- Location
- UTC+0
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They
Speaking of him, he looked exactly as one would imagine a old zoologist in the 60s would look like.
And no, this is not Charles Darwin, or the 1800s, its Smolin in 1967 lmao
Last edited:
Attempting to Fulfill the Plan MNKh Edition
- Thread starter Blackstar
- Start date
- Alt. History Users' Choice!
Voted best in category in the Users' Choice awards.
And no, this is not Charles Darwin, or the 1800s, its Smolin in 1967 lmao
Klim believing in someone's career performance doesn't necessarily make it true, and believing in Bigfoot is irrelevant to one's job, while seriously thinking cold fusion exists is potentially hazardous to this job. You're making this guy deputy minister, and thus potentially actual minister.
I don't believe for a single second that Blackstar will not kick us right into the sun for letting "cold fusion lmao" man get in a position of power over the entire Soviet energy sector.
It could be that it's not even true of Balakirev, but lots of otherwise rational people got suckered into pseudoscientific campaigns around this time in history, of which cold fusion was a big one. It's arguably worse than the CIA's remote viewing program.
I don't believe for a single second that Blackstar will not kick us right into the sun for letting "cold fusion lmao" man get in a position of power over the entire Soviet energy sector.
It could be that it's not even true of Balakirev, but lots of otherwise rational people got suckered into pseudoscientific campaigns around this time in history, of which cold fusion was a big one. It's arguably worse than the CIA's remote viewing program.
The historical Balakirev getting into cold fusion 20 years from now has no bearing on the 1969 alternate timeline version's competence at building a synthetic rubber plant. Especially since our deputy is more like Klim's personal assistant who's career almost definitely is ending alongside Klim's, not the heir apparent. The MNKh has pretty much stopped being a hereditary monarchy now that the SupSov does silly shit like "use their democratic mandate to exercise power over state ministers" etc.
And even if he does turn out to be a cold fusion weirdo, decades ahead of time in a completely different universe, so what? We know fusion is vaporware and just a dead end to waste money on, and this guy is getting sent to build rubber plants and oil rigs anyways, not put in charge of experimental energy research. We wouldn't fund any fusion projects that came up regardless of if there was some random bureaucrat in a different secretariat who had weird ideas about it.
And even if he does turn out to be a cold fusion weirdo, decades ahead of time in a completely different universe, so what? We know fusion is vaporware and just a dead end to waste money on, and this guy is getting sent to build rubber plants and oil rigs anyways, not put in charge of experimental energy research. We wouldn't fund any fusion projects that came up regardless of if there was some random bureaucrat in a different secretariat who had weird ideas about it.
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
I don't know. We're coming up on atommash right now and he may very well dismiss it because "Cold Fusion will be a thing soon enough anyway, so why bother?" which could cost us on that.
Our personal assistant who's had the job for one year and spends all day working with the Chemical sector is not going to magically kill off a Heavy Industry project that's critical for domestic energy security immediately after a mini energy crisis sent the SupSov into an uproar.
Blackstar can't even get us to voluntarily pave roads despite harassing us for literal decades about lacking incredibly basic infrastructure. I'm really not worried about getting suckered into a cold fusion scam in 1970 to the extent that it even consumes a single die for funding some university experiments, much less actually impacts any major industrial sectors.
Last edited:
You're assuming we'll be given a choice in the matter. We didn't get a "would you like corruption or non-corruption" choice with Voz. Well, we kind of did but it was dressed up to conceal "would you like corruption for you, corruption for your friends, or backstabbing under guise of anti-corruption efforts".
It's an assumption that the deputy minister will have no sway, and an assumption that the SupSov will wholly replace them after the next plan. All of those things could happen, yes. They may even be more likely than not.
But there is probably a path here where we end up with a bunch of our dice locked on pseudoscience and boondoggles. The risk is at least real.
It's an assumption that the deputy minister will have no sway, and an assumption that the SupSov will wholly replace them after the next plan. All of those things could happen, yes. They may even be more likely than not.
But there is probably a path here where we end up with a bunch of our dice locked on pseudoscience and boondoggles. The risk is at least real.
How many Ag dice did Smolin force us to spend on bigfoot research? Nothing like what you're proposing has ever happened before.
We are literally getting the SupSov's bureaucracy dice every turn now, because of the ministry's political weakening.
The difference between having personal eccentricities and wacky beliefs and believing in a Ministry-relevant but fictional technology are self-evident. This is a potentially Lysenko-type situation, and while the political environment is more civil now than then, the consequences could still be severe.
The difference between having personal eccentricities and wacky beliefs and believing in a Ministry-relevant but fictional technology are self-evident. This is a potentially Lysenko-type situation, and while the political environment is more civil now than then, the consequences could still be severe.
CrabMonarchy
Allegedly Dutch
- Location
- the Netherlands, apparently
...A fictional technology that hasn't even been conceived of TTL? Like, the original cold fusion paper dates to 1989 lmao, nobody actually believes in it yet.
If Fleischmann and Pons report their "excess heat" finding on schedule in 1989, Cold Fusion would be getting started after Balakirev had likely retired as head of the ministry, or close to his retirement (he'll either be in charge for 10-15 years in all likelihood). And in any case, Cold Fusion took very little money to dismiss - a few million dollars and most people in the field were pretty sure there was nothing to it by the end of 1989. I doubt an ex-minister can derail the whole nuclear physics establishment collectively shrugging and moving on.
If we roll a nat 1 and get early cold fusion, well. I am sure the nat 1 would have hosed us anyway.
I like the guy's style.
@MSH Do you have someone besides Balakirev that you prefer as deputy?
I am kinda curious what the infra guy (Kamenev) would do for our construction sector, and he might synergize really well with Gorbachev doing legal reforms, since a better legal system would probably cut into our supply of convict labour. My worry is whether we can afford to activate his infra dice if we pick him.
Another option is the free dice dude (Berzegov), but my issue with him is that he doesn't seem like he'll be ready to replace Klimenko by the time he retires.
Regards,
fasquardon
- Location
- UTC+0
- Pronouns
- He/Him/They
Plan makers on Discord are assuming we will be throwing a ton of free dice at infra next plan. So he is certainly a viable pick. We need to ramp up housing, do airports, catch up on roads, do dams, maybe some other hydrological work etc
So going for Kamenev could allow us to put more free dice into light industry next plan?
You know what, I wanna find out what construction modernization does for us. If we can use extra infra dice, I am changing my vote.
[X]Staggered Launches
[X]Alexander Fedorovich Kamenev
[X]Nikolay Fedorovich Tatarchuk
Regards,
fasquardon
Weather Forecasters are assuming it will rain next year
obssesednuker
Commander of 10 Million Men
- Location
- In the Kremlin, activating Perimtr.
Weather Forecasters are assuming it will rain next year
Man, who'd have thought that running an industrial economy would need so much infrastructure? Shouldn't the invisible hand of the market take care of all that? Hasn't the QM ever read any Libertarian economic theory?
(Though half-way more seriously, I do wonder if any Libertarian theorists ITTL are trying to handle the greater success of the ATL's Planned Economies besides "vigorously ignore it".)
The invisible hand of the market has attempted to deal with this, it's called the enterprises (aka the state) tried building their own roads to get around the Infrastructure department's love of railroads and trains. Although this is mostly flavor as far as I know.Man, who'd have thought that running an industrial economy would need so much infrastructure? Shouldn't the invisible hand of the market take care of all that? Hasn't the QM ever read any Libertarian economic theory?
(Though half-way more seriously, I do wonder if any Libertarian theorists ITTL are trying to handle the greater success of the ATL's Planned Economies besides "vigorously ignore it".)
- Location
- The great frozen north
Kilopage get! I wonder if Blackstar could have imagined this wild ride reaching a thousand pages, back when it first started in 2020...
And unless one can find writings from a reputable Space Person on the subject, that extremely damning Wikipedia snippet is as authoratative as we'll get on just how bad doing blind aerobraking is!
I am of the opinion that even if the worst does come to pass, we can survive 5 years with only 12 Infra dice. But others don't see it that way.
Even if Staggered Launches is not outright worse for electronics, you must seriously consider if it would be better enough to be worth:
- Consuming an extra 5 RpY of our precious space budget for the next decade (which would also prevent us from running a nuclear drive program alongside getting the useful new Light Launcher right now)
- Being very likely to result in the space program getting a HUGE hit to its prestige and reputation after its most expensive project since the Lunar program sees most of its mission goals fail with the probes burning up after their long journeys.
Well FUCK. Yeah, trap option. Very much a trap option. We're just going to burn up all the probes. Vote Staggered Launches everyone!
Fasquadron is the space guy here, and I doubt anyone else in this thread has the knowledge to GIVE that second opinion. Heck, three+ days since the update and he's the only person who thought do basic research on the technique described in the options. We're total geniuses aren't we?
And unless one can find writings from a reputable Space Person on the subject, that extremely damning Wikipedia snippet is as authoratative as we'll get on just how bad doing blind aerobraking is!
Wait when did that happen? I figured the coal demand was normal, where did we ramp up aside from for feeding the coal plants we agreed on at plant start?
A big reason people are picking the LCI deputy is that they want to look like they're taking initiative on solving the oil production issue. They're frightened that if they don't, the Supreme Soviet will try forcing us into taking a Chemical Industry focus, which if we also take a HI focus for Atomash will leave us with less infra dice next plan if we take the infra deputy.
I am of the opinion that even if the worst does come to pass, we can survive 5 years with only 12 Infra dice. But others don't see it that way.
[X]Staggered Launches
[X]Alexander Fedorovich Kamenev
[X]Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev
I have been convinced to change from Full Surveys to Staggered Launches to be safer.
Dropping my Balakirev vote since Berzegov is no longer winning, and I think that infra is actually a bit more important than CI (though both are good)
I'm keeping with Gorbachev. While a legal focus isn't going to change much in the short term, keeping the legal system fair and balanced is a prerequisite to reducing corruption and has the greatest long-term impact I think. Right now the richer enterprises can just hire the best lawyers and auto-win against everyone who can't afford to defend themselves.
[X]Alexander Fedorovich Kamenev
[X]Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev
I have been convinced to change from Full Surveys to Staggered Launches to be safer.
Dropping my Balakirev vote since Berzegov is no longer winning, and I think that infra is actually a bit more important than CI (though both are good)
I'm keeping with Gorbachev. While a legal focus isn't going to change much in the short term, keeping the legal system fair and balanced is a prerequisite to reducing corruption and has the greatest long-term impact I think. Right now the richer enterprises can just hire the best lawyers and auto-win against everyone who can't afford to defend themselves.
- Location
- Australia
- Pronouns
- She/Her
Happy 1000 Pages!
[X]Staggered Launches
[X]Vladimir Fedorovich Balakirev
[X]Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev
[X]Staggered Launches
[X]Vladimir Fedorovich Balakirev
[X]Mikhail Sergeevich Gorbachev
Last edited:
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
[X]Staggered Launches
- Location
- Mid-Atlantic
It's 1969. Cold fusion isn't nearly as obviously bullshit in-quest as it is in real life. Hell, the underlying nuclear physics that explains why fission and fusion works has only recently matured in-quest; work in nuclear physics was ongoing through and after World War II for obvious reasons.
Assuming Balakirev's middle-aged, it was literally within his lifetime that the secrets of extracting energy from the decay of atomic nuclei became a possibility outside science fiction at all. Cold fusion is probably not obviously more hax and bullshit than nuclear fission so far as he knows.
At this point, they're all just wacky forms of power orb and nobody who isn't a wild-haired academician can really comment authoritatively on what will or won't be possible. It would be a lot more forgivable to believe in certain kinds of woo at this point, because they just plain don't seem as outlandish in 1969 as they do in 2024.
You're comparing apples to oranges, or perhaps more appropriately you're comparing a polywell to a fission reactor.
The Supreme Soviet has the power to tell us what to do in terms of policy reforms because they have power over us, top-down, "I command you," "do this or get fired" power.
Our deputy does not have that kind of power to kill fission plant construction on the purely speculative hypothetical that in this parallel universe he becomes obsessed with the idea that cold fusion energy is right around the corner despite the total lack of successful demonstration. Indeed, WE have that kind of power over HIM.
Last edited:
- Location
- The great frozen north
Question is, how much CAN Gorby do to reform the legal system as the mere deputy of Services, or even the department head? Wouldn't that be something that requires mostly bureaucracy actions at our direct level?