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Alternate History General Discussion

Also the traditional reason to have a character from Where Target Reader Is From to be in region as our way in, though that has the 'mighty whitey' pitfall
But I always wanted to see a 'realistic evolution of an exile state in nonwhite parts of the globe' and transition to majority rule
 
On the other place I mentioned how Harvey Milk and Peter Tatchell would make interesting counterparts in a timeline and I think the main point is that Milk is a man who could build an electoral coalition whilst Tatchell just can’t.

Could fun to have a timeline where Milk survives and becomes Senator/Governor or something whilst Tatchell ends up briefly being London Mayor before he does a ‘Trevor Philips’ and is expelled etc.
 
On the other place I mentioned how Harvey Milk and Peter Tatchell would make interesting counterparts in a timeline and I think the main point is that Milk is a man who could build an electoral coalition whilst Tatchell just can’t.

Could fun to have a timeline where Milk survives and becomes Senator/Governor or something whilst Tatchell ends up briefly being London Mayor before he does a ‘Trevor Philips’ and is expelled etc.

Building a coalition in the environment Milk was operating in prior to his murder and building a coalition statewide would be two totally different things. San Francisco was/is seen as a thing-in-of-itself even within California.

I don't think Milk would have been elected statwide at all, but I do think he could have become a Congressman. Peter just doesn't strike me as having a politician's personality.
 
I don't think Milk would have been elected statwide at all, but I do think he could have become a Congressman
True, that would be interesting within itself, though he would probably be pulling around with the Paul Simon/Pat Schroeder folks instead of like Jesse Jackson etc.
Peter just doesn't strike me as having a politician's personality.
He’s to chaotic, it’s fair to say that Tatchell would either end up like Maureen Colquhoun or probably end up resigning by the early 90s. Though imagining Tatchell as an ‘Alt-Ken’ does amuse me slightly.
 
I had an idea the other day for a TLIAPOT that goes chronologically backward until it ends with the circumstances surrounding the initial POD, but I dunno how appealing that would be to read.
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are seinfeld references cool
 
We need a plausible WorldGovernment timeline
Kanta wey Lyenha Deshi
Ansyosa Sagitaren
Sau tera silsila
Kausa unsa kanta
Rawiye optatiwa
Nahnu jiga wos bitwinmes
Layiplayip kontende
Ne jangja...
 
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True, that would be interesting within itself, though he would probably be pulling around with the Paul Simon/Pat Schroeder folks instead of like Jesse Jackson etc.

That's not really a hard division. Simon probably had a better relationship with the Reverend than most national Democrats.

I'm not the world's leading expert but Milk gives off a really strong vibe of being radicalised by the seventies and the rights struggle. (If you took that seriously, then you usually ended up in a pretty radical position by default in the seventies) I think over time as the rights cause became more mainstream he would as well. I think on a long enough timeline he could have become fairly moderate. That happened to a few people.
 
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A random point;

Economics and Alternate History are hard, which I guess sinks a lot of timelines due to either having to ponder what would and wouldn’t be taxed and wether devaluation would happen etc. which is rather dull unless presented well I guess.

Problem is that much of the stuff that rules for example British Politics during the Mid 20th Century is economics.
 
A random point;

Economics and Alternate History are hard, which I guess sinks a lot of timelines due to either having to ponder what would and wouldn’t be taxed and wether devaluation would happen etc. which is rather dull unless presented well I guess.

Problem is that much of the stuff that rules for example British Politics during the Mid 20th Century is economics.

I have my Bachelors in Economics (and considered grad school but life took a different path) and I will say this is actually one of my beefs with a lot of alternate histories. In general, I think the historian mindset (and especially the amateur historian mindset) is opposed to the mindset of an economist, especially on scale and the idea of general principles. It doesn't surprise me that economics is neglected in alternate history, really.
 
In general, I think the historian mindset (and especially the amateur historian mindset) is opposed to the mindset of an economist, especially on scale and the idea of general principles. It doesn't surprise me that economics is neglected in alternate history, really.

You definitely see this dichotomy when looking at the auto industry and AH discussion about it.
 
You definitely see this dichotomy when looking at the auto industry and AH discussion about it.
I’m remind of the Adam Curtis about the Decline of British Manufacturing etc. which discusses how even the various economic plans for revitalising the economy and manufacturing fell into political pitfalls etc.

Of course I get the sense anyone writing about a 60s Labour bobbins would maybe ignore an overheating economy or other stuff etc.
 
I’m remind of the Adam Curtis about the Decline of British Manufacturing etc. which discusses how even the various economic plans for revitalising the economy and manufacturing fell into political pitfalls etc.

One of the most obvious examples is stuff like what was mentioned in this post with the "satellite plants" meant to give jobs to far-flung regions. In practice it just shuffled them around, used up scarce resources, and led to less effective and competitive factories.

The other big thing for the British-owned car industry, and what amplified and magnified every other piece of bad management, bad politics, bad luck, and bad design, was just that the domestic market was (especially after competition from Ford and GM's branches) too small. At the most generous interpretation it meant it had far less margin for error. At the worst, you could semi-reasonably argue it was doomed from the start.
 
I have my Bachelors in Economics (and considered grad school but life took a different path) and I will say this is actually one of my beefs with a lot of alternate histories. In general, I think the historian mindset (and especially the amateur historian mindset) is opposed to the mindset of an economist, especially on scale and the idea of general principles. It doesn't surprise me that economics is neglected in alternate history, really.

Economics as a study of history is fascinating and informative - you can't seriously discuss, say, the Revolutions of 1848 without understanding how the economic, political, and social problems were intertwined with one another - but they're harder to poke at in the allohistorical sense because we have much less of a sense how small changes can actually cause large ones. I can say for sure who would be the next King if the one I'm thinking about throws a clot or takes a bullet, but the millions of tiny, independent decisions that flow from a change in commodity prices and tax rates sprawl unceasingly in all directions. That's intimidating, and requires a much deeper grounding in economic theory and history than most general students of history will have.
 
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