National Syncretism

National Syncretism
Founded	December 8th, 1914
Ideology	Civic Nationalism Corporatism Militarism Syncretism Totalitarianism Secularism Utilitarianism
Political position	Far-Right

National Syncretism or Sincretismo Nacional is a third way, authoritarian, ultranationalist ideology created in Elaklania by former President, professor, and revolutionary, Pascual Josué Obregón. It is characterized by dictatorial leadership, collectivism, militarism, civic nationalism, and the belief that the state should bend its ideology right or left to serve the best interests of the people.

National Syncretism was popularized in early 20th century Elaklania. It emerged during the Second Elaklanian Civil War before expanding into Nastanovo and other countries in Cesylle, though it would not rise to prominence past Elaklania and has stayed predominantly a Elaklanian ideology.

Syncretists saw the accession of Obregón from a simple Professor to the new leader of Elaklania as proof of the ideologies credible and as Obregón’s reign brought Elaklania to new heights of development this belief only became more widespread. Syncretists reject both socialism and capitalism instead believing in Obregón’s theory of ideological annihilation, where to be above ideology the government must shift from socialism to conservatism depending on the needs of the people. Generally Syncretists agree that interventionist autarky, a strong vanguard party, and a nationalist populace are core values of National Syncretism.

In the modern day, Elaklania has abandoned many of the more radical positions of Syncretism leading many to wonder what the future of the ideology will be as fundamentalists struggle to keep the old principles intact in the face of mounting liberal pressure.

History

Background

The 1st Republic had been established under the ideals of Hugo Bolek a early liberal & libertarian theorist, and the first president of Elaklania. His free market and decentralized policies slowly eroded much of the newly created freedoms that the Elaklanian people had gained during the second revolution.

In the place of democracy a two party system was created, on side there was the Radical Party, which represented Puerto Botina and the interests of the liberal land owners, on the other side there was the Federalist Reaction, which represented Ciudad Fernando and the interests of the conservative farmers. The two party system was predicated on every election allowing the opposing party to win instead of having a fair election, this allowed for the two parties to maintain a business relationship while also keeping the country together through friendly presidents.

By the early 1900s this practice would become known as City to City Politics, it reflected the growing sentiment that the two parties represented the interests of cliques in major cities rather than what the public wanted. All this would change in 1912, when after refusing to let their candidate, Isaías Elvira, lose the Radicals would remain in office; this would ignite a political crisis as the Federalists would declare the election fraudulent; raising local state armies to support their candidate. The Radicals would raise their own armies to suppress the Federalists and by March of that year a civil war would be in full swing, quickly the two sides would split into four factions, each representing a major city and their own respective President.

Pascual Josué Obregón, c. 1912

Founding

Before the civil war, Pascual Josué Obregón, would be working as a professor in Puerto Bontia, 48 in 1912 Obregón was well known for his radical views and his visceral hatred for the government. Obregón in 1897 had written a book on his theory of Ideological Annihilation which described in detail his view of ideology and how he believed that an ideology could achieve annihilation of all ideologies through a combination of materialism and idealism.

This eventually led to the publication of the Syncretist Manifesto in early 1911, while it would not take off in the public eye it would become a hot topic within the intelligentsia and Obregón would become a rising star among colleges all over the country. When the civil war finally broke out in 1912 Obregón would immediately start working with anti government groups in Puerto Bontia.

Organizing the first Revolutionary Guard units in Elaklanian history, drawing recruits from colleges and universities across the capital he’d inspire them with his manifesto. Regular workers would also join the revolutionary guard as its size greatly trumped any other rebel militia in the capital, using his new paramilitary forces Obregón would begin to capture the capital.

President Isaías Elvira, the leader of the radical faction controlling the capital, would order two armies to withdraw from the frontier and destroy the revolutionary guard. Once the armies arrived there would be conflict among them as parts of them would refuse to shoot on civilians that were part of the revolutionary guard, eventually this would spiral into rebellion and multiple units would join the revolutionary guard destroying their former allies.

President Isaías Elvira would flee the capital before being killed by defectors near the Enspa state border. With a victory after only three days Obregón would turn the revolutionary guard into a revolutionary government, forming a congress of representatives from around his territory he’d begin his own campaign to recapture the country.

It’s from here that the National Syncretism would begin to take off as the news of Obregón’s government would spread to other regions where the popularity of the factions were already abysmal. Obregón would become the face of the anti-City to City Politics faction which also simultaneously brought his ideas to the attention of thousands across Elaklania.

The New Republic

After the civil war and a quick snap election Obregón would be made President of the United States of Elaklania; while at first at the helm of a skeleton government created during the war he’d quickly pass the current constitution of Elaklania which would give him near absolute powers over the country. In this early period he’d make his party, the Party of the National Revolution the sole legal party in the country; banning all other parties from being allowed to participate in any elections or be present in the National Congress. While opposition to Obregón’s unitary government did exist, his dictatorial control of the state gave him plenty of ways to rid opposition from important positions.

The following years would see Obregón pass sweeping reforms over the country nationalizing businesses and creating new industries under state ownership, all part of his autarkic economic reform plan. By 1920 the Elaklanian economy has grown passed the highest point during the Republic, Obregón’s popularity soared while the country underwent a complete transformation, Elaklania was now a powerhouse in its own right.

Tenets

Civic nationalism

The function of civic nationalism as a mechanism to promote care for the country over one’s self is a core principle of National Syncretism. Dr.Lucián Guillén says “Nationalism in the Syncretic sense abandons the romantic roots of the concept and instead seeks to promote a unique utilitarian idea of nationalism.” This follows Obregón’s idea that nationalism is a fundamental function in a country and that it can not be overcome but simply restructured to fulfill its purpose more efficiently.

The Elawe Warrior Memorial, c. 2020

Syncretists view race as a falsehood rejecting racial nationalism, in this way they believe that racism alongside minority liberation movements are both obstructions to the function of the state. To National Syncretism all people must be under a single identity so they can effectively care for the state instead of whatever racial identity they may inherit, once this occurs the state can begin fixing the problems in society such as poverty, inequality, and racism.

In practice Syncretists often hold a bias to races not from the country they hold nationalism for, however in Elaklania for instance the state is ardently anti racist, though it has policies that clamp down on certain cultural practices from other parts of the world.

While being against racism the ideology is still highly associated with revanchism, with Syncretists believing that the state must be cared for and part of that includes it being at its highest point of existence.

Authority

Syncretism posits that a dictatorial government must be established, rejecting liberal principles of multi-party democracy and decentralization it supports one-party democracy and unitary government. Obregón states “The formation of democratic institutions are not inherently liberal, Syncretism brings in the necessary elements of the right to ensure the continuation of real freedoms.” In Syncretism the state is the solution to everything and the idea of limiting the state to a large degree is something that Obregón flatly rejects.

In Elaklania service to the state is a national policy that is premeditated into the public consciousness through propaganda and indoctrination, every facet that the government has is used to fetishize the ideology. While the ideology has no official stance on the practice it is commonly justified by Syncretists as a method to compete against opposing views that might damage the state.

Economic policies

National Syncretism pursues particularly with economics a balance between socialism and capitalism, there is a large emphasis placed on autarky with the state being an important component in removing any of the non functional aspects of capitalism or socialism to allow for autarky to be established.

Obregón wrote “The economic situation of the world has proven the inefficiencies of capitalism, we however must not rush head forward into socialism; but rather take a materialist approach and implement the best possible economy we can create with the two systems.”

In the end National Syncretism establishes an economy of materialism, as an important part of the end goal of a utilitarian society. Whether or not this actually achieves this goal is debated by critics and believers alike as the left and right within the movement itself often struggle to find a balance.

Aesthetics

Art

National Syncretism is highly associated with two artistic movements, Expressionism and Realism; one of the focuses of the National Revolution in Elaklania specifically was art. President Obregón greatly disliked the growth of new art during the times of the Republic and sought to purge it with the introduction of state sponsored art installations and public pieces, of course all in his favorite style of realism.

“The Sight.” By Matías Pousa, c. 1928

This style of realism would take some deviations exploring not only modern Elaklanian life but the hypothetical future of Elaklanian life under National Syncretism. The push for realism would be meet sourly by most artists and the policy would put strain on the creative sector forcing many to create pieces in the realism style to make ends meet.

The policy would be silently removed in 1932 during the presidency of Óliver Martí, as a result of both the drop of the realism policy and the Great Deluge a few years later Expressionism would become immensely popular especially with radical Syncretists who used it to express their depression and hopefulness during the times of the Delgue.

In the modern day styles including: folk art, Surrealism, and Neo-Expressionism have taken a more prominent role as a popular way for National Syncretism to express itself.

Literature

In Syncretist theory there are six agreed upon major pieces of political literature; while the first few books are considered absolute, the final few are heavily debated within factions of the NRP. Starting with the “Theory of Ideological Annihilation, a critic of the libertarian philosophy” written in 1897 by Pascual Josué Obregón the book criticizes the ideology of the Republic; calling it “libertarian idealism” Obregón states that scientific materialism will one day take hold and that a new ideology will emerge to lead the proletariat to a utilitarian society.

The book received major attention in the intelligentsia at the time, becoming a popular subject of debate among the radical anti government groups. Following his first book Obregón published the “National Syncretic Manifesto” in 1912, the book describes Obregón’s new developments on his previous conception; putting forward a new ideology he’d call National Syncreticism.

It would lay out the principles of the ideology, how it fits into materialist history and how it will achieve the goals presented in his first book. In 1928 a few years after the National Revolution Obregón would publish his third major book, called the “Critic of International Socialism”; it reflected his growing dissatisfaction with communism and the many communist countries around the time. The book would later influence the future president Juan Esteban Cazalla.

President Jango at a book signing party eating among the attendees, c. 1937

In 1937 Hector Luis Jango would release a book leading up to his presidential in 40’ titled simply “Progress” the book described Jango’s philosophy and his thoughts on how to properly build up Elaklanians economy after the Great Deluge, it put a heavy emphasis on establishing a good relationship between the rural and urban communities something that was well received by the common folk and party alike. While popular at the time the book has received a number of criticisms ranging from calling it naive to flat out insulting Jango’s character.

After Jango in 1959 President Juan Esteban Cazalla would release his own book radically changing the views established by Jango in Progress, titled the “Fundamentals of New Enlightenment” it described Cazallas state policy of New Enlightenment or Nueva iluminación. Taking a more conservative approach it promoted heavy state censorship on society and the reintroduction of more private business into the market. While still widely read among the right of the NRP the book is extremely controversial with many considering it responsible for the decline of the state around that time.

Cazalla would also inadvertently create the Jango-Cazalla split in the party, after Cazalla many books would be published by his political successors, as this coincided with the rise in instability however they are not considered popular enough to be held in the same regard as the before mentioned texts. After Cazalla’s successors were gone however President Antônio Zeca in 1993 would publish a book called “Building Syncretism in Reality” the book heavily criticized his predecessors and put forward a very moderate view of how to establish Syncretism with his politics falling into a place between market socialism and social democracy.

Notable Theorists

• 

  Elaklania
  Pascual Josué Obregón
  President of the United States of Elaklania, 1914–1930

• 

  Elaklania
  Hector Luis Jango
  President of the United States of Elaklania, 1941–1956

• 

  Elaklania
  Juan Esteban Cazalla
  President of the United States of Elaklania, 1959–1968

• 

  Elaklania
  Antônio Zeca
  President of the United States of Elaklania, 1992–2003