What is Westernization? · 4:57am Sep 11th, 2015
No, seriously. That is a real question I asked myself when writing this story.
Well, according to Wikipedia:
Westernization or Westernisation, also Europeanization/Europeanisation or occidentalization/occidentalisation is a process whereby societies come under or adopt Western culture in areas such as industry, technology, law, politics, economics, lifestyle, diet, clothing, language, alphabet, religion, philosophy, and values.
[Edited to remove irrelevant info.]
Well, that's a start, but it does not really explain what counts as "good enough" to be considered Western. So, I turned to probably the best source in this context: Victoria 2. As we all know, Westernization is achieved by passing a certain number of military and economic reforms, the value of each being predetermined by the game. Thus, logically, it follows that Equestria had to undergo a similar process to elevate themselves from uncivilized status. But what, precisely, did they do?
Well, according to the story event "A Brief History..."
Hiring the brightest minds from all over Europe as advisors, [Celestia] centralised and reformed the monarchy into the Enlightened Absolutist style, reorganised the primitive economy, jump-started the natural sciences (save astronomy), and created the first standing Equestrian Army and Navy. The year is now 1836, and the modernisation of Equestria is essentially complete.
Haha, Celestia let astronomy stagnate.
Ok, okay. Now we're getting somewhere. But this only raises more questions than it answers. Like, for instance, what was required to do this? What did she have to import? Et cetera.
So, for a while, I was stumped. But then, I had an "aha!" moment. Almost all of the westernizing reforms unlock technology. Thus, logically, if I look at the technology Equestria starts with, it follows that I can reverse-engineer what reforms the nation had to unlock in order to westernize. Thus, the list, with the amount of westernization progress each reform grants:
Military Tech
Post Napoleonic Thought.....................................................Advanced [Military] Construction..........5%
Flintlock Rifles.........................................................................Imported Weapons.................................5%
Bronze Muzzle-Loaded Artillery...........................................Army Schools...........................................5%
Military Staff System..............................................................Foreign Training Methods......................5%
Army Command Principle.....................................................Foreign Officer Training..........................5%
Navy Tech
Post Nelsonian Thought........................................................Naval Bases..............................................5%
Clipper Design.........................................................................Imported Ships........................................5%
Alphabetic Flag System..........................................................Navy Schools............................................5%
Commerce
Private Banks...........................................................................None..........................................................N/A
No [Currency] Standard.........................................................Enact Financial Reform............................5%
Early Classical Theory and Critique......................................None...........................................................N/A
Guild-Based Production.........................................................Industrial Progress...................................5%
Culture
Enlightenment Philosophy.....................................................Madrasahs................................................5%
Malthusian Thought................................................................Reformed [Educational] System............5%
The Rights of Man (Pony?)......................................................Administrative Reform............................5%
Introspection............................................................................Rehabilitation...........................................5%
Industry
Water-Wheel Power.................................................................Land Reform............................................5%
Publishing Industry..................................................................Industrial Progress.................Already counted in "Guild-Based Production"
Basic Chemistry........................................................................Imported Medicines................................5%
Now, people with the mad math skillz will quickly notice that these reforms add up to only 80% of the westernization scale. At the same time, other people (or the same people, who knows?) will notice that two technologies have no corresponding reforms. Now, this appears to me that Equestria didn't quite westernize in the normal sense, but made up for it with these two other technologies, putting them close enough to the bar to be considered western.
So, what does this all mean for our Equestria? Well, it means that Equestria will need to install an administrative bureaucracy, reform the school system, start to move into capitalism, reform land ownership, and, perhaps most importantly, found the first standing Equestrian Army and Navy, with the help of Europeans. And, in my mind, Equestria is already partway there. Consider it: they already have what appears to be a semi-public school system and a type of proto-capitalistic system. Their justice system is...forgiving, to say the least (forgiving both Luna and Discord for crimes against ponykind), and Britain has already offered them some help. All that really stands in the nation's way of becoming a fully-fledged western power is the establishment of a bureaucracy, some tweaks to the school and market system, a reboot of the sciences, and an Equestrian military.
As I said before, such a task will hardly be easy, but it could be a lot worse.
Yours in all things Pony,
Mint20
Interesting. It certainly is sound-structured and shows well a general summary of what Equestria will do in the following years.
But you know, looking at the chart amusingly made me aware how following this logic would cause the Latin American countries to not be Civilized. Most only start with 14 technologies on average, meaning Equestria at 19 implies it's even more developed than them. Of course, the reason they start civilized is more lore-wise than gameplay-wise. But still, it made me laugh, heh.
3385377 That's amazing(ly harlious)! Never thought of it that way.
Well, this is rather interesting.
Also- Haha! Astronomy.