Sattarism
Sattarist-Renovationism Sattarism | |
|---|---|
| Founder | Mahrdad Ali Sattari |
| Ideology | Zorasani nationalism Zorasani militarism State capitalism Totalitarianism Political Irfan Anti-Imperialism Socialism (historically) |
Renovationism ( ) also known as Sattarist-Renovationism ( ) or Sattarism ( ) is a Zorasani nationalist ideology and the current state ideology since the founding of the Union of Zorasani Irfanic Republics in 1980. From 1952 to 1980, it was the state ideology of the Union of Khazestan and Pardaran and was the primary driver of Zorasani Unification. Historically promoted the development and creation of a reunified Zorasani state through the leadership of a civil-military vanguard party through a revolutionary government. Today, it promotes a politically homogenous society free of social divisions, through the adoption of Political Irfan, collectivism, an authoritarian state which embraces modernity, science, industrialisation and militarism. Sattarism condemns individualism, liberal democracy, secularism, aspects of traditionalism and mulit-culturalism. It was devised primarily by Mahrdad Ali Sattari in the 1920s with considerable influence drawn from the Xiaodongese Lu Keqian.
The ideology has undergone a series of transformations and reinterpretations since its adoption by the Union of Khazestan and Pardaran in 1953. During the 1970s, Neo-Sattarism emerged as the dominant strain with the adoption of Political Irfan and the abandonment of socialism, as a result the role of religion and militarism expanded. It promotes a form of capitalism known as Patriotic Capitalism, which commenators have described as neomercantilism state capitalism, with a minimal embrace of private property.
History
Principles
Modernism
Modernism or Modernity is what Sattari described as the “central pillar of the great process.” It is an all-encompassing term that covers the rollback and destruction of traditionalism, certain cultural and social norms and what Sattari further described as “reactionary sentimentalities.” Sattarists believe that traditions and antiquated thought undermined the Gorsanid attempts at modernisation and northernisation during the 19th and 18th centuries, ultimately resulting its collapse and the partition of the empire between Euclean colonial powers. In order to ensure the continued survival of a reunified Zorasan, it must adopt the ideals of “modernity”, science, innovation, industrialisation and urbanism.
The pursuit of Modernity according to Sattarism should come at any cost, including the destruction of cultures, traditions, norms, the environment and even social harmony if it leads to the emergence of a modern, dynamic and industrial Zorasan. This was the primary justification for the Modernisation and Harmony Campaign during Zorasani Unification. The specific targeting of nomadic ethnic minorities or communities and forcing them into sedentary urban living is one such example. Sattarism also notes that traditions and sentimentalities lead to the fossilisation of society and ultimately moral and social decay, decadence and immobility. The only traditions to be upheld are those of the political, artistic, musical and poetic varieties. This also requires the repeated elimination of “old thinking” so that the “nation may forever be in lockstep with the innovations of the day.” In 1928, Sattari wrote, “either we proceed from this day in mind of science, innovation, technology and industry, or we shall forever languish in feudalistic farms under the boot and banner of the Euclean.”
Collectivism and Ettehâd
Sattarism embraces and advocates a totalitarian state in order to foster what Sattari termed Ettehâd (meaning unity and or union) and to fully mobilise the potential for achieving modernity. Ettehâd as a concept also embraced the ideal of a “new Zorasani society and citizen”, in which the nascent ethno-cultural identities established during the colonial period and during Zorasani Unification would be repressed and abolished, and in their place would be a shared citizenship and national identity. Sattarists therefore reject the existence of Rahelia, Togotistan or any historic homeland of its constituent peoples, rather there has only ever been Zorasan and to say otherwise, is to promote “society dividing Eucleanisms.”
Sattarism denounces individualism and self-interest and advocates through Ettehâd, the establishment of a harmonious and singular society bound together by the state within the boundaries of the state. This collectivism is justified through the belief that unquestionable loyalty to one another and to the state, would best permit Zorasan to mobilise its population into pursuing modernity and protecting itself from a possible return of Euclean domination. Ettehâd posits that the state exists beyond the physical realm and reaches into the “emotional, psychological and spiritual realms of human existence” and that any group, action or individual outside the state is “worthless and a threat to the whole.” Erkin Dostum a prominent author of Sattarism said, “the new citizen of the Union must think the Union, live the Union and feel the Union, there can be no instance where his existence does not interact with the boundaries of the Union.”
As Sattarism views the world and human existence through the prism of “eternal struggle”, it also seeks a politically homogenous and harmonious society to ease the “prosecution of the Union’s struggles against the rest.” As such, Sattarism continues to advocate to this day, a society bound by Ettehâd structured like an armed force; hierarchical, ranked in which command and obey permeate throughout. This lends into Ettehâd’s description of society as comprised of three parts, the “worker, cleric and soldier”, with the soldier at the top commanding those below. Just as in the army, in society there would be no class conflict, nor selfish individualism or desires, no one’s individual contributions are greater than any other as everyone is but a singular piece of a greater machine. As such, Sattarism aims to balance competition between individuals and group solidarity, to a degree that individual success is seen as the benefit to all and the state.
Militarism and the Eternal Struggle
As stated above, Sattarists view the world as a “eternal struggle between peoples and nations”, ostensibly viewing the period of Euclean imperialism and colonialism as the “age of defeat for one half of humanity and victory for the other.” While this worldview justifies the establishment of a collectivist society, it also justifies the embrace of militarism. According to Sattarism, the military is the “manifestation of nation’s soul and capacity for violent struggle.” The military is furthermore, the embodiment of Ettehâd, as it abolishes class, ethnicity or culture. Inherent to Sattarist militarism is a Machismo, a veneration of the male as the “martial, strong and fearless soul, who’d prefer martyrdom over defeat, martyrdom over the death of his nation.” The embrace of militarism is also rooted in the origins of the ideology. It was developed concurrent to the establishment of the Pardarian Revolutionary Resistance Command, an armed insurgent group that sought to expel the Etrurians from Pardaran during the Great War and Solarian War and is intrinsically rooted within that group’s ethos.
As Sattari stated in a speech in 1952, “we must strive to become the apex predator of this continent. We must strive to build a state of the military and by the military so that never again do Euclean boots step on our blessed land.” This call for a “military with a state attached” was eventually enforced in the Union and Khazestan and Pardaran and later, Zorasan following unification. In practice, this militarism takes a different form in which society as a whole is expected to show deference, loyalty and obedience to the military, which “by virtue of its success in achieving unification lays claim to greater power and influence than any other institution.” The military is the ultimate political authority and arbiter of the state in Zorasan today.
Today, Zorasani militarism maintains its view of every dispute through a militaristic lens, in which every dispute must be met with “bastions”, “barricades”, “trenches” and “mass mobilisation.” The military is deified as bother protector and leader of the nation.
Liberty
The Sattarism liberty operates in stark contrast to its liberal variant, insofar that liberty is enjoyed by the collective whole, rather than the individual. Liberty is guaranteed by the vanguard party, as it is comprised of the leaders of the collective, who therefore stand as the ultimate servants to the collective will and interest. Sattari believed that an individual operating outside the collective whole was without liberty, being forced to fend for themselves and ceaselessly face the eternal struggle alone. As such, Sattari believed liberty was a shared experience and only through the abandonment of selfish individualism, would a person truly be free to exercise their thoughts and minds. Liberty also takes a statist form within Sattarism, in which national sovereignty is conflated with liberty – the freedom from foreign control, influence and exploitation.