Capto Iugulum Background Thread

[Terrance888]

Thanks. Helps give proper perspective to it.

 

[Jehoshua]

I would also add, that Professor Monti is a professor, not an official representative of the Church or the Pope so to speak. He obviously has his own views that might not necessarily be expressed by the Holy See.

I have just used the character to create a window into what I think the autonomous lay activity in the "Catholic-sphere" of thought at this point in the Capto world is likely to be like, rather than just locking myself into the cage of official papal pronouncements, encyclicals and diplomatic correspondence. Obviously one professor is hardly a comprehensive insight into the whole Catholic intellectual spectrum (where you'd have moralists, traditionalists, conservatives and so forth), but I thought it give a bit more flavour to the game. (in addition to its obvious in-context aims)

 

[Marcher Jovian]

I've been wondering, what is the usual view on eugenics in the CI world?

 

[Lord of Elves]

I've been wondering, what is the usual view on eugenics in the CI world?

I am not certain the idea has been proposed yet(?)

 

[Quisani]

My understanding is that we don't have a real solid grasp of microbiology at this time. OTL, we didn't really grasp Mendelian genetics until 1908, and that's basically when we rediscovered Mendel's work. I imagine that ATL, we would uncover Mendelian inheritance of traits during some push to improve agricultural output. Whether that would come out of a grain rich nation, like Brazil or Russia, or some other power desiring to achieve food independence, like Japan, remains to be seen (though I've proposed it for Japan in the past).

As for culling the mentally weak, or those with genetic problems, I don't see that consciously arising for a while, since eugenics has historically been a progressive policy, and CI is clearly more conservative that OTL.

 

[Lord_Iggy]

Incidentally, I'm part way through a story of a Vinlandic agricultural researcher proposing the existence of a systematic, statistical means of biological inheritance (mostly as part of programs to improve grain growth rate, to compensate with the short growing season in the Västermark. I too would like to hear what EQ has to say about this.

 

[Luckymoose]

I've been working on similar programs too, so it is only a matter of time.

 

[Shadowbound]

I imagine that ATL, we would uncover Mendelian inheritance of traits during some push to improve agricultural output. Whether that would come out of a grain rich nation, like Brazil or Russia, or some other power desiring to achieve food independence, like Japan, remains to be seen (though I've proposed it for Japan in the past).

Yeah, look, that kind of basic research isn't going to arise out of government investment. That's just not how technological development works. Especially if they're working with a government grant, researchers are going to be sticking to specific fields of study for increasing agricultural production because that's not how ing research works.

 

[Crezth]

As for culling the mentally weak, or those with genetic problems, I don't see that consciously arising for a while, since eugenics has historically been a progressive policy, and CI is clearly more conservative that OTL.

Eugenics being historically progressive is not really relevant, since if it happened in this timeline it would, well, be a product of this timeline, and so cultivated to its sensibilities. Sort of like how CI's version of communism is sufficiently brutal and ironically classist enough to be like a reactionary's vision of communism.

 

[EQandcivfanatic]

I haven't done anything about eugenics, simply because no player has asked to do anything with it. That's the whole story there for the moment.

So, just so ya'll know, I'm recovered from the flu, though my computer is still struggling at home. Update progress is proceeding steadily, but since I can't work on it at the moment, here's a quick summary of what will be replacing Stability in 1940. For 1938 and 1939, the Stability stat will just be gone, but in 1940, I'll be introducing National Issues. National Issues will not be a numerical stat, but will be a listing of key issues being discussed by the people of your nation. At the same time, these National Issues will be set by your actions, not by your orders. National Issues will not be a rating or anything, they will just be topics upon which everyone within your nation has a point of view. This will figure greatly in elections, but also will serve as foundations for unrest or unease in more absolutist nations.

The existence of mass media and communication created a knowledge of the world far greater than anything previously. We have entered that period ourselves in CI, as the world begins to grow closer and more interconnected than ever before in history. Television and radio at least provide the illusion of being informed about the world or nation as a whole, rather than one's own little slice of it. As a RL example, you'd be hard pressed to find a single American who doesn't have a point of view (however ignorant) on subjects such as health care or terrorism. Therefore the USA's National Issues would include (but not be limited to) Health Care and Terrorism. How long these issues last would be dictated by the government's response or lack thereof, and how effective the response actually is.

To use an in-game example, randomly selected from the stats, here is what the current stats would look like under the new system:

Denmark:Grandkhan
Formal Name: Kingdom of Denmark
Parliamentary Monarchy: King Leopold II von Sønderburg (Liberal)
Folketing: Socialdemokraterne (Liberal)
Head of Government: Statsminister Christian Zahle
Capital: Copenhagen
National Issues: Alliance with Russia, Scandinavia, Worker Benefit Reform
Manpower: 107 (+2)
Economic Points: 0 (+49)
Domestic Spending : -5 EP
-Education: -5 (2)
Hæren: 50 Infantry Brigades, 16 Artillery Brigades, 3 RMH Artillery Brigades
Army Quality: 14
Army Doctrine: Hæren 1922
Royal Danish Navy: 3 Harpoon-class Submarines, 20 Kystnaere-class Destroyers, 4 Tufão-class Destroyers, 6 Luther-class Light Cruisers, 3 King Juan-class Battleships
Navy Quality: 11
Flyvevâbnet: 1 Høg-24 Fighter Squadron, 3 F-25 Fighter Squadrons, 3 Sim27 Fighter Squadrons
Air Force Quality: 2
Colonies: 5

Spoiler :

Iceland and Greenland: 5
-Governance: Limited Autonomy
-Garrison: 2 Infantry Brigade

Fortification Project: 186/280

As you can see, the Stability stats are gone, and new information is now provided. In Denmark right now, the issues being discussed are the alliance with Russia (and the presence of Russian troops), the influence and intent of Scandinavia, and working class reform. Now, this does not mean that these are policies being advocated or opposed by the entire population. These are just matter upon which all Danes have something to say, whether for or against. Therefore, it is up to Grandkhan as player to address these issues to the best of his abilities. Now I am concerned that some of you may treat this as a "to-do list" but the fact is that there will always be National Issues, and they will evolve and change according to the times, events across the world, and your own actions. Eliminating issues, while possible, is not what you're "supposed" to be doing under the new system, this is merely to give you some perspective on what matters to the average person in your nation.

 

[Grandkhan]

This is actually really cool, if only because I like tracking how governments come to be and evolve over time. If you remember what happened with the Spanish Civil War stuff, I wrote a whole essay on the root causes since like 1867.

I'm really looking forward to having this be mechanically in place so I don't have to make stuff up for why the Conservatives got defeated other than "well they don't like the Russians and thats it."

Will domestic policy feature really strongly in these issues? Because from my reading, domestic policy tends to be a big government breaker more so than foreign policy does.

 

[EQandcivfanatic]

The balance of foreign/domestic will widely depend on the nation in question and events going on. Remember, this is simply a way to see what the people are talking about and what is viewed as the most dire concerns/interests of the nation.

 

[spryllino]

So, based on this, how will we be meant to know how close our nation is to a revolution or an electoral upset? I feel like there still ought to be some indicator of this sort.

 

[EQandcivfanatic]

Well, the difference here is that unlike the old system, there will be precursors to a revolution or unrest, it won't just happen overnight, in most cases. Warning signs of a problem such as large-scale protests, ideological acts of violence, etc, will be more common and act as indicators of trouble on the horizon. It will now be up to the player to determine his nation's vulnerability from the events which have transpired. Of course in a truly troubled nation, National Issues such as "National Instability," "Nationalist Revolt," or "Proletarist Revolution" will emerge if things are truly dire, but not yet at the point of rebellion. On the other hand, if you spectacularly blow your nation apart from truly terrible orders, then yeah, there may be little to no warning in prior updates.

 

[Crezth]

So, based on this, how will we be meant to know how close our nation is to a revolution or an electoral upset? I feel like there still ought to be some indicator of this sort.

It's called "reading the update" my friend.

 

[TheLastJacobite]

Will there be a set limit on the number of National Issues? Or will there be as many as are present?

 

[EQandcivfanatic]

There will be no limit on numbers of issues, though some may be consolidated if practicable. For example in Russia, there won't be Georgian Nationalism, Azerbaijani Nationalism, Latvian Nationalism, etc. Instead, it would be clumped under the single Issue of Ethnic Separation. Other than things like that that are clumped together for convenience, there is no limit on how many National Issues a nation may acquire.

 

[spryllino]

That was a bit sarky, Crezth. It was a perfectly good question, and EQ answered it very adequately and I altogether approve of his answer.

 

[Luckymoose]

I greatly prefer this system to stability. Prior to this most things were a shot in the dark.

 

[Terrance888]

I approve. That is similar to one thing I was going to add to TerraNES before it died. Hopefully it works as intended?