I've always thought it a bit odd that Believer society seems to be so blatantly modeled on American Evangelical Protestantism despite the numerous references to new holy texts, aka 'Conclave Bible' and the knowledge that the Unity crew consists of an eclectic mix of international crew members of a wide set of religious backgrounds.The Conclave Bible doesn't seem to have anything particularly new in it. The quotes in the Datalinks read like excerpts from the King James Version with fewer archaism, which makes sense for a group rooted in American Evangelical Baptist theology. Miriam stands out from the other factions because her characterization feels a lot more reactionary than the other faction leaders. She was very clearly written as a charactacture and a criticism of figures like Jerry Falwell and other members of the Moral Majority that came down hard on video games in the 90s, which is when SMAC was being developed. She comes off as being profoundly unsympathetic because Firaxis no doubt had little sympathy for that particular ideology.
If you've read the SMAC back-story you know that Miriam is really the most 'accidental' faction leader, she ran away from joining Zhakarov's landing craft (lots of sexual tension their) and stumbled into another craft that was damaged and leaderless and manages to be it's savior in a sense. Other factions were largely self-selective in their personnel, but Miriam just got a random cross-section of all of Earth, the fact that they are molded into a religious society seems to have been done entirely on Miriam's personal charisma and the bond created by her rescue of them.
Given the mixed background I always imagined 'Conclavism' to be some kind of Bahai like fusion of multiple religions with the Cristian elements perhaps being most prominent. Alternatively it might be like Mormonism in that Miriam has a series of 'Revelations' which are recorded in the frequently mentioned Conclave Bible.
The Free Drones is a bit of a Proletarian Union movement
Given how intellectual real Marxism is as a philosophy I find it hard to believe that a bunch of essentially Luddite Drones would actually embrace it. Far more likely would be a less structured form of Socialism, possibly even Anarcho-Syndicalism. I never got deeply into any of the SMACX factions but the Free Drones never struck me as true Marxists.
And they aren't, the Free Drones are Union Socialists; not full on Marxists. I don't know their stance on private property and the like as its not explicitly stated
They aren't too far off from a Marxist ideal, but to state they are Marxists is mistake I think. To me they seem to take a little bit of Trotskyism
Edit: And thats why I felt I needed to make Crimson Comrades way back; as I felt there truly lacked a true Socialist/Communist revolution/faction in the Centauri universe, when the conditions of it could very well back one.
I may be misunderstanding things, but as I understand it, Marx's idea, past the short "dictatorship of the proletariat" (which is definitely one of the peripherals that the Drones ditched), is actually fairly unstructured, with people doing whatever holds their interest.
I don't really see Marx's stance on private property as the essence of his philosophy; it's one of the more important peripherals, and one on which the Drones are definitely ambiguous, but not the essence.
I think Trotsky was probably closer to Marx than even Lenin; he was certainly closer than Stalin.
The Crimson Comrades seem to me to be more Leninist than Marxist. They're about organized revolution, not spontaneous proletarian uprisings leading to a Eudaimonic end goal. So yes, they are more "socialist/communist revolution" than the Drones, but less Marxist.
Marx stated that, while the state would wither, people would still be collective as they work for the common good. He was heavily influenced by Rousseau and the Hegelian, and as a result Marx explicitly stated that yes, while people will pursue their interests, they will still work towards the common goals of the greater good and collective as the worker, and this is how he more or less states it, will know what people need and know the troubles and tribulations of poverty because he himself lived through it, and will help others along in the process.
Marx was HIGHLY against Private Property because, again he says private property is what corrupts the individual and turns him greedy, more or less. He believed that property shared in common will be far more beneficial and it'll break the tragic cycle of the Proletariat being exploited by the Burgiouse and capitalist classes. Private property must be eliminated for true equality to occur.
Stalin was an autocrat, Trotsky was an elitist and Lenin was a populist. They all have their merits and their beliefs, and being close to Marx does not necessarily deem you closer to Communist ideal.
The Crimson Comrades ARE organized themselves, but they also encourage and support Proletarian rebellion elsewhere and are active revolutionaries themselves. They empower populaces to revolt, through media, exposure of corruption, smuggling arms, etc. And the Crimson Comrades do not have outright propaganda for state figures and leaders, or at least, condoned. It still exists but the thing is, Vazheli and other individuals within the Confederacy do not actively make campaigns of glorifying themselves, and he himself amongst the other heroes the populace looks to as role models do not live glamorous lives. Vazheli lives fairly frugally himself and lives in a rather modest housing unit; almost a bit lower quality then that of his fellow faction members, and the only real sort of propaganda esque operations that go on is when there is active citizens and such that perform great feats. This isn't to glorify them but rather to empower the other citizens and give them motivation, and its still keeping to the tradition of Marxism fairly well:
You have a society that is for the Proletariat, the majority working classes, if not fully Proletarian in itself (Proletarian does not mean merely factory or farm workers mind- it means anyone who sells their labour for a living.) and supports their livelihoods and endeavors, a rather communal mindset coupled with an albeit violent, but egalitarian world view of spreading their revolution and encompassing the rest of the world in their egalitarian regime. The leaders, the council of this is DEMOCRATICALLY elected in a fairly representative, confederal/regional manner meaning that each region is fairly well represented; and the lack of Capitalist enterprise ensures that votes are not bought out/shareholded. I could go into detail how the whole system works but I'd just be ranting about a fictional Centauri faction, which is not the point of the response.
The Peripherals do matter.
Well considering the Comrades are the revolutionary phase, they will act as such. You cannot go to the end goal of Communism without doing the proper steps, its like expecting a nation to go to the moon out of thin air without having the industrial capacity to support a space program, the education required, the wealth required or even having the space program to begin with. It's comparable to that.
The Comrade's end goal is indeed Communism in its end goal; because take a look at their preferred policy: Eudaimonia. They get immunities to the drawbacks of planned, but it isn't their stated ideal. As for who is more Marxist, its a sort of moot point when it comes to the Comrades or the Drone's because BOTH are their own branch of Socialism, the Crimson Comrades are revolutionary confederalist/communalist communists and the Free Drones are Union inspired socialist egalitarians.
Neither are true Marxists, and they shouldn't be. Marx wrote the book with Friedrich Engels, but that does not mean the pure format of his ideal is what works. Do Christians worship the original cult of Jesus Christ? I think not. They more rely on the disciples interpretations, and depending on the slant/sect, you might rely on Peter's (Catholic) or your own based on what you read (Protestant.)
Communism, while not a religion is an ideal and any ideal, including religions are dictated by how they are interpreted and practiced.
But, I am curious, what makes the Drones more Marxist then the Comrade's? What details stand out that make the former more then the other?