Sacco and Vanzetti

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Sacco and Vanzetti
sacco_and_vanzetti.jpg
Flag of Sacco and Vanzetti
Motto: Good people don't need laws to act responsibly
see below
Region Anarchism
Capital Huxley-on-Sea
Official Language(s) Many
Leader None
Population More than two billion
Currency None 
NS Sunset XML

Overview: Geography & History

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Sacco & Vanzetti, islands and settlements
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Location of two main islands in the Aperin continent
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tACA continent showing The Malatesta Islands
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Alcaera continent showing the Godwin settlement

Sacco & Vanzetti is a People's Movement, currently with a combined population of almost three billion.

Formerly a People's Republic, then a People's Commonwealth, and now a People's Movement, the changes in the official title reflect the growing geographic spread of a shared political and socio economic analysis and collective aspirations, unfettered by international boundaries.

Currently prevalent across a number of islands and settlements on three continents, the Movement embraces concepts of collectivism, democracy through communes, class war, revolution, communal responsibility and the overthrow of capitalism.

The Movement began in the twin islands of Sacco & Vanzetti but, through migration, settlement and international treaties, it now encompasses a great diversity of geographic locations.

The islands of Sacco and Vanzetti, as well as settlements in Kerla and First Outside, are in what has become known by some as the Greater Aperin continent but within The Movement is referred to as Aperin. The archipelago known as The Malatesta Islands and settlements in Anarchy In Motion and The Wyrm Tribe are located in the tACA continent (now known as the geographic location of The Anarcho Communist Alliance). The latest settlement, under a Bi-lateral Peoples Proliferation Agreement with The Cloud-Water Community of Ecopoeia , is in the continent of Alcaera.

In the 1960s forced re-settlement of much of the population of Sacco's capital city, Huxley-on-Sea, (formerly Port Huckslee) led to the major transportion to, and occupation of, a small chain of islands in the tACA continent.

However, the retention of historical, cultural and family links meant that when revolution came to the parent islands of Sacco and Vanzetti, it spread rapidly to the far-flung settlement. The citizens of the distant archipelago adopted the new name The Malatesta Islands and became equal partners in social and political organisation with their original home. More recently, a number of further settlements have occurred in exchanges within the tACA continent under a scheme known as The Peoples International Proliferation Agreement.

It was following these additions that the communes agreed they should choose a more appropriate title to represent the areas where their shared culture and history were prevalent.

All settlements and islands voted in favour of being known under the umbrella name of The People's Commonwealth of Sacco & Vanzetti. The short form of the title is Sacco & Vanzetti, abbreviated to S&V, the ampersand denotes the difference between the Commonwealth and the two islands of the same name.

However, in the aftermath of a period of cultural and social revolution, the umbrella name The People's Movement of Sacco & Vanzetti has been adopted.

Classified by the United Nations as "Left Wing Utopia" the lush ancient forests are a particular draw for tourists - and to those who bring their minds as well as their cameras, the style of government (or non-government) is intriguing.

The 200-year known history of Sacco & Vanzetti includes long periods of colonial occupation and withdrawal, as well as attempts at corporate control, focused around plantations (tobacco - failed), mining (uranium - failed) and manufacturing (automobiles - failed).

During periods of external control much of the food for the peoples of the islands came from the sea, which was one of the key sources for the indigenous population even before the arrival of the first Spanish colonists.

Little else is known of this "pre-history" period and culture because of the extent of the destruction during the "Conquista Vacía" (the name given to the conquest by natives and Spanish alike.

Sustainable fishing techniques and grounds have been developed alongside those of The Weegies, Free Outer Eugenia and Watfordshire.

Over two centuries the islands were held by the Spanish, the English, the French (briefly) and the Americans. The populace has been self-governing since the end of a bloody 15-year war of attrition against corporate control by motor giants the multi-national General Fjord company.

After the final withdrawal of the corporations, 18 years ago, the commonwealth was dogged by pockets of control by warlords, which took two years to eradicate. Although essentially anarchist in spirit for many decades, the understanding of the last pieces of the jigsaw of delegated control from the people downwards came from revolutionaries within Free Outer Eugenia.

The Ton Ton Macoute

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A Ton Ton Macoute icon

The colonial history of Sacco & Vanzetti was marked by the establishment of an underground religious and political movement centred around a creature which was known among the natives as the "Ton Ton Macoute" but was dismissed by outsiders as a mere death cult.

Perhaps the most infamous parable of Macoutism is La Temps des Passions, which was published by the Shiree Pirate Press.

People

The Commonwealth enjoys a diverse racial and cultural mix, mainly due to the number of occupations over the centuries by different colonists who brought their own "under-classes" as either bonded or wage-bonded servants.

When not partying or working (Sacco & Vanzettians usually have two regular areas of work, one of which is manual) they generally enjoy pondering pure mathematics as a pastime, which is probably why chess is played throughout the Commonwealth.

Much of the partying expertise comes from natural inclination and the close influence of the peoples of Watfordshire.

Media

Citizens throughout the Commonwealth share a love of media of all sorts. The absence of licensing controls brings forth a rich crop of new products almost daily, most of which run for a short period as the people running them find something else to do with their leisure time.

Over the past decade a significant movement has grown in favour of the establishment of more regular media channels and the communes have accepted that activity in any one of these can be considered as meeting work requirements. The impact of this has been twofold. Firstly, the newspaper The People’s Blast, the radio station S&V Islands Radio FM and the television station S&V Satellite TeeVee are seen as the base media for the Commonwealth. Secondly, the establishment of these products means others can justifiably describe themselves as pirate products, a branding which offers a great deal of attraction to readers, listeners and viewers.

Newspapers: The People's Blast

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The People’s Blast began publishing in the very first days of revolution and is still a much-loved newspaper, as can be seen by the constant protests and outcries over its content, its style, its production and distribution, its staff and, most of all, its editor.

In the early days of regular publication, after the revolution, the editorship was rotated among the staff on a monthly basis. However, many found they could not face the mountains of mail, telephone calls from irate readers and arguments whenever they were out in public.

The rotation system was replaced by the election of a permanent editor.

Bluff, opinionated and outspoken, Johnny Kubrick was elected, the staff believing his iron nerve and thick skin would serve him well in the position. Kubrick’s other place of work was a pig farm and it was commonly said that he had acquired characteristics similar to his charges, particularly when debating issues.

But in less than a year, he had quit the post and moved to a remote mountain community to keep bees and to study their community spirit.

For many months The People’s Blast ran without an editor, which caused an even greater furore as readers felt there was not a proper point of contact for them to air their views.

In the end, a committee of readers and staff was able to persuade Xi Chunder to become editor. Chunder had been, and still is, first mate of the trawler Daisymast, a boat renowned for its long service at sea, calling in to harbour only to drop its catch before returning to the deep blue. Fifteen years later Chunder is still editor. Regular readers and the staff are united in their condemnation of rumours that Chunder was lost overboard in particularly bad weather 13 years ago.

Radio: S&V Islands FM

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A phantasmagoria of music, debate, phone-ins, plays, quizzes and quick quips, S&V Islands FM Radio is the delight of most citizens. Many a street café debate has been sparked by conflicting views about whether the station is a parody or a genuine debacle of taste, common sense and decency. Many a late-night brawl has ended with the issue still unsettled.

Perhaps its greatest star is presenter Roo McGruder. Her claim to broadcasting fame is based not only on 27 years of being on air but also that she once completed a mighty 72 hours of non-stop live radio. Many listeners who witnessed the event contend she was more comprehensible after three nights without sleep than she has been throughout the rest of her career.

Another favourite slot is Philosophy Hour featuring Big Red and Nuke War Dave. The conspiracy theory debate concerning Karl Marx as the love child of Pocahontas and Benjamin Disraeli, 1st Earl of Beaconsfield, still defies all chronological and genetic fact to top the bill of the greatest number of listeners in the station’s history.

Television: S&VSTV

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Bizarrely, Sacco & Vanzetti Satellite TV (S&VSTV) began life as a unit within the Buenaventura Durruti Jungle Academy of Streetfighting, alongside the shadowy Angry Brigade and Project Mayhem. It was the brainchild of media expert Nando Santa, who believed satire would become the post-modern instrument of revolution.

As the channel came together, it grew rapidly beyond its original concept and became an independent service months before it was on air.

The first show, broadcast throughout the continent, won plaudits from many peoples despite initial technical problems which brought the channel to a halt for a number of hours.

Resource Allocation

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Proportions of resources allocated in S&V

Trading, in terms of exchanges of goods based on a "value" system, does not exist. Items, from food to manufactured goods, are produced and distributed according to requirements. Production levels are geared to meet expected need and surplus production is seen as unnecessary waste.

The figures in the chart are a combination of the amount of citizens' time allocated to projects during an average week and the physical resources required to meet the planned delivery of services.

High-quality educational facilities, opportunities and services - especially in the context of life-long learning - have always been a high priority throughout the Commonwealth. However, surveys have shown that the communities in the "pocket cultures" (see below: PIPA and IPPA) allocate slightly fewer resources to this area.

It is likely that this is linked to the voluntary population control exercised under the terms of the two agreements and children in these areas (sometimes the entire commune if there is a high proportion of children) from these areas are often spend the early learning years with relatives or comrades on one of the larger islands.

The pocket cultures also account for higher allocations under the "Admin" and "Equality" due to their particular structure.

Fishing Fleets

The Movement has four distinct fishing fleets: the Southern Fleet, based in Vanzetti, the Northern Fleet and Western Fleet, based in Sacco, and the Malatesta Fleet.

The Southern Fleet uses the three village ports which comprise The Martyrs at the most southerly tip of the island of Vanzetti and maintains fish nurseries off the western coast close to the town of Lexington and another along the eastern coast.

Not surprisingly, given that crews are mostly Vanzettians, the fleet has a perhaps undeserved reputation for aloofness. Although historically they have shown comradeship throughout the Commonwealth, their choice of ports in the coldest, most windblown villages is often seen as a statement of their rugged individuality.

The Northern Fleet, operating from Meltzer-super-Mare on Sacco, maintains fish nurseries to the east of the island. As it is the fleet most commonly used by overseas travellers it is renowned for the easy-going nature of most crews – and, a little unfairly, is thought of as the soft option for service.

The Western Fleet, operating from the main city of Sacco, Huxley-on-Sea, does not currently maintain a nursery, which is a source of much debate and contention among the various communes of the Commonwealth.

Proud of its regular contact with dignitaries, politicians, military personnel and diplomats, crews of the Western Fleet play down an incident in which they faced off a Ruhr taskforce and the subsequent sinking of Ruhr aircraft carrier Rapier. One experienced female trawler captain shrugged off the incident as “just bad driving”.

The Malatesta Fleet is organised with mixed crews from all four islands. Some communes are concerned that this arrangement leads to more debating than fishing. However, citizens are working to identify problems and find solutions.

The fishing fleets also include special craft, developed within The Movement and designed to serve multi-functional roles.

Special Craft

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An RSEE shows its seaworthiness

Seaborne: Each fleet is also equipped with its own attachment of a relatively new design of fishing craft. Primarily designed for Rescue, Search, Emergency and Exploration (known as RSEEs) the vessels are based on the Commonwealth's vast experience at sea. The RSEE's special features mean that it is highly manoeuvrable, very fast and has a low profile in the water.

The vessels operate in "clouds" of 15 craft, with an additional five on rest and refuelling rota for each fleet. Working together, specially-designed balloons (which are deployable both in air and water) they can, if necessary, replicate the radar and sonar return signals of a variety of ships, from submarines to aircraft carriers. However, their low profile, high speed and use of angle hull and superstructure make the RSEEs extremely difficult to detect electronically.

Seaborne members of Project Mayhem operate their own fleet of RSEEs, known as "Cloud 9".

It is believed these new fishing vessels operate in international waters, refuelling at various locations and through The Movement's super-freighters S&VSS Serendipity and S&VSS Que Sera, although Serendipity has been loaned to Peripheral Boundary and its current location is unknown.

Each RSEE is equipped with chaff and flare dispensers, radar and sonar detection and reflection equipment, smoke dispensers and two fishing rods.

Their displacement is 175 tons and top speed is 32 knots with a crew of four and a maximum passenger capacity of six.

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A RMR MkI on a routine mission

Airborne: The most common aircraft in use in Sacco & Vanzetti is the RuMouR Mk I, more than 300 are in service.

Its chief operational uses are Rescue, Meteorology and Reconnaissance, for which it is ideally suited. Made entirely of wood and plastics, it does not cloud radar with its footprint, its slow airspeed and great manoeuvrability means it can fly low, avoiding unsightliness, it has a huge range and very short takeoff and landing capabilities.

The standard crew of two leaves room for two additional passengers, if required, although most commonly, the extra seats are occupied by children enjoying the thrill of aerial patrols.

It carries no armament but is equipped with very advanced fish spotting and sounding radar with a full spherical sweep of land, sea and air. Radar projection equipment allows combinations of the craft in certain formations to replicate the footprints of either fast-moving jet planes or slower-moving craft carrying large payloads. Standard rescue equipment includes two forward-firing, 50 mm, shark cannons.

Later advances in design and equipment specifications have seen the production of Mk II, Mk III and Mk IV versions although not in the same numbers. However, the Buenaventura Durruti Jungle Academy of Streetfighting maintains and operates a complement of 87 of the very latest models.

Flags and Emblems

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Although most citizens profess to have little or no interest in the "impedimentia" of "nations", they seem remarkably fond of flags and will concoct a new emblem for almost any group, collective, commune or neighbourhood.

Some examples above are:

  • The first is the flag flown by the trawler Daisywheel - since its exchange with the Ruhrian taskforce.
  • The second and third are the emblems of two of the organisations run from the Buenaventura Durruti Jungle Academy of Streetfighting, respectively being Project Mayhem and The Angry Brigade.

Treaties

The Movement has pioneered a number of special Peoples Proliferation agreements which aim to provide a mechanism for the productive diversification of cultures and interactions between peoples around the world.

The first, the International Peoples Proliferation Agreement (IPPA), was offered to members of CACE. The second, the Peoples International Proliferation Agreement (PIPA), was offered to members of the Anarcho Communist Alliance. The third, the Bi-Lateral Peoples Proliferation Agreement (BiPPA), provides a structure for exchanges with any NS peoples.

Even though take-up has been limited, they account for a number of the Movement's smaller settlements.

The Movement was formerly a long-term member of CACE and the subsequent International Fair Trade Agreement but has now quit on grounds of differing political analysis and aspirations.

CIA World Factbook

The CIA World Factbook is not particularly complimentary about the Commonwealth, or its peoples, as can be seen from these samples:

Background

The so-called People's Commonwealth of Sacco & Vanzetti is not a country as such but an eclectic residue of citizens who were regarded as unsavoury in their original, mainly European, homelands and former slaves.There is no shred of evidence of the existence of a bona fide government on any of the islands.

Environment - current issues

Rumoured reports of a savage, unidentified, apelike beast in the untamed interior.

Age structure

  • 0-14 years: (37% - from local sources, likely to be deliberate falsehood)
  • 15-64 years: (37% - from local sources, likely to be deliberate falsehood)
  • 65 years and over: (37% - from local sources, likely to be deliberate falsehood)

Constitution

Most people seem quite sinewy with the occasional fat bastard and the odd bean pole.

Anarchism World Factbook Entry

This region embraces concepts of collectivism, democracy through communes, class war, revolution, communal responsibility and the overthrow of capitalism.

This region rejects notions of so-called anarcho-capitalism, anarcho-individualism, anarcho-primitivism, and anarcho-christianity.

Anarchism is a political movement, not a lifestyle.

UN Delegate: Eurasian Workers.

Founder: The People's Republic of Sacco & Vanzetti

Tributes

The Movement is named as a tribute and in remembrance of Italian anarchists Sacco and Vanzetti.

"If it had not been for this i might have live out my life talking at street corners to scorning men. I might have die unmarked, unknown, a failure. Now we are not a failure. This is our career and our triumph. Never in our full life can we do such work for tolerance, for justice, for men's understanding of man, as we now do by an accident, our words - our lives - our pains - nothing! The taking of our lives - lives of a good shoemaker and a poor fish peddler - all! The last moment belongs to us - that agony is our triumph!"

Bartolomeo Vanzetti, statement in court before being sentenced to death.

External Links