Mireism

Mireism is the political system of Sokoku, as well as the political and economic philosophy as formulated by the stateswoman Chika Mirei. It characterised by elements of a planned economy and strong anti-colonial and anti-mercantilist stance. As a political system, Mireism has been limited to Sokoku, but as an ideology it has been influential in many post-colonial nations rejecting a free market capitalist or orderist system.

History

Mireism has been formulated as a political and economic philosophy by the Sokokan stateswoman Chika Mirei. During her lifetime, she developed the philosphy while applying it to the federal government of the expanding post-colonial nation of Sokoku. As such, the philosophy is based on the political system that gradually developed in Sokoku. This in contrast to most other political philosophies that were formulated as a theory before getting applied in state government.

There is no single, definitive publication formulating the exact principles of Mireism, but a gathering of scientific publications by Chika Mirei published between 7606 and 7660. The main works include two versions of the Constitution of Sokoku from 7609 and 7643, as well as a more extensive theoretical publication "The justification of the state" from 7654.

During her lifetime, the philosophy was usually called pembenaran or seitouka, in Hallisian often refered to as "the pembenaran state". It was only after her death in 7666 that Mireism as a term was starting to get used for Sokoku's structure of federal and state government as a philosophy that could be applied outside Sokoku as well.

Basic philosophy

The role of the state is the allocation of resources for the benefit of the many. Resources can be in the form of raw material, financing or intellectual property; the latter mainly through state owned patents, research and education of the labour force. The whole framework borrows elements from socialism and orderism, but unlike most other planned economies, production and services are almost exclusively privately owned, often in the form of extended families (guilds) and cooperatives. In key industries and services, the state allocates production through public tenders towards the cheapest suppliers meeting the social, environmental and safety standards set for society as a while.

This make the philosophy and system opposite to free market capitalism, where externalising economic costs is the main way to lower manufacturing costs, thus being competitive on price alone. In the Mireist system, these costs are internalised in order to avoid that a tax collective would have to balance out for the single-focus approach of profit driven companies. On the other hand, the state does not control the means of production, nor does it own and operate large (basic) industries or even essential services like waterworks or healthcare.

Mireism applies bottom-up elements like the extended family as a basis for society with economic and individual freedom. At a local level, participative and representative democracy are commonplace. This aspect has been imported from Orkanan style of government, but was present in the more tribal structures of many native populations even before colonial times. The meritocratic nature of Kakuri local government has been translated towards the state and federal level. So Mireism combines a large influence for the individual on lower levels of societal structures and government, but becomes increasingly indirect and meritocratic at higher levels of government.

Practical application in Sokoku

Adult members of an extended family have voting rights on all matters of the family, including economic enterprise and the allocation of common (joint) funds. The head of the extended family or guild or a deputy represents the unit's interest in the local territorial government. At this level, all tax payers within the extended family have a right to vote for city or county representatives and budget allocation. This part of societal and government structure shows a lot of parallells with traditional Orkanan government, especially in the Mellanhand tradition.

Land ownership comes with a license to use the land for economic purposes like agriculture, forestry or building. However, so-called hidden assets like streaming water or sub-surface resources are jointly owned. Water management and raw material extraction are public domain and as such regulated completely by the government. While the land owners have the first rights to excavate resources, they are only compensated for the work and possible loss of surface land use. But the revenues of the extracted material are the government's, who allocate it through a tender system.

For example, ercinite ore is extracted against a compensation, then it's allocated to an aluminium manufacturer providing the best price for processing the material. The aluminium is leased through tenders to manufacturers and end users. Buying an aluminium product gives you the right to use it as intended, but the aluminium itself still is owned by the government. At the end of the life cycle, the product can be returned for a deposit, after which the raw material is allocated a next time.

Non-renewable resources can be privately owned, but in practical terms there is a tradition of downcycling where those resources are seen as raw material and not as waste.

TBC