Solism

Solism is an ideology originating from the Union of Sol that seeks to restore Earth to its ‘rightful’ place as the center of the galactic civilization. In order to do this, Solism promotes extreme discipline and loyalty among citizens of a Solist State, intense militarism, and a rejection of countercultures and of labor organized in opposition to state power. Some have likened Solism as being similar to the Fascism of Old Earth, and while there are some strong resemblances there are also a handful of differences, at least with Orthodox Solism that make the ideology distinct.

Principles of Solism

Earth is the Mother - Earth is the eternal center of human civilization, and all efforts must be undertaken to restore Earth to its natural state. Solists, especially Orthodox Solists believe that the rightful capital of human civilization belongs in the Sol System, and more specifically on Earth. It is the duty of every person to reclaim Earth from the alien and restore its ecosystem so that humanity may safely tread on it once again, and once that is done, all efforts must be undertaken to ensure that Earth is a worthy center of human civilization once again.   Delinquency was our Downfall - The reason for the Scourging of Earth and The Great Cataclysm was lack of discipline. Therefore, in order to ensure the success of the restoration, absolute discipline and subordination to the State is necessary. Deviations from state mandate are to be severely punished, and dissent crushed. Those too weak, or otherwise incapable of acting in the interests of the state are to be strengthened, or if necessary, liquidated for the greater good. We must all act like parts of a great machine, dedicated to the great project which lies before us, and the broken part must be corrected, or indeed, replaced. In a strict, orthodox interpretation of this tenet, policing of delinquency is to occur at every level, with leadership being regularly purged of lazy or “soft” leaders, and replaced with stronger ones, however, in societies without an impartial means of policing this behavior, the ruling classes are often just as decadent as anywhere else. Efforts to correct this contradiction are as varied as there are states which exist under a Solist ideology, though ultimately, it is the Orthodox Solists of the Union of Sol that have the best success in correcting the deviant behaviors of the elite.   Faith is a Tool, not a Guide - While not strictly atheist, Solists believe that faith must not trump ideology as the primary driving force of human civilizations, while aligned religions are accepted, and incorporated into Solist ideology, when a contradiction arises, it is necessary for the faithful to submit to the state over the tenets of their faith. Failure to do so is treasonous and will be punished just as every other deviant behavior. Unaligned religions, with all of their many contradictions, must be abhorred and treated as threats until such a time as their contradictions can be rectified, or the faithful brought to heel.   We must Respect Terran Ecology - The people must not repeat the mistakes of ancient humanity. Once Old Earth is restored it is necessary to allow her to heal, and humanity should avoid damaging her natural ecosystem beyond what is strictly necessary. All the destructive industries should therefore be removed to sites offworld, where inferior planets can take the burden away from the mother. Our restored home will be a vibrant world of blue and green, not one of choking and dull grays.   The Xeno Must Bow - All that is alien is inferior, all that is alien must be subordinate to humanity. All that refuses to be subordinate must be destroyed. Though sometimes certain elements of alien life, and ancient alien technologies and societies are useful, it is clear that everything alien permitted to exist within human space must be subordinate to the interests of humanity, or to the interests of Earth’s restoration. That which refuses this call is an abomination, like the Jred before them, and must be destroyed.

Primary Schools of Solist Thought

Though Solism is one of the most cohesive ideologies in the known galaxy, it is not without its schisms. These are largely over pragmatic matters, though sometimes, the more philosophical differences also arise to the surface. There are three major branches of Solist philosophy, associated with the main Solist States.

Solar (Orthodox) Solism

Orthodox Solism, that developed in the Union of Sol in its initial days, abides relatively closely to the tenets of Solism. Relatively unique to Solar Solism is the heavy use of artificial intelligence in the decision making of the State. For Orthodox Solists, this allows digital intelligences to police the elite, and ensure that the lack of discipline of the ruling class cannot be so severe that it compromises the project of the State. Incompetence, delinquency, and disloyalty can be rooted out by the cold, unfeeling machine, in ways that a human may not be able to, or may indeed refuse to recognize.

Parian Solism

A variant of Solism developed in Pariah, the Parian variant of Solism is that which perhaps most adheres to the characteristics of Old Earth Facism. Parian Solism rejects modern technologies, particularly those derived from aliens, and rejects intellectualism in favor of a spiritual, and often religious adherence to old customs and a cult of human heroism. It is not the way of humanity to have machines fight its battles for it, man must fight, and man must win glory for himself and the state. Over-reliance on the machine encouraged the indolence that allowed the Jred Scourge to happen in the first place, and therefore the addition of labor saving, and military machinery beyond a certain, controlled amount (usually to the point of supplementing, but not replacing most human labor), must be rejected. Parian Socialism is in bed with more restrictive forms of Opus Dei, and this has had a major impact upon the specific characteristics of it.

Cetian Solism

Also generally called Yanquism in a throwback to the ancient Americans and the rabid militarism of their society before its incorporation into the United Nations Emergency Mandate, Cetian Solism promotes a culture of athleticism, militarism, and competition among its adherents. Cetian Solists believe that not only is discipline required, so too is a march towards perfection, of the body, of the mind, of society. Competition is emphasized to ensure that the weak and the delinquent are weeded out and suitably corrected early. Cetian Solism is the least concerned with Earth recognizing the importance of rebuilding it to be certain, but placing a stronger emphasis on ensuring that a perfected society is what comes to rule the restored mother rather than restoring her first and allowing the wrong sorts of people to come to bring her to ruin once again.

Ideological Conflicts

With Stelsoc

Stellar Socialist movements are a dangerous element. Not only are Stelsoc adherants the least like to place a strong emphasis on the centrality of Earth, not only do they support an ideology which places an emphasis on the people rather than, necessarily the needs of the State; Stellar Socialists promote the exact sorts of rebellious activity such as labor organizing, labor strikes, and revolt, that will eventually cause human civilization to fracture and break. They must be resisted by any means necessary, and crushed under the boot of military force if possible. No alliances with the Stellar Socialist are possible so long as there's not greater alien threat, and even then efforts must be taken to ensure that the Stelsoc adherents take the brunt of the damage so that the Solists can sweep them away when the greater threat is destroyed.

With Frentierism

To the Solist, Frentierists represent the exact, decadent complacency that brought about humanity’s ruin in the first place. While they are not as much of a threat as the Stellar Socialists, they must be coerced into a better disciplined shape, or made to bow before Sol before they can be accepted. Temporary alliances against Stellar Socialists, aliens, or particularly rebellious Technobarbarians, are possible, but in the end Sol must come first, and the effete delinquency of Frentierists, eventually, vanquished.

With Techno-Barbarism

Though techno-barbarians can be admired for their hardy ways, their ideology, which rejects overarching interstellar societies necessarily conflicts with the Sol first approach of Solism. Techno-Barbarians are therefore to be brought to heel in for the good of wider galactic civilization. The common attitude among most Solists is that ideological Techno-Barbarians are noble savages who are to be respected even as their societies are swept away in the name of galactic progress.

With Religion

Solists have varied relations with the numerous religions of the galaxy. As religion is ultimately seen as a tool, and not as a guide, this can cause conflict. In the end, most Solists come down on the side of simple pragmatism, in an era following great disaster, many turn to faith, while it is not ideal, and all religions must eventually be subordinated to the cause, it is an impossibility to do so in the near future. Solists must therefore be willing to accept what is compatible, and correct what isn’t.  

History of Solism

Solism is an ideology ultimately born in the fires of the Jred Scourge. During that conflict the comparatively passive Frentierist State, which had spent so much time looking for maximization of profits and consumption went head up against a Gestalt Intelligence of a galactic scale that had committed itself to humanity’s doom. In facing off against this foe, the Stellar League stumbled many times, and was according to Solists, incapable of the strength or discipline necessary to destroy the Jred. At the turn of the 41st Century, the Stellar League lost Earth in the Scouring of Earth, and in the ensuing chaos billions died screaming, and billions were forced to flee the Earth. In the aftermath of this event, and of The Great Cataclysm, the Stellar League collapsed, unable to maintain the galaxy spanning civilization that it had been used to. Many of those who had been serving the primary power holders directly became dissatisfied with the Frentierist ideology, believing the decadence of the league to be the direct cause of the Jred becoming a major threat to begin with and ultimately for the destruction of the endless chain Earth centered civilizations stretching all the way back to the Age of Unity, and indeed back to the civilizations of Ancient Earth. In the workplaces of these civil servants, military officers, and academics a new ideology began to develop. Blaming the collapse of civilization on a lack of discipline and seeking to reassert the power of Sol, to restore Earth the first Solist movement was born.   The Solist movement spread rapidly throughout the Union of Sol, and throughout the realms that still nominally claimed fealty to it, with many governments overthrown early in the Long Night and new governments installed promising to mobilize what societies they still held command over in the name of returning civilization to the command of a single hegemonic power from the cradle of humanity. The Union of Sol was the first and most important of these civilizations. Though the Union could not command anywhere near the level of power of the Transolar Federation, or of the Stellar League the power of its venerable warships and its position as the locus of interstellar trade ensured that the Union would become a gray eminence, with considerable influence, beyond what is greatly reduced territory and resources would indicate. Other civilizations too, such as the State of Pariah, and the Cetian Union were during this time founded, or rebuilt along Solist principles, and many Solist leaders came to power in the various independent systems throughout the galaxy.   Since the Long Night, however, the influence of Solism has declined somewhat. Many states broke away from the Solist powers, and the ascendancy of new Stelsoc powers provided new challenges to the Solists. Though Solism remains a major influence in astropolitical affairs, Solist powers have begun to seek out temporary partnerships in the face of new threats, Solists provide a major part of the SASO alliance, and Solist politicians and magnates fund the activities of Scipion Studio Entertainment and other major cultural institutions. For the Solists, the advent of the new world must be checked, and its worst excesses in the form of extremist Frentierists and especially of the Stellar Socialists, must be crushed.  

Solist States and Organziations

The Union of Sol is the premier Solist power, and the inheritor of the purest orthodoxy of Solism in the galaxy. It remains one of the most powerful states in the galaxy despite its shrunken territory and economic base. The Cetian Union is widely regarded as the second most important Solist Power with a powerful fleet, and growing influence on the galactic stage. Its particularly militarist breed of Solism is considered the basis for this power. The State of Pariah is the largest state in the galaxy, and is the prime exemplar of the most utterly reactionary of the Solist ideological current. Many regard it as something of a paper tiger however, due to the relative lack of economic development outside of its core territories.