I am getting fond of this project; my fictional universe. I think I will need 6 chapters to cover the ground I want. I will try to get it done by the end of 2022 and see if I can get it published as a book.
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Ruthie Kazurdle and Honchie Hoozler strolled up to the shuttle bus loop beside the canteen at the Demograntic Republic of South by Southeasterly Centralia’s. economic development assistance complex near Portvillia in the Vancherian Absolutely Free Enterprise Republic’s Autonomous Province of Southern Eastia, in the 25th year post Great disruption and the Basic Income revolution, in timeline DFL70709102-C614 for planet Nearth.
“Did we just miss the fratzin’ bus?” wondered Ruthie as she scuffed the dust.
“Yes, we have.” deduced Honchie. “Lets go in out of this heat and get some Coolslurps.”™
They went inside and got coolslurps poured into their personal containers, and occupied a table.
“Global warming for ya, hey?” Ventured a resident of the autonomous province, as she sat at a nearby table.
“I hear there were hot days before they invented global warming.” suggested Honchie.
The Southeastian tried again; “I hear in the news that you ‘D’ zone people might be shutting this all down and going home, because of the politics here.”
“I only know what I hear in the news.” said Honchie as she sipped her Coolslurp.
“I have my kid in school in the Demogranters town. On my way to pick him up. He’s real smart but kinda…special…and the D zone schools have been really good for him.”
Said Ruthie; “Just by chance, wouldja be Hark Branchie’s mom?”
“Yeah. I’m Bilie Branchie.”
“Well, hey! I’m Ruthie Kazurdle. My niece is Kassie. She talks about Hark. They’re in the same learning circle, about…subspace physerks.”
“Um, ya, I think he’s mentioned someone called Kassie a few times. He’s in a study project with a few other kids, making a model of how subspace entanglements work, this..strings and things that runs the new internex…the intervec,™ that you Deezers are makin’.”
“Ya, here’s my comvec. Gave away my old blablet. Now, I feel like I own my comvec and it don’t own me. And right now it sez that Kassie sez she’s done school for the day. Goin’ over to Cosy Cafe to wait for me there. And I can tell her I will be there and this can go back subspace with no radiation goin’ through nobody’s head.
Oh, pardon my manners. This is my friend, Honchie Hoozler. We work together at Gassy Greenhouse. She’s an expert on plant derseases. Especially the deliberate bioenger… engineered…ones…”
Honchie and Billie assured each other they were pleased to meet.
Said Billie; “We gotta do something about all these new plant diseases. It’s causing global food shortages. Hard to get fresh food now. I’m glad I work for one of the Deezer companies here; sometimes I get fresh food hampers from your greenhouses.
I work in the geotherm power plant, by the way. We generate all of the power for this whole complex. I’m working at putting in the new thermo-electric enhancers…makes everything even more efficient.
We could send power into the local grid but the new government, the Vancheria government, doesn’t want it. Says we can cause earthquakes.”
Honchie; “Any earthquakes recorded around here?”
“No. I think it’s just because they don’t like the Demogrant country. Call ‘em Communists…”
“It’s you people who need help from us. So you’re failing, we’re succeeding. So we must be doing something right.”
“Yah, right, exactly. But there’s the …politics…”
“Yes, politics does have a way of interfering with living. In my work here, I’m discovering that politics has a lot to do with all these plant diseases. Especially the ones that have been hitting us in our greenhouses here, lately.”
Piped up Ruthie; “We got it all stopped pretty quick and we’ll get back to full production in a few weeks. They caught the…” She looked uncertainly at Honchie.
Honchie; “We caught deliberate sabotage, introduction of these infectious agents, from people working with Vancherian secret services. They came in with these new contractors the…Flaxists…forced us to accept.”
Billie; “I dunno. The news, the local news channels, says all this is caused by climate change and disturbing natural habitat… And there’s all this conspiracy stuff and …” She smiled tongue-bitingly.
Honchie; “Yes, the Flaxist, Vancherian,… I guess Laizifarians is the new term, … They say us Deezers are introducing it ourselves to wipe out other people’s agriculture, make them buy our pest controls, our seeds, food…
Hard to answer that sort of shlorp. We’re getting hit with the new plant diseases too. We just have a really good biodefense system. I work for it. We have to defend not just people, but the plants and animals they live on.
We give out the pharmaceuticals and other techniques we develop, free of charge. But in most countries on Nearth, the governments are incapable of…ah, organizing their proper use. They can’t set up their own production, distribute it, train people to use it. They give somebody’s friends the monopoly on selling it, even though we gave it for free. The worst thing about all this nonsense is that these infectious agents, they often develop immunity to treatments because they’re not used right.
Where are these new diseases coming from? Partly it’s bad farming practises. Sometimes it’s bad land resource management, as you say. But a lot of the time these are being deliberately created in labs. We’re close to pinning down who’s doing this.
Of course it’s not the Vancherians or other Laiziferian groups. They don’t have the technical ability to create it. But it is being used on them. Then they accuse us. Then they try to use it on us.
They assume we created it in the first place. That’s not logical, but the Vanchers aren’t big on logic. Anyone who is not them, they lump together as ‘The Reds’ or ‘The Communists’.
So, who’s creating all these plant, animal, human diseases? We know we aren’t. The only other people on Nearth with the technical skill are the Blazebians from New Ogid and Northia. They deny having such labs and use their propaganda machine to slander us, like we’re behind it.
So, Billie Branchie, that is how the terrain lies from our perspective. And here comes…”
Flender/Flenda Splitz (she/her) strode into the canteen. She smiled nervously at Ruthie and Honchie and sat by them. “I’m being followed” he/she said.
“I’ve comveced the complex security” She looked over her shoulder.
Honchie; “That Snazz Flustro joker? From up north, Vancheria? About time they got him out of here.”
Flender/Flenda; “He’s some kind of…agent..?”
“He seems too dumb and unstable to be an agent, an undercover. We’ve watched him. Doesn’t seem to be trying to spread infection in the greenhouses. Seems to be trying to learn as much as he can about our operations. We are happy to explain it to him but he’s too dumb and …lacking basic botanical knowledge to absorb it. Poor choice of a spy to… send in here.
But we’ve had to tolerate him. That goof running this province, what’s she called, ‘first minister’? Politie Hoodle? Told us we have to take on these new contractors, bringing in people like him. Outland politics.”
In walked Snazz Flustro (It/that). The room fell silent. He walked over to the dispensers as though to get something, then appeared to change his mind and stood in the middle of the room, conspicuously looking around. All around the room, eyes glared back at him.
Honchie whispered; “Chill out Flend, security’s right outside.”
Flustro suddenly exploded; “SPLITZ! PERVERT FILTHY. GET ME FIRED YOUSE TRY TO!”
Complex security officer Bot Baddle charged through the door, with his assistant close behind him. “Flustro, that’s it for you. Yer barred from the complex permanently!”
“NO AUTHORITY YOU HAVE! FOR Z-SCAN SERVICES WORK ME! MANDATE HAVE WE, BY MINISTRY OF… BY MINISTRY NATIONAL OF…DEVELOPMENT INDUSTRIAL!”
“You’re out of here right now and Z-Scan will be gone tomorrow morning. We’ve had enough of you people and your nonsense. Take it up with ‘development industrial’.”
Flustro fled out the door. Bot and his assistant followed after him.
Someone yelled after him; “Go back to Vancheria, cannibal! Free Moominia! Free Moominia!”
Most of the people in the canteen stood and looked through the windows as Flustro tried to walk back toward the greenhouses. Baddle and his side kick clotheslined him and steered him toward the front gate.
“The bus is here.” Said Ruthie.
Passengers began to filter out of the canteen and onto the bus.
Safely outside the gate, Flustro resumed. “PERVERT FILTHY! INFIDEL! WOMAN PRETENDS HE TO BE! SOON, DEALT WITH WILL BE HE. VANCHERIA REBORN WILL BE. SOON BE MADE CLEAN THE SOUTH, HERE! DIE ALL ABOMINATIONS SEXUALHOMO! DIE ALL REDS! SCUM DEMOGRANTER, ACROSS WATER BACK GO! TERRORISTS ARM YOU, PROPERTY TO SIEZE, POLICE THREATEN.”
Honchie; “So, Billie, this is Flender Splitz. She’s coming with me to talk with the section F people. She might be a candidate for the protection program, if things go really bad here in Eastia.”
Said Flender/Flenda; “My name is Flenda Splitz. My personal pronouns are ‘she’ and ‘her’.
I’m not sure if I want to be part of this emergency protection plan. I think things might work out alright here.”
Honchie; “Well, there isn’t much time left for things to work out. Ever since the coup in the north, the suspension of the fundamental laws, declaration of this Vancherian state, the writing’s been on the wall for the Hoodle government in your autonomous province here. It either invokes that article 37 and declares independence or…”
The shuttlebus door slid shut. Outside, Flustro screamed; “AWAY FROM ME RUN, SCUMS RED! WIPED OUT YOU REDS WILL BE! PERVERTS DIE WILL. WORK AGAIN WILL LOW CASTES DIRTY, ON DEMOGRANT NOW LIVE! RUN!”
Baddle left dealing with Flustro to the camp gate guards and ran back to the shuttle bus, thumping on the hood to get the driver to stop and open the door. He boarded and sat beside Flender/Flenda. The bus started rolling again.
“You’re aware of the emergency protection plan?”
“Yes, Honchie has mentioned it to me. I am not sure about it. But I am going to the…Demograntia.. security office…”
“I’m going there too. There are a couple of other people from the complex I am also suggesting for the plan. If things really go wrong here and we have to pull out.
We’ve got hold of a list. Your name is on it. It seems you’ve really zoixed some of the Vancherian types around here. It’s not just the ‘tranny’ thing, you’ve been an effective union and housing activist. You had a key role in establishing the squat you live in.”
“‘Squat’ is an improper term. We set up an emergency housing cooperative according to rights granted in the latzbinyss treaty and ancient nearthian law.”
Flustro chased the bus a little way, pounding on the side. “PERVERTS! COMMUNISTS!
Someone opened a window and yelled out; “Talk stupid really, Vanchers do!”
“LOW CASTES IMPUDENT, NOW AROUND LAY AND DEMOGRANT TAKE! AGAIN MADE TO WORK WILL BE. WORK! WOOOORK!”
“Middle caste Vancherian; big mouth, small brain, even smaller zeezler…”
The bus driver called for the windows to be rolled up again. The permissor™ switched on, allowing the ‘D’ zone people on the bus to use their comvecs while the bus was in motion. Ruthie checked hers out.
Said Billie; “ Frapz! Did that Gleekster really say ‘Caste’? Even here in Eastlandia, they got rid of those kinds of dark age things two hundred years back.”
Honchie spoke up; “It seems part of the Vancherian project is to bring the dark ages back. I talked with some people who work in medical genetics. It seems they’re putting a huge effort into creating a pseudo-scientific proof that there is a genetic basis for castes or races among the Nearthian population.
It’s ridiculous. All serious human genetics says that the population of Nearth descends from a few thousand people who came here from the home world a thousand years ago. No genetic difference can be found between Nearth nations or in social classes within them.”
Honchie looked around at the interested faces near her. “But I guess cultural memory is something else. I’ve talked with people who have been in the North, trying to deal with them. They say the people driving this coup government; they seem like they have the idea that they are entitled to use other people like cattle set in their brains. It’s like it’s been carried over for unknown generations.
They seem to go through their lives in a permanent state of rage that people they consider to be their inferiors are not their slaves, can have their own lives. Like we have some duty to WORK! WORK! WOOORK! for them, every waking minute of our lives.”
Said Billie; “That’s why they get so flipped out that we do six hour shifts and 24 hour weeks here. Ever since the national government got taken over, it’s been tense where I work. We have to tell these new inspectors to back off…they’re so obnoxious.”
Said Ruthie; “Tell me about it. The old contractors…we had Easties trained…Uh, pardon me, uh, local… people, trained. We’d even got ‘em loosened up, treating each other reasonable, to stop acting so…um.”
“Acting so outlander,” completed Honchie. ”look, we’re not trying to be insulting, but that really is what you people are like, I think we need to be straight about it.”
“I know this. I am not… offended. Maybe a little. ” Sighed Billie.
Resumed Ruthie; “Okay. So we wuz gettin’ ready to expand.
Then the south province governerment made us change the contractors, to make the Vanchers happy. These new contractors are tryin’ to bring in all new people, so we have to start all over again, trainin’ em. They’re demandin’ twelve hour shifts, and to pay their people only 1200 yollars an hour, to WORK! WORK! WORK!
It’s terrible workin’ with the new ones, tryin’ to teach ‘em. They’re too tired, too stressed out, don’t get enough to eat, cuz don’t get enough to live on. And…streechin’ splatz, they’re touchy!
Can’t learn cuz they’re too scared of making a mistake. Hard to show ‘em anything cuz they’re scared of being singled out by these Vancher supervisors.
We try to teach ‘em how to act right with other people.
We gotta keep… inter, interventioning… to stop ‘em from tryin’ to fire people for nothin’, soze we gotta start all over, trainin’ somebody new.
But Gassy management is fed up with it. The assistance program kermishners told the Eastie governerment to bring back the old contractors, or we gotta put it all on ‘partial shutdown’ again.”
Honchie; “We might all be leaving for good, if the talks now with the autonomous province don’t work out.”
Billie; “I got my kid in your school. He’s doin’ well. It’ll be really bad if I have to put him back in Eastian schools.
Some of us parents are talking about starting a ‘D’ zone type school if that happens, but will the government here let us?
Also, how do we live if we lose these jobs; only decent employment now is in the Deezer’s zones.”
Bot Baddle was bemused by this discussion, but now turned again to Flender/Flenda Splitz. “I think you need to make some plans of your own, Flender. You know what’s been happening in the north; assaults, murders of, ah, sexually divergent people…, police not assisting…”
Flender/Flenda; “My name is Flenda, personal pronouns her and she. The correct term for me is ‘transgendered’.”
Bot; “Yes, they really have the language screwed up here. Also people’s minds. But look, we’re not your enemies, right? If you want us to help you, you have to make some compromise with us. You can’t be telling us what to think.”
Honchie; “Flend, I hope you haven’t got ‘em cut off yet.”
“No, I have started hormonal therapy. I am a transgendered person!”
Honchie; “Mister Splitz, you can’t change genders. They’re decided at birth by chromosomes. Some males can make the transgender thing work for them. It doesn’t work for you. You look spratzin’ awful.”
“I have the right to decide who I am.”
“No, that is narcissism talking. Or rather, it’s the narcissistic Blazebian culture here talking, which you are caught up in. But you aren’t a narcissist. At least I don’t think…
All this shlortz isn’t going to make you feel better about yourself. You go ahead with it you’ll regret it ’til you die. Who is selling all this to you anyway, and why?
A narcissist tries to tell everyone else who he is. All the narcissist echos, sycophants, always lots of them around, try to convince everyone that this is the right way to act. It isn’t. That’s a big part of why everything is so franged up over here.
You are what you are. You learn who you are by the way other people react to you. This connects you to reality, gives you a realistic self assessment. To refuse to do that is to become delusional. It’s also to offend people, to isolate yourself from people. People do not like to be told what to think. That’s what you’re doing when you tell me I have to pretend you’re female.
Why not trust us? We want to help you. We’re not Vancherian screwheads. We’re all enlightened Demogrant zone people.”
The enlightened Demogrant zone people present snickered.
Said Ruthie, rolling her eyes; “There’s some of us ‘D’ people more inlightninged than others.
But it’s a lot easier in our country for people who’re a… little different.
Hey, Billie, my kid Cassie Vecced me. She and Hark are goin’ over to the Cosy Cafe, right by the bus stop. You don’t have to walk over to the school.”
“Great. Thanks, Ruthie.”
Said Bot; “We will help you if you want help, Flender. But these Vancherian people do not like you.” He glanced down at his comvec. “You helped organize a union among the staff of one of these new contractors; support workers for the small scale production technologies training school.”
Said Flender (he) “Yeah, they don’t like our school. The Deezers are teaching us how to set up high tech cottage industries; 3D printing, mini robotics. That really doesn’t fit with the economic models of either Blazebian or Laizifarian oligarchies.
They really hate the idea of unions. But the Deezer managers insist everybody be unionized.
I also helped catch some people trying to contaminate growing stock in those greenhouses. I’m over here designing some equipment for them. That’s what I do; industrial design. Also teach it.”
Bot; “It’s been a philosophical bus ride, so far. I’m on my way to the section F office. I can talk with them about asylum for you if it blows up here. Honchie will vouch for you. This..” He consulted this comvec again. “…Thumbalina Green, she will too.
What social connections do you have in South Eastlandia?”
Flender thought a moment. “None, really. I am estrangled from my family since I… My friends are mostly other activists and…Q. I think they’ll make their own arrangements.
How likely is it that the Vancherians will abolish the autonomous province?”
“I think it’s likely, if your government here doesn’t invoke chapter 37 and ask for international protection.”
“I am from Squoozia and just arrived here to observe this economic assistance program. I am very confused about what is going on here in South Eastlandia.” The Squoozian observer walked forward in the bus to take a seat nearer Honchie.
He said; “I have been to Demograntia. Everything is working well there. The people seem so relaxed but they are now more productive than anywhere else. Here, the government has been trying to imitate ‘D’s methods, invited this industrial assistance program from them. But it is not working here. How is this?”
After a brief silence, Ruthie picked up the ball. “Ya otter talk with my husband, Angie. She’s an economist, works for the assistrance commishum. The Demogrant don’t work here cuz they don’t have real sover…, sov-er-eign-ty. They don’t issue their own money. They can’t start their own banks, public banks.
So, they pay people a Demogrant. Everybody calls it the Eastogrant. But it isn’t enough to live on. The capertalists won’t let them make rent control or a minimum wage. So rent keeps goin’ up and wages keep goin’ down.
They can’t make more taxes. So to pay for the Eastogrant soze the people can stay alive, they gotta keep borrowing from the…p..private banks. The banks won’t give them loans unless they cut back other things, like health care, schools n’ stuff.
The governer…, govern-ment here is really…They know they gotta do something but they can’t do it. They got this crazy system here. They think it’s a demockery…, demo-crac-y. It’s all run by these…political parties. The public’s got no control over nothin’. They can vote for this party or that party. What good’s that?”
Said the Squoozian; “Is your husband Angie Bajanji?”
“Yeah! I’m Ruthie Kazurdle.”
“Angie has coauthored some interesting papers. She is one of the people I would like to meet here.”
Said Billie; “Well, Mister Squoozian, we’re at ‘D’ zone compound. Come into the Cosy Cafe where it’s cool and I can listen to you and Ruthie talk while we wait for our kids.
I’m Billie Branchie.”
“I should introduce myself. My name is Rootle Gazurk. I work for the Forward Planning Office of the People’s Really Socialist Party of Very Democratic and Truly Socialist Squoozia.”
Honchie; “See you tomorrow, Ruthie. I’ll start showing you the new light wave resonance disruptor for plant viruses.
Said Ruthie; “See ya, Honch.
Flender, if you have a chance to go someplace where things are run better, take it. You know me and Angie came over to ‘D’ from the old NIT zone…talk with ya about it more if ya want…”
“Yes, Ruthie. Thanks.”
Ruthie turned toward the entrance to Cozy Cafe.
Said Rootle; “In Squoozia our Party is considering a Basic Income of our own. So we are very interested is studying other polities experiences with different…”
Ruthie and Billie staked out a table big enough for expected arrivals and tapped in snack orders.
Ruthie; “Yes, it’s a good idea to study different econermies who did Demogrants. Mostly it hasn’t worked. It worked for us because we did it as, like…a part of a plan for post Capertalism.
It’s like three fundamentals of real socialism. A Demogrant, a Real Demockeracy, and a Puberlic Banking System. None work without the others. Angie is a real expert on all this. She’s coming soon, I think.
My pinkitwing is telling me somethin’ is goin’ on at her job.”
Billie; “You Squoozians have a different approach to socialism. You still have that “Bolshlovian model”?
“We abandoned central command planning some years ago now. Most of the older party members…retired at that time.
We have reorganized our economy to emphasize private initiatives, while retaining control over key elements of the economy, especially money and credit. It has been working very well for us. We are growing and modernizing rapidly now.”
Ruthie and Billie’s orders descended from the ceiling.
Rootle; “What are those called?”
Ruthie; “This is a buffleburger and jumpijuice. She’s eatin’ a double frankenweenie™ and Toxislurp™; real wholesome Eastian food.”
Billie chuckled sly-sadly and began chomping. Rootle mumbled about giving the buffleburger a try first, and tapped in this thought.
He said; “However, we are at a point where private initiatives alone are not enough. Social inequity is growing and the condition of the poorest only gets worse. We have had to give up on trying to employ everyone. That does not work.
So, we are considering a Demogrant. We do not want to be criticized as merely warehousing away an unwanted portion of the population, as appears to be the case in Northia and New Ogid.
That is the point of socialism; to make a decent life for ordinary people. It is not to create some superior new person, as some old party members thought. That is why I make a point of hearing what ordinary people have to say. So I should stop talking and hear now.”
After a brief silence Billie said; “Wow! I am the informant for the very democratic party of social…Sqoozia. What I can tell you about the Eastogrant is pretty simple. It’s better than nothing. You at least have some money coming in.
The way they set it up is smart. You get one of these banqstiks™…”
She held up her banqstik.
Rootle’s Buffleburger and jumpijuice dropped down. He said “Yes, we have had bank cards for a while. We are now transitioning to a system much like that.”
“You use it at all stores. If you don’t have your own bank account, it’s hard to get cash out. It’s bioprint secured, so it’s useless to anyone who steals it from you. For the real down and outers, the rooming house landlords can’t confiscate it.
We buy the technology from ‘D’ zone companies, by the way. The Deezers are smart and know how to do things, hey Ruthie?”
Ruthie was bashful. “We’re doin’ okay.”
“I am already becoming fond of ‘D’ zone food,” said Rootle between bites.
“The trouble with Eastogrant is inflation. The grant goes up, everything else goes up, especially rent. The grant goes up again to cover increases in living costs, the landlords jack up the rent again. So on and so on.
I think inflation is over one hundred percent annual, now. They say putting out our own money will solve inflation. But our friends up north, the Vancherians, won’t allow that.
So people are talking now about separating. We can do it legally, but the government doesn’t want to.
Moominia! Moominia!”
Billie laughed.
Ruthie; “If the Vanchereenans can name themselves after an old tribe of cannibals and human sacrificers from centuries ago, why can’t you Moominlanders name yourselves? What were the Moomins…peaceful farmers who got settled here to live close to the Vanch, to show ‘em civerlization…after they got beaten and ruled over by the old empire. ”
“Sprotzt if I can understand why the Vanchers would want to name themselves after that…be associated with that. You’d think they would want it forgotten.
Lots of countries are renaming themselves now. Especially ones that were under Centralia and The League. You ‘D’s are looking for something better to call yourselves than Deezers, I hear.”
“Some people want to call it ‘Demograntopia’, but…I hope not. Also, some people want ‘Autarkadia’ and some say ‘Dirigia’. Real ancient and honorbable names.”
“Pick Dirigia.” Said Billie.
“Another thing with the Eastogrant, Rootle, is that they have to keep paying it or people would really starve, really start dying. But since they can’t raise new revenues, they have to keep cutting back on everything else. Health care, drugs, dental, all kinds of human services are no good anymore.”
Said Rootle; “When they started Demogrant, Eastogrant, they were confident they could pay for it going forward.”
“That was the old government, the Normal People’s party…Hennie Flaxbender was first minister. No one can understand how they got voted out. They were doing a pretty good job. Now we have this new government, the ‘Awakened Progressive party’, Politie Hoodle first minister. She’s an idiot.
We have this Proportional Representation system for voting for representatives, and this always leads to coalition government, which is supposed to be a good thing. But nothing they do makes any sense. But anyway…
Things started going bad after the Vancherians took over in the north, in the federal state. They didn’t get elected, they just took over. They took back a lot of the tax powers that the autonomous region had been given. I don’t understand these economics things well, but they made banks stop lending money here, to businesses, to our government.
They want us to end the Eastogrant. That’s nuts. If they stopped it, they would have to bring back all these old social programs, start funding the ones they haven’t killed. Or else people will just die; I don’t know what people will do. The economy has become tied to the Eastogrant.”
“Hark, hark! Auntie Ruthie, here’s my friend Hark.” Said Kassie Kazurdle as she plopped her books down and grabbed the junior sized buffleburger Ruthie had included in her order.
“Hello, Hark,” said Ruthie. “I’m Ruthie Kazurdle; Kassie’s Aunt and guardian Angel.”
“Where’s your wings?” Said Hark as he grabbed the half of a frankenweenie his mother had saved for him.
“They’re over at the… micromanrifracturing school getting repaired and upgraded. Who’s this, yer eatin’ her food?”
“Just my Mom.”
Billie rapped him lightly on the top of his head. “Yes, this is Hark, my most favourite son. Also least favourite. For all the trouble I have getting him into a ‘D’ school, he better show me some brilliant marks.
So start telling me what you did today.”
Ruthie tapped on her comvec. “Yes, Angie says somethin’s happenin’ and she won’t be here. She’s helping Bard Wonkle and her group perprare a big announcement tonight.”
Billie; “She works for Bard Wonkle, the head of the aid program? I have some dread about what that announcement could be.”
Rootle looked up from his comvec and then stood up. “I’ve met Bard briefly. I would like to speak with her some more. But it looks like people in the ‘D’ zone will be preoccupied tonight.
Thank you, Billie, for your valuable insights into problems in, a…Moominia. Ruthie; I say goodbye to you ladies.”
Ruthie; “Bye, Rootle. Be careful if you go outside the secure zones.”
Billie; “Uh, Ruthie, me and Harkie go to our home outside the secure zone every night. It’s not as wild as Deezers seem to make it out to be.”
Ruthie blinked rapidly. “Uh, sorry. My bad.
I haven’t been outside the secure zones much. A few times to these art-is-anal farmers centres, to teach new crops and techniques, equipment. Went as far as Capitolia once.”
Kassie piped up. “I’ve been outside the compound lots of times. Went on a school trip to the museum in Portvillia. Went camping…”
Hark; “And the Vancherians didn’t eat you? You were too tough for them?”
Kassie poked Harkie, Harkie poked Kassie, then some parental noises from the parental figures present restored decorum.
Billie; ‘You haven’t told me what you accomplished in school today.”
“We finished our report. Me and Kassie and the rest of the pod. Tomorrow we present it for the whole class. It’s all about string physics. How it works. Really, they don’t know how it works. But it works in comvecs and teleporters and all kinds of stuff.”
Kassie; “Queezian organisms work along strings. They make us make mind frames and…make the natural world work together.”
Hark; “She’s a Queezian. Her mom disappeared in a teleporter and she wants to find her. Her mom did research on Queezians.”
Answered Ruthie to Billie’s quizical smile; “Kassie’s mom disappeared in a teleporter accerdent. In New Ogid. She came to me two years ago now.”
“Sorry to hear that. I hear they’ve stopped using those teleporters for human transport now. Too many accidents. Some people say they should never be used because they don’t know if the same person comes out as who went in.”
“Yah, gets a little philosopheric; weird…”
Hark; “It’s just, if particles are removed from a frame, they can be moved along a string and assemble around another particle that resonated at the exact same frequency. For teleporters, they lock in a whole frame and move that. Its still the same subatomic particles…”
Billie shuddered. “I want all my subatomic particles to stay together.”
Kassie; “Its okay. They aren’t going to use teleporters much anymore. They use a lot of energy to move things, products. They only work over short range. So they are mostly used when people are moving stuff in sneaky ways. Like for drugs and …illegal stuff. Spy things.”
Ruthie smiled grimly. “Sometimes ya gotta use sneaky ways to do good things…that bad people don’t want.”
Hark; “The Blazebian people, also the Vancherians, don’t like string technology and try to stop it from being used. They can’t control it. I think they’re bad people.”
Billie; “They say it’s impossible for security people to tap into those comvecs when they’re on string mode.”
Hark; “Right. The thing with string is it can only go between two sets. It can’t be broadcast. So you can send a message from a mobile set to a base set. If any third party tries to monitor, the string breaks.”
“Sneaky, sneaky.” said Kassie.
“So if you want to send a message to someone else, over your comvec, you send a message with your location to your base, and it goes into the regular internex, I mean intervec…to the person you are chirping to. And you connect that way when you’re both stopped somewhere.”
Ruthie; “Yah, I know how that works. Got my own comvec.” She waved her comvec.
Kassie; “I’m going to get my own comvec soon.
Uh, you’re gonna get me one pretty soon, Aunt Ruthie?”
“They don’t let ‘under twelves’ have comvecs. ‘D’ zone law. When you do it’s a special one, on a network…cur-at-ed… for kids.”
Billie; “Good law, ‘D’ zone law. Hark isn’t getting a blablet until he’s older. Maybe a comvec if the Vanchers stop trying to suppress the intervec.
Here comes the bus back into Portvillia. C’mon, Hark.
Bye, Ms. Kazurdle. Watch out here in darkest Deezer land east.”
Hark: “Bye, Kassie. You can go first tomorrow, okay?”
Kassie snickered; “No, we’ll all let you to go first.”
“G’bye, Ms. Branchie. Pleezta’v Metcha…”said Ruthie.
Kassie; “Hark really likes going to school in ‘D’ compound. He says school in Eastia is really bad. It sounds a lot like school in Northia, so I think he’s right.
Here we have the, a …social constructive system. It’s like a ‘community of knowledge’. You learn to work with people to solve problems. You also learn the laws of thought, properly.”
Ruthie; “Tell me the laws of thought?”
“A statement is either true or false, all things are identical with themselves.
No statement is true and false at the same time, all things exist or don’t exist.
A statement is true when its opposite is false and a thing exists when its non existence creates a contradiction.
Identity, negation, contradiction.”
Kassie sat back, smiling self satisfiedly.
Ruthie snickered.
“Ya got the world all figured out now?
They taught me this stuff too, in the citizenship courses.
I wish they’d taught it when I was a girl in school. I wouldn’t have been messed up by so much shlorpdipz from sputzin’ franglers.”
“For a little while I went to this school that was run like, what they call cognitive construction. It was okay. They let you learn on your own and helped you when you wanted them.
But you don’t learn to work with other kids. And some of the kids there were real snobby; like Blazebians, better than everybody.
The teachers at that camp had an idea a lot like that, too. At least its better than the behavioral…
Mom couldn’t afford for me to keep going to that school. So I was in the regular school in Northia, again. This was what’s called Behavioralism. You just sit at a desk, there’s rows of desks, all facing the front, to the teacher. You listen to he teacher talk and do what he/she tells you; just be a …zombie, a serf. That’s what they try to make you into.”
“Like I said; I wish schools were like that in ’NIT’ zone when I was a little girl. I wish all schools everywhere… People would be a lot better.”
“Be better if they made everyone better at the same time. Something they warn the kids from South…Gotta be careful how they talk with people who were not educated like this. Sometimes even their parents. Sometimes it can be real threatening to them…”
“Ya. At work, we gotta be careful how we talk to the Easties. Seems like a lot of it is just how they got ed..educated. Like, they’re entitlered ta their own truth, own facts, get unset if…”
They sat silent a moment.
Kassie; “There’s all this talk about the economic zones gettin’ pulled out of Eastia because of this trouble. That’d be real hard for Hark and his mom. And the other Eastia kids who go to our school.”
“That might be happening. Something is happenin’. Angie’s not comin’ here; she has to help Bard make a big pernouncement tonight.”
Ruthie had an idea and laid her comvec on the table. She She handed Kassie a Brain Bug™.
“I got some newsclips from Shrep Scribney. Remember her? She visited us at our flat. She and Angie were in jail in old NIT zone and I helped get them out. Remember?”
“Yeah. You got them away from the Blazebians with your pinkitwing. I see Shrep on the TV a lot.
Hey, look at the TV there.”
On a screen above the waiter’s station the information was flashing of a special meeting in the compound’s auditorium and on the camp intravec. All residents were encouraged to attend at 1800 hours. The assistance mission senior officials had an important announcement to make.
Ruthie looked down at her comvec and noticed the same message on the priority channel there.
“Kassie, the supreme assembly back in Demogrant zone has been talking about what to do about things in Eastia. It’s a defence thing, so it’s been in a camera… I mean, secret.
The Vanchers have been saying we’re planning to invade here. A lot of the Easties believe this. I really hope it’s not true.
Anyway, here’s a couple of newsclips from Shrep that can explain it prob’ly better’n I can.”
Kassie adjusted her Brain Bug as an intro briefly flashed on the screen, then Shrep appeared.
“Hello, Shrep Scribney here. News short number T322 from South Eastlandia for Common Voice PanNearthian News. We are funded by the government of the Demograntic Republic of South by Southeasterly Centralia.
This date I am interviewing General Slam Banger of the Demogrant Republic’s defence force, (DZD) regarding the present situation in South Eastlandia.
General Banger is commander of the amphibious task force which has been on station off the Eastian coast since the Flaxist coup of last year. This coup has led to the declaration of a Vancherian republic in the North of Eastia, with violations of civil rights there and concerns about worse developments. As well, there are concerns about the future of the autonomous province in the south of Eastia.
Good Afternoon, General.”
“Hi, Shrep. Nice meeting you again.”
“General, what is the situation now regarding civil rights and stable government in Eastia?”
“Well, it’s not very good. It would have been a lot worse if we hadn’t got out here quickly and given them some pause.
These people are lunatics. If you’re not one of them, you are red and should be dead. They were deterred from mass murder by the threat of a full naval blockade along their coast from us, and by a ground invasion from Frostia.
The Frostians are a conservative regime, but they are not insane. They understand the danger of this Vancherian group. Their alliance with us in this emergency has been crucial. We got the mass murder stopped.
But it is still pretty risky for certain targetted groups in this Vancherian state. A refugee problem has developed affecting mainly Frostia and the South Province.
Our continuing operations on the North coast have been hampered by the Pan Nearthian League forces. These were late getting mobilized but are now seeking to control this situation according to their own agenda. We have moved to the southern coast so as to not get into conflict with them.
As you know, propaganda campaigns have been directed at the ‘D’ zone government by various interest front parties. We have no intention to invade and occupy Eastia and impose any kind of system there. We do not have the forces to do that, anyway.
We do subscribe to a duty to intervene if there is a breakdown of order in these areas or if there is a mass violation of basic rights. We will also intervene if the South Province requests our support to assert their legal right to separate and form a new state. The Frostian government and its forces support us in this.
A complicating factor is the indecisiveness of the government in the south province. It seems unable to deal with the increasing economic and social disintegration there. It has so far refused to exercise its option to declare independence, despite growing calls from most authentic social actors there to do so.
Our state has a substantial assistance program in the South Province, seeking to revive the local economy by introducing new technologies. We also have medical and social empowerment programs going there. We have substantial numbers of people on the ground there who are in some danger due to the growing disorder.
This disorder is negating our efforts to improve conditions in the South Province. The present Hoodle government seems unable to take well meant advice from foreign governments or internal opposition groups. It seems to be totally inactivated, but there seems to be little prospect yet of a change in government.
Given these conditions, my command has been called on to prepare three operational plans for three possible situations.
First, if there is a breakdown of order or an invasion, we go into the south and evacuate our personnel as well as local people who our social assistance workers believe have a claim for asylum. We have this right under the treaties we signed with the South government for these assistance programs.
Second, if the government in The South exercises article 37 in the treaty establishing it as an autonomous entity, to declare full independence, and asks for our assistance, we will go in. So will the Frostians. Our combined force will be able to secure the South zone from any Vancherian intervention.
Third, if there is a breakdown of government such as to threaten the lives and health of the inhabitants, or further, if a government attempts a massacre of its perceived enemies or undesirables, we go in. So will the Frostians.
Until this situation resolves somehow, my command will maintain a presence offshore, ready to carry out any of those three options. Your further questions?”
“Yes, General. The, um, many critics of ‘D’ zone and our activities in South province seem convinced that there is a fourth option being considered by our government and forces which is not openly admitted. That is, that we are colluding with some opposition forces to create a pretext under colour of article 37 to provide military support to overthrow the present government and install them. In effect, to launch our own coup in order to create a government modelled on our own.”
Banger; “Were there any such action being considered I would know about it. And I don’t. And I would advise against it. Mainly, the Frostians would not support it. This would make it much more difficult to carry out. Therefore, more risky and uncertain. Also, this would be slow and messy, damaging to the local infrastructure and harmful to the civilian population. And of course, it would involve serious casualties to our forces.”
Scribney; “There is one other possible scenario Here. The Vancherian power may decide to occupy the South Province and end its autonomy without regard to article 37. What planning has the Demogrant forces done for such a contingency.”
Banger; “We’ve done planning studies for any conceivable situation. But since no policy decision has been made for that contingency, no operational plan has been approved.”
Scribney; “So our government back in ‘D’ is considering what to do in that situation? But they are doing it in secret?”
Banger; “I can confirm that this contingency is being discussed within government, but it is under the secrecy laws for now. There is a simple reason for this. Given the behaviour of the Vancherian regime, their determination to be antagonistic to us and our sympathetic groups in South Province, we don’t want to reveal our intentions right now. Better to keep them guessing. The Frostians are taking a similar course.”
Scribney; “What would be the outcome if we went to war with the Vancherians over the South province?”
Banger; “One wonx of a mess. Stark consequences for the people in that area. So, we want to avoid that if we can.
We would need the Frostians in it. To go ourselves would be a really bad idea; big logistical problems.
The Frostians have got into some border skirmishes with the Vanchers. These did not go well for the Vanchers. The indication is that we and the Frostians together would beat them pretty quick. This would mean less harm to the civilian population there, less damage to infrastructure.
The Vancherian army is in poor shape as a consequence of years of bad government. Governments that wanted a big army but didn’t have the means to equip and train it. There has been a depletion of the higher commands; a lot of these people do not want to be terrorizers of civilians. Not what they signed on for.”
Scribney; “There is criticism of ‘D’ republic’s social empowerment program in the Province. The Protective Force developed in response to intimidation of Local Community leaders and our advisors bothers many people. It is seen as a proxy army run by our DZD force to protect so called terrorists preparing for a violent overthrow of legitimate government. How do you respond to that?”
Banger; “There isn’t much to say about that. The ‘D’army doesn’t run social empowerment programs or protective forces in foreign countries. That is the job the external assistance ministry. Training a security force would be a job for the security services, section F and especially section G.
If the government there began an attack on social empowerment activities, such as to threaten lives and personal freedom, we might be ordered to respond under the third condition I just stated.”
Scribney; “Thank you for this interview, General Banger.
Shrep Scribney for Common Voice PanNearthian News.”
Shrep’s face was replaced by the the CVPN logo and outro.
“So, what d’ya think of that, Kassie.” Asked Ruthie.
Kassie mulled solemnly but in the end said nothing. The cafe was beginning to fill up. People at nearby tables were speculating about the big announcement of the big announcement.
Ruthie; “We’re probably gonna shut this all down again, just like with the Nickelvirus trouble. Come back and start all over if things settle down.”
“What if it’s a war with the Vancherians? Like another Northian war. We could end up, like, being taken prisoner.”
“Our own army and navy is ready. They can take us out if the Vanchies are coming in.”
Kassie mulled some more and spoke; “It’s like the army is just sitting there waiting to be told what to do. Everybody is waiting for these crazy politicians in South and Vancheria to do something.
What do you think, Auntie Ruth?”
“I’m thinking like you. I watched this clip a couple’a times with Angie. She explained a lot to me. She’s with the anal,…anal…asis group. They think the South province government is gonna go broke in a few months.”
“What is this Protection Force for social empowerment?”
“Shrep’s got another newsclip about that. She talked with people at the…Whisp-a-leer…place that they took over. I was there a few months back, to teach new copping an’ grafting techniques, for the new hybrids.”
Ruthie tapped it up while a sandal shod man walked in and shouted; “Hey, everybody. The program managers are going to make a real big announcement in an hour.”
There were whoops of great non-excitement in the cafe.
“Is it raining outside?” Asked a sardonic person.
Sandal man spun around to look out the windows at the sun baked plaza. He spun back around and said: “Uh, no. Why?”
Shrep again spoke into Kassie’s head Ruthie’s brainbug. This time she was at the Whispaleer emergency community housing initiative in Capitolia, South Province; three days prior, said the date stamp. She was interviewing a senior member of the Citizens Mutual Protection Network who identified himself only as “Owl 3.”
Shrep asked; “Why is this row of riot geared police standing there facing this complex?” as the camera panned a row of riot geared police standing there facing that complex.
Said Owl 3; “Well, they are out here in the heat because we drove them out of the complex this morning. We have three quarterstaff squads of our CPF, our Community Protective Force, sitting inside the comfortably air conditioned complex right now. We’ll wait until our friends decide to find something better to do than than stand in the heat and stare at the side of a building.”
Shrep Scribney; “Can you describe briefly how this situation came about?”
Owl 3; “Well, Ms. Scribney, I believe this complex was put up about three years ago as office and industrial space. It was never occupied due to the economic problems and the Nickelvirus pandemic.
Two years ago the social action groups were getting organized. They took over this complex under the Niftian declaration, sections 51 to 55 of the Latzbinyss treaty, and of course, Ancient Nearthian Law. There are several large spaces in there and this became a hub for other activities of the social action groups.
Last year, after the Vancherian take over of the federal government, the self declared owners of the complex claimed possession. There were some confrontations. The Niftian council was able to show in court that these people could not show how they came to possess title. Also, that they had tenants able to move into the buildings.
Harassment of the present occupants continued and grew in intensity. Yesterday police and some goons from one of these mercenary type security companies stormed the complex and threw the occupants out. They removed some materials and caused a lot of wanton damage to fixtures installed via the social groups labor and expense.
Early this morning we assembled a very large force of quarterstaff squadies and retook the place. It was quite tense for a little while. These mercenary types pointed firearms at us.
We have a rule about people who point fire arms at us. We also have, in addition to our very high tech quarterstaff weapon, a few squads highly trained in the use of our stone age antisniper rockets. Thanks for supplying them, ‘D’ zone.”
Scribney; “What is your rule about people who point firearms at you?”
Owl 3: “They die. That includes even gas grenade or bean bag launchers. Fortunately for the tough guys from Vancheria, our local cops got between us and them and took their guns, hustled them out of the vicinity.
We were also able to intercept trucks removing equipment from the workshops in this complex, and return it. Work is already under way to repair the considerable damage caused.”
Scribney; “You seem to have come to some sort of understanding with the local police.”
Owl 3; “With most of them. There are different factions within the police. Police are always very politicized. Some are fairly sympathetic to us. They see on the streets every day the need for what we are doing. Others are more than a little…Vancherian.
But they generally understand us. We are not the revolutionary Anarchist ying-yangs. When we have an action to do we stay focussed on what we are doing. We don’t yell slogans, bang drums, break things or threaten anyone. Unless they threaten us.
Nobody just shows up and decides they are part of our actions. We keep our groups small and tight, limited to people who agree with our goals and whom we have trained to handle themselves in an action. That’s how we work, whether we’re taking over or regaining work places, living spaces, getting people medical care or their Eastogrant, or shutting down a Shwompflork trial and getting people out of jail.”
Scribney; “It seems you employ violence frequently. Do you look for nonviolent or less violent ways of achieving your aims?”
Owl 3; “We always try to achieve our objective with minimum force. Usually these things go very peacefully. Saying this gives Glandhooeyan pacifists the fits, but the best way to preserve peace is to show willingness and ability to use violence if needed.
The Glandhooeyans are eager to debate this with us to the outer moons and back. Their philosophy is a bit thin. They can’t show an example of where nonviolent resistance actually worked, except in their imagination. It didn’t even work for Glandhooey; he got lynched.
So they showed up at one of our actions. They were going to demonstrate to us non violent resistance. They ended up having to hide behind us when the Right Boys went after them. As things have gotten more intense, we don’t hear much from pacifists anymore.”
Scribney; “One argument against using violence to overthrow oligarchy is that the Oligarchs are usually much better at using violence.
Owl 3; “I disagree based on practical experience. Once beaten down people learn they can fight back, learn how to fight back, obtain the means to fight back, they are pretty effective against police.
It is police who are not actually so good at violence. They are mainly for beating up people who can’t fight back. They are bullies and bullies are usually cowards. They back off pretty fast when they realize they’re going to get their…
An army, if it is serving a corrupt oligarchy, is as bad as the police; is usually an extension of the police. A real army, trained to fight a real enemy, resents being told to beat up ordinary people who are just trying to get justice. There is a long history of such troops turning their guns around and…”
Scribney; “Have you ever considered pursuing your aims through civil disobedience or through the electoral process?”
Owl 3 gave her a soft and head shaking laugh; “Give one example where all that has actually changed the things that really need to change. Only by doing what we have been doing have we been able to have any effects on anything.
Scribney; “What other kinds of people have tried to…influence your actions?”
Owl 3 rolled his eyes and said; “ Everyone wants to tell us how to fight our battles. The Sparxists think we are fake revolutionaries. We are a front for the ‘D’ zone, who don’t have a correct theory and have become ‘state capitalists.’
Nobody is interested in their theoretizing anymore. When the real revolution happens they’ll be the last to notice it.
The Anarchists; we have got into some fights with them, when they tried to crash our actions and smash things. Also, when the police stopped patrolling some part of town so they could do their thing; smashie, smashie. This is so they could blame it on us.
Usually, when we do a large action we keep aside a reserve force to go where police are leaving people unprotected and the anarchists…We effectively become the police.
Let me sum up our method; we go out when we have a job to do and we stay focussed on the job. We allow no one to interfere with us, and absolutely we allow no one to threaten us. Not the police, not anyone.
Scribney; “What other groups are you in conflict with?”
Owl 3; “ We often have trouble with the ‘Right Men’. When they take us on directly they do not win. But they harass and attack people and organizations we’re defending.
In recent weeks there has been a worrisome development. Agents from Vancheria are fusing with the Righties and cranking things up. They are preparing for some kind of actions here, likely to create a pretext to suspend the autonomous government.
They have alliances with elements in the local police. But we have good intelligence contacts, within the police, too. These’ve actually improved since the Whackenbush square incident.
Scribney;” What exactly happened at Whackenbush square? In your own words. ”
Owl 3 “Vancherian agents sniped from a roof top, at us and the police. This is one of the oldest tricks in the sociopathic oligarch’s books. Shoot at both sides, get them fighting each other.
However, we got the police to calm down, showed them where the fire was really coming from, and we joined up to go after them. We caught several of them. We had proof of who was behind it but the government, the Hoodle people, did everything possible to bury it. They ran the narrative that we shot at police and got shot back at. They let the snipers we caught escape back to Vancheria.
The worst thing about this is that most of the people who got shot were innocent bystanders.
The best thing is it has a lot of the police thinking about what it is they’re working for.
Your news agency has already reported a lot about the Whackenbush.”
Scribney; “ Yes, indeed!
What is going to happen if the Vancherians carry out their threat to act militarily and dissolve the autonomous government?”
Owl 3; “ We can’t fight the Vancher army. We go underground and wait until the time comes around again.”
Scribney; “ Here’s my final question. What is it you are trying to achieve?”
Owl 3; “ Me? Us? The whole Niftian organization?
Revolution. The same thing your transformation organization in the… South Centralia Demogrant Zone, tried and succeeded with, a quarter century ago now. Obviously, that’s why you’re supporting us.
And you people have taught us that there is no point in talking with elected officials. They cannot deliver to us what we really want. They are not going to dismantle the system that put them in their positions.
If you are going to replace oligarchy with democracy, you have to be able to dismantle the oligarchy piece by piece, build the new system alongside it, until you are ready to take over. Just going out and ‘storming the palace’; that usually leads only to a new oligarchy.
But to do this, you have to be able to defend yourself. You absolutely have to. An old philosopher once said; the unarmed prophet is soon a dead prophet. If you can’t yet stand up an effective defence force, you accept the present and prepare quietly for the future.”
Scribney; “ Thank you for this interview.”
Owl 3; “I hope this goes out far and wide on this new CVPN.”
Scribney; “ Yes, that’s what our new network is for.”
The CVPN outro and logo appeared. The flesh and blood waitress who had been looking over Ruthie’s shoulder clapped and smiled pointedy. Two hungry people looked over her shoulder.
Said Ruthie; “ Ya need the table? C’mon Kass.”
“ Thank you. Come again soon.” Said the waitress.
“Gonna become a Niftian cross staff fighter, dearie?” Said the new occupant of Kassie’s chair.
“Maybe if I lived here,” said Kassie as she handed the brain bug back to Ruthie.
Said Ruthie; “ Should we hear Bard at home or go over to the community hall? ”
“Let’s go to the hall.”
—————————————————————————————-
An hour later, Ruthie and Kassie had staked out good seats at the front of the packed hall so Kassie could see the stage. The hall fell silent as Bard Wonkle strode out onto the stage.
She said; “Good afternoon. I have news. It many be good news to some of you, bad news to others, or good and bad news for some. I am sure most of you suspected this may be coming.
We are going home. The aid missions and economic zones are being suspended.”
She paused. The audience looked at each other but mostly remained silent. Cameras and lights tracked her. Her head and shoulders were holoprectored high over the stage.
Bard gestured to some people waiting just off stage. “The logistics managers are here to explain how the withdrawal will roll out. It will take about three weeks.
We will turn over some facilities and materials to cooperative groups in South Province which we have been working with. Other facilities will be shut down. The geothermal and geolectric installations will have to be sealed in. The local people will not be able to operate them safely.
Since this will considerably effect many people’s lives I feel it is obligatory to explain just how we came to this situation. Most of you have some knowledge of the early history of this project. It began with the treaty we made five years ago now with the party in office then, the Normal People’s party led by first minister Hennie Flaxbender.
The project was to be called ‘Operation Basics’. The plan was to help the economy here to restart local production of basic goods, which had been destroyed during the time of the Managerium. It was expected to mostly pay for itself. If it worked well here, we would extend it to other states with similar economic problems.
At first it went very well. Then there was an abrupt change of government by means that do not seem to have been really legitimate. The Awakened Progressive party was installed in government, with Politie Hoodle as first minister.
Since then things have been going not so well. I will try to explain all this quick and simple. Keep in mind I have only been assigned here since the Vancherian coup in the North, though I had prior experience in dealing with the governments here.
Remember that they use this representationalist method of government here. That is, each district sends a representative to the legislature through an election which takes place all at once. Moreover, it is done through political parties. Each party nominates a candidate in each district and the one with the most votes is the representative for that district even if he or she got way less than half the votes.
If this seems like a strange way to run anything, I agree. How does one person represent an entire area? But these people go to the legislature and there they are required to follow orders from the party that nominated them. Then a lot of closed door dealing gets done and the head of one party or coalition of parties becomes first minister and appoints his/her followers as ministers over government departments. Of course, these people are not qualified for these positions.
This is of course not a democracy at all. It was used in the pre-empire days by the early industrial states. It was a way for the industrial oligarchs to broker their competing interests while making sure they kept control of government. The public could vote on which oligarchs they would be aligned to, but had no real say in anything.
This actually worked after a fashion in those times, when there were usually only two big factions. As the economies became more complex, new interests arose and demanded a say. This led to the proportional system. This meant, multiple political parties, running in large districts which sent several members each, from more than one party, to the legislature.
The principle was that the seat total of each party after the election closely corresponded to the popular vote during the election. Of course this was no more democratic but it gave more oligarchic factions the opportunity to block what they did not want, and to engage in more bribery and deal making than before.
Finally economies became too complex to be managed in this way and these systems collapsed. South Eastia is one of the few states on Nearth still using such a system. It seems that when they finally gained autonomy, they had been so isolated that the only mode of government they knew was the single member district representational oligarchy they had under the old East Continent Confederacy.
So, four political parties have developed under their autonomy. Let me explain them.
Power had been continuously held by the Normal People’s Party, NPP, or its predecessors. They are the only party capable of running a government. These are moderately conservative people, similar in outlook to the Frostians and somewhat friendly toward us. They are interested in good government and social stability.
Politie Hoodle’s bunch, the Awakened Progressive party, the APP, has been around awhile. It seems to aggregate all the middle class liberal impulses; to be seen to be more virtuous than anyone else, as being reasonable and moderate. Thus it is played from within by interest agents of all kinds. They have been utterly incapable of governing, but they stay in office. It’s like a magician’s assistant suspended by invisible wires, seeming to float in the air.
The two most powerful capitalist interests continue to be the Medricellar fellowship and the people who fund the Laizifarian institute. That is, the financial and industrial capitalists. More exactly, the people who get their money from owning assets, and the ones who get their money from trading. Their interests are conflicting and they are as much at war with each other as with socialism.
These interests could only get so far by playing games inside the AP party. They eventually created their own parties but still keep their fingers in AP. The Normals are generally smart enough to not be played by them. These each also have their own media propaganda services to keep the public confused and voting for them.
The Infinitely Left Party, ILP are the Medricellars tool as the Freedom Fighters, FF, are the tool of the Laizifarians and now their extreme offshoot, the Vancherians.”
Bard drank from a bottle she had in her belt pack, then continued.
“So, here was Politie, in office but clueless, and about to lose the election. Her way out of her dilemma was to announce that new elections would be held under the proportional voting system.
As it turned out, how that worked was to enable her to form a coalition with the ILP. The Infinite Lefts could get nowhere under single member plurality voting, but could get enough seats under proportional voting to keep the Hoodle government in office and make her dependant on them. This has lead to much worse government than before.
The Normal People’s Party, NP, is still the only party really capable of running a government. It had the most votes and the most seats, but not a majority so it is cut out. It just sits and watches Politie and her domplethomps screw things up.
The Medricellar stooges of the the ILP have an armlock on APP. The Medis really do not like our economic model and want to drive us out. We are an obstacle to financialized capitalism.
Our focus was on convincing Politie to ditch them and instead make a coalition with the Normals. Hennie even offered to let her stay as first minister even if her party had fewer seats. However, Politie had factions within her own party who were working for interests which did not want government to function here.
Then the Nickelvirus happened. The Hoodle government was utterly incapable of dealing with it. There was some residual capacity here for dealing with public health and other emergencies. Capitalist interests would not let them be used. So, there was no attempt at all to protect the population.
I think many who are listening to me now were here when all this happened. We did what we could to help, but we were coping with the virus at home. We sent equipment…tried showing them how to make their own vaccines, post infection treatments…everything we did was sabotaged.
The same people who sabotaged, and prevented any kind of quarantine effort, were the ones who started agitating against us. It was like…, we were able to prevent it in our own people, so we must have created it and afflicted everyone else with it. I was here, briefly, as part of a commission to find out what was going on here. We recommended then that all D zone people get out, we were not safe here.
I made a few trips back here to help with negotiations to renew these aid programs, once things had settled down. I have a good deal of experience really at negotiating wth Politie Hoodle and the people around her. And with somewhat similar people in other places. She is not someone who should be running a government.
But finally she dropped the alliance with ILP and worked briefly with ‘Normal People’s.’ We negotiated conditions which enabled us to return. They were discovering that without this kind of technical help their economy was going to collapse. We could maintain our own security force, had the right to intervene to protect our people and assets if we had to.
We also required them to apologize and acknowledge we were not responsible for their nickelvirus outbreak. In exchange, we showed them how to produce and use our vaccine, synthetic antibody, and post infection treatments, for future outbreaks. We have worked to restabilize their medical system.
They did some other somewhat intelligent things with help from Hennie Flaxbender. During the Nickelvirus epidemic here they created a temporary, emergency Demogrant, based on our own, to enable people to stay home and…not get sick. Then they made it permanent; it started being called the Eastogrant.
There was a problem with this. We advised them that it would not work in the long run if they did not have control of their own currency and banking system. Hennie seemed to get this but not Politie.
Then, as soon as we had our aid projects were up and running again, Hoodle and the AP dropped the “Normals” alliance and went back to ILP. Relations with the Federal Eastlandia government deteriorated again. We decided to keep working and to wait for a better government to emerge here and…to try to help that to happen.
It did not seem to us that this would happen through a new election, unless Flaxbender and her people could get a majority of the popular vote. They are the only political party involved in this legislature who have any sense.
We were asked by some revolutionary groups for support. We agreed to help, as long as certain conditions were met. Such groups cannot be a gang of social outcasts and misfits, and people who are all theoretical. It must be led by mentally balanced people with experience at planning and managing things, who have come to realize that there is only way out of the downward spiral their society is in.
So, the old Niftian order was revived and issued a declaration. They began laying the basis for a socialist revolution. That included a protective force to deal with all the inevitable infiltration and harassment attempts.
None of the parties in the Eastian legislature liked this. The Normals have come around somewhat as they begin to understand it. The Niftians are not interested in electoral government but we have encouraged them to come to an arrangement with the Normals. We all agreed that the Normals would have a chance to try getting a majority whenever Hoodle calls an election and see if they could produce the needed reforms.
The big reforms needed had to do with public banking and greater tax revenue powers. This would require South province to invoke article 37 and…goodbye, unless the federal government of Eastlandia agreed with it. We were surprised to find that the federal government of that time was quite prepared to go along with that, if it kept the South in. What obstructed this kind of deal was Politie’s pals in the ILP.
Then came the coup in the North and the Vancherian regime. They have been doing some abhorrent things and expressed a desire to do even worse, but have been restrained by the threat of military action from more progressive governments. They have not come down here and dismantled the autonomous government and started murdering everyone they think is a ‘red’. But they have removed investment capital and clawed back tax revenue as much as possible.
This has had a devastating effect on the economy here. They are in a downward financial spiral. To fund public services, including the Eastogrant, they have to borrow money and accumulate debt they cannot repay.
The New Ogid banks run by the Medricellar are eager to do this loansharking. It is allowing them to take over the province as well as obstruct the Vancherians. And us.”
Bard took another swallow from her bottle and began speaking again.
“Do you all follow this? It is the Normal People’s party, aligned with us and the Frostians, and somewhat with the Niftians. The Freedom Fighter’s party is allied with the Vancherians. The Infinitely Left Party ILP is a front for the Medricellar. Finally you have the Awakened Progressive Party APP, which is running the government but is unwilling to make any hard decisions. They just will not do it. That is the real cause of the problem here.
They have only two ways out of this crisis. One is to invoke article 37 of the Latzbinyss treaty and declare independence. Public opinion in the province is now hugely in favour of this but the Hoodle government will not consider it.
The other path is to call an election which they would certainly lose badly and the Normal People’s party win, but likely not with a majority in the legislature. The problem with the latter course is that the Normals would still have to work with at least one unreliable coalition partner. As well, they still face the options of declaring independence or facing economic collapse and absorption by the Vanchers.
Hoodle will have to call an election within a year. The Vancherians may not give them the time. The banks certainly will not. We have carried out our own study. Hoodle and friends are going to hit the financial wall in about three months.
Now, I was assigned here full time shorty after the Vancherian coup to work with, or work on, the government here, to get them to deal with their problems in some kind of rational way. What I am announcing here is that I have failed.
It soon became obvious there is no point in trying to work with Politie and friends. I focussed on convincing her to leave office for the good of her country and turn power back to people who have shown themselves capable of taking on responsibility.
There is something else I can now announce. A military option was considered by the governance council of D zone. This was kept as a lower level official secret until just now. It was proposed that we take up the request of the Niftian council to intervene and put them in power in an alliance with elements of the Normal People’s party.
This was put to the Frostian government and to selected people in the Normal People’s Party. Surprisingly, it was not rejected out of hand. The Frostians said they would not participate but would not oppose it. The NPPs had started becoming more comfortable with the Niftians when they began talking as part of Politie’s ‘conflict resolving’ cycle of discussions.
I did not support this course of action. Neither did the senior command of the D zone defence force. Too risky.
The governance council in D zone has now decided not to exercise a military option, but that our time is up here. There is simply no point in continuing with ‘Operation Basics’.
Originally, the Grand Governance Council of D zone had approved this plan. However, the Supreme elder’s council vetoed it and referred it to the High Citizen’s Assembly, which rejected it. The Grand council can override both these bodies on military and diplomatic issues, but decided not to.
The Niftians were informed of this. Their council decided to drop the request. All sides to this decided that the proposal should be announced publicly as of this evening, with the identities of the NPParty officials involved to be kept secret.
Grand Governance Council also mandated that one more effort be make to convince the Hoodle government to turn the keys over to Flaxbender or call an early election, before we pull the plug. I was in Capitolia yesterday with Politie and her ministers, carrying out this mandate. I came away empty handed. I do not mind saying that the last few days have been very busy and very…regretful for me.”
Bard took another sip of juice.
“To conclude this, I should say something about why all this happened as it did. The simplistic conclusion would be that Politie Hoodle is a stupid Shpluntz. A somewhat more astute interpretation of her behaviour would be to define her as; the codependent personality as a political philosophy. She has the mentality that her survival depends on meeting the needs of others. She assumes that everyone else thinks like this, or should think like this.
Then this got combined with a religiously grounded pacifist ideology, as though conflict must be avoided at all cost. Everything is limited to what everyone can agree on. This is turn combines with a political theory that government is about brokering interests; not about what is in the general interest, but the interests of those with influence.
Politie has this mystical belief, impervious to actual experience, in the power of negotiation. She believes that if everyone just talks, talks, talks, they will finally come up with a program that everyone can agree to. The idea that a special interest likely has no interest in settling on anything, but can wait until they can get it all their way, is inconceivable to her.
So we have a government which cannot make decisions. If this was just about Politie Hoodles’ personality, she would have been gone long ago. It is built into this system of representational oligarchy. There is a deliberate design here to insure that nothing gets done; the practice of immobilism.
I have seen this mentality, this attitude, in operation in other places I have worked, most notably the old NITzone. Any change might give our rivals some advantage, so… freeze everything. When the collapse comes we will have a shot at getting it one hundred percent our way. This is the same dynamic which led to The Great Breakdown and Disruption.
But…I want to try to keep this short, though a little repetition helps understanding. Briefly, what is going on in South is the same old contest between the two same old factions of the global oligarchy; those who get their money by owning, and those who get their money by trading. The former wants the total wealth to shrink, because that increases the value of their own holdings. The other wants to keep growing the economy, growing the throughput, because that gives them more flows from which to extract profits.
Obviously, there are no grounds for compromise here. Society needs to be rid of both of these factions. And that is the third force in this; civil society; the people, the public and its interests. But civil society is not yet able to prevail here, as it has at home in D.
Hoodle and her party are deeply committed to liberalism. This is, the abhorrence of conflict; the idea that all conflict is just differences of perception. If everybody just talks long enough, the perceptions will disappear and the conflicts will disappear.
The whole representative oligarchy thing, some think this is democracy, is designed to freeze progress, to keep oligarchs in control and make sure nothing changes which might change the balance of forces among oligarchic interest groups. Hoodle is a product of this system. She is kept in office because she is exactly what they want, even though they make a fool of her constantly. They do not take seriously her attempts at negotiation and compromise.
I do not take her seriously, either. I cannot get her to understand that I cannot just talk endlessly. She needs to finally do something that some will not like but which is what is needed. Instead she is committed to “manage the situation until a consensus becomes available”, in her terminology.
She was bewildered when I told her that we are pulling out. She does understand the effect this will have on the economy here. She laid upon me this mighty attempt to understand why we are doing this and what would persuade us to stay. Yet she was utterly unable to grasp what I was telling her; that there is no solution within her paradigms.
She flatly rejected declaring independence; that is “confrontational”. She rejected calling early elections, even if that would have led us to stay on here for a few more months. That would appear as though she is favouring some interests over others.
So that is how it ends. Many citizens of D zone and South Eastlandia will have their lives and livelihoods seriously disrupted. Our government will have to absorb a lot of sunk costs. I did all I could. I’m sorry.”
Barb bowed slightly. The packed hall was silent briefly. Then people stood up and solemnly clapped. Barb smiled into the distance and walked off the stage.
The logistics managers shuffled onto centre stage and began preparing their holoprector presentations. A buzz arose in the hall as people speculated on the future.
Ruthie showed Kassie a message from Angie on her comvec. It read;
“Ruthie;
I just talked with Thumbalina Green. She wants you to go back to Whispaleer to help Honchie Hoozler.
I need to go to Capitolia to meet people. Whispaleer would be a good place for us to meet. We can go there together.
Is Kassie alright with staying in child care for two nights? ”
Kassie nodded. Ruthie tapped in “Yes and Yes” and sent it.
————————————————————————-
The passenger van braked, sounded its horn and flashed its lights as it was cut off on the dark highway leading into Capitolia, South Eastlandia. Its passengers were slightly shaken up and irritated.
Secure movement trooper Elon of the D zone security services jumped into the driver’s seat and took it out of self drive mode. He cursed softly.
Said Bot Baddle; “We’re coming into the city. I suggest staying in the driver’s seat. The Easties aren’t the most polite and predictable drivers. I’m Leery of these autopilot jobs, anyway.”
Elon; ”Sorry, I’ll operate manually from here on in. I just wanted to stand up a bit, keep blood… We are almost at Whispaleer already. The following vans are also…going to manual.”
Zif Kerflatz of the Niftian protective service consulted his comvec. “I’m goin’ to have to ask you to make a short detour. There’s been a problem at one of the special housing cooperatives and I need to get over there. I don’t think it will take long. There are also people there who need a lift over to Whispaleer. ”
Bot; “We want to avoid any trouble. We have people aboard we are under orders to protect. We’ve had a long drive.”
Zif; “Well, your people are here to observe how our reform from below works, and how the Eastogrant is working. You are about to see a slice of bleeding Moominian life. Address is seven Hobbes Place.”
Said Angie Bajanji, looking into her own comvec; “ I think this’ll be okay. I’m looking at the same information. There’s already some protective force people there and its under control. Voop Stimpf is there; one of the people I need to talk with.”
Bot tapped the information into the wayfinder. “Okay, but if any violence breaks out, we have to go. Everyone stay in the vans, please.”
In a few minutes, the convoy of vans had arrived at a cul de sac on the edge of the city of Capitolia. In an alleyway a group of oddly dressed and coiffed individuals chanted slogans as the vans approached; “FREE HOUSING! NIFTIANS ARE FLAXISTS! ANARCHY!” They seemed confused about the identity of the transport security vans and tried to beam weak glowlights™ through the tinted windows.
Further down, a police van sat across the road, with riot equipped police hanging around it. A police commander moved to order the vans to stop, then saw the identification which Zif held to the windshield and waved them through. Elon mounted the curb to get around the police vehicle and arrived at a low rise apartment building at the end of the roadway.
In a patio to the side of the building sat a squad of the Niftian protection service, sweltering in their body padding in the hot night, their quarterstaves leaning from the ground to their knees to the crook of their arms. Two people from the building were serving them cold drinks.
Several people stood just inside the building’s entrance. A woman walked out to greet the vans. “Hi, Zif! Hello again, Angie Bajanji. We’ve had a little trouble here.”
Angie; Yes, I get a sense of that. I’m sure we’ll hear all about it, Voop Stimpf.
Here is Rootle Gazurk, with the… Squoozian government. He’s here doing a study on the Eastogrant and other social programs here. The Squoozians are thinking of reorganizing their social system.”
Rootle smiled and bowed. “Well met, Ms. Stimpf. I hope that I may learn something from you.”
Voop smiled wryly at Rootle and then gestured he, Zif and Angie around to the side of the building. She talked quietly. “The bad social workers have been at it again. The people here threw out the landlord and set up a squ…er..housing cooperative. It was working alright.
The owners couldn’t find goons who wanted to go up against the quarterstaffers, so they are just waiting it out. A buyout or… for the Vancherians.
But the Infinite Left Party people and one of these bad social agencies, with help from the Anarchists, were able to cause some…trouble. Usual tactics; they found someone who was not comfortable with the Nifties, with cooperatives, and got her to invite them in to explain the benefits, alleged, of breaking with the Niftian cooperative association, instead letting the government social housing administration…ah…assist them.”
The anarchist crowd up the street realized who was in the mysterious vans and began shouting; “DEMOGRANTERS ARE FLAXISTS! THEY BROUGHT THE NICKELVIRUS! ABOLISH ALL AUTHORITY! ANARCHY! ANARCHY!”
Voop continued; “The bad agencies have no problems working with our special friends, the anarchists, when it suits them. The coop members committee were conned into taking a couple of anarchists as new members, residents. Then they found some pretext to accuse the coop of interfering with their rights, and a large band of the anarchists swarmed into this place and temporarily took over, forcing existing residents out.
I say temporarily. The more spineful members of the committee called in the protection force, who quickly chased the archies out of here. This went down only half an hour ago. They, the archies, caused some damage.
The police are not intervening. But they are not leaving until the archies do. Our protective squad can’t stay here all night…”
“YOU ARE DEPRIVING THESE PERSECUTED PERSONS OF THEIR RIGHT TO THEIR OWN HOUSING! END FLAXIST AGGRESSION!”
Zif turned to the chief of the protection force quarterstaffers. She stood up and said; “Hi, Zif. Most of us have day jobs. But I’ve checked with command centre. If these shratzers aren’t gone by nine, they can send some of the standing force here. They just need a cool place to set up cots.”
Zif consulted his comvec. “Seems your team did a good job here, Grytt. One of the mobile units is close by. If our friends haven’t cleared off in half an hour they’ll come in and you can call it a night.”
They turned as the president of the coop walked over. She said; “We got an air conditioned room you can use. We got a communal kitchen we’re just gettin’ back in order. We’d be real pleased to fix lunches for you folks if ya gotta stay. Come look.”
Grytt the quarterstaff commander followed the coop prez into the building.
Ruthie Kazurdle walked toward the door. “No, we been drivin’ for hours. Some…most…of us need to take a pee.”
Bot tried to block her but she stepped around.
“Hey, you guys, can we use yer toilet, puhleeze? Otherwise we gotta go…back behind, there.”
One of the building residents waved her and some other passengers coming behind her to follow her inside and down some stairs.
Bot bit his lip. He said to one of his subordinates; “Keep watch outside.” He followed the full bladdered contingent into the building.
Voop said to Zif and Bot; “Here comes the ultimate source of our trouble.”
Two women had come from beyond the police van and walked up to Voop. “Who are these people?” demanded one, gesturing to the people shuffling out of the vans, and Bot’s security people watching jumpily.
“Skronk you!” Said Voop and turned to Zif and Bot. “This one is Judy Goetz, from the local IL party office. The other is Gassy Lightner, from the …public housing department, social work office. They’re the people who organized this…”
“I SAID, WHO ARE ALL THESE PEOPLE!” bellowed Judy Goetz.
“And I said, skronk you, and these are people who would be happy to kick your ass all the way out to the main road. The cops over there will not be too interested in stopping them.”
The cops over there heard this exchange, their faces blending amusement, annoyance, and agreement.
Continued Voop; ”As I said, they have been responsible for this kind of attack on other housing coops. They have succeeded in destroying a few. They also pretend to tenants of bad buildings that they can help ‘organize’ them. Sometimes they will even pretend to be us; like, the Niftian coops association.
What they usually do is turn private slumlordships into social slums and pay off the slumlord, usually for multiples of the use value of these… places.
As you’ve heard, with falling incomes, rising interest rates, hyperinflation; slumlording isn’t profitable anymore. Or real estate speculating. But the aim of the Medricellar faction in government is to prevent or break up cooperatives and force people into the public housing bureaucracy.”
Gassy Lightner spoke up; “Look, Voop, I recognize that things got out of hand here. I regret that, I really do…”
“You regret that you ran into people who know just what to do about your schlorp. You splitzing freeger!”
“I am asking you to please be civil. This language…”
“I speak middle Nearthian. It’s my native language. If you don’t like it you can go vrapz yourself.” Voop held up her comvec. “We have a complete dossier on you two. If you keep disrupting free housing coops we are going to deal with you very uncivilly.”
Howled Judy; “ARE YOU THREATENING US?”
Voop turned to the Grytt Beech, who had just reemerged from the building. “Hey Grytt, are we threatening these two sociopathic janksters?”
“Who, us? Threaten somebody like them? Oh, no. We’re all reasonable and civil folks;” said Grytt as she began tapping her quarterstaff on the pavement. Her troopers started doing the same. The two subjects got the message and started quickly back from where they had come.
Called Judy over her shoulder; “WE’LL SEE ABOUT ALL THIS WHEN THE IL IS IN OFFICE NEXT YEEAR!”
Voop; “Thanks, but we already know who you really work for. You Skraxin’ Medricellar!”
The Grytt spoke softly to her quarterstaff squad and they shuffled into the building. Zif spoke softly with Bot as they watched carefully around them. The Anarchists had abruptly disappeared and some of the cops followed to make sure they were really leaving.
The Coop President came back out of the building, followed by a thin, timid looking, very distraught woman.
The Prez introduced her to Voop; “Fleezon Reebly, this is Voop Stimpf. She’s head of the Nifter housing for this area. She might be able to find ya somewhere to live where you‘ll be happier.”
Angie and Rootle looked at each other, silently agreed that this situation needed some privacy, and went over to talk with the building residents standing by the entrance.
“H-hello Ms. Stimpf. I, I’ve been living in this building for a long t-time. I have two small kids. They’re really nice kids, I…
All I have is the eastogrant and a little business I have…I, I.. I bake Noolian cookies and my friend who lives close to downtown, sells them on the street. Sh-she has small kids too.
I didn’t think any of this was g-gonna happen. Really didn’t.”
She sniffed into a hand sewn handkerchief.
Said Prez; “Its not completely her fault. Most of the committee bought Gassy’s.… I talked against it but got outvoted.
Its…a kinda bad thing, really. A couple’a the people on the building committee started callin’ her out for bringin’ these… the worker from the social office, to come here and talk. That’s hyple-critical. They want to draw attention away from the fact…they talked too for bringing the new people in. They got took in too; like, if we took in some people from the housing office list they’d get help for us with some big repairs we need here; bring in people from the housing department maintenance.
We’re gonna have to hold a residents meeting tomorrow and sort this out. What I’m worried is, if they want her out… She’s got small kids, she prob’ly won’t find a place she can afford. You can see she’d have a tough time in the homeless shelters.”
Voop; “So, Fleezon, what was wrong with the way things were run here?”
Fleez gave her handerchief another blow and talked at her toes. “I didn’t say there was anything wrong. It’s just, this is all too violent and confrontational.”
Voop; “You know what bugs me? All these people who talk about how radical and violent and confrontational we are. But they are all real eager to take the advantages which our being confrontational opened up for them.
This is why Niftian council is succeeding; we can offer impoverished people what they really need. They are harassed by police, bad social work types, political types of people. We create some space for them. Not just mental space but real living space in these buildings. We do it by being violent in the right way, at the right time.
“Ya, but people say bad things about people who live in..(snurfle, snort) …most of my family don’t want to talk to me now…They say that orgies and stuff go in these squats, er, coops…people do prostitution and deal drugs…, (sniff, snorgle) and my kids at school get…”
“None of that stuff goes on in these places. If it starts it gets stopped real quick. But… thats the say the creeps control society, make people ashamed, afraid of being ostracized.” Voop checked her comvec. “We have a good space we could put someone in your situation…a couple of possible spaces.”
She turned to The Prez.” But I want you to give her a chance first, okay, Prez?”
Said Prez: “Yeah, for sure she shouldn’t be the scapegoat for this mess. But we have to be careful about who wants to come and help us, right Fleezie?”
“Yuh, uhuh, but…” Fleezie buried her face in her hankerchief. “I just wish life wasn’t so ( snort, Swoffle) complicated.”
Voop. “Truth is, we are living in complicated times.”
Zif; “Okay, the cops are pulling out. We need to get over to Whispaleer.”
Bot shouted out; “Everyone back in the vans. We are leaving right now.”
Ruthie Kazurdle came from the back of the building with two of the building residents following her. “Hey, Honch, here’s two of the people who want to take some of our hydroponics stuff. They got a great set up back behind this place. Ya otter see it!”
Honchie Hoozler had just slid out of one of the following vans, yawning, looking woozily around her. “This isn’t Whispaleer. Where are we at? I Gotta take a leak!”
One of the buildings residents took her by the hand. “Yer at Seven Hobbes place emergency housing coop, Capitolia. Ya missed everything. C’mon, I’ll introduce ya to our plumbing. Hurry, they’re gonna leave without ya.”
Angie and Rootle spoke with another Hobbes place resident. He said; “So the sporxin’ Archies damaged some things here. Orgis and Froom, their 3-D printer setup is totally wrecked. I think they really will need some micro credit to get their micro-enterprise going again. I think they’re too upset to talk about it right now.
The hydroponics out back is okay. The garment makers are mostly okay.”
Rootle; “So, not just a microcredit, but some form of micro insurance would be useful to these microenterprises?”
The Hobbes Place resident thought a moment. “Yes, I guess that could help things. A lot, prob’ly.”
Bot walked up to them. “I’m not fooling, people. We shouldn’t even have stopped here. We’re goin’ in one minute. Where’s Honchie?”
Angie; “He’s right. It is getting dangerous in South for us D zoners, now that we’re pulling out. We don’t know how people will react.”
Rootle; “They seem very friendly toward us so far, but you are right. We need to let our protectors protect us.”
They slid into one of the van seats. Voop slid in after them. “So, Rootle, you want to learn about Basic Income systems so you can build one in Squoozia and learn from the mistakes of other countries. I think I can help you with that.”
Ruthie and her new Moominian/south province friends sat in the seats directly behind. She said; “These guys’ll tell ya somethin’ about it. They got their greenhouse goin’ with the Eastogrant but they need some money to expand…”
Bot; “We’re still missing Honchie… Here she comes.”
Elon played a motivational tune on the horn as Honchie ran to the van. Ruthie held open the door and Honchie dived in beside her.
“Outta here!” Commanded Bot. Elon drove.
Rootle; “Yes, I begin to think the potential of a demogrant is somewhat overstated.”
Voop; “A lot depends on how it’s done, and what kind of other economic systems are working along with it. Only the D zone seems able to make it work.
To understand why, I think you would need to go there. I’m sure Angie will be able to arrange an invite for you.”
Angie; “ Actually, Voop, he’s been in D zone. He would like to stay in South for awhile, look at the Eastogrant, but that’s getting…problematic.”
Voop: Okay, I get it, Rootle. I’ll talk with some people, but our situation is upside down right now, I don’t know how much we can help you. You have a residency permit?”
“My temporary residency permit was approved yesterday by your federal government. It required some difficult work from my embassy. However, if any disorder occurs in this country my embassy directs me to leave immediately.”
Angie; “ But, Rootle, I think Voop is too pessimistic about the effectiveness of the Eastogrant. I think conditions would be worse here without it. But she is right that without other serious reforms it will only delay breakdown for awhile.
Of course that’s why we are on our way out of South province, maybe soon called Moominia. The needed, um, changes… are impossible, there is no way to halt a collapse.”
“Moominia! Mominia!” murmered voices from behind them.
Spoke up one of the Moominian girls; “We’d all, like, starve to death without the Eastogrant. You can’t get a job here that pays enough to survive. There’s no apartments you can afford. The cost of everything keeps going up. Everything we need is getting closed down or cut back, like medical care, dental…”
Voop: “Exactly. They are in a death spiral. I mean the government. They have to keep raising the eastogrant to cover inflation, but they have no new money. They can’t borrow. So they keep cutting other government services. The medical system used to be great here. Now it’s mostly hollowed out. People are dying of treatable things.”
“So what’s the answer, smart Niftian lady?” Said Moominian girl.
“Declare independence from Vancheria, so we can set up public banking and float our own currency. So our government can issue the money, doesn’t have to borrow it. It can make low interest loans to real businesses, so they can be viable and make good jobs at good wages.
It doesn’t cause inflation if we can also tax enough so rich people don’t take the money and hoard it. Send it to the Stashaway islands.”
Rootle: “Yes, indeed. That is what capitalism really is; government giving power over to private banks to issue the money. Sovereign governments must always have full control over the currency.”
Angie turned her head to Moominian girl; “Listen to Voop. She’s very smart. Someday you’ll get all your problems solved here and you…can live a lot better than this. Like we do in the Demogrant zone. Where we have learned that the Demogrant, any form of Basic Income, is not the most important thing. You still need lots of jobs and you need to force down the cost of living. I mean, low rent and free or low cost services. Just raising wages and Eastogrant all the time to chase inflation isn’t going to work.”
Said the talkative Moominian girl; “Why are you Deezers, D zoners, going away?
Angie was silent a moment. “I…think it’s mostly because what we are doing here is costing us too much money. We are here to help you fix problems but your government does not want to do anything to solve these problems. It’s like someone else is supposed to pay to keep a bad system going, because they have no will to change it.”
“So you’re leaving us, and closing all the local industry assistance?”
“Yes, we are. I know that has been helping a lot of people here in..Moominia. The Eastogrant also helps you a lot, gives you some basic resources…But it doesn’t look good right now for this country.”
“Are you also going because you’re afraid of the Vancherians?”
“Yes.”
The van was solemnly silent for a minute.
Elon maneuvered the van up to the loading dock at the Whispaleer complex. “We’re here, folks. Thanks for riding Secure Transport Services, an all Dirigian, er, D zone company. Pleasure to serve you.”
This brought some claps and whistles.
Honchie shouted; “Alright, let’s get all this gear inside. Everyone carry something. You too, Educated Angie and Red Rootle.
—————————————————————————
Two days further in Nearthian history, Angie, Ruthie, Honchie, Voop, Rootle, Bot and Zif sat in an anteroom off the main dining hall/meeting room at the Whispaleer complex. Angie, Ruthie, Bot and Honchie had finished their work and were preparing to leave the next morning. Rootle had arranged to stay a few more days in Capitolia. Voop and Zif were based at the complex.
They looking out the windows at people drilling with quarterstaves on the lawn below. The building cast a long late afternoon shade on them.
Said Ruthie; ”It’d be great to learn how to use those things. Voom! Whack!”
Voop; “I’ve trained with the squads. A lot of women are joining, learning to use the sticks. It’s all about speed and leverage, not strength. It takes some time and dedication to get skilled… Under and over grip; over, centre, and low guard; triangle stance. Even with practice padding, getting voom, whacked hurts quite muchly.
Then you learn to work in squads, using the different formations. Just like an ancient army.
I was in a fight with these meat head riot squads. We sent ‘em back to their base to think again about it.”
Zif; “Did you smash any pumpkins?”
“No, they all had their helmets on. I think we broke a few arms.”
Ruthie; “They must be dedicated, to be outside in this heat.”
“It’s cooling off. They’re in the shade. They probably went outside because there’s some room out there. This place is running out of space. So much going on. And we can’t air condition all the rooms, anyway. Power rationing.”
“Me an’ Honchie been here teachin’ how to use the new viral …de-con-am-inat-ion…gear. Tomorrow they can take it back to their farms…”
Voop; “Is it just these cooperative and artisanal places that use this stuff? The industrial farms aren’t complaining about Deezers giving their competition unfair advantage? Like they do with everything else you people have tried to do here?”
Honchie; “Yeah, they do. They can go fratch themselves. They aren’t set up to use these kinds of methods anyway. It’s labor intensive, reduces yields temporarily. This is why every time there’s a new crop pest, they go broke and have to be bailed out.”
Zif; “But now you’re going home. And it looks like the Vancherians are going to take over here. Quarterstaves won’t be much good against guns and we don’t have anywhere near enough trained guns of our own yet.”
Honchie; “Well, your government here has the solution. It won’t take it.”
Angie quickly interjected; “We can’t tell the government here what to do. Above all, we cannot be seen as invading. People have to accept us being here.”
Voop; “I think most people would want to have the D army in here if it kept out the Vancherians. Nobody but the Zwoozers in the Freedom Fighters Party want them. Even the FFParty is divided about them.”
Bot; “You know, this does somewhat bother me. It seems like a lot of the people in this country resent us, think we’re exploiting them, trying to take them over. Then they’re angry at us for leaving. And they think we should defend them from these Vanchers.”
Angie; “I don’t think that gets us anywhere useful, Bot. I do not think you have been into the old NITzone and seen the destruction caused by the war there. Unless we can win quick it will be that bad here too. And we can’t win quick against the Vanchers, without the Frosties helping.
I think most South people, Moominians, if thy think about it, would rather put up with Vanchers for awhile than see that level of destruction.”
Angie sat back and looked around the table, smiling lets-be-realistically.
Voop; “The Vanchers do cast a long shadow on us. If we had another couple of years, we’d be ready to take over government here and declare independence.”
Angie; “I’ve talked with people in external directorate. We’ll keep supporting the Niftians, the protection forces, until a transition is ready. There’s been a reorganization of security services to coordinate operations like these.”
Zif; “Yes, this new K division. What worries me is that it plays into the propaganda that we are all just stooges for the D zone, who want the Centralian empire back. Also, all the crap about communists, Bolshlovians…,”
Angie; “As long as you people are okay with it, we’re okay. One thing we are decided on back in D zone, we will help serious revolutionary groups, ones who are not crazy and ideological, who understand what the point is.
We learned here, from ‘operation basics’, that we can’t help anything until there is a stable, socially oriented government in place. Any oligarchic elements which are tolerated will work to expropriate it or eliminate it. So that is what our focus will be now, here and anywhere else on Nearth where we are asked to help.”
Zif; “If the Vancherians come marching down here?”
Angie; “Then that changes the game. We have been advising you to prepare for that contingency. People who can be identified as prominent figures in the Niftian movement need to get out of this country. The rest, lay low. It is unlikely the Vancherian rule will last long.
But we, the Frostians, even the Squoozians now…” She smiled at Rootle, who nodded back.
“…will be working to deter them. They know that we will attack if they start murdering people. They have stopped…mostly…”Angie grimaced.
Rootle; “The Vancherians really broke the protocol against political killing that has existed from the time of the breakdown wars. The position of the People’s Really Socialist Party of Very Democratic and Truly Socialist Squoozia, is that this protocol must be reinstated.”
Zif; “Well, good for the Real Socialist Party of People of Truly Democratic and Really Socialist Squoozia. The New Niftian Order of Transformational Agents of the Free State of Southeast Eastlandia concurs fully with this position.
Unless the gerzooglers start killing us first.”
Angie; “I think that’s always the catch to it. You guys have a plan to get out if the Vancherians come down?”
Voop looked at Zif; “We’ve been listening to advice from your K division. Escape plan is in place. We’re going out through Frostia.
Some of the people from the coast were going out with you Deezers. But how will that work when you’re leaving before?”
Angie; ”We’ll still have a naval task force off the coast. We’ll be able to evacuate a lot of people. But we would just drop most of them off in Frostia.”
Voop; “Frostia is a pretty conservative country. Hate to have to spend much time here.”
Angie; “We Deezers have developed a good relationship with the Frosties. They are pragmatic, not ideological conservatives. Otherwise they would have broken down a long time ago. They helped us with our revolution, when we established the D zone.
They are already taking in substantial numbers of refugees. They have plans to create safe zones on the Eastian border for refugees from Vancherism. This is fairly civilized of them; it’s a big problem for them. They could just turn people back at the border.
We have a military agreement with Frostia. The generals from both armies have been clinking their brass heads together and coming up with preliminary plans. If the Vanchers keep persecuting people we will continue to put pressure on them while trying not to harm civilian populations.
Also, be assured about this; if they start acting like the old empire, massacring anyone defying them, we and Frostia are going in. We can try to avoid damage to infrastructure and basic services, but it would be…”
Voop sighed; “Well, hope for the best and prepare for the worst. But we’re in it and you’re going home.”
Zif; “How have you and Angie sorted out what to do with this micro-enterprise study…”
Voop; “I dunno, Angie, have we? I can keep monitoring the cases, compiling data, stripping individual identifications, encrypting. The software you gave us makes it easy. I can send it straight to your institution; from Frostia if I have to. It’s all portable.
I…don’t think if the Vanchers come in, I should panic and fold all data collection right then. I’d see how they behave. But we have to protect people.
But I think we have enough data for a preliminary report and we can work by comvec. But what is our basic conclusion here, Angie?”
Angie; “I think you said it yesterday already. Just giving people some kind of basic income is not enough to get people started. Every social program must be judged by the Apis line. Does it get people up to a basic living standard, where they are out of conditions of misery. If it does not, people eventually give up trying.”
Voop; “And basic incomes and microcredits do not, not really. Most of our cases, they can’t expand, they can’t get to that Apis line. Can’t find outlets for their goods…can’t find secure places to work out of…seems like everything’s organized to suppress this mode of production.
How that works would be the subject for the next phase of the study, if we can do it.”
Rootle; “So it seems that this eastogrant has not really been effective here. The reason seems to be that it does not enable people to escape poverty and misery. But is it a matter of it not being high enough, or of …constructive barriers to creating decent living conditions.”
Voop; “I think our study argues for the barriers being the problem…, quite strongly, Squoozian. We’re gonna send copies to your institute…, uh, we are, right?”
Angie; “Yes, we will, Rootle.
But the next level to this study is how these new marketing and housing, workspace cooperatives effect these structural barriers. I mean as they mature. Can they break them down without help?”
Zif; “Interesting. Sounds like Moominians and Dirigians can work well together when we get the political splatz out of the way.”
Honchie: “Yeah, the political stuff can be a barrier. The people me and Ruthie’ve been working with for two days…, it’s like this. There’s what they are told to believe, what they would like to believe, and then there’s what’s real and in their best interests. Some have it sorted out, some are still having trouble with it. They still half believe the Splatz told about us in different propaganda narratives. But they need us.”
Ruthie; “Ya! With me it’s beent he same as on my job in Portvillia. We get the ‘awake’ people, we get the ‘we know the truth’ people. We gotta tell ‘em; ‘look, ya can’t be all the time tellin’ everybody what to think if yer gonna work with ‘em’. It’s kinda hard, sometimes…
But I think most of the Southies like us. They know we got a lot started for ‘em and they can carry it on. We didn’t cause their problems.”
Zif; “There are some ideas circulating on social media that make out the D Zone, Dirigian people as the cause of the problems here. Or, else that you are running out and leaving South province/Moominia to its fate. Has that been a problem for you?”
Honchie; “There was some of that but it’s not, a …, prevalent. Some people started talking like that, they got told by other…Moomins, to shut up. I think a lot depends on what media they’ve been listening to.”
Voop; “You know, what helps a lot is the information services you demograntic people put out. It’s like honest information, not propaganda. More people are downloading it. It’s getting easier to access through all the blocking. It gives people a different way of thinking about things.
Zif; Also the intervec system. Greatest invention of you D zone people. It’s hard to get them but most Niftian cadre are using comvecs now. More of the population. Very good for my kind of work because it can be kept confidential. No one can track you on it.
I think the first thing the Vanchers will do here is try to shut it down.”
Angie; “Well, thanks, Zif and Voopie. I’ll convey the compliments to my friends in the state run socialist D zone media.
But I think the V’s will have a hard time closing comvec down totally here. They did when they took over in the north but now they’re being forced to bring it back. It’s becoming the standard worldwide whether the oligarchic powers like it or not. The old Internex system is getting to be useless. Nothing can be kept secure on it.
The room was silent for a minute. Zif said; “Well Bot, have we had a good debrief here?”
Bot said as he looked at his Masklet; “ I think we got a lot done over two days. But I have an important message coming…”
Voop;” That’s one of those Masklets the D zone security use? Haven’t seen one before. They really work on face and hand imaging and blow up if the wrong person tries to use them?”
Bot; “No, they just erase themselves. Beam an alert to their operating node. Handy little gadgets.”
A brief silence and Angie said; “You have a bad news look on your face, Bot.”
After a moment Bot looked around him. “Yes. Bad news. The Vancherian army is moving.
We thought they would at least wait until we’d completed our move out of here. Or maybe think twice about it. But they’re coming now. So it’s accelerated evacuation plan C. We’re on the road back to Portvillia tonight.”
Elon burst into the room. “Everybody! I have an announcement to make.”
Bot; “We’re all getting back on the vans and leaving in half an hour. The Vancherians are coming.”
Elon; “Uh, yeah.
I’ll bring the vans to the east door, there, right?” He pointed, and then left.
Bot: “Rootle, are you coming with us?”
Rootle stared into his distinctive Squoozian version of the blablet, and in a moment said; “My government is aware of what is occurring. I am being directed to go to the embassy here in Capitolia at once. A car will be here within an hour to pick me up.”
Rootle stood up and said; “It has been an honour for me to work with you worthy citizens of Autonomous province of Southern Eastia and of Demograntic Republic of South by Southeasterly Centralia. Also called Moominia and Dirigia. I believe my observations here and the acquaintances I have made, will be most beneficial to my home country. Thank you. Goodbye.” He bowed and left.
The remaining occupants of the room stood and looked silently at each other.
Bot held out a hand and said “Good luck, Moominians.”
Zif took it and said “ Thanks and good luck back, Dirigians.”
“Free Moominia! Free Moominia! ” said Angie, grim-smilingly, as she walked out. The other Dirigians followed her and took up the chant.
When they were alone, Zif and Voop stared out the window as the darkness descended on the quarterstaff students as they relaxed after their exertions, chatting chipperly on the grass, not having heard the news yet.
————————————————————-
Several days later, Ruthie and Kassie sat on their luggage on the main deck of the Demograntic Republic of South by Southeasterly Centralia Defence Forces Nautical Division’s Amphibious Activities Ship “Lilypad”.
The deck was crowded with evacuees from the Vancherian invasion of South Eastia and the revgrav aircraft which had evacuated them and were now recharging.
Their backs were to a bulkhead and they were near steps leading up to the ship’s bridge. They stared at the Nearthian sun setting in the east, the calm eastern sea, and the outlines of other ships in the task force.
A public address system crackled into life and transmitted; “Additional message for evacuees. Sorry about the crowded conditions. Our capacities are strained right now. Within an hour a transport ship will be alongside and we can transfer you off and resume our operations.
The transport will go first to Frostia. South province citizens will remain there. D zone citizens will await transport back home.
For your viewing pleasure we have the latest news reports from Common Voice PanNearthian news.
A large glowing box appeared over the ship’s forecastle. The head of Shrep Scribney appeared within it, soundlessly talking.
The sound kicked in and Shrep was heard saying; “ …of civilian personnel and dependents from the Demograntic Republic is now complete. There have been some military engagements between Demograntic armed forces and the forces of the so called Vancherian republic. There are no casualty reports as yet.
The situation in Capitolia is unclear. Vancherian troops are in control of the legislature complex and some shooting was heard there. The whereabouts of first minister Politie Hoodle and senior members of her government is unknown.
The last public announcement by the first minister was at six oclock, Eastian time. In it she was heard pleading for calm and order. She also pleaded for the Frostian and Demograntic governments to do nothing to provoke or aggravate the Vancherian powers. She repeated a call she had been making with increasing urgency for several days, again pleading with the Vancherian authorities to enter into dialogue with her.
At eight oclock, the Vancherian liberation news agency broadcast a message making claims about the demise of First Minister Hoodle and of military engagements with Demograntic armed Forces. Here is an excerpt of this transmission.”
The Vancherian flag appeared in the holoprector and the Vancherian anthem came over the sound system.
“Couldn’t they design a better flag? That looks like it was done by a monkey on drugs.” Said a voice from the deck.
“The Vanchies are monkeys on drugs.” Said another voice.
Said the clip from the Vancherian News agency; “THE END HAS COME FOR THE INSANE TYRANT POLITIE HOODLE. AS JUSTICE FORCES OF THE VANCHERIAN FREEDOM NATION CLOSED IN ON THE SOUTH PROVINCE GOVERNMENT OFFICES, SHE AND THE CRIMINALS AROUND HER ATTEMPTED TO SHOOT THEIR WAY OUT. ALL HAVE NOW DIED AFTER REFUSING TO SURRENDER AND FACE JUSTICE!”
The holoprector showed images of pudgy figures in middle aged people’s business clothes lying on the steps of the South Province legislative building in pools of blood, with weapons laying around them.
“Aw, svarx, we don’t wanna see or hear this…”
The next thing seen were images of soldiers running around with no clear aim, and nothing to indicate time, place, and circumstance of the images. This was accompanied by; “ATTEMPTS BY TERROR FORCES OF THE COMMUNIST TOTALITARIAN REGIME IN SOUTH CENTRALIA, TO INVADE THE SACRED HOMELAND OF THE VANCHERIAN RACE, HAVE BEEN MET BY THE JUSTICE FORCES OF THE VANCHERIAN DEMOCRACY, AND ANNIHILATED! ANNIHILATED!
THE SURVIVING TERROR FORCES FLED BACK TO THER INVASION SHIPS AND ARE FLEEING…”
Shrep Scribney’s massive head returned to the glowing cube. “For a different perspective on the days events, we present our interview, taped only minutes ago, with the commander of the Demograntic Republic’s task force, General Slam Banger.”
General Slam Banger’s giant head now hovered over Ruthie and Kassie.
Shrep; “General, can you tell us anything about the fate of the South Province first minister?”
Banger; “Can do. We now have video from security cameras in that government building, which our security services were able to hack into and download. As you can see, the members of this cabinet stood on the steps of their legislature, waving at the approaching troops, urgently proclaiming their desire to speak with Vancherian authorities.
As you can see, they weren’t armed. Nonetheless, they were shot dead. Several received “make sure” shots to the head. Their bodies were then repositioned and military weapons placed beside them, to support the Vancherian’s story that they had been shooting at them.”
The occupants of the main deck saw. A hum of disgust rose from them.
Shrep; “What can you tell us about these horrific military engagements described by Vancherian media?”
Banger; “Not much to say. Our operations to protect and evacuate civilian personnel and some local people being given asylum; that’s all gone pretty smooth. There was a brief encounter with Vancherian forces this morning. This was near a residential complex outside Portvillia, for industrial development aid personnel.
I believe this action demonstrated to the Vancherian command how it’ll go if they ever try a larger attack against our forces.
But we’ve got everyone out now. Our last rearguard left half an hour ago by teleporters and blew up the telepods after them. We have taken no casualties from enemy action in this operation. We’ve had two minor injuries from accidents.
I’m pretty sure our opposition has suffered some casualties.”
Shrep: “So, operations are now concluded?”
Banger; “No! We still have all these people to move to where they’re going. Then we have to get back into position in case the Vancherians fail to comply with our warnings about the civil rights of the people in the South province. This is not looking so good, so far.”
Shrep: “One final question; are you concerned about an attack on this ship?”
Banger; “No. The Vancherians have almost no navy and they have no units in the vicinity. The admiral says he has all their submarines trapped in their base. Their air force isn’t much, either. We showed ‘em what our interceptor drones can do, two days ago now.
There is a possibility they could hit us with a missile. But we’ve detected no launchers in range. I think you’ll stay pretty dry tonight, Shrep.”
Shrep; “Glad to hear it. Thanks, General Banger.
And that is the situation as of…” The holoprector image suddenly disappeared.
The public address system came on and began a series of announcements, mainly to assist in reconnecting evacuees who had become separated.
Kassie suddenly noticed Angie and a life sized Shrep standing over them. She nudged Ruthie.
Angie; “I was just talking with Bard Wonkle. She’s got a temporary office right above you. Me and she are going to get interviewed by the Teevie news lady here. But we have a few minutes to just sit and talk normal talk.”
Ruthie; “Hi, Teevie lady Shrep. Yer doin’ good at yer career.”
Shrep; “Thanks, Ruthie. It’s a bit hectic and harrowing right now. But I guess this event is so for lots of people.
“If Sterv Greezler is on this deck, please stand and wave.”
Sterv was on the deck and close to Ruthie and friends. He stood and waved, and someone waved back and moved toward him.
Angie; “Hey, people, can you give us a little room so we can sit together”
The people nearby shuffled a bit and gave them room to sit together.
Kassie; “Hey, somebody just opened an air duct upstairs and I can hear people talking through this vent.”
She adjusted the vent slightly and the rest could make out the voices.
“ Hello, commissioner Wonkle. Haven’t seen you in a bit too long.”
“Hello, General Banger. We find ourselves on the same ship again. It seems we have a few moments to ourselves?”
Some smacking sounds ensued and Kassie projected disgust.
“Matt Honker on this deck? Yes?
Message from Swoozie. Says yer…a dumb, ugly splatzer and she doesn’t wanna see ya again. But she wants her egg boiler back.”
The audience laughed. A few even clapped hands.
Bard; “Our youngest got a message through to me. Says he is finding university life agreeable. He reminds us to remember to duck the Vancherians.”
Slam; “ The object is to make the Vancherians duck me.
But you’re down. Don’t be. You handled your part of this as well as could be done.”
“Still depressing, how it ended with Politie. I have a media interview coming up. Official statement on it. But my personal feelings…
I did like Politie, with all her flaws. Fate put her in a position she never should have been in, with fatal consequences.
Her problem was just a reverse narcissist personality. Somewhere in her early life she got worked over by psychos and took it that there is no way to stand against aggressive, controlling people. Survival required subordinating her own needs to them. She thought she had found a secret to managing conflict and kept trying to get everyone else to agree with it. Then she found herself in a position of trying to accommodate several aggressive factions with conflicting demands. Not only couldn’t please them all, she was demonized by all.
Hennie Flaxbender and her key people from the Normals party, they just got over the Frostian frontier. Most of the Niftian council are there, too. Maybe a government in exile will be possible. I’ll need new directions from the council, but I’m sure they’ll want me to try; I’ll have to go to Frostia.”
“These are the dangers of getting involved in politics in a time when the oligarchs are fighting. We also ran these risks back when we were young revolutionaries, or that’s what we thought we were being…”
“The situation here is much different from those days. It’s time for some old warhorses on the council to retire. I understand their feelings, a desire to go in and get all these braxnarbs, but those sentiments…complicated things in the NITzone war.
Well, there are about to be new demands made on our time, so if we are going to get some smoochies in, we better get it done…”
Angie saw how to adjust the vent to allow the two old comrades to conduct their smoochies in privacy. Ruthie stuffed in a blanket for extra effect.
“Big scoop, Shrep?” Smirked Kassie.
“Nothin’ I can use.” Scowled back Shrep.
“Is Ruthie Kazurdle on this deck?”
Ruthie stood up and Flender Splitz walked over to her.
“Flender! I’m glad you made yer mind up to get out.”
“Ruthie! Better! I’m going to Dirigia. Accepted into the new political cadres school they’re going to start.”
Ruthie led introductions all around while everyone shuffled up a piece of floor for Flender.
Flender asked about Bot Baddle and Honchie Hoozler.
“They’re on annuder ship.” Said Ruthie. “But you gonna have some friends in D.”
“Good. I might need some people to..a..couch surf with ’til I find a place.”
Angie; “Not like that in D. There’s enough cheap places to rent. And temporary residences while you look. The institute will give you a stipend equal to the Demogrant.
Glad you’ve taken this decision in life, Flender. Ruthie has told me a little about you. I’d like to hear more. Come along with us. We’ll do what we can to help you navigate D zone.
But we have no home ourselves back in D. We left most of our stuff in storage there; a wise move. But with the money we’ve saved working here, Ruthie and I will get a house. In one of these new developments in the former NIT zone. They’re cheaper. ”
“Attention, passengers. The ship will be alongside momentarily to take you all to Port Purple, Frostia. Those going back to D zone will fly from there.
We will now show a short holoprector presentation of how to use the transfer tube. You will want to pay attention. The ocean is deep.”
They paid attention to that while Shrep’s cameraman walked up to her, wearing camera gear and a ‘lets go’ expression.
Shrep said; “Now I have an interview to do with Bard Wonkle. Angie, I think she wants you, too.” The three left.
Ruthie and Kassie and Flender sat silently, watching the moonlet belt rise. As the evacuees were called by sections to the transfer tube, it became clear they would be among the last to leave.
Ruthie said; “The sky at night used ta look prettier, before all that space junk Pluto Gazillion put up there.”
Kassie; “Yeah. They all crashed into each other and now there can’t be any satellites in orbit. For at least fifty years.
But it’s okay, Auntie Ruthie. Someday there won’t be any more crazy people running things. Meanwhile, Nearth is still pretty.”
————————————————
The moral of this story is; Who tries to please everyone, pleases no one.