Yatunan Radicals
The Yatunan Radicals are an interstellar government organised as a unitary oligarchy. Its capital is the ocean world of Yatunea, located in the Kon tal Mol System, where the humanoid Yatune evolved. The population of the Yatunan Radicals are galaxy-renowned for their adventurism and risk-taking behaviour, as well as their reverence towards powerful meteorological phenomena. The Yatunan government is an oligarchy ruled by the Elder Council, which selects an Elder Speaker to represent them. Cosmic storms play an important role in Yatunan society, as subjects of both reverence and study. Despite a sizable diplomatic corps and openness towards xenos, the Yatunan Radicals are somewhat ostracised from the galactic community, following their summoning of a powerful nexus storm in 2316 CE.
Table of Contents
Table of Contents
Government
The Yatunan Radicals are structured as a unitary oligarchic republic. They are typically classified as a semi-liberal market anocracy, with low-to-moderate levels of corruption.The executive of the Yatunan Radicals, the Elder Council, is a body steeped in tradition and spiritualism. It is comprised of eleven members, including the Elder Speaker, the leader and representative of the Council. Members of the Council can be selected from any Yatunan citizen, though members are typically selected from the legislature. Once an individual has been chosen for the Council, they are seated for life, until retirement, or until a majority vote from the remainder of the council removes them. The position of Elder Speaker is selected solely from Council members by majority vote.
Candidates for the Elder Council must have undertaken extreme and recognisable acts of daring or heroism that go above and beyond the rest of society. When a position in the Council needs to be filled, the legislature puts forward a candidate pre-approved by at least one member of the Council. The Council then votes on the admission, and if successful, the individual is immediately inducted into the council. All members of the Council use "Elder" as an honorific regardless of age, as their deeds have formally been deemed legendary by their induction. Their deeds that were recognised in order to gain entry to the Elder Council, having been recorded in the attempt, are stored and put on permanent display in museums across Yatunan space.
The Yatunan legislature is comprised of seven hundred delegates, who are elected indirectly by the population. The population votes for local legislatures, which in turn vote for a delegate to represent them in the national legislature. Local legislatures have limited power and can be overruled or dissolved at any time by the national legislature. The Elder Council, national legislature, and local legislatures are bound by a written constitution, created during Yatunea's global unification.
Though initally translated as the Yatunan Republic into UNE English, the Elder Council issued a formal correction in 2250 CE during the first meeting of the Galactic Community. The term "Radicals" is preferred, referring to both the nation's ideals of adventurism and daring, as well as what they consider to be cutting-edge policy.
History
Yatunan civilisation developed amidst the archipelagos and island chains of Yatunea, protected from the planet's powerful storms by mountains and tall cliffs. As Yatunes grew in number, these safe harbours became too small to protect the entire population, and many were forced into less protected areas. Although life exposed to storms was hard, those that survived and adapted managed to thrive in the less than ideal conditions. The power and spectacle of the storms on Yatunea drove many Yatunes to worship or revere them, a practice which remains strong in the 24th century CE.Eventually, civilisations in the unprotected regions of the world came to overmatch those limited by the protections of their natural harbours. Many devastating wars were fought throughout the 18th to 21st centuries CE, with the more adaptive civilisations repeatedly emerging victorious. By the mid 20th century CE, the vast majority of Yatunes could be considered fully adapted to the storms that ravaged their planet. The development of early weather control technologies (such as cloud seeding) in the 21st century CE allowed for rapid development in regions previously considered too dangerous for habitation, even by the most daring of Yatunes.
Planetary unification was a slow process, concluding in the late 22nd century CE. The final holdouts persisted past the development of the hyper drive in 2202 CE, and the process was fully completed in 2209 CE.
Demographics
Yatunes make up the majority of the population of the Yatunan Radicals, though there are small numbers of various species of xeno. Although xenos are permitted to naturalise and become full citizens, the process is lengthy without any guarantee of success. Part of the naturalisation process requires a prospective citizen undertake an act of physical prowess and daring, something some species with more limited mobility may find it difficult to do.Due to cultural attitudes towards risk, life expectancy among citizens in Yatunan space is approximately ten years lower than equivalent spacefaring civilisations. It has the highest rate of accidental death in the galaxy, particularly in the case of Yatunes, but also for xeno citizens. The development of synthetics and other artificial intelligence is banned in Yatunan space, but synthetics that are citizens of other nations may be granted tourist visas.
Economy
The Yatunan Radicals are a small, post-industrial market economy. Individuals are permitted to own and run private economic entities, and much of the nation's infrastructure is controlled by corporations. Some aspects of the economy that are unprofitable or critical for national security are owned by the central government instead. Government regulation is limited, primarily involving workers' rights, monopolies, and market externalities such as pollution. There is a limited social welfare system, providing benefits to those unable to work due to illness or injury (the latter being particularly common).One of the largest exports from Yatunan space is expertise in weather prediction and management. Centuries of development has lead to Yatunes being the foremost experts on the subject, for both planetary and spaceborne weather. Although this was briefly interrupted by a flurry of sanctions from the Galactic Community following Maelstrom Yinlu in 2316 CE, it had mostly recovered by the 2330s CE. Domestically, the Yatunan market has a significant tourism sector, primarily focused on adventure tourism. The United Nations Department of Foreign Affairs advises potential tourists that Yatunan safety standards are far below what is considered safe in UNE space.
Society
Yatunan society has been driven by the pursuit of challenges and thrills for centuries. Physical prowess and bravery are considered the highest tenets of Yatunan society, extending so far as to be qualifications for political office. The success of unsheltered civilisations during the pre-FTL development of Yatunea created an evolutionary pressure for higher risk tolerances, which has persisted for over three thousand years. Migrants to Yatunan space are self-selecting for these values, which only serves to reinforce their prominence in society.The core Yatunan values of risk taking, physical prowess, and bravery were created by environmental pressure from the extreme storms that cover Yatunea. The size and power of the storms led to them being revered by many Yatunes as spiritual or even divine objects. This reverence extends to astrometeorological phenomena, such as cosmic storms. The most visible worship that Yatunes engage in is storm dancing: a ritual that is claimed to be able to summon storms. It is undertaken in large, outdoor areas, typically in groups. The largest of these rituals are broadcasted across Yatunan space and beyond, and as such, has become a popular cultural export.
Military
The Yatunan Armed Forces, like most militaries in the galaxy, are divided into two branches: the Yatunan Army and the Yatunan Aerospace Force. The Yatunan military is a completely volunteer force, primarily focused on defence with a moderate amount of expeditionary capability. Although not particularly powerful by galactic standards, the Yatunan military has a unique skill that sets it aside from others: its ability to thrive in cosmic storms. While other militaries typically hold off on campaigns during storms, Yatunan forces embrace the astrometeorological phenomenon, using them as cover during maneuvers and operations.
Type
Geopolitical, Republic
Capital
Demonym
Yatunan
Government System
Oligarchy
Power Structure
Unitary state
Economic System
Market economy
Controlled Territories
Related Species
Comments