Society of Urcea: Difference between revisions

Nysdrine people are descendants of Urceans or other Levantines living in [[Crona]], or ethnically native Cronites adhering to Levantine religion and culture in Crona. Most Nysdrine families in Urcea originated in [[New Harren]] and immigrated to Urcea since its foundation in the 19th century, but the Nysdrine population in metropolitan Urcea and its overseas possession has been increasing dramatically since The Deluge and the exposure of Levantine culture to an increasing number of native peoples of Crona.

====Marriage====

Urceans consider marriage to be the cornerstone of civilized society; the country adheres very strongly to the Catholic view of marriage, but also view it through the lens of social ties. As proscribed in Church teaching, marriage is viewed as the natural state and the proper context for relations between men and women as it establishes the unitive and procreative bond through the marital act. Consequently, unmarried people over a certain age - besides clerics and consecrated virgins - are viewed with supreme suspicion. Throughout the 20th century, several rounds of anti-discrimination laws against what Urceans called spinsters were passed, and most studies have shown legal nondiscrimination is now in place, but the social views on the matter have largely not changed. Divorce is illegal; as such, only 1-2% of adults over 18 report having been divorced. A secular physical "separation" of couples is legal as necessary and granted judicially with a relatively low standard of scrutiny. 77% of adults over the age of 18 are married, 10% were widowed, and the remaining eleven percent report never having been married.

===Self-governance===

Urceans tend to view government within the context of St. Paul's {{wp|Romans 13}}. Based on the Letter to the Romans, Urceans view government and governing authorities as ordained by God based on the view that all authority ultimately descends from God. The view St. Paul espouses - that authorities are "servant(s) of God for your good...for the authorities are ministers of God" - is the basis on which Urceans view government as a critical force for ensuring the common good. This view does not necessarily mean all Urceans endorse what could be called a "big government" policy program, but it does mean that most Urceans of every political persuasion have an implicit trust in the government based on their own point of view. More conservative, smaller-government oriented Urceans - such as the members of the National Pact - believe the government's responsibility is to be a just mediator tempering the invisible hand of the market and ensuring no one actor abuses the market at the expense of Urceans. More social-oriented political groups, such as the [[Solidarity Party (Urcea)|Solidarity Party]], believe the government has a more direct responsibility in ensuring the common good. Political and social commentators have noted that Urcea's political dichotomy is relatively unique as all major parties acknowledge the responsible and guiding hand of governmental authority even though they disagree on its proper application. Consistent with these beliefs, Urcea employs {{wp|policing by consent}}.

Consistent polling indicates that most Urceans do not believe their country is a "democracy" nor describe their country's values as "democratic" despite relatively high scores from international observers for regularly-scheduled free and fair elections. While Urceans do generally believe that a country having elections is an important value, democracy as a standalone concept is viewed negative and with suspicion and is often used as a disparaging term in Urcean society in a way meaning mob rule. Many Urceans instead describe their electoral system and participatory government as "[[Organicism#Shared_commonwealth|shared commonwealth]]" which express "commonwealth values", which are often used by both academics and politicians. The most prominent example of the usage of this term was in the now-defunct [[Commonwealth Union (Urcea)|Commonwealth Union]]. These two terms and their shared concepts often poll highly among Urceans across the political spectrum.

====Role of monarchy====

The Apostolic King of Urcea is viewed by the nation as something of a father figure; the analogy has often been used that he sits at the head of the national family, using the analogy of a family dinner. An ancient peasant tradition long referred to the King in this way rather than as "King"; for example, "Father Riordan", leading to many folk tales and medieval songs presenting stories about "Father Lucás" or "Father Leo". While the monarchy has lost some of its constitutional authority in the last century and a half, a vast majority of Urceans consistently poll support for the Apostolic King. Studies have shown that a vast majority of Urceans "genuinely believe" that the Apostolic King is a kind of representative of God himself; the government's official teaching is that the King is a kind of steward of his inheritance given to him by God. Some foreign scholars have misrepresented this point of view as belief in the divine right of Kings, but even the staunchest Urcean monarchists disavow that position as incompatible with Catholic teaching. Rather, Urceans view the monarch as implicitly entrusted by God with the well being and common good of the Kingdom within the context of Romans 13 as described above. Consequently, the position of republicanism has been extremely unpopular since public polling began; the highest support ever recorded for the abolition of the monarchy came at 12.4% in 1971 following the succession of the fourth son of King Brian IV after decades of childless successions. The [[2018 Urcean institutional referendum]] yielded a 86.4% vote of support for the continuation of the Monarchy.

As a consequence of their joint heritage, most Urceans view most Occidental nations as their cousins. In particular, Urceans view those from Dericania and especially Burgundie and Caphiria, despite the historical geopolitical animosity between the two countries, as "national cousins". Non-Levantines are often viewed with attitudes characterized as either "paternalistic" or "chauvinist" depending upon the point of view of the author.

Urceans eschew the notion of "natural man" in the state of nature, and many view it with suspicion as a "Protestant" or "Masonic" notion. Instead, Urceans view the state merely as an organized extension of civilized society. Although they don't embrace the fascist notion of the State as the highest social good, Urceans do view the state as themselves and themselves as the state. The state is not viewed as a distinct entity from the person or the society, but rather viewed as an organic outgrowth of man as a social animal.

The traditional notion of a brotherhood of mankind is common in Urcea and it is accompanied by the view that achievements should be anonymous for the benefit of man and the glory of God, and for this purpose considerable charitable donations in Urcea are done anonymously. This view of anonymity is often used as a criticism leveled against public figures, as many - both Urceans and those abroad - view the prominence of cultural figures, athletes, and political leaders as contradictory to the Urcean view of man.

Due to the national heritage of Latinic migrants, as well as their early modern successors, the [[Ómestaderoi]], Urceans associate themselves with the pioneer spirit and attitude of frontier life. Consequently, the Urcean model of virtue is that of the pious Catholic smallhold Ómestad farmer.