Ok, so why is this site called “panarchist space”? What is “panarchist”? Who is “panarchist”? Why isn’t it capitalized? What is “panarchy”? Why’d you pick this name in the first place?
All great questions. Let’s start with a few definitions: “panarchy” and “panarchist”
panarchy
Rare. a realm or dominion that includes the universe.
See also: Government (from The Free Dictionary)
Panarchy (from pan- and -archy), coined by Paul Émile de Puydt in 1860, is a form of governance that would encompass all others. (from Wikipedia)
In a nutshell, panarchy is a state where one chooses one’s own government which is independent of their geographic location – i.e. a nationality without territory. It’s traditionally affiliated with Libertarianism. (though I am not) There are alternate definitions of panarchy / panarchism – a good summary is on this P2P Foundation web page.
Do *I* believe in panarchy? I think it could be awesome, but am enough of a pragmatist and cynic to believe that like Communism, it works in theory and would completely fail in practice. I’m far more of a socialist than a panarchist by these definitions. So what’s another definition?
Panarchy
The government of the Thousand Suns has a decentralized feudal structure, as defined by the Covenant of Anarchy written a millennia ago by Jaspar Arkad. This structure, known as the Panarchy, is to some degree a concession to necessity, as communications are limited to the speed of the courier ships which connect the information systems of the various worlds. The head of state and government is known as the Panarch, and claims direct lineal descent from Jaspar Arkad himself. (from kentaurus.com)
Ok, WTF? What is this? Well, it’s a reference to a SF book series called The Exordium, penned by Sherwood Smith and Dave Trowbridge in the late 1970s and published in the 1980s. The books were updated by Trowbridge and re-released a decade ago (at time of this writing) in digital format. See the author’s site – Sherwood describes the series (accurately) as “a cross between Star Wars and Dangerous Liaisons with a touch of the Three Stooges.”
panarchist
One who believes in panarchism, or one who promotes panarchy. (personal definition of adherents to the notional form of government in “real-life”)
panarchist
A person who thinks everything rules. (from Urban Dictionary)
Panarchist
A member or citizen of the Panarchy, the government of the Thousand Suns.
panarchist
The nom de net of Matt Picio, lifelong space and science fiction fan.
Ok, so let’s get to the questions:
- Why is this site called “panarchist space”?
Because I go by the name panarchist on the Internet, and because I love space, and because this is my ‘space’ (home) on the Internet. It’s also the root of my fictional space agency in Kerbal Space Program – the Panarchist Space Alliance. - What is “panarchist”?
Defined above. I consider myself to be a fan of the Exordium series, and as such, I adopted the name. I think that panarchy the government type coined by Paul Émile de Puydt is fascinating, but impractical. Interestingly enough, something similar shows up in Neal Stephenson’s cyberpunk novel / parody “Snow Crash” with “Mr. Lee’s Greater Hong Kong”, a series of franchise locations which arguably fit the definition of a panarchy. They have territory, but not in the traditional sense. - Who is “panarchist”?
panarchist is the nom de net or psuedonym of Matthew Picio – a tech guy from Michigan living in the Pacific Northwest since 2000. I was a frequent contributor to the sfconsim-l discussion list, one of the game designers who worked on Attack Vector: Tactical, a contributor to Winchell Chung’s “Atomic Rocket” site, and a member of the QA team for the early access and release versions of Kerbal Space Program. (I also do some light modding for that game, and am working on a fictional story / framework) I’ve written a couple of short stories for Ad Astra Games, (and helped edit and playtest most of their catalog) and I’ve been working on a couple of novels (like this one) and a few “hard SF” space settings off and on for over 30 years. - Why isn’t it capitalized? |
Because I am pretentious. Ok, it’s because I am trying to minimize my own importance and remind myself that I’m just a guy like everyone else. i.e. because I am pretentious. 😉
As a side note, I also really like The Wizard of Oz, (and sometimes go my the nom de net “TGAPW” – The Great And Powerful Wizard”) because TheWizard of Oz himself was just this ordinary guy who made himself out to be really important and respected, but was ultimately revealed to be as strong and weak, good and bad, selfless and selfish, and ultimately as messed up and glorious as everyone else. It’s a reminder to - What is “panarchy”?
See above. Literally from the Greek “All-inclusive rule”. If I use the term capitalized, I’m referring to the fictional government of the Thousand Suns and probably illustrating something from the Exordium books. Uncapitalized, I’m talking about de Puydt’s philisophical construct. Technically it could also be used to refer to all government forms – i.e. encompassing all systems of government. - Why’d you pick this name in the first place?
Mostly because I really liked the Exordium books, but also because few, if any, people were using “panarchist” as a username. Now there are actually a few others using it, and since I mostly use it for KSP-related (Kerbal) things, I go by some variant of “KSP panarchist” when “panarchist” is not available.
Panarchist Space 