Andalite Government/Economy

[iosonochesono]

Does anyone have any ideas of what the order of government Andalites had, or their economic system? What did you think, based off of the books?

In the books, Yeerks spoke about buying certain space stations or crafts, such as in Visser. But at other points Ax or Elfangor would seem confused about money (I always figure these things are probably KASUs, because it seems if you were encountering other species you'd be familiar with money, same as their understanding that other species had mouths.)

They seem to have rituals that tie back to the people and the government (like the morning ritual) possibly have restrictions on the amount of children families can have (The Andalite Chronicles), and they have the Electorate which theoretically represents the people.

Does anyone want to extrapolate or offer further details?

Comments

[yukinoomoni]

That's a good question. All we really know is that there are Princes and War-Princes. But what does that even mean? What's below Prince, what's above Prince?

And yeah. The money thing always confused me. If there isn't money, then is it trade? Argh.

[iosonochesono]

Maybe their personal society is beyond the need of needing money for personal things and instead most money goes on at a governmental level? I don't know! There clearly were not enough books on Andalites.

I was sort of wondering if they are actually a communist society and maybe money's something they don't think about unless they're working with other aliens. That would explain why Ax and Elfangor thought the concept was weird, but characters that were Yeerks wouldn't.

Yeah, their military designations were also weird. At least, at that level. Most of the terms were basically what we call ourselves (captain, commander, etc.) But 'prince'? It seemed mostly like an honorary title/privilege level in the military.

[yukinoomoni]

I do remember a mention of the Andalites evolving up to buildings, only to end up so unhappy that they dismantled them and went back to the fields. I always thought that that was really awesome.

And yet, like you said, clearly they are a military society, since it was also mentioned that things were built family by family, piece by piece. Clearly money isn't something that occurs, but yeah, maybe it's more like trade or communism, since they ended up stepping backwards (in our perspective) from advancements like buildings and industrialism.

I wonder if Prince was something that translated badly. Maybe it was something that could never be equated in English, or maybe it was a KAASU. I would have loved more detail in the subsequent Chronicles books. Or maybe in a short-story follow up or something?

[iosonochesono]

Yeah it would have been nice.

And it really might have been communism... if they had all the energy and access to material they could want, what's the point in denying anyone anything? So maybe their fame doesn't mean more material wealth and the things they might want were more based on what they did or whatever. (E.g., Alloran's a war-prince, and he has a spaceship, but it doesn't seem most Andalites have their own space-craft. That might be a prince-specific honor and higher.)

[yukinoomoni]

Yeah, that's true - he had his OWN COMMISSIONED ship, even! That really says a ton about his status. But what does it say about the others of his position, and others? Argh, I wish the Andalite Chronicles had been more detailed!

[iosonochesono]

Sorry I haven't replied in so long! I can't wait until DW sends messages to inboxes even if you forget to track posts you've made in communities >_>

Yeah, they could have made an entire series on Andalites. I would have been fascinated XD