Talk:The League: Refuge in Distance
Culture and Politics
- Military worship
- Background of death and loss - for the League, tragedies up to and including civilisational obliteration are all too real.
- Religiosity - high original incidence in the region magnified by the war and the Magnates.
- Attempts by some governments to create shared culture to guard against the risk of fragmentation.
- Generation gaps
Internal Tensions
The League, like any human endeavour, is not without its difficulties. The foremost argument is the age-old one of any regional union, that of centralisation and unification vs. autonomy and independence. Advocates of centralisation are led by Outremonde (which has no little vested interest as the League's administrative centre) in pointing to the great successes of Earth's regional unions, the strength of the unified Magnates and the possibilities for a unified League to hegemonise the local Rim. Their opponents, most loudly Sarreva, regard it as a betrayal of the mutual defense against invasion the League was founded on, and an abandoning of the principles of diverse and flexibile society that are the League answer to Magnate social philosophy.
The second major point of disagreement is foreign policy, which is far more diverse. The League is alive with arguments about the best postwar direction now that the all-consuming issue of the War is on hold. Key questions are which (if any) Earth power the League should approach, whether it should make common cause with ZOCU in defending its independence against 'Core imperialism', how and how much it should involve itself in the Rim, and of course the eternal question of when (or even if) the Magnates should be pounded into dust. Many states are rumoured to have public or private proposals in the pipeline that would cut unilateral deals with one or more foreign powers, which is their right but runs the risk of antagonising their fellows with unwanted entanglements.
Lastly, many observers worry that the League may find itself mired in acrimonious religious squabbles in the future. Its religious ferment has produced much vibrant art and culture, but solidarity against Magnate materialism and antitheism can only paper over the theological rifts for so long.
Peelnotes (out of date)
Globalnotes
- Out of five defined worlds, the League has two single-party governments, one theocracy, one military junta, and one corrupt, unstable democracy. It also has two basketcase economies, one giant pile of fabricators, one black-market hub and a regional port. Their modern systems were built over two decades of total war (or preparation for). Complacent liberal-democratic idealism is dead. Their value systems and heroic assumptions are very different to the modern day.
- The League didn't build civilian economies and then repurpose them for war. They built war machines and then repurposed them for
peaceceasefire. - League values are defined in opposition to the Magnates. They uphold Great Men, who are needed to oppose faceless Magnate collectivity. Statues abound.
- League culture is saturated by violence even among the young.
- The League glorifies suffering and sacrifice, in opposition to the Magnates who make working all day at the production line enjoyable or even addictive.
- League economies are all heavily controlled in one form or another.
- The stresses of disengagement from total war has given rise to new social movements (the anti-democratic movement on Azadistan, etc.)
Localnotes
- Ares had an EU peacekeeping force on-planet when the breakdown hit. These informed the new professional militaries the League had to create.
- Ares had a lot of railguns and fabbers to play with. They have the most advanced rail technology of the League and are proponents of exploring 'alternate weapon concepts'.
- When the Breakdown ended the EU peacekeepers on Ares could return home. How many did?
- Azadistan can't hope to match Magnate supersoldier numbers or augmentation. How do they compensate?
- Azadistan probably has a sizeable antidemocratic movement.
- Finnegan's Folley has people still hiding out in the boonies with families, convinced the Magnates have taken over.
Foreignnotes
- The League is independent and self-reliant. They will distrust 'entangling alliances' and resist attempts to make them reliant on others.
- The League considers themselves a Great Power that should sit at the top table of international government.
- The resolution of the ZOCU war threw League pundits and scholars for a loop. They expected the Core to keep pushing.
- The Magnates are wholly evil and a threat that must be contained if not destroyed. You can't trust a magnate. Not even the smilers.
- ZOCU are soft because their war was short and against velvet-gloved Core armies and they lost anyway. Also their tech isn't that great and nephilim armour would totally own megaparticles and mecha are a silly fad and we didn't get the massive pile of theta and years of peace they cheated with and and and :<.
- The EU are soft but we have some historical friendship.
- PACT are the softest and their 'economy' is imaginary monopoly money that'd all come crashing down if they had a real war. Also please give us some of your monopoly money.
- Russia are making worrying noises towards the Magnates.
- China aren't our business but if Russia keeps it up we might have to make friends.
- The Rim should align with us before the Magnates conquer them.
Beforehand
League Joint Operations Command
League Worlds
- Factious people on Not Mars (with Red Weed).
- Primary population origin: China and India (baseline), Europe, Americas (transgene)
- Political stance: Law of the Gun. Ares is primarily concerned with shoring up domestic and international support for the tenuous central government.
- Italian-style supersoldier Iranians.
- Primary population origin: Iran.
- Political stance: Evil to Fight Evil. Azadistan has a thorny relationship with its League fellows due to endemic corruption and controversial human experimentation programs. Despite that economic, military and historical ties ensure it remains a cemented League member.
- Hardcore deathjungle commandos.
- Primary population origin: Ireland, various.
- Political stance: Still Alive. Finnegan's Folley is mostly disinterested in diplomacy, except to secure aid to build an economy.
- Peelian Religious Spacenoids
- Primary population origin: Various.
- Political stance: Be Interventionist. Minkowski is an aggressive proponent of expansion of League (and its own) power by any means necessary. If that entails destroying the Magnates, so much the better.
- Arc being the only sane man!
- Primary population origin: ?
- Apocalite wierdness!
- Primary population origin: ?