Nyvis
Active member
Living the New American Dream
You are living the American Dream. No, not the old individualist American Dream of the self made captain of industry, or even the older American Dream of the yeoman farmer. No, you’re living the New American Dream. The Communal Utopia.
The 21th century is coming to a close, and it has been a rough one for the United States of America. Never ending political deadlock, rolling economic crises and international isolation has lost America it's status of world power while the rest of the planet moved forward and up to space. American politics have grown more fractious and a breeding ground for competing ideologies seeking to address the country’s crisis. The federal government still exists, but its ability to enforce what few decrees it manages to agree on is close to nonexistent. Some state governments have stepped into this vaccuum, but they lack the means to replace it entirely. This is where the communes comes in.
Communalism is one of the new ideologies that emerged out of the global disruption of the 21th century. It is built around the idea of local communes taking care of their own people and cooperating with each other to find solutions to any issues too large for them alone. This makes the USA and its often deadlocked and ineffective government the perfect breeding ground for new communes offering local solutions to people’s problems.
American communalists aren’t alone either, as the ideology has had large successes in countries that suffered directly from the 21th century’s disasters. The Revolutionary Communalist Confederation span across Brazil and central Africa, and has brought stable growth to the bereleagued territories it covers after toppling their corrupt states. In Catalonia, the more moderate Communalist Confederal Republic has abided by its deal with the European Union, stopping the spread of its revolution brought by the 50s economic crisis, but maintaining the rights to have its own economic and political system. And of course, there’s Mars. Abandoned by its colonizers and starved for supplies during the 80s crisis, Mars rebelled to establish its own confederation of communes and organize relief across the red planet. All of those successes worldwide have inspired your movement at home.
Communalists are a fractious bunch, and any commune will have to bring together the various tendencies, from revolutionaries and reformists to the very American exceptionalist municipalists. More minor communalist tendencies have also added to the movement over time. Their standing within the wider Federation of American Communes can vary greatly, from well regarded groups standing for minority interests to wacky ideologues only tolerated because of their insignifiant numbers, but they usually cooperate with larger caucuses to get some of their agenda integrated into their programs.
Choose which major tendencies have been influential in electing your first representatives to the communal council in charge of daily affairs. Candidates can run on a fusion ticket in the multi member elections to the council, and ideological groupings will thus often endorse the same person.
Feel free to choose multiples as each set of of votes will result in a candidate to the council.
[] Revolutionary communalists
Revolutionary communalists see communalist organization as a prelude to destroying the existing state structures and replacing them with a confederation of communes. They are inspired by the successes of revolutions on Mars, in Brazil and central Africa. They tend to avoid involving themselves in electoralism, especially beyond the local level. They believe participation in elections strengthen the state’s legitimacy and warp movements around politicians’ campaigns to the detriment of their work building communalist structure on the ground.
[] Reform communalists
Reform communalists see the communes as the bedrock for a grassroot movement able to reshape the country they operate in by acting both as building blocks for a better organization of it and as organizing grounds for electoral action. They tend to favour electing communalist or sympathizing politicians who will make it easier for communes to operate and encourage their formation. They tend to abide by an analysis of the liberal democratic state that is still antagonistic, but believe that by choosing the right politicians to support and ensuring they’re dependent their grassroot movement, they can steer policy towards favouring the communes rather than strengthening the state. They’re especially involved in local government, where they believe the gap between existing and desired institutions is lesser.
[] Municipalists
Municipalists are a homegrown movement that embrace communalist principles while integrating them in an American exceptionalist conception. They believe the communal construction to be the way to realize the true American dream of endless opportunities. But despite their idiosyncrasies, they’re often also the movement closest to communalism’s anarchist roots, stressing institutions built through voluntary participation. Their appeal to American ideals tend to resonate more with people who haven’t been slighted by it as much, and the movement is quick to leverage that privilege to ease its communes’ lives. On the other hand, its commitment to voluntary association is honest, and communes attempting to use municipalism as an excuse to avoid supporting less privileged comrades are shamed by the caucus as a whole.
In addition, minor communalist organizations can support candidates, adding to the fusion ballot. They rarely determine the election, but often get to influence the proceedings by association. Most of those groups are quite obscure beyond the labels they use, so exactly how they'll behave once they integrate into your commune's system is left to be seen. Expect at least half of them to turn out to be bad apples when they get on the big stage, but as always, that's a learning experience, so don't be afraid of it, you won't be penalized by your picks.
Feel free to choose multiple groups to back your candidate.
[] National communalist society
[] Christian communal church
[] Liberated Catholic church
[] Queer liberation caucus
[] National liberation caucus
[] Intersectional association
[] Transhuman communalist association
[] Marxist Communalist caucus
[] Maoist Communalist Party
[] Thomas Paine society
[] Martian cooperation association
[] International Revolutionary group
[] Rational communalist community
[] Human Ecology caucus
[] Rewilding society
It’s now time to find and build your newly founded commune, starting with localizing it on the map of America. Choose which area your commune is situated in. Your position will impact the popularity of the various communalist tendencies, but also influence the opportunities open to you as you construct your commune.
[] North Eastern coast: the old heart of the united states has been decaying along with the USA’s standing in the world, the country’s slipping dominance proving a deadly blow to its finance sector. The region’s numerous fractious state governments attempted to provide a cohesive answer to the lack of federal authority but the economic decline caused an implosion of the coalition they had built. Old DC lies at the edge of the North Eastern region, holding the bickering and ineffectual US federal government. Its attract has shrunk as no funding can be agreed on for most of the country's bureaucracy, but for a lot of its people, they have nowhere else to go. This authority vacuum has been a breeding ground for a large variety of radical groups, amplified by its existing diversity. This means any North Eastern commune is likely to be ideologically diverse and have the opportunity to cooperate with non communalists of various kinds.
[] South Eastern coast: for the rising states of the south eastern coast, the American decline was a brutal backslide. For the more disfavoured states of the region, though, it was nothing unexpected. The south remain a hotbed of racial tensions and untreated economic issues to this day. This proves to be both a boon and a challenge to communalists, as recruits to be radicalized are common, but keeping tensions from boiling over into internal conflict require a lot of careful balancing. Revolutionary communalists tend to be successful with the oppressed here, while reformists are faring poorly and municipalists' appeal to American ideals ring hollow and alienate the minorities who often flock to the communalist banner.
[] Western coast: the west coast fared better than the rest of the country, as state authority seamlessly substituted itself to failing federal power, spearheaded by California. The economic shocks hit just as hard, but active leadership managed to plan recovery. On the other hand, income disparity, gentrification and economic exploitation have kept building up as the west coast maintained its modern capitalist model. Glaring issues with urban planning also plague the coast's megacities. The state government has been slow, ineffective and often unwilling to go against business interests in addressing those problems. But the old machine politics are breaking down under pressure, and the west coast democratic institutions are still quite robust. This opens up the door to reformists seeking to build a coalition capable of improving the region. It has also been an opportunity for municipalists' more idealistic campaigning against the dysfunctional state of the coast's cities.
[] Great lakes: the great lakes are the old, decaying industrial heart of America. Ironically, as America's fortune declined, its industry's competitivity rose. Imports fell along with confidence in American currency and domestic production stepped up to the task again. The rust belt's desperate population provides cheap labor, keeping automation in check for. American industry is far from the cutting edge of the modern world, but it chugs along with its equally backward domestic market. This recovery has been a shaky road, as government often failed to provide the needed infrastructure and oversight, building up resentment. Communalist activity in the great lakes is divided between reformists seeking to distribute the benefits of this production focused economy while protecting their workers, and revolutionaries who see the often corrupt state governments as impossible to work with and hope to seize direct control of factories. In any case, cooperation with syndicalists and trade unionists is likely to be necessary.
[] South Central US: the southern interior has been devastated by climate change induced desertification. Denver has survived the worst of it and is the rallying beacon for the southern plains states, but it has still been hit harshly, and most smaller communities through the region have withered away. But of course, the biggest prize is Texas. The lone star state's size and single government should have enabled large scale solutions to the issue. But large scale political opposition to direct intervention still dominates its politics. Instead, it relies heavily on corrupt private-public partnership and favouring of companies displaying the right support for its ruling politicians. It has also extended its reach into the rest of the south central states through its corporations extending into them. Meanwhile, Arizona's cities and Las Vegas are vast ghost towns where remaining inhabitants compete for what little water is available. Where population is still concentrated and across minority communities, revolution is the name of the game, as the system offer little incentive to participate in it. Municipalists are also popular with more insular communities still clinging to the ideals of America but are entirely disillusioned by its institutions.
[] North Central US: climate change is also at the heart of the north's problems. Change in ecosystems and a dry/wet seasonal cycle leave its agricultural land to the mercy of the elements. Mostly a region of farmers and resource extraction, the area has suffered badly. Break down in federal power means less farming subsidies and a poorer country require less of the region's produces. Accordingly, the people who remain are either self reliant towns that see to themselves and export what little profitable surplus they can find to import enough to continue operationg, or dedicated corporate exploitations ruthlessly pushing down costs as much as possible to still turn a profit. People here believe strongly in American self reliance, and rural municipalists are the only communalists to make significant inroads with the local population.
You are living the American Dream. No, not the old individualist American Dream of the self made captain of industry, or even the older American Dream of the yeoman farmer. No, you’re living the New American Dream. The Communal Utopia.
The 21th century is coming to a close, and it has been a rough one for the United States of America. Never ending political deadlock, rolling economic crises and international isolation has lost America it's status of world power while the rest of the planet moved forward and up to space. American politics have grown more fractious and a breeding ground for competing ideologies seeking to address the country’s crisis. The federal government still exists, but its ability to enforce what few decrees it manages to agree on is close to nonexistent. Some state governments have stepped into this vaccuum, but they lack the means to replace it entirely. This is where the communes comes in.
Communalism is one of the new ideologies that emerged out of the global disruption of the 21th century. It is built around the idea of local communes taking care of their own people and cooperating with each other to find solutions to any issues too large for them alone. This makes the USA and its often deadlocked and ineffective government the perfect breeding ground for new communes offering local solutions to people’s problems.
American communalists aren’t alone either, as the ideology has had large successes in countries that suffered directly from the 21th century’s disasters. The Revolutionary Communalist Confederation span across Brazil and central Africa, and has brought stable growth to the bereleagued territories it covers after toppling their corrupt states. In Catalonia, the more moderate Communalist Confederal Republic has abided by its deal with the European Union, stopping the spread of its revolution brought by the 50s economic crisis, but maintaining the rights to have its own economic and political system. And of course, there’s Mars. Abandoned by its colonizers and starved for supplies during the 80s crisis, Mars rebelled to establish its own confederation of communes and organize relief across the red planet. All of those successes worldwide have inspired your movement at home.
Communalists are a fractious bunch, and any commune will have to bring together the various tendencies, from revolutionaries and reformists to the very American exceptionalist municipalists. More minor communalist tendencies have also added to the movement over time. Their standing within the wider Federation of American Communes can vary greatly, from well regarded groups standing for minority interests to wacky ideologues only tolerated because of their insignifiant numbers, but they usually cooperate with larger caucuses to get some of their agenda integrated into their programs.
Choose which major tendencies have been influential in electing your first representatives to the communal council in charge of daily affairs. Candidates can run on a fusion ticket in the multi member elections to the council, and ideological groupings will thus often endorse the same person.
Feel free to choose multiples as each set of of votes will result in a candidate to the council.
[] Revolutionary communalists
Revolutionary communalists see communalist organization as a prelude to destroying the existing state structures and replacing them with a confederation of communes. They are inspired by the successes of revolutions on Mars, in Brazil and central Africa. They tend to avoid involving themselves in electoralism, especially beyond the local level. They believe participation in elections strengthen the state’s legitimacy and warp movements around politicians’ campaigns to the detriment of their work building communalist structure on the ground.
[] Reform communalists
Reform communalists see the communes as the bedrock for a grassroot movement able to reshape the country they operate in by acting both as building blocks for a better organization of it and as organizing grounds for electoral action. They tend to favour electing communalist or sympathizing politicians who will make it easier for communes to operate and encourage their formation. They tend to abide by an analysis of the liberal democratic state that is still antagonistic, but believe that by choosing the right politicians to support and ensuring they’re dependent their grassroot movement, they can steer policy towards favouring the communes rather than strengthening the state. They’re especially involved in local government, where they believe the gap between existing and desired institutions is lesser.
[] Municipalists
Municipalists are a homegrown movement that embrace communalist principles while integrating them in an American exceptionalist conception. They believe the communal construction to be the way to realize the true American dream of endless opportunities. But despite their idiosyncrasies, they’re often also the movement closest to communalism’s anarchist roots, stressing institutions built through voluntary participation. Their appeal to American ideals tend to resonate more with people who haven’t been slighted by it as much, and the movement is quick to leverage that privilege to ease its communes’ lives. On the other hand, its commitment to voluntary association is honest, and communes attempting to use municipalism as an excuse to avoid supporting less privileged comrades are shamed by the caucus as a whole.
In addition, minor communalist organizations can support candidates, adding to the fusion ballot. They rarely determine the election, but often get to influence the proceedings by association. Most of those groups are quite obscure beyond the labels they use, so exactly how they'll behave once they integrate into your commune's system is left to be seen. Expect at least half of them to turn out to be bad apples when they get on the big stage, but as always, that's a learning experience, so don't be afraid of it, you won't be penalized by your picks.
Feel free to choose multiple groups to back your candidate.
[] National communalist society
[] Christian communal church
[] Liberated Catholic church
[] Queer liberation caucus
[] National liberation caucus
[] Intersectional association
[] Transhuman communalist association
[] Marxist Communalist caucus
[] Maoist Communalist Party
[] Thomas Paine society
[] Martian cooperation association
[] International Revolutionary group
[] Rational communalist community
[] Human Ecology caucus
[] Rewilding society
It’s now time to find and build your newly founded commune, starting with localizing it on the map of America. Choose which area your commune is situated in. Your position will impact the popularity of the various communalist tendencies, but also influence the opportunities open to you as you construct your commune.
[] North Eastern coast: the old heart of the united states has been decaying along with the USA’s standing in the world, the country’s slipping dominance proving a deadly blow to its finance sector. The region’s numerous fractious state governments attempted to provide a cohesive answer to the lack of federal authority but the economic decline caused an implosion of the coalition they had built. Old DC lies at the edge of the North Eastern region, holding the bickering and ineffectual US federal government. Its attract has shrunk as no funding can be agreed on for most of the country's bureaucracy, but for a lot of its people, they have nowhere else to go. This authority vacuum has been a breeding ground for a large variety of radical groups, amplified by its existing diversity. This means any North Eastern commune is likely to be ideologically diverse and have the opportunity to cooperate with non communalists of various kinds.
[] South Eastern coast: for the rising states of the south eastern coast, the American decline was a brutal backslide. For the more disfavoured states of the region, though, it was nothing unexpected. The south remain a hotbed of racial tensions and untreated economic issues to this day. This proves to be both a boon and a challenge to communalists, as recruits to be radicalized are common, but keeping tensions from boiling over into internal conflict require a lot of careful balancing. Revolutionary communalists tend to be successful with the oppressed here, while reformists are faring poorly and municipalists' appeal to American ideals ring hollow and alienate the minorities who often flock to the communalist banner.
[] Western coast: the west coast fared better than the rest of the country, as state authority seamlessly substituted itself to failing federal power, spearheaded by California. The economic shocks hit just as hard, but active leadership managed to plan recovery. On the other hand, income disparity, gentrification and economic exploitation have kept building up as the west coast maintained its modern capitalist model. Glaring issues with urban planning also plague the coast's megacities. The state government has been slow, ineffective and often unwilling to go against business interests in addressing those problems. But the old machine politics are breaking down under pressure, and the west coast democratic institutions are still quite robust. This opens up the door to reformists seeking to build a coalition capable of improving the region. It has also been an opportunity for municipalists' more idealistic campaigning against the dysfunctional state of the coast's cities.
[] Great lakes: the great lakes are the old, decaying industrial heart of America. Ironically, as America's fortune declined, its industry's competitivity rose. Imports fell along with confidence in American currency and domestic production stepped up to the task again. The rust belt's desperate population provides cheap labor, keeping automation in check for. American industry is far from the cutting edge of the modern world, but it chugs along with its equally backward domestic market. This recovery has been a shaky road, as government often failed to provide the needed infrastructure and oversight, building up resentment. Communalist activity in the great lakes is divided between reformists seeking to distribute the benefits of this production focused economy while protecting their workers, and revolutionaries who see the often corrupt state governments as impossible to work with and hope to seize direct control of factories. In any case, cooperation with syndicalists and trade unionists is likely to be necessary.
[] South Central US: the southern interior has been devastated by climate change induced desertification. Denver has survived the worst of it and is the rallying beacon for the southern plains states, but it has still been hit harshly, and most smaller communities through the region have withered away. But of course, the biggest prize is Texas. The lone star state's size and single government should have enabled large scale solutions to the issue. But large scale political opposition to direct intervention still dominates its politics. Instead, it relies heavily on corrupt private-public partnership and favouring of companies displaying the right support for its ruling politicians. It has also extended its reach into the rest of the south central states through its corporations extending into them. Meanwhile, Arizona's cities and Las Vegas are vast ghost towns where remaining inhabitants compete for what little water is available. Where population is still concentrated and across minority communities, revolution is the name of the game, as the system offer little incentive to participate in it. Municipalists are also popular with more insular communities still clinging to the ideals of America but are entirely disillusioned by its institutions.
[] North Central US: climate change is also at the heart of the north's problems. Change in ecosystems and a dry/wet seasonal cycle leave its agricultural land to the mercy of the elements. Mostly a region of farmers and resource extraction, the area has suffered badly. Break down in federal power means less farming subsidies and a poorer country require less of the region's produces. Accordingly, the people who remain are either self reliant towns that see to themselves and export what little profitable surplus they can find to import enough to continue operationg, or dedicated corporate exploitations ruthlessly pushing down costs as much as possible to still turn a profit. People here believe strongly in American self reliance, and rural municipalists are the only communalists to make significant inroads with the local population.