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Table of Contents
THE INDIVIDUALISTS
Overview
The Individualists are a democratic political party in the Exohuman legal and governmental system during the Gamma Age. They stand as the primary opposition to the Communards, advocating for a vision of freedom, self-reliance, and individualism that contrasts sharply with the communal ethos of their counterparts.
Founded on January 14, 2632, in the immediate aftermath of the Great War, the Individualists quickly became a significant political force, channeling discontent with the Peace Treaty and its restrictions into a platform that emphasizes Exohuman progress, growth, and autonomy.
Historical Context
The Individualists trace their philosophical roots to the Free State of Settlers, which they idealize as the pinnacle of human freedom and self-determination. During the Beta Age, the Free State’s system of minimal governance, referendums, and locally elected Contact Persons embodied the Individualists’ values of individual liberty and limited state interference.
The collapse of the Free State in 2631, following the defeat in the Great War and the imposition of the Peace Treaty, is viewed by the Individualists as a catastrophic loss of Exohuman sovereignty. They blame this outcome not on military failure but on the internal divisions caused by the Anti-War Movement. For the Individualists, the Peace Treaty represents a betrayal of the Free State’s principles and a capitulation to Native Tribes that must be undone.
Political Attitudes and Principles
The Individualists believe in minimal governance, prioritizing personal freedom over communal obligations. Their core principles include:
- Freedom from Over-Regulation: Laws should serve to protect individual rights, not restrict them.
- Human-Centric Progress: The needs of humanity should take precedence over respect for Native cultures, though coexistence is not outright rejected.
- Capitalist Growth: The party advocates for a return to a growth-oriented capitalist system, positioning Native Tribes as potential trade partners and labor forces.
- Skepticism of Collectivism: Drawing on the restrictive experience aboard the Last Frontier, Individualists view excessive communal systems as a barrier to personal development and innovation.
Key Political Positions
- Rejection of the Peace Treaty: The Individualists refuse to recognize the treaty, viewing it as a product of treason by the Anti-War Movement rather than a legitimate resolution.
- Restoration of the Free State of Settlers’ * Ideals: The Individualists aim to re-establish the decentralized governance model of the Free State, with reduced federal oversight.
- Restoration of the Human Settlement Plan: The Individualists are advocating the expansion of the exohuman industry in line with the Human Settlement Plan (HSP).
- Economic Autonomy: The Individualists seek to reintegrate the principles of the HSP, viewing it as the blueprint for building a strong and independent human civilization.
Election results and top candidates of the Individualists since the coming into force of the Gamma Age Constitution
- 2632; In the first elections after the peace treaty came into force, the Individualists and their top candidate Thabo "Tony" Forster won 4 seats.
- 2634: In the second election, the Individualists ran again with Thabo “Tony” Forster as the top candidate. They won 5 seats of the potential 15 seats of the Federal Council.
- 2636: In the first election without Aisha Patel as the top candidate, the Individualists are running the popular politician Jamal Johanson as the top candidate..
Political perceptions of the party by Native Tribes
The Native Tribes are quite critical of the individualists. However, since the peace treaty stipulates that the Natives will not interfere in the internal affairs of the people as long as the Natives are not harmed by the people, they allow the Individualists their space. So far, they have lost every election by a wide margin to the Communards, who are preferred by the Natives.
Nevertheless, in the course of the election campaigns in the Gamma Age, it has already happened a few times that the Native observers have filed complaints against some election posters and slogans of the Individualists with the Supreme Council of the People. Especially when the contents were explicitly directed against an equal coexistence of the tribes in the Habitual Belt or portrayed the humans as a superior race to the Natives.
Such cases were usually settled discreetly, so as not to radicalize the Individualist voters unnecessarily.
Normally, however, the party of individualists masters the tightrope walk between what is just barely permitted and what is ambiguous and suggestive.