1
Dispatch → Bulletin → Opinion
by 
The Multiversal Federal Empire of MineLegotia and Equestria.
.
36 reads.
Criticisms on the Right Honourable Gentleman's Plan for Post-War Reconstruction.
Criticisms on the Right Honourable Gentleman's Plan for Pan-National Post-War Prosperity By Senator Tailspin von Javehin, with advice and notes from Kancelar Autonomne Regije River Swirl A due note before starting, this shouldn't be taken as a complete rejection of the Right Honourable Gentleman's plans, but rather what the MineLegoEquestrians and my friend, the right honourable lady, agrees are problematic ideas that underlay the sensible plans of the Right Honourable Gentleman. Notably of which is the insistence on the formation of a pan-confederation national identity via the consolidation of power and the suppression of national interests in favour of the wider Confederation's interests, that the Confederation all unite under the Shadow Cult for the reasons of duty rather than pragmatic cost-benefit analysis, and that the collapse of the West Heisenian state and its subsequent transformation and forging of a new national identity is the result of the infiltration of liberalism into the Confederation. Policy-wise, objections are found in the propositions that constant government intervention within the economy is a must with the free market restrained to serve the benefit of the state, that state-controlled syndicates in which all labour is centralised is a must to prevent the exploitation of the people by plutocrats or Marxists, that the trans-Confederation market should be united under a greater state apparatus in order to serve the needs of the Confederation, that the vital utilities of modern economics should be nationalised under Vocryae, that mandatory decade-long conscription is to be mandated across the Confederation, and the exploitation of the defeated traditional nations for the benefit of the greater Confederation. Whenever one wishes to attack an argument or an idea, one must first dissect it. The ideas forwarded by the Right Honourable Gentleman is quite clearly based upon his doctrine of Zendirism. Which states that the point of life is to serve the greater nation-state, a life of a man is to serve the state because the state is the one able to channel and organize the disparate groups of individuals into achieving something great. That through a collective effort a collective good and safety can be achieved. If one has read Hobbes, one would recognize this line of thinking. Zendirism is quite clearly standing upon the thoughts of Thomas Hobbes, and that the point of the state is to ensure that life isn't left to the chaos of Waare but in safety in which people can do what they want to contribute to society under the protection of the leviathan state. However, order within itself is no grantor for universal common good within a state. A state with an efficient bureaucracy and strong institutions can use that bureaucracy and institutions to exploit its people, starve them, or put them on lists to be deported into death camps. Power, in itself, is not an inherent good, neither is being a state an inherent good. Let alone the grantors of social and economic greatness. A society of laws is worth only as much as its laws are worth. And these laws proposed by the Right Honourable Gentleman would provide little prosperity and economic success to all citizens, rather only certain groups of citizens would enjoy such prosperity as everyone else suffers. Now, upon the first topic, the reason behind the communist takeover in West Heisen. The thesis laid out by the Right Honourable Gentleman states that the infiltration of liberalism into the Confederation caused this. The problem with this thesis, however, is that liberal states have been shown able to exist and still prosper. The ancient states of Majapahit, the various Chinese and Kirinese dynasties, the modern Japanese state, and many more. This shows that prosperity and liberalism are not mutually exclusive. If so, what could be the possible reason that such a revolution could occur? A look into the West Heisenian history is thus required. In its history, once where the rich earned about fifty times on average than the poorest, a measly sixteen thousand marks was all that a poor man could earn in such a nation. The old West Heisenian state provided little prosperity nor success for their people, and thus this anger of disparity as the upper classes enjoyed opulence and wealth led to them willing to accept foreign ideas. Foreign ideas only ever get accepted if those accepting it are in a state of trouble, and the lower classes organized them according to the doctrine of communism due to such duress. The result was the overthrowing of the West Heisenian state, and the creation of the communist state. Thus, from here it could be argued that liberalism and communism didn't infiltrate the Confederation, rather those in the Confederation let it in as they saw their current system as unhelpful, and thus were misled by the lies of communism because they saw no better alternative. Thus, if an ideology wishes to maintain supremacy, it should be able to carry out the promises it called for. The autocratic states of the Confederation, if they are to win against foreign ideas, must be better than said ideas. If not, it'd be more reason for their own people to accept the lies of communism or worse, for they see their current system as corrupt and useless. The second topic, is regarding the Right Honourable Gentleman's Plan for a Pan-Confederation National Unity. This requires the process typical known as "National Integration", in which groups of people recognise that they are one, and in this case, one as the Confederation. What is to be criticised here is not the concept of a pan-Confederation identity, rather the basis he proposes to form such an identity on. The idea is that all within the Confederation are one because they are all under the Shadow Cult since traditional methods of national integration through the means of culture, language, and history are impossible in the Confederation's case. National Integration requires the people of said nation to have something in common. Which often the not, merely boils down to "we share the same ruling style", and even then the autocratic structures of the various nations of the Confederation vary wildly. Some are corporate states, some are monarchies, some have limited freedoms, others have total freedom but their leader yet still a dictator. This is not an optimal reason to unite the Confederation. There is a reason why the Confederation's a Confederation, and this is so. This Confederation never had the intention to unite into a pan-national identity, with earlier documents and histories, notably the one written by A.F.S Villerdom states that the Confederation was founded by the Jocosphites' "nation's desire to spread [its] influence and teachings". Effectively speaking, the Confederation is an organisation aimed at creating alliances between various dictatorial states for the benefit of each other. But over time the organisation has indeed evolved into a more feudalistic organisation. With nations swearing fealty to the nation of Jocospor, rather than to the concept of a United and Equal Confederation. Like the medieval ages, nations act like fiefdoms swearing upon a king to work together and protect each other. This is the main appeal of the Confederation, protection and opportunity for cooperation. In order for it to evolve into a proper nation-state, it requires a united culture, united identity. National integration is a complex process to ferment and primarily happens through educational channels. And involves political, economic, social, cultural and psychological dimensions. But often than not, national integration is based upon uniformity of culture or ideals or uniformity of goals and interests. And it seems near impossible to unite the Confederation based on ideals of a common culture, language, or customs. And the Right Honourable Gentleman realises this and however doesn't uses the second option. Rather insisting on the Central Government to crush the individual interests of the nations. Preventing the fermentation of the second form of nationalism based on the same interests. Why unite under a government that wouldn't care for you? Why unite, when you know your rights would be taken away with ease? Why unite, when your people would be sidelined for being undesirables? And such is the fear of the peoples and government of the Confederation that they oppose such a proposal by the Right Honourable Gentleman's plans. In a previous interaction, the Right Honourable Gentleman has stated that "...the Confederation is surrounded by a multitude of enemies, ranging from the Azure Watester Federation which was recently discovered to be in conspiracy with a former member of the Imperial Council, but most importantly the feederite hordes who control the World Assembly and use it as their bludgeon against our collective self-determinacy. Alone, individuals and groups are nothing; only the state confers volition upon the will of society. The Confederation is indeed rightfully conceived as a national entity unto itself and not merely a loose alliance.". From here, one could draw the conclusion that according to the Right Honourable Gentleman, that the reason the Confederation is a legitimate national identity, is because it exists in opposition to the existing world order and thus is justified. But how is opposition justified? If we use such surface-level arguments, the opposition to national unity thus justifies the existence of provincial, local, regional, and maybe individual identities. He claims too, in the following sentences that "devotion towards the Shadow Cult and His Supreme Majesty, the Shadow Emperor of Jocospor, is what holds the Confederation together, not a strategic consideration of cost-benefit analysis. This constitutes a cultural institution in itself and provides a basis for the closer and more systematic coordination of the Confederation member states to realizing our common ends: an end to feederite and WA supremacy and the final triumph of the Shadow Cult to dominate the entire world.". But... does it? The Medici crisis has shown that in political channels, governments are more than willing to abandon the Shadow Cult the moment they threaten allies and friends. The Right Honourable Gentleman must face the facts here, the nations of the Confederation do not necessarily need the Shadow Cult. And the Shadow Cult does not necessarily need the nations of the Confederation. The only reason they partake in such an organisation is that no nations have created an alternative to the Confederation1. The Jocosphite State of the Confederation does not exist regardless of the nation-states, but because the nation-states want to work with the Jocosphites as they see them as a natural leader in this harsh world. And such, the Jocosphites play their role as the leader of such an organisation well. Engaging in politics so all could prosper together, simply by doing so they have created the requirements for an integration of the Confederation into a proper nation-state. But to assume that they have this right simply because, is foolish. The Jocosphites do not have an inherent right to be the leaders of the Confederation, they earned it through their leaders. Through their own choice, they sought to do this, and through the choices of others did they join them in building the Confederation because they see something they can help and prosper alongside them. But the Right Honourable Gentleman doesn't see this, but merely the devotion of the Jocosphite followers and not the element of choice behind it. The moment the nations see something they don't like , they may choose to detangle themselves from the mess of connections they now see as useless and detrimental to their well being. This means the underlying reason why a nation is willing to join the Confederation's cultural sphere is because of a cost-benefit analysis. Some may fully commit to such a cultural sphere, some may only partly. This element of choice is what allows the possibility of a Confederation Pan-National Unity in the first place. If the Confederation is to remove the element of choice through forceful subjugation, then that possibility disappears and is to be replaced by the individual nationalistic identities of the nation-states that make up, said Confederation. With all the ideological criticisms out of the way, now onto the more technical policy criticisms. The first one is regarding the proposed plan to have the government to intervene in the free market in order to guide the corporations in order to prioritize the interests of the Confederation. This will play into each government's minds as they run the cost-benefit analysis again in their heads. Why should they? Why should the people and government of the Confederation permit this to occur if there are no present benefits to do so? This, in effect, removes the ability to commence in the freedom of commerce from the commoner and into the hands of the state apparatus which exists, with a degree of certainty, with the plague known as corruption. And even if the Right Honourable Gentleman claims that this would put the plutocrats out of business, it is not certain. Sure, the traditional plutocrats would be gone, but the new plutocrats - or worse, kleptocrats - would be given a buffet by using the state apparatus for their own individual interest or class interest, and as the state, they can use its apparatus to simply prevent the formation of competing businesses to their corrupt syndicates. Vindicating the Marxists even more so and possibly allowing the rise of more West Heisen like revolutions, forming a cascade of communist revolutions. To focus on the bigger picture is to not see the smaller pictures. How can a government explain to its people that they need to cut down on food consumption so that they may serve the Confederation more if the Confederation does not give benefits to them? This would simply give rise to more nationalistic sentiments and wipe away most goodwill to cooperate with the greater Confederation. And now I must ask, is the Right Honourable Gentleman a business owner? A CEO? A shareholder? Do you know how to run a business? What is required to keep them running? The Laise Faire arguments to the free market are often than not based upon these questions and twisted by illiterate parasites that the government is incompetent. Rather, it is statistically unlikely for the government to be versed in the sacrifices of the businessmen to the building of their industries. This approach is similar to the absurdity posited by the communists, that those who work hard to establish their own businesses should have their work stolen away. Why does an autocratic state exist in the first place may I ask? To serve the people effectively, and how does this exactly serve them? The state should retain the ability to tax them, but to constantly tax them is to not allow the people the freedom to plan in ways that the government can't. Like how a Lieutenant on the ground knows something the general doesn't, and vice versa, total control from above will end in problems unforeseen by those above, and total control from the masses will end in complex and byzantine systems that can't be guided. What is proposed by the Right Honourable Gentleman will lead to the former. The Right Honourable Gentleman also writes, "it is vital that the entire Confederation economy is integrated into a singular, central framework, in order so that targeted policies of intervention can be consolidated into a unified program for action. Ad hoc interventions staged on a disorganic basis are simply insufficient to engineering preconditions of industrial harmony and justice.". To do so is to remove one of the key components of transnational unity. Which is the freedom to cooperate however they want. To rob, the various nations of these freedoms is to trigger resentment which may lead to a move to finally leave the Confederation, which they see as non-beneficiary if such actions were to occur. May it be reminded of the reasons why they joined, and that is the possibility of cooperation. The Right Honourable Gentleman even writes, "The model which the Confederation government ought to pursue with the awesome power concentrated in its apparatus is a system that will subjugate private industries to the state ... ". The subjugation of the private industries to a state not even close to a people, may trigger resentment within them and this may cascade into a wave of protests that eventually results in revolution and succession from the Confederation. The Confederation needs to be more integrated if that is to occur, and the Right Honourable Gentleman has in fact provided a solution to that. Transnational Infrastructure projects, and that is something that no doubt everyone would approve of. Who wouldn't want the growth of their economics? From this, an organic fermentation of unity can be achieved rather than the methods suggested by the Right Honourable Gentleman, if such goals wished to be pursued. Another topic that should be discussed, is the Right Honourable Gentleman's proposed decade long conscription of all able bodied men aged 15 to 25 into the military. Such, is a bad idea. Mainly one, they are the economic producing citizens of the various countries and could result in massive economic downturn. Two, language barriers. How are the MineLegoEquestrians going to coordinate with the Zalklandians when their languages are nothing alike? Three, the sheer expense that such a project would require. Roughly estimating, there would be 462,474,607,153 new recruits to the CDF which would absolutely cripple the CDF's budget, as that is 43.3% of the Confederation's population. If the CDF arming them is going to have problems, you don't need to know about the other proposed plans the Right Honourable Gentleman has. This isn't a question of ideology, but common sense! This, will undoubtedly bring the Confederation to ruin. And with it, any idea of a united Confederation. And finally, the nationalization of the vital utilities of the national economics under the Confederation Government. This requires an immense measure of trust, trust that the central government does not has in full honesty. Nations joined to all work together and contribute to the Confederation, not have their utilities seized. This would damage the perception of the Central Government to the nations of the Confederation, and ferment distrust in it. With such a move, nations wouldn't care that they don't have basic utilities to function and instead launch a war of national liberation to liberate itself from an overarching and oppressive government that has yet to provide for them, something beneficial. Such methods being employed and more in the defeated traditionalist nations would simply vindicate the spectre of Karl Veers. Such a spectre will haunt the Confederation if such policies are to be implemented, and many nations of the Confederation would have to face down such a spectre. For ideas, are very hard to kill. And if these measures are implemented, it is quite clear, that the West Heisenians are not viewed as traitors, but people who foresaw this happening. Historical revisionism is one hell of a drug, and it would happen if these disastrouous policies are implemented. This is not to say the Right Honourable Gentleman's plans are all wrong, his emphasis on the Health and Safety of all the people of the Confederation are something to admire and back. This would indeed help breed a sense of unity among Confederation nations, but it is just a single step on a long path of national integration. National Integration is a honourable goal, but if the steps taken to achieve it are wrong, then it shall never happen within the Confederation. Now, I would like to thank Kancelar Autonomne Regije River Swirl for her input in this document. Without her help I doubt this be as well presented and coherent as it is. And I sincerely hope that the Right Honourable Gentleman does not see this as an insult, but rather as constructive criticisms to his proposed plans. Sincerely,  Senator-Prince-Consort Tailspin XXIII von Javehin 1(OOC: The Alliance of Dictators - the only competent counterpart to the Confederation - doesn't count, they IC-wise don't have a united 'organisation'. They're just roleplayers who all share the same common trait - they're dictators). |
