06-17-2019, 04:37 PM | #61 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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Tolkien talks in his preface about the difference between applicability and allegory: In applicability the reader can look at what you wrote and say, Oh, yeah, I see that I can apply that to such and such real world situation. But in allegory the intended application is pushed into the reader's face, and the author makes it clear that they are talking about X under the guise of Y. And that can really distract a reader, or a player, who has their own opinions about X. So it limits your audience, or your market. If what you want is primarily to tell a story about venturing into space and the rise of technology and wealth, then great! But it's not necessary to tell it with all the familiar 21st century political actors coming back on stage after you've had a completely different 20th century narrative. Explore a completely different 21st century, one that grows out of the backstory you've established! Just dump the OTL political establishment over the side and you'll be less likely to distract your readers from what you say the story is really about, or to put off the ones who don't share your political leanings.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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06-17-2019, 05:46 PM | #62 | |
Join Date: Jul 2007
Location: West Virginia
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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Carter got slammed by the same economic transition that squashed Ford. Add to that the fact Carter was a McGovernite social liberal with no real interest in working people until after he left office, and his defeat was certain. Reagan had both luck and a charisma which never worked on me. He seemed like the light at the end of the tunnel. At least to most people. I was never a fan. Still, Kennedy, if Mary Joe had lived, might have beaten Reagan. Space Exploration lacked a champion in the Oval Office from LBJ onward. Kennedy could have made orbital solar a glorious vision of the cuture. The big silly idea to bring people together.
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Per Ardua Per Astra! Ancora Imparo Last edited by Astromancer; 06-17-2019 at 05:49 PM. |
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06-17-2019, 06:01 PM | #63 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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06-17-2019, 06:02 PM | #64 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
Which is really the point of the ATL. You needed a real life politician who could have pushed for the dream and vision of space long before space started paying off. Otherwise, I do not see it happening unless Heinlein became president or something equally unlikely.
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06-17-2019, 06:24 PM | #65 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. Last edited by whswhs; 06-17-2019 at 07:07 PM. |
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06-17-2019, 07:08 PM | #66 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
After a quarter century divergence, there really is no way of telling who would be where though. You can take any yahoo and put them in office, but it is meaningless really because it is just speculation. With that much divergence, anyone's parents could have ended up as President.
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06-17-2019, 08:22 PM | #67 | |
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: Lawrence, KS
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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I've succeeded in running a series of campaigns for players who've been loyal, sometimes, for decades, despite their mostly being California progressives who know that I oppose much of what they believe, because I don't push my political sympathies at them. I recommend that practice to GMs. If you gotta message, call Western Union.
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Bill Stoddard I don't think we're in Oz any more. |
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06-17-2019, 09:02 PM | #68 | |||
Join Date: Jun 2006
Location: On the road again...
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
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"Life ... is an Oreo cookie." - J'onn J'onzz, 1991 "But mom, I don't wanna go back in the dungeon!" The GURPS Marvel Universe Reboot Project A-G, H-R, and S-Z, and its not-a-wiki-really web adaptation. Ranoc, a Muskets-and-Magery Renaissance Fantasy Setting Last edited by Phantasm; 06-17-2019 at 09:06 PM. |
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06-18-2019, 01:46 AM | #69 |
Join Date: Jun 2006
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
One major issue that's getting glossed over is that if you are moving a substantial chunk of a major industry to space, let alone several of them, in the absence of a magic launch technology it's necessarily heavily automated - you can't afford to ship blue collar workers to orbit. If that's making lots of money it won't stay in orbit either. Some sort of nod to the problem of massive unemployment seems like something you should be including, particularly in a setting that seems so heavily politically left leaning.
That suggestion upthread of an Alaska Permanent Fund sort of scheme might be a reasonable start - "Basic Income" concepts do seem like one of the ideas that are often floated for dealing with this - though it's presumably not modelled on Alaska, which being based in oil revenue presumably isn't doing that well in this timeline.
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-- MA Lloyd Last edited by malloyd; 06-18-2019 at 01:53 AM. |
06-18-2019, 07:49 AM | #70 |
Join Date: Feb 2016
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Re: Sol-1 [Infinite Worlds]
Why would you not be shipping people into space? The old NASA designs would require a substantial presence in space to assemble and maintain the orbital space array. With every person in space, you need other people to support them, with every person added reducing the average cost of sustaining everyone by a little bit.
In addition, cheaper energy, cheaper materials, and higher quality materials mean more jobs on the Earth, so the space economy adds to the overall economy, it does not replace it. In the stated scenario, the US economy is larger because there are less inefficiencies caused by excessive banking deregulation, excessive health care spending, and regressive tax cuts. In addition, the distribution of wealth is more equal, as the several rounds of tax cuts that favored the wealthy would have not occurred. For example, without the banking deregulation and tax cuts that favored venture capital, and without the exemption from state sales taxes that favored online retailers since there would have been a different Supreme Court by the time of the relevant decisions, online companies like Amazon would have never grown beyond niche sellers. With more aggressive union support and more aggressive support for unions, as well as a slower development of computers, America would not have allowed companies to outsource jobs to China, India, etc. The American economy in 2020 would resemble more the American economy of 1960, with the vast majority of products bought in America being made in America, and they would be bought from traditional retailers. Of course, some areas in America would absolutely suck. The coal industry would have collapsed by 2010, and the oil and gas industry would be on their last legs in 2020. States like Alaska and West Virginia would depopulation as there would be nothing for anyone to do, so they would migrate to urban centers. With the larger population experiencing economic equality and greater prosperity though, there would not really be much political support for Basic Income, though there may be more generous social welfare programs for the disabled, elderly, and unfortunate. |
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