Proudhon

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Proudhon
IconProudhon.png
Seal, containing symbolism related to the planet's history and the name of the system
Proudhon.png
Proudhon
Interstellar Zone
Government: IGSA administration; de-facto managed by a federation with some de-facto corporate rule
Colonised: 3141
Capital: Makhno (de-facto)
Demonym: Proudhone
Geography
System: LHS 1723 System
Avg. distance from Earth: 17.5 ly
Demographics
Population: 10 million
[Source]
Proudhon, Saturn's leftist miscarriage. You wouldn't catch me there dead!

–Alek Jameson

Proudhon (Martian English: Puurdan) is a planet (also known as LHS 1723 b) made up of many federated independent communities with some corporate influence. Settled originally by Saturnian social anarchists to escape the capitalist Union of Saturn, Proudhon's people retain much of their ancestors' distaste for government and consumerism. Corporations are present in a limited state on Proudhon, but they are held in disdain by much of the planet.

History[edit | edit source]

Colonisation and Early Corporate Conflicts[edit | edit source]

The history of Proudhon begins in the early fourth millennium when LHS 1723 b was first explored by UGSA scouts with newly-created Kimber Drives. Seventeen light years away from the Solar System, the LHS 1723 system was of great interest to interstellar explorers due to the potential habitability of LHS 1723 b. Arriving in 3082, the initial explorers found LHS 1723 b to be a tidally-locked rocky planet with higher than average but livable levels of gravity. This excited the scouts, who promptly returned to the Solar System with news of their discovery. In 3141, the first corporate vessels under the banner of Galaxy Prospecting would touch down on LHS 1723 b, beginning the planet's colonisation by humanity.

Parallel to these developments, massive changes were taking place on Saturn. The near millennia of conflict that had characterized the planet's various moons was drawing to a close, and nowhere was this more clear than on Enceladus. Settled heavily in its early history by people with anti-authoritarian, anti-statist, and libertarian leanings who provided water vital to the colonization of Saturn's moons, Enceladus had always been a something of a thorn in the side of Saturnian corporations who saw the moon's resistant population as an obstacle to better exploiting its resources. Many Enceladeans had initially welcomed the centralization of authority under the Union of Saturn, seeing a better alternative to the centuries of predatory corporations, but just as many feared the power of the state coming down on them. These fears were seemingly confirmed in the early 3100s when the ice mining corporations who had once dealt with Enceladeans somewhat fairly turned on them, spurred on by the pressure brought on by exosolar colonies and increasing competition. Different Enceladeans had different reactions to the situation, but one group in particular took the uniquely cynical approach that the Solar System was not salvageable due to widespread predatory capitalism. This group, known informally as the Star Socialists, pointed to the exosolar colonies as a chance for a fresh start away from the utter failure of Earth and repeated failed attempts at truly equal societies in the past. Others retorted back that capitalists would simply follow them to wherever they were going, but the Star Socialists paid no heed to those words, having already made up their minds to leave Saturn. Their initial destination was Zhu Que, but that was aborted when the governmental situation there became clear as well Saturnians being low priority for Zhu Que's immigration program. Therefore, the Star Socialists shifted their focus to the other less settled worlds in known space with LHS 1723 b, Ross 128 b, and Zilong all being floated around as possibilities. In the end, the Star Socialists chose LHS 1723 as their new future home and left Enceladeus for good.

Thousands of Star Socialists came to LHS 1732 b in the early 3200s, most of them obstinately working for Galaxy Prospecting or coming in small numbers. The planet was at a low level of colonization at that point, but Galaxy Prospecting had been developing the planet for future use, building dome cities in the terminator zone and the dark side of the planet. The Star Socialists infiltrated Galaxy Prospecting fairly easily and managed to reconnect with one another and organize again, this time into LHS LabCom (labor commune). Appearing as if it emerged organically from workers on LHS 1732 b, LHS LabCom advanced the cause of labor on the planet and made a major headache for the higher-ups in Galaxy Prospecting. This was only worsened by Galaxy Prospecting's overall grim situation in the 3200s with unrelated problems playing out for the corporation in the 82 G. Eridani System, the Leonis Systems, and even the Solar System itself. Although Galaxy Prospecting was often the first corporation to reach far-flung star systems, they often had a difficult time maintaining their grip due to other corporations or even their own workers. By the mid 3200s, cracks had already begun to show within Galaxy Prospecting.

Security forces on LHS 1732 b would be strengthened in the late 3200s to dissuade LHS LabCom, but these security forces were soon met by the formidable Red Star Brigades organized by workers, mainly of them of Saturnian descent. This barracks anarchism led to a tense standoff for much of the century punctuated by several bloody skirmishes before the collapse of Galaxy Prospects and the withdrawal of most corporate assets from LHS 1732 b. The shift of LHS 1732 b into the hands of another corporation proved to be a slow process, and LHS LabCom filled that gap in the meantime for the remaining inhabitants of the planet, rallying many people behind its message of anti-authoritarianism and anti-corporatism. In the LHS Revolution, LHS LabCom seized control of the planet from any remaining corporate stooges. The Red Star Brigades would act as the strong right hand of LHS LabCom, leading to some calling the organization hypocrites with the call growing louder as the group became a federation and a de-facto governing body of the planet. That did not dissuade LHS LabCom, who eventually renamed itself the Proudhon Commune after the planet was renamed Proudhon by its inhabitants to better reflect the government's intellectual heritage. Eventually, the Red Star Brigades would would be kept in reserve to deal with external threats such as further attempts by corporations to establish themselves on Proudhon, effectively isolating the planet. The Commune hoped that its movement would spread to other worlds and that they could export the revolution, but most of known space instead just ignored Proudhon.

After the withdrawal of Galaxy Prospecting, a couple different smaller corporations attempted to move in on Proudhon only to be rebuffed by the Proudhon Commune and the Red Star Brigades. This issue was taken up with the IGSA a few times in the 3400s, but by that point, the IGSA was intent on dealing with issues in the Solar System rather than a few libertarian socialists squatting on some rock. Axil Energy would take an interest in Proudhon during the early 3400s, but the conglomerate saw the planet as not worth the trouble of fighting over. On the other hand, there was someone at the same time willing to fight for Proudhon: the Commonwealth of Earth.

Battle of Proudhon[edit | edit source]

At the beginning of the Commonwealth Wars, the LHS 1723 System laid on the frontier of governed space but well within the Commonwealth’s target range. Because of the generally extreme political position of the Proudhon colonists and their previous hostility towards corporations, the Commonwealth expected significant if ineffective resistance. Commodore Marcus Ford was placed in charge of the LHS 1723 Fleet while the experienced General Vlatko Jović was put in charge of the battle group's Commonwealth Marines.

Arriving over Proudhon in 3477, the LHS 1723 Fleet was met with immediate hostility by the locals, who were already anticipating their arrival due to well-placed paranoia about the Commonwealth's declaration of war upon humanity's colonies. The Proudhon colonists, organized into Red Star Brigades, locked down the planet's orbital station before the arrival of the LHS 1723 Fleet in order to militarize it, and they fired upon the Commonwealth ships first.

Commodore Marcus Ford would eventually take the orbital station over Proudhon, but the battle cost the LHS 1723 Fleet dearly. Using their own ships to perform suicide attacks, the Red Star Brigades managed to destroy a not inconsiderable proportion of the Commonwealth Fleet and kill a significant number of Commonwealth Marines. However, the Commonwealth forces were determined to take Proudhon and their losses were not a deterrent, at least at the moment.

Commonwealth Marines, led by General Jović, landed near the capital of Proudhon, Makhno, to begin their takeover of the planet, and the Red Star Brigades, led by their Military Leader Étienne Gaudreau, attacked the invaders with increased ferocity. Even with air support, this stifled the efforts of the Commonwealth Marines to gain a foothold on Proudhon, and they eventually relocated their landing zone to another uninhabited part of the terminator zone. From there, General Jović would work with his now reduced forces to make small gains against the Red Star Brigades instead of attacking them at their strongest point like before. Meanwhile, Commodore Ford and the LHS 1723 Fleet would blockade Brigade-held territory and give air support to Commonwealth forces on the ground. This lead to slow but steady progress by General Jović over the next five years as the Commonwealth Marines methodically cleared areas of Red Star Brigades influence and secured population centers.

A new factor would enter play with the arrival of agents of the Martian Federation in 3482, who had estimated Proudhon would be one of the most likely exosolar colonies to ably resist occupation by the Commonwealth. The Martian agents were pleasantly surprised to find the Red Star Brigades led by Military Leader Gaudreau still in control of large portions of the planet fighting against a straining force of Commonwealth Marines led by the dogged General Jović. After narrowing avoided capture by Commodore Ford, the Martian agents would land on Proudhon unmolested and offer their services to Military Leader Gaudreau. This offer drove an unintended wedge between the various factions of the Red Star Brigades and vexed Gaudreau to no end for days. While the majority of the Red Star Brigades saw the obvious benefits of accepting help from the Martians, a more dogmatic minority decried cooperation with any state, particularly one as powerful as Mars. They saw it as a betrayal of their time-honored principles and threatened to split from the larger organization if Martian aid was accepted. Military Leader Gaudreau would eventually make the tough decision to accept Martian aid which led to a split in the ranks of the Red Star Brigades. The minority anti-aid faction, led by Comrade Hosea Brasch, created the Popular Revolutionary Brigades, and they seized a portion of the front from the Red Star Brigades, causing disorder among the lines on the Proudhon colonists. Almost immediately afterwards, the Commonwealth Marines and General Jović surged against the newly formed Popular Brigades. The Red Star Brigades would quickly move to assist the Popular Brigades despite protests, and the whole situation would become a quagmire of violence for the next year as part of the Proudhon colonists' front line collapsed.

After a year of disarray, the Red Star Brigades, with the aid of Martian agents and the now tentatively allied Popular Brigades, managed to stabilize the situation 3483 after considerable losses. Martian-supplied drones and vehicles would assist in these efforts as Military Leader Gaudreau increasingly relied upon his Martian advisers, particularly the Martian firebrand Xie Xinyue who directly sympathised with the views of the Red Star Brigades. The Martian drones allowed the Red Star Brigades to contest the skies of Proudhon for the first time, and after the consolidation of their own front lines, they would go on the offensive against Commonwealth Marines. This surprised General Jović, but he managed to skillfully hold back the Red Star Brigades with his limited resources, with the offensive in 3483 proving to be a failure. Thousands of Red Star Brigade members were taken prisoner in this offensive, and these POWs were either executed without trial or taken offworld back to the Solar System to be detained. Meanwhile, the Red Star Brigades grew increasingly desperate in the wake of their failed offensive throwing everything they could at the Commonwealth Marines through the use of suicide attacks and scorched earth tactics to deny the Commonwealth resources. The Battle of Proudhon heated up over the next decade as the Commonwealth Marines neared Makhno, and urban warfare began.

Makhno would finally fall to the Commonwealth Marines in 3491, and the Red Star Brigades would disperse into the wastes, still led by the dogged Military Leader Gaudreau. However, it was now clear that the Battle of Proudhon was lost as most Proudhones seemed to care less about their convictions rather than their immediate survival. Still, Military Leader Gaudreau and much of the Red Star Brigades declared their intention to fight on to retake Makhno and eventually Proudhon from the Commonwealth. However, Gaudreau, other Red Star Brigade members, and the Martian agents on Proudhon would simultaneously begin to look for a way out of the system to escape execution or imprisonment. Gaudreau, the Martian agents, and many other Red Star Brigades managed to escape Proudhon in 3494, but this was not widely known within the Red Star Brigades, leading to no real fall in morale.

Over the next nine years after the fall of Makhno, the Battle of Proudhon would continue in the wastes of the planet between the Commonwealth Marines, still led by General Jović, and the Red Star Brigades, now led by Military Leader Brasch. Over time, the Red Star Brigades would become increasingly decentralised and fractured, with Brasch losing control of the organisation in 3498. Brasch would be captured later that year by Commonwealth Marines on the outskirts of Makhno, and in the next two years, most remaining Red Star Brigades would surrender to the Commonwealth occupation or flee offworld. A scant few would continue their struggle to bitter end for years later, but the Battle of Proudhon would effectively draw to a close in 3500 with the surrender of the last large Red Star Brigade, the 4th Brigade. Proudhon would remain solidly under Commonwealth control for the rest of the Commonwealth Wars, though remnants of the Red Star Brigades would trouble authorities for the next decade or so.

Occupation[edit | edit source]

As one of the poorest and least populated planets captured during the Commonwealth Wars, the Commonwealth gained little materially in its victory at Proudhon. Despite the high cost and small return, the Commonwealth was still determined to keep Proudhon in its grasp, and a rigid occupation was enforced across the planet to keep the willful Proudhones from rising up. A occupation government was also set up by the Commonwealth, who hoped to in time change the culture of the planet to make it more amenable to Earth rule and free enterprise. This proved to be a difficult task.

Smalls bands of Red Star Brigade remnants remained active across Proudhon in the decade following the conclusion of the Battle of Proudhon. These remnants remained a constant thorn in the side of the occupation, though never a threat enough to really challenge their authority. This remained true also in space, as several former members of the Red Star Brigades turned to piracy. Commonwealth forces were tied down dealing with both of these threats and a volatile civilian population, leading to a rather harsh occupation.

The remnants were effectively a non-entity by 3511, but the harsh occupation remained, as the Commonwealth deeply distrusted the Proudhones. They were forced to live in concentrated population centers rather than their former structure of scattered communes to work for industries set up by the occupation, and the issue of public schooling became especially controversial as many Proudhones saw it a method of indoctrination by the Commonwealth.

Proudhon would briefly rise up in rebellion with the First Proudhon Rebellion in 3530 due to a Proudhone youth movement called the Libertines being clamped down upon. The rebellion was quickly crushed due to a lack of coordination or unified goals among the rebels. Commonwealth occupation forces were even able to put down the rebellion without the aid from the Solar System. Word of the fall of other worlds during the Commonwealth Wars only made things seem more grim.

Over the next century or so, Proudhon's occupation continued with occasional flare ups but no larger rebellions, unlike Eden. However, piracy would remain a problem in the surrounding space of Proudhon for the next few centuries. This would further strain the occupation as the pirates raided supply lines between the Solar System and Proudhon. On the ground, extreme resentment remained between the Earther occupiers and native Proudhones, who saw one another as lethal enemies. However, the planet's low population and its lack of appeal to colonists led to no escalation of hostilities as the Proudhones felt non-threatened in their demographic position on the planet.

Over time however, more Proudhones became assimilated to the Earther point of view. The pull of consumerism and free enterprise slowly eroded many of the values held sacrosanct on Proudhon. Nevertheless, many Proudhones resisted the temptations of the Commonwealth and resided in their own isolated communities, even within these new larger population centers. These circumstances lasted for a little over a century. They would come to an end as conflict flared up in the Solar System.

With the end of the Martian Civil War and word of the rise of ALIAS, many resources were reallocated from Proudhon to Earth. At the same time, the ideas from the Solar System began to trickle into Proudhon, mainly the ideas of Martian war refugees and Hatchet. Hatchet's ideological heterodoxy and flexibility lent itself to Proudhon's culture of political radicalism, and cells of Hatchet formed quickly throughout the planet in the early 3700s. This caused further difficulties for the Commonwealth occupation as they now had to deal with renewed subversion from Proudhones. This was only worsened when the New Red Star Brigades, founded in 3733 as a more "authentically Proudhon" group, allied itself with Hatchet and escalated the insurgency on Proudhon to a new level of violence.

For the next half century, Proudhon was a scene of bloodshed and despair as the native insurgency attempted to uproot the Commonwealth occupation, the Second Proudhon Rebellion. However, the insurgency lacked the support of a large segment of the Proudhone population and neither Hatchet nor the New Red Star Brigades were able to attract the attention of foreign backers through any significant victories. Nevertheless, they made the occupation progressively less tenable as the Commonwealth of Earth was engaged in the Solar System in the war against Mars.

Near the thirty-eighth century, the Solar System was back at peace, but the Commonwealth was on the verge of ruin. The invasion of Mars failed spectacularly, Eden fell to rebellion, and Earth was in dire financial straits. The Commonwealth would be unable to hold onto its remaining occupations, including Proudhon, and it was decided during the Second Interstellar Peace Conference that Earth would allow all of its exosolar holdings to revert to interstellar zones. Word of the end of the occupation came to Proudhon in 3790, and it shocked the population. Without ceremony, the Commonwealth occupation forces vacated their positions and returned to the Solar System, leaving Proudhon behind to its own devices.

Freedom[edit | edit source]

The end of the occupation led to a power vacuum on Proudhon that led to a brief civil war. The past alliance between the New Red Star Brigades and Hatchet came to an end as the two groups disputed how Proudhon should be governed. The New Red Star Brigades supported a loose federation of the planet’s cities and communes, allowing for self-governance for most areas, while Hatchet desired to form popular assemblies, even imposing them upon the more liberal hierarchical cities. The civil war lasted two years, but the New Red Star Brigades would eventually overcome Hatchet with assistance of many of the planet’s cities. Hatchet was driven into hiding by the end of 3792, and Proudhon was at peace once again.

The next few centuries have been a period of peaceful stagnation as Proudhon’s cities and communes coexist in an uneasy harmony while Hatchet attempts to rekindle rebellion. Culturally and economically, the cities and communes are divided in their approaches, but they do not hate one another. Whether this will change is to be seen.

Geography[edit | edit source]

Habitability[edit | edit source]

Orbiting within the circumstellar habitable zone, Proudhon is a rocky planet tidally locked to its star. As with most tidally locked planets, half of Proudhon is shrouded in icy darkness while the other half is endless day. The terminator line of Proudhon is where most settlements are located though there are mining settlements on the dark side of the planet. Most Proudhones live within domed cities, as Proudhon's atmosphere exists but is not breathable, but some live in communes further away from the more populated areas.

Proudhon is sparsely populated with only a few major population centers such as Makhno which serves as an administrative and bureaucratic hub for the rest of the planet’s small dome cities, communes, and mining operations.

Government[edit | edit source]

The original colonists of Proudhon were Saturnian social anarchists who left Saturn because of the consolidation of the Union of Saturn under the Executive, and they were initially very hostile to the idea of a government ruling over them. The first colony on Proudhon was a commune led by a "first among equals" who acted as leader for the settlement but without any real authority. After the spread of colonies across Proudhon and the intrusion of corporations, the colonies would form a highly decentralised federation to represent the planet to outsiders. The Proudhone colonists formed Red Star Brigades to seize control and combat foreign threats. After the LHS Revolution, the Red Star Brigades effectively put Proudhon under military rule, especially during the Commonwealth Wars. Coming under occupation by the Commonwealth, Proudhon stayed under Commonwealth control for the next two hundred years before the planet was downgraded to an Interstellar Zone.

The current Proudhone government is a fusion of the anarchist federation that existed before the occupation and the neoliberal authoritarian occupation government, now overseen by the IGSA. Many native Proudhones have abstained from any participation in this new government, instead living under the protection of the New Red Star Brigades, but enough cooperative Proudhones exist that they form a good portion of the planet's IGSA-supported government. A loose federation between various dome cities and communes, Proudhon's government has little effective control over the planet, which most native Proudhones prefer.

Economy[edit | edit source]

Proudhon's economy is influenced both by its anarchist origins and its time under the more neoliberal Commonwealth. Mining is the most common industry on Proudhon as small cities and communes ship their mined resources to Makhno to export off-world. Meanwhile, Makhno is more focused on manufacturing, though not for an export market but instead to sustain the rest of the planet’s industry and infrastructure.

Culture[edit | edit source]

Ethnicity[edit | edit source]

Proudhones, the descendants of the planet's original colonists, are the dominant ethnicity on Proudhon. Largely the descendants of lower-class Saturnians from Enceladus, the Proudhones initially had great difficulties settling on LHS 1723 b compared to their Earther counterparts at the time due to differences in gravity and culture. However, the Proudhones would remain on the planet after the withdrawal of Galaxy Prospecting, and they effectively took over, giving the planet its name in the process. Proudhones retain much of the culture of their ancestors, being extremely economically left-wing and anti-authoritarian. This also often translates into quarrels between Proudhones lacking any central authority. Proudhones live all over the planet with large concentrations in both urban centers and rural communities with most working either for local syndicates though many others reluctantly work for interstellar corporations.

Earthers and Zhu Que are other ethnicities with a presence on Proudhon, arriving during or after the Commonwealth occupation. Currently, these ethnicities reside within Proudhon's larger urban centers with many making up the planet's growing middle and upper classes working for interstellar corporations.

Language[edit | edit source]

The dominant language of Proudhon is Proudhone, a creole of Solar English and other languages brought by the original Saturnian colonists. This reflects the mixed heritage of the Proudhone people, composed of both Saturnians and Earthers who came to Proudhon for many divergent reasons. The Saturnian influences are stronger due to Saturnians being more dominant in Proudhon's early history, but Proudhone has grown more and more similar to Solar English as the space between it and its origin grows.

Solar English is also present on Proudhon, mostly among the Earther and Zhu Que communities who often use it interchangeably. Use of Solar English is met with mild hostility by some Proudhones who still associate it with the Commonwealth occupation.

Philosophy[edit | edit source]

Philosophy on Proudhon is heavily influenced by the ideals of the original colonists. That is, social anarchism or libertarian socialism is seemingly ingrained within the very essence of Proudhon with the ideals of the planet's Saturnian forefathers casting a long shadow. Proudhon's version of anarchism, broadly unrelated to Marxism, is very hostile to state authority and corporations in particular due to the experiences of the Star Socialists on Saturn. It emphasizes community and social equality as complementary to autonomy and personal freedom and attempts to accomplish this balance through freedom of speech maintained in a decentralized federalism, with freedom of interaction in thought and subsidiarity. In practice, this is sometimes very messy and contradictory, but the Proudhones found a somewhat stable practical application for their philosophy in the Proudhon Commune, a federation that connected the various fractious communities on the planet before the Commonwealth occupation. The current government runs parallel to the New Red Star Brigades, who effectively act as the protectors and police force of Proudhon’s remaining communes.

Meanwhile, capitalism is still present on Proudhon in the larger urban areas. The Proudhones and the Earthers who live there are less connected to the planet's anti-state past, and they are more connected to the Solar System, wanting to further centralize the government to attract more growth to the planet.