Intro from the South Coast

[D J Scratch]

Okay here is a basic outline of my world-building project.

It combines a number of big ideas and is set in a sort of alternative universe with it's own
physics, metaphysics, religions and politics.

The races in the universe consist of humans, various UFO style aliens and other alien species.

The humans come from the planet Severaillus which kicks off in their version of the 19th century
industrial revolution known as the age of the 'Steam Lords'
The dominant political power on Severaillus is the 'Manastrum Imperium' who control things with an iron fist, ruling over a state full of extreme wealth and poverty. It has a secret police known as the
Panopticom, and a secret society known as The Order of the Tower. Both of these make any chance of
revolution rather slim, as there are hundreds of spies and informers around.
In the midst of this, a revolutionary called Jamil Mafra Oort is plotting to overthrow the state.
Oort has a number of unique ideas that constitute his own unique blend of Communism.
He believes that history is controlled by the unfolding of a number of stages known as the Dialectic.
The Dialectic consists of three stages, Thesis-Antithesis-Synthesis.
The Thesis is the original idea or social construct,it's imperfections and short-comings create tensions in society that create an extreme opposite the Antithesis as a solution. The final stage of the Synthesis is a blend of the previous two stages, drawing on aspects of both of them to create an
historically viable compromise.
Oort saw the Dialectic operating in four seperate but very closely connected areas, economics, sexual relations, society or social relations and finally, the individual.
Thus for economics, using the three stages of the Dialectic, it goes, T-Capitalism A-Communism, resolved by S-Communistic Capitalism. In Oort's ideal society his basic unit of society, the PolyCube would be a communal organisation that would work 4 days a week on state related projects and the other three on micro-capitalist small business work, where the PolyCube would use it's expertise, connections and resources to make money on the side for the benefit of all it's members. (This is all influenced by real Soviet economics, when small businesses were allowed under the NEP, or New Economic Plan, to sort out the Soviet economy, which it did.)
The second area, sexual relations, goes T-Chastity, A-Promiscuity being resolved by S-Chaste Promiscuity (ie you can sleep with whom you like as long as it is within a small selected group.
The third area is that of society, whereby T-individualism, A-Collectivism resolved by the PolyCube as collectivised individualism.
The last area is that of the individual, relating to the main psychological drives of the Death Drive
and the Erotic Drive, (this is influenced by Sigmund Freud).
It goes T-individual Death Drive A-individual Erotic Drive, resolved by S-the individual is an illusion. (This echoes Buddhism but is also influenced by the novel '1984' whereby the ideology of Eastasia is that of 'Death Worship' or 'Obliteration of the Self'.Oort held that the single Big Idea holding capitalism together was the concept of the 'individual'
The concept of the PolyCube combines in a single unit the functions of economics, sexual relations, social relations and the individual in one unit. The 'Poly' bit denotes Polyamorous association, and the 'Cube' bit denotes the basic building block of society that, rather like Lego can be combined into
lots and lots of different configurations.

[Gwydion]

Interesting.
So we know how Oort sees society evolving - the Dialectic sees to this - but how does he see his place in this? Is the Dialectic an inevitable path of historical determinism or does it require a 'nudge' and is he the person required to nudge it into the fulfilment of the inherent contradictions of the Thesis?
The Antithesis, which I presume would be the theoretical end state of a Marxist interpretation is just another stage in Oortism? There needs to be a conflict to produce Synthesis?
But Severaillus appears to be in a proto Capitalist phase, or a Statist phase where the ruling elite, the Manastrum Imperium, control the factors of production without a market input.
Socially how is Severaillus set up? Are relationships controlled for breeding optimisation? For quasi religious manipulation of personal interaction? Is there a religious theme that harnesses self policing to ensure quiescence?
Why is Oort planning on overthrowing the State? And how? And what does he see as the State? The Manastrum Imperium or the whole edifice as it exists?
Does he see himself as part of the Antithesis phase, bringing about conflict or does he believe the Imperium is the Antithesis and himself the bearer of the Synthesis?
Is the Imperium as monolithic in its iron control as it seems or are there multiple ideological or power nexuses within?
Polycubes- size? Interaction with other polycubes? What happens in Oortism on a global scale? What happens to dissenters who don't contribute to the communal periods of economic activity? Do polycubes work as a revolutionary structure like a cell to spread Oortism or are we too far below the Panopticom(?...con? Sorry, can't get Bentham out of my head on this one ) parapet at the moment?
Does anyone get free time in a PolyCubist world? Or does that lead to counter revolution?

Good brain jiggling stuff and fascinating to read such a structured background.
My 'imaginations' usually rely on - 'sort of 30 Years War-ish, with added delusions of grandeur' and take it from there. Not sure I have your commitment!

Aliens?
Not yet if we are in the equivalent of the 19th century on Severaillus? Or are we looking at Wellsian invasions over the horizon?

[D J Scratch]

Hello, thanks for your comments Gwydion, they are very thought provoking.
Oort sees the Dialectic as something that will only unfold if his actions give it a nudge to bring it into being. Like Lenin, he holds that it is possible to seize control of the Imperium's power centres in one fell swoop and use this centralized power base to create his idea of a utopian worker's state.
The end result of the dialectic is the Synthesis, not the Antithesis. The Synthesis can only come about if the prior stage of Antithesis is there before it. I have altered the path of Marxist Dialectic by postulating that the Synthesis is more likely to be a compromise between the Thesis and Antithesis rather than being  the position of the Antithesis being the truer Marxist option, ie if i was following true Marxist Dialectic the economic path would be T-Capitalism A-the workers S- the worker's control of industry.
Severaillus at the time of Oort setting down his ideas is in their equivalent of the 19th century.The mode of production is classic 19th century Capitalism.
Fast forwarding into the future after the Oortists have acquired alien technologies, the Oortists are a huge sprawling Theocracy, in theory a Worker's State, but in reality a highly oppressive religious dictatorship within which the long deceased Oort has acquired God-like powers in the eyes of the state, having it's own priests, vestments, incense, banners, saints, icons, holy books, hymns, prayers rituals etc. The Oortist's Pangalactic Worker's League control numerous planets, moons and asteroid fields.
In the League all reproduction is controlled by the State who produce new offspring via gene-tech in vast laboratories, to set criteria laid down by centralized planning commitees. All offspring are sterile, and females no longer possess wombs.
Self-policing in society is encouraged via visible means of surveillance, the rituals of confession, penitence and absolution, and social pressure from one's co-workers. The State uses the full array of RSA's (Repressive State Apparatus) to try and ensure compliance, via a wide range of extra-judicial powers such as imprisonment, execution, banishment, torture, spells of harsh labour in the many Gulags, and so on.
Oort is planning to overthrow the state. The State is not just the Manastrum Imperium but the whole of the various Severaillan societies and political units. The Imperium is not monolithic, but is made up of numerous Noble Houses who are often engaged in Machiavellian intrigue against one another, including plots,assasinations etc.
Regarding the PolyCubes they are some 20-76 persons in size depending on the nature of the specialisms of a given individual PolyCube.They do have a social life which consists of some free-time in the evenings, attendance at rallies, spontaneous demonstrations, sporting and cultural events, and visits to PleasureDomes etc.The PolyCubes vary from one to the next. Some are relatively benign and pleasant to belong to, others are really horrible and dysfunctional.
The aliens involved mainly arise on the timeline of the Great Intergalactic War.
I hope this answers your queries, DJ.