Yeyecoani

A yeyecoani is a scientist, engineer or a public figure with a STEM education who works in the Zacapine science-adjacent state organs, particularly the Secretariats of Science and Technology, Public Works and Energy. Politicians and other officials across multiple strata of the government and public life who gained notoriety or even direct career advancement through association with major engineering and infrastructure projects are also known as yeyecoaneh in lexicon of the Nahuatl speaking world. In Zacapican in particular, yeyecoaneh hold outsized political influence and status within society thanks to very close association of major engineering projects and technological accomplishments with national pride and shared identity, as well as the economic self-interest of Calpolli interest groups. Yeyecoani are synonymous with the Zacapine intelligentsia, within which formal training in engineering or the hard sciences claims greater prestige and public attention than those who are university-educated in cultural fields such as literary arts or the soft sciences such as psychology. The yeyecoani class are the creative counterpart to the Calpollist culture of industrial labor, generating the designs, schematics, plans and new technologies which are necessary to advance industrial manufacturing techniques and thereby protect the economic relevance of factory-calpolleh. The yeyecoaneh as a politically empowered strata of educated elites therefore contributes to the perpetuation of the calpollist socioeconomic system based on the industrial worker.

Etymology

The term yeyecoani means "one who experiments", from the verb yeyecoa which means to test or rehearse something, or simply to attempt something. The term in that form came to prominance in the Xolotecate era, which coincided with the rise of the yeyecoani class within Zacapine society as part of the transformation of Zacapican which was taking place during those years. It replaced older terms such as tetlamatilizmachtiani, which literally means a teacher of sciences but was used more broadly to mean any graduate holding an advanced degree, similar to the general term "doctor", as well as tlamahuizomactli ypan tlamatiliztli meaning "one educated in the sciences". Yeyecoani would also include other types of educated tradesmen associated with engineering projects, such as draftsmen and electricians. In the modern day, even trades such as plumbers, automotive repairmen, and others associated with more mundane and domestic work are known as yeyecoanitzin or "little yeyecoaneh", which although diminutive nevertheless confers a level of respect and status.

Yeyecoaneh in politics are sometimes called yeyetlatoani, a portmanteau of yeyecoani and the word for a traditional Nahua lord, tlatoani. However, this term usually only applies to politicians who specifically gain power because of a pre-existing career and status established by their work in a scientific field as a yeyecoani, and who in turn wield significant authority over the science and engineering establishment within the state.

Description

The most prominent of the yeyecoaneh are the engineers and designers involved in the YAT program. A yeyecoani working in a YET bureau holds a prestigious position even in the context of the high-status yeyecoani class. The YAT program is not only a well developed and comprehensive scientific research and engineering initiative, one of the most extensive of any country in the world, it is also closely tied to some of the most famous technical accomplishments which are of such scale that they have gained international acclaim. Foremost among these are YAT scientists involved in the MTC space exploration initiative whose efforts in pioneering human spaceflight is the subject of intensive national pride for the Zacapine public, forever canonizing the yeyecoaneh involved into the pantheon of Zacapine national heroes. Yeyecoaneh of the YAT program are also responsible for the development of Zacapine military technology, which is a matter of not only national pride but of practical security consideration as well.

However, the prevalence of yeyecoani within the Zacapine government goes far beyond the epicenter of yeyecoani power that is the YAT program. Yeyecoaneh hold key positions within the education system. In many cases, it is outright impossible to join the faculty or administration of a Zacapine university or other institute without some background or even a pre-established career in science or engineering. Education at not only a post-secondary but a secondary level as well is considered to be a field for retired yeyecoaneh as well as aspiring yeyecoaneh, and so is very closely interlinked with the rest of the scientific establishment in Zacapican. Likewise, various public institutions ranging from those responsible for building bridges and roads to those maintaining Zacapican's array of nuclear power stations are controlled by a deeply entrenched yeyecoani elite.

A yeyecoani is usually but not always a graduate of the Zacapine Altepetl University system, which indeed was designed by the earliest yeyecoaneh of the 20th century to train their own successors. Graduates of prestigious foreign universities were common in the early days, with Matiak Seti being a notable example, but this became less common once the extensive Zacapine higher education program was established. Within the Zacapine education system, great emphasis is placed on the hard sciences no matter what degree or program a student is in, making the university system a somewhat specialized training ground for new yeyecoaneh and yeyecoanitzin. There are a large number of foreign born yeyecoaneh and even more who are Zacapine born hailing from immigrant families. Historically dominant Nahua and Purépecha demographics are overrepresented among the ranks of the yeyecoani, having been the wealthiest and most urbanized groups at the start of the 20th century and thus having the most access to the new educational institutions as they were established. In some cases, there are yeyecoani dynasties which are typically founded by a notable yeyecoani such the head of YAT bureau, which produce multiple generations of scientists and engineers and may even consider it taboo for a child of their clan to enter into anything other than a STEM field.

Notably, medical doctors are not considered yeyecoani in Zacapican. In some respects, this results in the medical field of study and consequently the medical profession holding a lesser level of prestige and status than it typically holds in other countries. However, this also has the effect of making the medical professional more desirable and financially lucrative for those who pursue it, since the medical field has a smaller labor pool to draw from which makes each new entrant into the field more valuable in relative terms.