Kalistan

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Empress delivers farewell Speech to National Assembly
"We hope our legacy will be one of Integrity and Wisdom," says retiring Empress
Kaliburg, Grand Duchy of Ananto
April 14, 5730


Her Imperial Majesty speaks a final time in the National Assembly

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto, already the longest reigning monarch in the history of the Monarchy, delivered her farewell address before a full National Assembly this week. The speech was televised and broadcast on the radio across the nation, and was listened to by more than 75 Million Kalistanis. The Speech was delivered ahead of the Empress' abdication on July 1 of this year, and gave her the opportunity to summarize her reign, while at the same time, ensuring that continuity and order will carry on after she steps down from the throne. Below is a transcript of the Empress' final address to the National Assembly:

Her Imperial Majesty, Empress Carolina II Ananto:

Deputies of the National Assembly, Assembled Peers, Members of Our Government, Mr. Chancellor of the Empire, and Our People. We thank you for allowing us the opportunity, and the privilege of one final address to our Nation as Empress. We affirm that our words will remain short and to the point.

It has been an honor and a privilege to serve as your Empress. There can be no single greater job on this planet. It is one that is indeed quite stressful, and as you can see, it ages a person rather significantly. However, it is you, our people, and your support for our mission and sole purpose in our life, that make this worth anyone's while.

Kalistan has a very unique form of government. Objectively, we are one of the only, if not the only absolutist, hereditary monarchical regimes on Terra. This is a distinction that sets the Empire of Ananto and Kalistan well apart from most nations in Terra, almost all of whom claim that their legitimacy comes from the voice of the people.

At some point in the past, it became a prevailing norm for the politicians to profit by telling the people that the people wanted what the politicians were doing all along. So often this has taken the form of the facade of popular government. The deal that political elites make with the people is that "You vote for me, and I shall govern in your name." The implication is that they shall also govern in the interest of the people. And this is never explicitly stated, or if it is alluded to, it is never said in good faith. The result is: the people vote for the politicians, and then the politicians do as they please. It is a lie at the very heart of the democratic project. And yet, democracy and republicanism is seen as the norm on our planet: Even nations under the oppressive and immoderate heel of communism claim to be democracies and republics. It seems bizarre to us--but perhaps bizarre is too light a term- Grotesquely preposterous is more like what we wish to convey. In nearly every instance we can observe across Terra, the claim of democratically selected governments to actually be truly democratic is utterly risible.

In fact, democracies are as elite driven as any system of government, including our own. This Empire is nothing if not a centralized, top down hierarchical government in which your monarch sits at the top, your political elites do her bidding in this particular case, and the people themselves most certainly do not rule anything. Even in our nominally democratic elections in our free cities, the people still elect others to make decisions, and those decisions more often than not reflect the needs of others rather than the needs of those who selected those politicians.

The entire role of democratic propaganda these days appears to be to trick the masses into believing that they wanted all along what the elites are doing anyway, with or without public support. Every last "democratic" government on Terra that does not actively empower their people to participate more fully in the administration of their government is a fraud. Some more so than others. But nonetheless, they are dishonest, and they are misrepresenting what is actually happening in within their state. They will come up with excuses as to why actual democracy is not practical in their nation, but its just justification for the elite driven status quo being perpetuated by the same political elite class as has always ruled. And a government who will lie to you about the very nature of their operation will probably lie to you about a host of other things as well--Democratic systems are no more worth the trust of the people than a gang of thieves are. But thieves are more honest, at least, about what they are.

Kalistan, on the other hand, has no pretense to democracy. Even in our Free Cities, we do not claim democracy, only home rule. The reason why is because we are not content to lie to you, our People. Kalistan is a nation built on the foundation of honesty and integrity. We are a Brethrenist Nation in practice, if not explicitly in law. We are honest people, and we expect our leaders to not lie to us. Even our new Deputies who have recently been welcomed by our voters into this august Assembly, the New Democrats, understand this: Dr. Brandt, who we hope to speak with at some length after June, we believe, feels very strongly that she and those she leads in the Institutional Party must always be honest to those who voted for them, even if it means that they themselves may be removed from office by voters who wanted more from their leaders. Our people expect us to show them the courtesy and respect to tell them the truth. About everything. And we do so, without apology, and the only people in Terra who have an issue with us, are those who do not like looking in the mirror when they look at Kalistan, and seeing what they really are. But we serve our people with honesty and integrity, and we punish corruption as fiercely as our laws may allow us, because the slightest spot of rot will eventually destroy the entire fruit if allowed to fester.

We hope this is our legacy as we leave office. We hope we have never let anyone ever say we misrepresented ourselves, or that we deliberately deceived or misled anyone with regard to our intentions or motivations. Kalistan may not be the wealthiest nation, and we do not imagine that we are the most materially powerful nation in the world: There are countless nations who spend more on the building and maintenance of one aircraft carrier than we need to spend on our entire health care budget for ten years, and because of this they will imagine that they can dictate to others how nations will be run. But our goal is and always should be to be the most transparent nation on the globe. Ironically, we should add, transparency is seen as one of the strongest normative justifications for democracy, and a value that so few of them ever live up to.

We also hope that our legacy includes wisdom. One is not born with the information necessary to always make great decisions every time. Often, we ourself have been forced to change our mind on a particular matter, as new information came to light that we didn't have at the beginning. We have not been 100% in the good decision making department. But wisdom is the ability to learn from one's failures and not repeat one's mistakes. It is the sum total of experiences that make moving forward that much easier after all the trials and failures one has travelled through. We took our post when we were a small child. We were largely a forgotten one--While we loved our parents, their priority, correctly so, was to prepare our brother to be Emperor. He was just beginning his training when he was taken from us. Perhaps they thought they would have more time. Sadly they were wrong.

But we look up more to our Aunt, the Late Princess Nicolette Ananto-Collins. Our Aunt was a woman with many problems who had the title of Regent forced upon her by history. She neither wanted it, nor initially knew how to do it: Her own brother's death forced her to take up the role. She struggled at first, but she eventually learned how to do it, and then she did it well. Her regency of more than a decade was a very important time in the history of our nation, and nobody can impeach her conduct. She is the embodiment of wisdom, and we honor her memory by saying so. During this same time, she also assumed the role of foster mother, a role she herself had never wanted, but which, like the title Regent, was thrust upon her when our father and mother perished. She did the best she could, and we never doubted that we were loved.

But, while our Aunt struggled, we spent much of that time in the company of another of our heroes, Dame Ericka Donahue, who is here with us today from her home in Eshar. Lady Donahue was a hard woman for most to like, because she was very serious and very forthright, and she took everything very seriously. But our Aunt and ourself only saw her as caring, very deeply for the pain and grief our family was suffering. She was our savior, both our Aunt and ourself. She distracted us enough to keep us from despair, teaching us about effective and moderate government, while she was more forthright with our Aunt, organizing her life around therapy, including treatment for chemical addiction, and getting her back onto her feet. She and our grandmother, The Princess Mary took up the cause of restoring both our Aunt and ourself, who were most directly affected by the loss of our Parents and brothers, to health and function.

It was through her, Lady Ericka, that we learned how to rule our nation. And we are forever grateful for her example, and her diligence on our behalf. Most do not know that story, but it is nonetheless a vital part of our biography. In retirement, Lady Donahue has been like our own family and while she prefers to keep a lower profile now, we cannot help but to single her out for her service to our Nation. It was her who taught us that being wise does not mean the same as being right all the time. Being wise is about being willing to learn from our errors, to correct them, and then to use that knowledge to avoid those errors again in the future. It is a value we have spent our entire life attempting to live up to, and it is a value we have passed down to our own children, and are confident that they have all acquired that lesson in their own way.

Finally, it is our hope that these core values stay with our Emperors and Empresses, members of our Government, Deputies in our National Assembly, and our population for all time. This is how Kalistan stands apart from those nations who claim to be great because they have an overly elaborate sham under the guise of a Government, or an aircraft carrier or intercontinental ballistic missile or 1000 at their disposal. Literally any nation could, if it was their desire, acquire these things. But Integrity and Wisdom are values which must be cultivated over a lifetime for an individual and over generations for a Nation. One cannot simply buy them. These are who we are as a Nation. These are our national values, our national identity. And our People should demand nothing less from those who govern them, ourselves included. If your nation is honest and wise, and exists to promote excellence and virtue, your people will have an optimal environment to live to their fullest potential. Conversely, if your nation is polluted, or corrupted, or its very foundational origin story and modus operandi is merely a lie, your people will correspondingly have their potential as human beings sacked by the very elites whose only job it is to provide them with a good society.

When we abdicate, and take up the role of emeritus and a simple loyal subject, the new Emperor will have no more enthusiastic supporter when he is doing the right thing for his People. We shall be his cheerleader and his tireless defender and apologist, if he deserves it. And he will have no fiercer critic if he refuses to learn from his mistakes, or lies to his people. No radical democrat in the world will more strongly urge reform than we will ourselves, should the new Emperor refuse to govern well. We have the expectations of our Government that all of our citizens should, and that is to govern in accord to Justice, and that requires integrity and wisdom in all things. He may make mistakes. But he is expected to be forthright about them and then work to learn how to avoid repeating them. And then he will be an Emperor worth following. We wish him well, and will be with him as his advisor as he requires from the moment he is crowned until the moment we ultimately perish. It is a privilege we did not ourselves enjoy, sadly.

But more than that, we pray that you, our People remember these words, and always hold those who claim to represent you up to the highest standards. Good Government is your birthright, as this Empire and this Crown is ours. You deserve it by virtue of your humanity. You should expect nothing less. We have tried, constantly striven to live to that standard. We have been largely successful. And we will be judged for the balance of success to failure in that regard, by history. But we exhort you, never ever let a bad governor exist in this nation. This is your task not as subjects, but as citizens. Don't be like the democracies who nearly always tolerate bad government for the sake of a majority opinion. Majorities are not always right--in fact, they seldom are in any matter concerning their own personal interests directly, and certainly not in matters touching only the interests of others. Qualitatively good government is the only way for the people themselves to truly live as free people. We beg you to hold this government, these Deputies, your Dukes, Counts and Barrons, your Lords and Ladies Mayor, your City Councils and yourselves to that high, nearly impossible standard, and to strive to exceed the expectations you have for yourself.

With this, once more, a heartfelt thank you for allowing us to serve you, our People as we have for so many years, and we hope to meet you when protocol no longer stands in the way. May you remain in the Light of the Truth, and we wish you peace, prosperity and good health in the coming year.

The Empress was helped from the dais by the Chancellor, accepted a standing ovation that lasted more than 15 minutes from the assembled crowd, and ultimately waved goodbye to all present before returning to Eveari. Following her departure, the Chancellor returned to adjourn the joint session of the National Assembly for the weekend. The Empress' Speech received excellent reviews the following day across the Nation.

@TheRepublic