Fletcherism

Fletcherism is a Socialist ideology from Aloria, named for its mot influential advocate, William Fletcher, who was both Prime Minister from 2557-2665 and President of the Democratic Republic of Aloria from 2565 to 2568 and from 2572 to 2577.

Ideology
In between traditional Marxism and Democratic Socialism, it differs from both giving it its distinct definition. It differs from Communism in that it does not advocate the destruction of the state but instead advocates the creation of a Socialist State or the political movement of the state in that general direction. Fletcherists are generally willing to compromise with liberals with this goal in mind.

Meanwhile, Fletcherism does not advocate class warfare or class struggle. William Fletcher said that Capitalism is an economic system that, while focusing its exploitation on the proletariat or those who do not own the means of production, it ultimately victimizes all, regardless of class or their ownership of the means of production. Like the Proletariat, the Bourgeoisie (those who own the means of production) is also a victim of the capitalist system because the control they have of their lives is merely an illusion, and like the Proletariat they to are at the mercy of a chaotic and disorganized system of wealth and power.

Fletcherism would thus be closer to Democratic Socialism then it is to Marxist Communism, but it differs from the former as well, because Fletcherism still utilizes organized labor as a means of achieving a Socialist State. While it does seek to create a Socialist State through a democratic political process and rejects the idea of a militant revolution to achieve this goal, many Fletcherists have in the past advocated the idea of a "general strike" by organized labor to overthrow the capitalist system.

Fletcherism's Roots: Wentism and the Socialist Alliance
The first Socialist Party to see success in Aloria in centuries was the Alorian Socialist Alliance. The party began in 2540 after a demonstration in Aloria's capital city, Libertia, which was protesting the right wing policies of then President Vincento Vanzetti V. The protest quickly broke down into a riot, with protest leaders claiming that it was the fault of the capital police, with sympathizers referring to it as a "police riot". Demonstration leaders Samuel Went (an academic) and Thomas Fenwick (a union leader), frustrated by the events and disappointed with the apparent apathy towards their cause by political elites, formed their own party, the Socialist Alliance. At the time, SA leaders referred to their ideology as "Wentist", with academic essayist Samuel Went the chief architect of the party's ideology.

The party went from a small gathering of academics and labor leaders to a major force in Alorian parties, becoming a central member of the 2nd Alorian Progressive Coalition. Their first member to see major individual political success was William Fletcher, a prominent member of Kurmal's (a region of Aloria) Provincial legislature. Fletcher was appointed by Aloria's Progressive Coalition dominated Parliament to become Prime Minister of Aloria in 2657.

William the Fletcher, Prime Minister and President: 2557-2577
From his position of power, William Fletcher did what he could to advocate his own socialist ideology, which was essentially Wentism applied to practical politics. He had a few successes, such as the nationalization of Aloria's telecommunications. He also used the Prime Ministership as bully pulpit for the passage social and environmental reforms. In the international realm, he pushed then Democratic Centrist President Ben Thompson to intervene in the Luthori War of Succession or the Luthori Civil War. In the Holy Luthori Empire, republican rebels were trying to overthrow the centuries old monarchy, and Fletcher wanted to intervene on their behalf.

Many of the rebels were socialist, communist or marxist, while the rest were christian democrats. While Thompson did end up intervening in the conflict, sending aide to the rebels and authorizing Aloria's covert agency, DRACO to conduct operations there, it was mostly directed towards the christian democrats rather then the socialists.

William Fletcher ran for President in 2565 with the promise to intervene more fully on the side of the republican rebels. He was popularly elected, and he indeed did intervene more forcefully in the conflict. However, by this point, the war was coming to a close, with an agreement between the republicans and the monarchists to settle for a constitutional monarchy. After the agreement, however, the marxists rebelled and took over the country of Luthori, ousting the monarch.

William Fletcher considered this a victory, and thus began the "Fletcher Doctrine", the internationalist component of Fletcherism. Fletcher was defeated for reelection in 2568 however, and meanwhile the Luthori monarchy was soon restored, and the marxists there were defeated.

Fletcher was elected President again in 2572, and this time was able to purse more of his policies on the domestic front. Passing much legislation through parliament, ranging from social to environmentalist policies to the nationalization of Aloria's railways, he had a successful second term and eventually stepped down to become a private citizen.

Henry Canning, The NWO War, and the FVD March
Socialism fell from the forefront of Alorian politics after William Fletcher. Then, in 2649, a resurgent Socialist Alliance nominated Henry Canning for Prime Minister and he was appointed by Parliament to serve as Populist President Craig Joseph Leif's Prime Minister. Canning had attended Fletcher University in Kurmal and had written a book about his last days in office. Now, Canning sought to reinvigorate Fletcher's ideas into Alorian politics, and spent much time abroad, touring the world.

He came back to Aloria with news of a conflict in Al-Badara, which had become the Soviet Reich. All across Terra, a militant, authoritarian, ruthless and aggressive international organization called the New World Order was taking over country after country, and Al-Badara was the latest. Canning urged Aloria to take a stand against the NWO.

The cause became popular in Aloria, but before the country could act, the NWO attacked Aloria, assassinating President Leif and nuking the country. Canning then became President (as was the law in Aloria, the Prime Minister succeeds the President). Canning stood strong against the NWO, but as they invaded with a force that outnumbered the Alorian military by thee to one, they overwhelmed the country.

The NWO allied with a wealthy Alorian Industrialist, Wes Rockyfeller, who became the occupational governor of Aloria. An underground resistance movement was started against the Rockyfeller Government and the NWO, named Comrades, for Freedom, Victory and Democracy, or Comrades FVD, led by war hero and Populist Orion Patrick. Comrades FVD led a march on the capital which was joined by Canning. He gave a rousing speech on behalf of the march, considered one of the best in Alorian history, and it was clandestinely published and distributed throughout Aloria. The march, now known as the FVD March, swelled to 500,000 as it neared the capital. Eventually, Rockyfeller stepped down from power, and the NWO, fast collapsing from within, withdrew from Aloria. This was a major victory for Aloria. What would follow would be a great victory, if only temporary and half heartened, for Fletcherism.

Reconstruction
Henry Canning became the leader of the Third Progressive Coalition, and former finance minister Harry Harpe, not of the Socialist Alliance but instead of the Alorian Populist Party was elected President as the Coalition's candidate. He pursued policies very reminiscent of what William Fletcher advocated nealy 100 years ago.

The war with the NWO had lasted for 25 years, a quarter century, and as Harpe became President in 2672 (not being able to take control though until after the NWO left in 2774), the country was in ruins. Harry Harpe, with the aide of a massively Progressive dominated parliament (the coalition now firmly if not socialist then near socialist) passed legislation nationalizing all industries, centralizing all banking, and taxing and spending half the nation's GDP, mostly on Health, Human Services, Industry, and Infrastructure, all to rebuild the country.

While this was to a certain extent Fletcherism fully realized, Harry Harpe himself was not a Fletcherist. He advocated nationalization and massive government spending not on ideological but on pragmatic grounds. He wanted to rebuild and repair Aloria, and he felt that with the country in ruins form decades of war, the best way to do this was temporary government control and massive activity, to give an organized and coordinated boost to the country's economy.

Indeed, Harpe's reconstruction policy did prove to be temporary as the capitalists later took back control of Aloria. While not technically Fletcherism (as the policies were not pursued on Fletcher's ideological grounds), the Reconstruction period was the closest Aloria has gotten to Fletcherism in its entire history, until the present.

Fletcherism Today
Fletcherism today has three different sects. The orthodox Fletcherists follow only direct quotations from William Fletcher, which ignores contemporary concerns and other influences on Fletcherism such as Wentism and post-war Reconstruction ideas.

Classical Fletcherists meanwhile apply Fletcherism to the modern world and have a broad range of opinions from internationalism to environmentalism to social policies and the basic economics. This ideology is most dominant in the Socialist Alliance today.

Neo-Fletcherists on the other hand focus only on the economics and bread and butter issues when taking from William Fletcher's ideology. They are more likely to have moderate to even conservative views on social and religious issues, though this is not always true. This ideology is most dominant in the Alorian Populist Party today. All Fletcherists are committed to Democracy and oppose authoritarianism.

A recent economic collapse in Aloria has led to a depression which in turn has led to the election of a majority Fletcherist new Progressive Coalition to the majority of the Alorian National Congress. They have since pushed through several Fletcherist economic policies in Congress. Governor Louis Stough of the Alorian State of Ultran has similarly instituted massive Neo-Fletcherist reforms in that region, which he calls his "Fair Play" policies. As of 2711, Fletcherism is poised to make a comeback in Aloria.