Megelanese model

History

The Megelanese model's roots date back to the end of the Megelanese Civil War, in 1943; even though the Futurist Political Party had been defeated, their defeat came more as a result of the regime's economic woes than because of the regime's military performance: indeed, Futurist military forces were still occupying portions of Megelan on the day of the armistice between them and the anti-Futurist front, and a large swath of Megelanese territory, centered on the Commune of Alba, remained relatively safe from widespread invasion for most of the civil war.

Moreover, the anti-Futurist front was not a unified one; some of its members had turned on one another during the civil war, and there was the very concrete risk of another civil war ensuing between the components of said anti-Futurist front. Hardline elements were disposed of through a variety of lethal and non-lethal means, while moderates from a wide array of movements and parties, from the anarcho-communists to the classical liberals, hammered out a compromise.

On one hand, the re-establishment of several political features and societal institutions of old Megelan, up to and including some that had been long dead even before the rise of the Futurist Political Party, brought the more conservative wing of the anti-Futurist front on board; on the other hand, the fact that said political features and societal institutions were modernized and revamped versions of the ancient ones, rather than carbon copies of the same, garnered the approval of the more progressive wing of the anti-Futurist front.

This impromptu hodgepodge of modernity and tradition, formed in a time of severe economic and socio-political crisis, eventually led Megelanese Common Sphere chairwoman Gina Campanelli to describe the country as either the most conservative revolutionary nation in Tyran, or the most revolutionary conservative nation; the aftermath and defeat of the Neoliberal conspiracy only strengthened this arrangement: because of this, even though the Community is among the most radically democratic countries in Tyran, it is also one governed by a relatively narrow cultural consensus.

Economic system

The Megelanese economic model shares many aspects of the broader Common Sphere economic model; unlike fellow Common Sphere countries such as Akashi and Gylias however, Megelan has an overwhelmingly private sector economy, tempered by large-scale antitrust regulations according to which craft workers, sole proprietors and small farmers are not taxed at all, while taxation on larger businesses grows exponentially in relation to the size of the business.

To avoid being taxed out of existence, businesses that are too large are forced to devolve themselves into multiple smaller businesses; because of this, Megelan's economy is dominated by small-scale cooperatives and family businesses, that cooperate and pool their resources through one of the many trade guilds that operate in the Community, of whom there can be several in any given field.

Guild system

Even though they are modeled after the old medieval guilds of Megelan, the modern guilds of the Community are run according to distributist and syndicalist principles: as there can be several guilds in any given field, none of them is able to monopolize the market as the medieval guilds did, to the detriment of the economy.

Just like their ancient predecessors however, they are granted a high degree of autonomy, to such an extent that they take responsibility for the training of their members and the quality and price of their products and services, they are the sole judges of the qualifications of their members, and have the power to set both standards and prices.

Another commonality between the old Megelanese guild system and the new one is the distinction between apprentice, journeyman and master, that was restored in order to make it feasible for workers to build skills by on-the-job training, as well as being able to earn a living while learning new skills.

Even though they are private associations of private businesses, Megelanese trade guilds can carry out a variety of tasks on behalf of the Community, some of which would normally be monopolized by the government; these privately owned national champions are not, however, appointed by the government, but elected in the same manner according to which the delegates to the Megelanese parliament are elected.