Talossan Time (TST) | Cezembre Time (CZT)

Wednesday, December 21, 2016

"O Ye That Love Mankind!" - FreeDem Convention Speech from V

Shortly after Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h has delivered his speech, the FreeDem Convention saw it's second orator, Viteu Marcianüs of ZRT (a republican fraction within FreeDem).

In his speech he criticized the very idea of preserving the monarchy just because it's "traditional" and proposed arguments as to why monarchy is a morally incorrect and flawed system:

My fellow Talossans, let me start by thanking the Free Democrats for granting me the privilege of addressing this Convention. Let me also take a moment to thank the Great Province of Fiova for hosting this convention. Today I speak to you all on behalf of the Zefençadéirs del Repúblicanismeu Talossán. And let me be clear, the Zefençadéirs del Repúblicanismeu Talossán is not only alive and thriving, but ready to fight hard for a simple truth – that all people are equal and that no individual is so important as to possess some divine right to consider themselves above all others, by right of birth or for any other reason that they may construct.

This is a simple concept and one that Talossa has ignored for far too long. It is one that is dismissed under the guise of “tradition.” It is a truth to which many pay lip service in one breath, but seek to obfuscate under the false premise of illusory representative democracy.

My fellow Talossans, I speak to you today with no personal animosity towards any particular individual in Talossa, but as a human who unequivocally believes in democracy, and who believes that institutions that inhibit a country’s democratic growth should be abolished in their entirety. I speak to you not as a subject of a kingdom, but as a citizen of a country – of Talossa.

But enough of this, let me get to the point. Many years ago I asked to join Talossa, and for nearly eight years, I was proud of Talossa and staunchly defended the monarchy. I did so because of tradition; I did so thinking that the institution was harmless and that Talossa existed as a true democracy. I did so because my I failed to consider that my privilege of living in an actual democracy with no monarchy allowed me to romanticize what it means to have unelected leaders. I dismissed the Republic of Talossa and our Republicans family who came back. I saw this as a sign of victory for the monarchy. But, as many of you know, I departed Talossa. And I departed it because of that animosity towards many Republicans. But I was wrong then. I realized after my departure that my anger was misplaced, and I acknowledged that some time after my departure. And to that, I apologize to the ZRT, to our Republican friends, and to the former Republic of Talossa itself. Nevertheless, earlier this year, when I sought to become a citizen once more, I vowed to myself to fight for a truth – that a monarchy is inherently inconsistent with democratic principles.

Now, no democracy is perfect. That much I concede because perfection is paradoxical; because perfection is a goal to work towards, never a state of being. My duty as a human is to fight for what I believe is perfection, to move us along the path of true justice and true democracy. That fight requires me to take a firm stance against those things that block our path to a more perfect democratic system. From time to time, we may be blinded to these blocks, or we may willingly stick our heads in the sand and pretend they don’t exist. But when the time comes that we do see them, that we must remove our head from the sand, when we are finally competent and mature enough to recognize them, we have an obligation to fight to remove them, to bring us closer to democracy. In Obergefell v, Hodges, Justice Kennedy spoke directly to the ever-changing nature of the guarantee of liberty promised to all Americans under the U.S. Constitution, and how that understanding of liberty changes as society matures. His words are not only enlightening but instructive to our current struggle: “The nature of injustice is that we may not always see it in our own times. The generations that wrote and ratified the Bill of Rights and the Fourteenth Amendment did not presume to know the extent of freedom in all of its dimensions, and so they entrusted to future generations a charter protecting the right of all persons to enjoy liberty as we learn its meaning. When new insight reveals discord between the Constitution’s central protections and a received legal stricture, a claim to liberty must be addressed.”

My fellow Talossans, we are currently faced with such a block that prevents us from continuing along our perpetual path towards democracy. And it is up to use to ensure that the nature of this injustice is addressed. With the monarchy as it exists today in Talossa, under no circumstance can Talossa call itself a democracy or a republic. For Talossa to call itself a representative democracy, or a constitutional republic, or to allude to anything of the sort by whatever innovative name these so-called monarchist may construct is to spit in the face of the spirit of democracy, of the noble idea that we, as the people, govern ourselves; that we, as the people, each have an individual right to participate in our government, and to work for, to fight for, to campaign for, a chance to occupy any position in that government. That every aspect of our government is of the people, by the people, and for the people. But Talossa denies us this very right. Talossa says, “no, you are subjects to a king; you are inherently less than the king; only he is competent enough to hold the position of Head of State; only his heirs are worthy of occupying this position; you are not worthy and you will never be worthy.”

This is certainly the position of the so-called “king” himself. Cxhn. John Wooley believes that he is above the Organic Law. He refuses to recognize the independent authority of our judiciary. He actively refuses to recognize the Uppermost Cort’s recent holding In re Petition for Injunctive Relief re: OrgLaw amendment. He went so far as to recently instruct the Scribe of Abbaville to ignore the Cort and to reflect the Organic Law AS HE BELIEVES IT SHOULD BE REFLECTED, not based on the will of the people of Talossa, not based on the independent and Organic authority of our Judiciary to interpret the Organic Law, not based on any sense of democracy, but by virtue of the fact that he said so. He believes that his alleged “legal” interpretation alone should resolve questions of Organic interpretation. He sees himself as equivalent to the Ziu – as equivalent to the Cosa and the Senate. He ignores that the Ziu is made up of democratically elected representatives that are answerable to the citizens of Talossa. In a recent discussion I had with Cxhn John, when he attempted to argue that he can deny the will of the Ziu, and the will of the people, and block an amendment to the Organic law, I countered that this his position places him above the Organic Law, that he alone would then possess the absolute authority to decide if and when the Organic Law could be amended. He countered that my logic means that the respective houses of the Ziu were equally above the Organic Law as they, too, can decide when to block an amendment. But in his attempt to assert monarchal supremacy over the Organic Law, he ignored that the Ziu is made up of two democratically elected bodies that are answerable to the citizens of Talossa. He ignored that he is unelected; that he is not subject to recall; and that his argument deprives Talossans any form of recourse if he so chooses to hold the Organic Law hostage. He sought to equate an unelected position insulated from any form of democratic recourse with our duly elected legislature. Under his logic, if we sought to change the monarchy, he can say no. If we sought to revoke more powers, or to abolish it, he can say no. My fellow Talossans, what do you call an individual who places his position above the most important document of a State, its constitution, our Organic Law – the document from which all law derives, from which justice derive, from which our judiciary’s authority derives; and from which our legislature’s authority derives, irrespective of the will of the people; who thinks he alone possesses the final authority on how that document should be interpreted and who thinks he possesses the absolute authority on how it should be amended? What do you call a “head of state” who not only ignores the authority of an independent judiciary, but instructs other government officials to also ignore that authority, to ignore the law, to cast the Organic Law aside? I call them a tyrant.

My fellow Talossans. I stand before you a mere humble servant of democracy. I stand before you as someone who is no better, and no worse, than you. So now I make one plea to you. If you truly believe in democracy; if you truly believe in absolute equality before the law; if you believe our work towards implementing democratic principles never ends and must always seek progress; if you believe in justice; and if you believe in the right of the people to govern themselves in all respects, then I stand before you with one simple proposition – you must fight to abolish the monarchy. You must acknowledge that a monarchy in any inform is categorically anti-democratic. To do otherwise would be dishonest. To argue that we should keep the monarchy because of tradition is reprehensible. It spits in the face of every person who has ever fought for social justice. Slavery was tradition. Denying women the right to vote was tradition. Denying me, as a gay man, the right to marry my husband was a tradition (and still is in many part of the world). Apartheid was a tradition. Absolute monarchy and despotism were once traditions. Constitutional monarchy was once a tradition. Discrimination even in democratic systems were once traditions. But we have a moral obligation to identify those “traditions” and end them. Traditions that deny equality, that deny democracy, that deny justice cannot stand in the face of what is right, of what is moral, of what is justice. In the immortal words of Thomas Paine, “O ye that love mankind! Ye that dare oppose, not only the tyranny, but the tyrant, stand forth.”

Now, I will end with this: I am not a naïve person. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. said, “The arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends towards justice.” I understand that often the best change comes through incremental steps, but I also acknowledge that we are, from time to time, presented with opportunities to take a big leap forward. When those times arise, we have a moral obligation to take them. But this may not be the time. The ZRT stands committed and ready to work towards a new constitution. But we recognize that while we work towards, we can make other progress. What we do have, however, is a chance to put Talossa on the path it should be on. 48RZ14 was a step in the right direction, and now it’s time to ensure that we do not become complacent in one victory, but we fight even harder for the next.

The ZRT does not retreat in any fashion from its noble, logical, moral, and ethical goal of creating a republican government based entirely on a democratic foundation, but will take any steps necessary, even if incremental, to achieving that goal. Thus, I now proclaim before this Convention and without any hesitation that the ZRT will push for two referendums: first, a non-binding public referendum under Article XX of the Organic Law on whether the monarchy should be abolished, with a simple “yes” or “no” choice; second, an amendment to the Organic Law that requires a mandatory recall of the current monarch to occur once every five years, or every ten elections, whichever is sooner.

My fellow Talossans, thank you for your time. And thank you to Munditenens Tresplet for allowing the ZRT the chance to address this convention. Thank you to the ZRT Caucus for allowing me to speak on its behalf. And thank you to Talossa for listening, and considering, even for a moment, that the arc of the moral universe always bends towards justice, and that justice demands we make further progress in abolishing the institution of the monarchy. Thank you!  


In addition to the already registered orators, Ián Tamorán of Cézémbre expressed his wish to deliver his speech as well, not from any of his official positions, but as a citizen.


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