Industrial Marvelism

Industrial Marvelism is one of the prevailing pseudo-ideologies - whilst it doesn't really have much to do with politics in general, it champions the role of philosophy in economy and everyday life and encourages spending on megaprojects, increasingly complex mechanism and so forth. It is most popular in the Thwaitian countries, behind the heraldry of Bolscemena, but is also present in the political mindsets in Clare, the Far South and other countries in the East - all of which with their own cultural spins.

The ideology is by far its strongest in Bolscemena, where the technocracy leaks into monarchy, and it originated there, particularly in Ahnjaal, which kickstarted the Glorious Cities movement. Glorious Cities essentially was a manic phase amongst various world governments in which they needed to save face by radically reconstructing and renovating their cities in order to keep up with the world community. Ahnjaal was a planned city but unique in its tiered design, which required ungodly amounts of natural resources, technical know-how, enhanced machinery and ruthless organisation. This bold new design went above and beyond what was previously considered impressive, and inevitably set off an arms race between multiple countries for the best city. Carroway, Saarin, Viscory, Ulsers, Abbejeve and many others were swept up in sweeping redesigns. Although factors like town planning and aesthetics were important, there was a special place for integrated, widespread and complex technologies. For example, although it could never take technological capital away from Ahnjaal, Viscory and the rest of Antimen bolstered its trading capabilities by investing in UXR lines and automatic warehousing. The technological focus leaked into other aspects of life, such as warfare, entertainment and transport, so it is unwise for major players on the world stage to fall too far behind in philosophical spending.

On the other hand, lavish spending on these glorious cities and other unnecessary technological frivolities caused popular unrest and questions about where funding was needed. In its early stages, catalysed by the start of Ahnjaal's construction, extravagant plans and projects began to bloom, which partially contributed to the Antiestablishment Crisis. After the Crisis receded, the movement carried on, humbled and less ambitious by the close shave, but this time spreading investment across all classes and regions in order to placate opposition. Furthermore, certain governments plunged themselves into debt in order to pay for their projects, especially to Bolscemena, which is increasing inequality across countries. Whilst a recession has not occurred yet, several economists speculate and partially blame these debts.

An increased fascination in technology and artifice by the general public, with artificers and philosophers being prestigious career options, is a staple of Industrial Marvelist countries. A side effect of this is pushing against the boundaries of both philosophy and society. Hence, the ideology contributed to the alternativism movement of the 1690s and also to the Electric Realisation of 1700.

Of course, there exists opposition to this movement, not only exemplified by class differences. The Romanticism movement rallies against Industrial Marvelism, by championing the role of nature and tradition. Whilst sympathists of both sides exist in every country and government, the only broadly Romanticist government would be post-Crisis Alteross, with its totalitarian enforcement of nature protection and such.

Note: Romanticism probably needs a name change

Emmanuel Bohannon - relocate to Ahnjaal page
Grand Architect of the construction of Acrefell. I used to think of Bohannon as kind but I realised that since he was artificially increasing class difference through the physical environment, he probably was a noble-born crotchety old man who was part of the establishment. Tervan?

Bohannon Memorial Library

Resembles pissed off Graham Taverner