Kastran
Overview
Kastran is an industrial world loosely aligned with the LAP without being a member. It functions as a closed political system with state control over every aspect of production and daily life. The regime calls itself the Collective Councils of Kastran though in practice it is a totalitarian bureaucracy centered on the Central Renewal Party.
Government and Structure
The state is governed by the Central Committee and the Party’s Political Bureau under the General Secretary who holds the title First Citizen. All means of production transport communication and education belong to the state that is to the Central Committee. Society is arranged into Collective Production Councils but in reality these councils have no real authority. Movement residence and supplies are determined by state allocation systems.
Ideological Origins
The founder of the regime and architect of its ideology was Koren Varekh formerly a Votar of the Order of the One. Exiled from the OTO for heretical teachings he fled to Kastran where he wrote The Unity of Matter. According to Varekh the OTO’s God was not a being but a mechanism and true Unity had to be achieved through total social organization. His theory called Varekhism quickly became the philosophical foundation of the new state. His followers taught that freedom is a form of illness and that salvation lies in complete submission to the collective. Varekh disappeared a few years after the regime’s founding but his figure is still revered as the First Thinker.
Ideology
The Kastran regime draws openly from the philosophy of the Order of the One. Instead of theocracy however Varekhism seeks material unity meaning complete identification of society with the state. Its leaders claim the OTO held the correct doctrine but worshipped the wrong object. Their central slogan Unity is Ownership reflects their belief that absolute equality requires absolute control.
Economy and Control
The economy is entirely nationalized. Production is regulated by the Ministry of Allocation which sets targets and assigns unit evaluations to citizens. Personal data is recorded in the Central Registration System a machine that links economic performance with political reliability. Private property is considered antisocial and is prosecuted.
Social Conditions
Citizens live in unit style housing with limited access to information or contact with the outside world. Broadcast nodes and public relays transmit only state programs. The party youth known as the New Members is the regime’s most fanatical organization promoting the concept of the worker soldier and participating in Public Exemplification Operations.
Influence
Despite its authoritarian model Kastran has influenced political groups outside its borders. The PRG of Lastor frequently cites the Kastran model as an example of social equality. Youth movements in various LAP and SUN worlds invoke Varekhist principles for popular control of resources and liberation from markets overlooking the system’s brutality.
External Relations
The LAP maintains diplomatic relations with Kastran but avoids commenting on its internal practices. Its trade is limited to raw materials and control software. Sorestia monitors its ideological influence closely viewing it as a potential source of unrest inside the alliance.
Symbol
The symbol of Varekhism is a black circle crossed by two lines one horizontal and one vertical forming a cross without ends. It represents the meeting of the individual with the collective and the submission of the former to the latter. The symbol is everywhere on Kastran on uniforms factory walls and even engraved on metal work tablets. Young people spray it at city entrances considering it a mark of identity.
Plot Role
Varekhist ideas of total state control and the abolition of private initiative fuel the political movements of the PRG and its allies. Over time the Kastran model becomes both reference and warning a demonstration of how the pursuit of equality can end in absolute servitude.
Category: Planet Tags: Economy, Governance, Location, Planet, Politics