Sliding Scale of Libertarianism and Authoritarianism: Difference between revisions

* [[The Culture]] of [[Iain Banks]]' novels is an interstellar post-scarcity anarchist society in which there is no government and no formal laws. Fashions, fads, customs and etiquette are the closest thing it has to them, and they play a big role in its citizens' lives (often simply to alleviate boredom). [http://www.vavatch.co.uk/books/banks/cultnote.htm As Banks described in a newsgroup post]:

{{quote|"The Culture doesn't actually have laws; there are, of course, agreed-on forms of behaviour; manners, as mentioned above, but nothing that we would recognise as a legal framework. Not being spoken to, not being invited to parties, finding sarcastic anonymous articles and stories about yourself in the information network; these are the normal forms of manner-enforcement in the Culture. The very worst crime (to use our terminology), of course, is murder (defined as irretrievable brain-death, or total personality loss in the case of an AI). The result - punishment, if you will - is the offer of treatment, and what is known as a slap-drone. All a slap-drone does is follow the murderer around for the rest of their life to make sure they never murder again."}}

* The United States in [[Jennifer Government]]. Taxes of any kind are considered "socialist", and all functions of society are run by private companies. Schools are funded by corporations, hospitals are either privatised or religious charities, the Police (Inc.) are a [[Private Military Contractor]]. There are laws, but the only things we see that are actually branded as illegal are murder and destruction of property (insider trading is explicitly mentioned as perfectly legal), and if you can't pay to have crimes against you investigated, you're out of luck. The only punishment that exists is fines, paid to the victim or his/her dependents and if you can't pay, you're sent to a forced labour facility (which can get you even deeper into debt if you don't earn enough to pay for your food and board). {{spoiler|In the end, the corporate high-ups decide that a lawless capitalist anarchy is worse than having some outside checks.}}

* ''Extropia'' in the game [[Eclipse Phase]]. Libertarians colonize planetoids in the Asteroid Belt. ''Everything'' is based on the free market. When visiting, you are strongly advised to hire your own security, insurance, etc. A micro-credit system governs every interaction, and there is no central government, only slightly dominant companies.

 

{{smallcaps|Authoritarian-Moderate}}—For the good of the many.

** Ironically, in [[Crapsack World|the setting]] they are one of the most progressive races.

* The Ministry of Magic from ''[[Harry Potter]]'', although by the seventh book it's nothing more than a [[The Man Behind the Man|front organization]] for the (extremely authoritarian) Death Eaters.

* The Hive from ''[[Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri]]''

* Alpha Complex from ''[[Paranoia]]''—only there, your pathetic lives belong to [[The Computer Is Your Friend|the Computer]].

* ''[[V for Vendetta]]'''s [[A Nazi by Any Other Name|Norsefire]].

* [[Police State|Oceania]] in ''[[Nineteen Eighty-Four|1984]]''. The rival superstates of Eurasia and Eastasia [[Not So Different|are implied to be no better]].

* The totalitarian and collectivist Borg from ''[[Star Trek]]''.

* [[The Empire|The Galactic Empire]] from ''[[Star Wars]]''.

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[[Category:Politics Tropes]]