Story Title: The Quiet Way

Genre: Eco-Science Fiction / Steampunk Dystopia Style/Tone: Literary, philosophical, morally complex (inspired by Margaret Atwood & Ursula K. Le Guin). Almost a collection of connected short stories rather than explicitly a novel. Avoid gender roles and gendered language – not to make a point but to sidestep the controversy – not an interesting question.

Setting: One of several nations on a fictional planet. Steampunk tech. All of the nations are authoritarian oligarchies even though some nominally present themselves as egalitarian or meritocratic or democratic. Materialist, consumerist economies driven by assumed scarcity.

Plot lines: There is a growing rebellion against the ruling regime. The rebellion is currently underground though there have been some protests and violence. The rebels are divided into 2 factions. The first is a conservative / traditionalist / religious faction seeking a return to “traditional values” (which are not critically examined by members of that faction) under the belief that doing so will restore an imagined golden age from an earlier historical period, even though such a golden age was not as traditional or as golden as imagined. The other rebel faction is progressive / secular / technocratic / humanist seeking to build an egalitarian techno utopia. The factions share an uneasy alliance in the fight against the ruling regime. Some of the rebels see violence as a necessary evil, but many glorify violence in pursuit of a revolution – to die fighting for a good cause, to take as many of the enemy with you to death as you can, to fight now so that your children may have peace. The theme word for the rebels is “resist”. Both rebel factions are reflected in other nations on the planet which reveal the future trajectories of both factions – both ultimately lead to authoritarian regimes built on violence. Because how you play is what you win. The rebel factions are central to the beginning plotline because they function as literary foils – arguments to argue against.

The aim of the story is to construct an argument against violent rebellion (and its glorification of violence, heros who win by conquering). So at the same time there is a community within the nation that has local organization and structure, but no central leadership. The community defines itself in part by its rejection of the underlying assumptions of materialism and consumerism – it accepts that technology can be helpful but does not solve our problems because our problems are always in ourselves. Because it rejects the underlying assumptions of the regime, the community is violently oppressed by the ruling authorities and according to the regime’s propaganda is part of or maybe even the source of the rebels. However, the community is non-violent at its core, though sometimes younger initiates in the community lash out in violent anger against the oppression of the regime. The community only invites, never forces membership. The community teaches personal disciplines that feed individual growth, psychological health, maturity, wisdom. The community encourages living a quiet life, minding your own business, working with your hands to provide for your family, living at peace with all people, unity in the essential things and permissible diversity in the non-essential things. The community’s theme is “submit and serve”. The community serves the poor and oppressed. The mature in the community respond to violent attacks by accepting their own death – “serve by dying” – “a person is more than their body”. The community honors most those who most serve.

Themes: How you play is what you win – if you use violence to fight your oppressors, when you win you yourself become a violent oppressor. Authoritarianism is self-defeating – a house divided against itself cannot stand – authoritarianism is always built on violence, fear, competition for resources, and those diseases breed division.