultural capital/general good will towards you outside of the morlock group (who probably are not even paying attention to the plan or orders anyway) Kusanagi can likely just demand to take charge and ppl will let her. I dont really think CoC fits nomads mechanics, but if anyone in the fluff would have that skill it would probably be her.
I think it was already said in this thread that the skill CoC in Infinity might not be the same as CoC in modern military. I'd expect it to be some kind of system to detect that Lt is out of commission and then facilitate seamless and instantaneous transfer of command, not just "check if all your seniors are gibbed, assume command if they are" protocol.
