Fiction:Of Galaxism And Division

''Written by Maxios Telvenum, paragon of the Draconid Imperium. Part of 2025 tretise We and Then: The Mechanisms of Fear and Unity.''

I will not forget one of my first experiences of it. It was in the high of the great conflict for Kraw under the administration of emperor Kies I. I had met with Senator Guolivian of the Orbispiran Empire at a time of detente between it and the Draconid Imperium. This was back when I was but grand-duke of the United Drallivian Republics. When I served as one of the envoys of His Majesty Uriel Ultanos the Sixteenth. It was on my and Guolivian's mind: Kraw News services called it "Draconidophobia;" a fear of the Draconis and their Imperium. The inhabitants of the Kraw Federation came to believe that the Imperium had plans to enslave or subjugate them, to strip them of the tenets of Democracy to which they held so dear. Uriel was a tyrant, and as his envoy from a province of it I was perhaps seen as the herald of imperialism. Such paranoia was also levied on the Delpha Coalition of Planets, and the other members of what was then the Andromedan Galactic Commonwealth.

This is what I wish to define as Galaxism. Just as racism is a negative bias against anyone not of one's race or species, and nationalism is a negative bias against those who were not born in a specific nation, Galaxism is the idea that that those who cannot claim to be true inhabitants of your galaxy are the Other. Something to be abhorred or feared, or perhaps looked down upon as inferior. Kraw galaxism has roots in the harsh events that have plagued the galaxy over the last century; the Asgord Genocide being one such example. The Kraw conflict that played out under Kies' leadership was a new step that was inspired by the ultimatum laid down by a then-established Orbispiran Empire. This ultimatum marks the empire's bloody birth, as it was a decree that any extragalactic-born group were to either submit to the fold of the empire or be destroyed by orbital bombardment.

This empire, perhaps more than the Kraw Galaxy, is the keystone of the wave of galaxism. While some were pardoned under Kies regime, such as said imperials, the empire of Orbispira sought to purge any outside influence from Solinami Fretma, the Cyrannus Galaxy to others. What followed, according to Guolivian, was a wave of galaxy-based Cyranno-centrism. Aside form a few exceptions, the empire educated to its citizens the belief that the "outer gigaquadrant" (their term for any location outside the cluster) were savage or uncivilised. Apparently the only exceptions being the Imperium, the Delpha Coalition and any faction "wise" enough to submit to vassalge under the empire. The very term "outer gigaquadrant" says it all. As many nations throughout the history of the universe defined barbarians as essentially anyone not part of the civilisation defining the term. Something that I confess even the Imperium has been guilty of, however the term is so ubiquitous that it is perhaps more questionable to observe a society that has not at any point in their history used the term "barbarian" in this regionalistic way.

It would be horrendously naive to focus this discussion on just the empire. They may have been one of the early instances but they are only a recent controversial adopter to the idea. High king Rambert Rambarten, who accepted the position as Rambo Nation's head of state could be argued as galaxism's most controversial practitioner. After ascending to the throne, Rambert almost immediately established a policy of isolation where extragalactics (a neutral term that has been popularly adopted by members of particular galaxist movements) were treated with extreme suspicion. Rambert established a highly militarised boundary around the Neutrality Zone, believing it would protect the Quadrant Galaxies from outside hostile threats that did not entirely exist.

That is what concerns me most with this movement. Like other forms of discrimination, galaxism thrives on assumptions, generalisations and paranoia. In talks with delegations from the French Empire and with his advisers, Rambert frequently conveyed the image that the Quadrant Galaxies were fratured and divided, in no state to be trusted if it could could dissolve old alliances and war with itself. Humanity, being one of the most genetically diverse species-groups of Drakonmi Terevus, were particular victims of his accusations as he was not dealing with a unified human race, but at least three major factions. The inhabitants of the Kraw Galaxy were similar, mistaking the advances in understanding Essence to be superstitious magics and looking now on an nation that was not a federal republic or as eager to embrace the democratic process as they were (which in my travels appears to lean more to mob rule than representative will of the people). During the second great war for Borealis, the Unified Nation of Ottzello were accused of being the root of the galaxy's great war and were isolated. And currently in Mirus the native fictions take particular disdain to the Xonexi Board members, particularly the "Alcanti Triad" for claiming space once occupied by the Drakodominatus Tyranny. In essence, discriminatory feelings for anything "Outside" comes primarily from the interactions of those who come to the galaxy and develop tensions with local powers.Like the various -isms that preceded it, galaxism stems from assumptions and paranoia of that which is not.

Just as other forms of tribal cohesion do so. Galaxism serves to unite as it does to alienate. It can unite a galaxy with a feeling of "One-ness" at the detriment to those outside of the group. As the examples provided have demonstrated, it serves as a dividing wedge to those who seem 'alien'. The easy solution would be to shun the practice. However I argue that doing so merely buries the issue beneath the surface. Such behaviour must be countered with education and awareness. Perhaps a near-impossibility when at present a number of prominent practicing nations are unwilling to see the damage this practice causes. Others, as a defense mechanism, might see this proposal as an attempt to spread the influence of the Other. It may be there is no cure, for with every group there is always bias. But the more homogeneous a society becomes, the more likely it will adopt a dislike against that which is not. There might be no clear solution other than to first break barriers; practitioners of galaxism can be both allies and enemies. And has been witnessed with Orbispira and Ranbo Nation, even societies once open to the outside could experience a wave of galaxo-centrism, a paranoia over outside forces and in doing so declare borders shut. This collapse of trust, ironically the thing I claimed Rambart had misunderstood, appears to date from soon after the end of the Second war of the Xhodocto. With no grand enemy to rally an entire universe, the various nations of the first gigaquadrant focused more on their own differences than their differences compared to the alien assaulters that threatened to destroy reality decades ago.

During his time as prime minister of the French Sixth Republic, Alexandre Valery may have been the wisest analyst of such a feat: That the grand alliance against the forces of the Congregation did not unite out of a common wish for unity, but out of a fear of collective destruction. So too, it seems, do galaxies unite often under the threat of a common enemy. It was the case for Orbispira when it sought to expunge all opposition to its rule in Solinami Fretma. It was the case when Kies declared crusade on the myriad threats to democracy and sovereignty in the Kraw Galaxy. It was the case when the Polar Crystal Alliance suspected the Unified Nation of Ottzello had a hand in the galaxy's chaos. It was the case when the native factions of Mirus saw the Xonexi powers encroach on what they saw as their rightful holdings. And as of writing such threat of a common enemy draw together the colonies of Rambo Nation.

Fear and apranoia it seems, and the absence of some far greater threat (as the Congregation was) could be one of the key seeds in the current wave of discrimination against those whose species were born or raised in the local galaxy.