[ZRT CONVENTION SPEECH] Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h

[Óïn Ursüm]

The Chair gives the floor to Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h.

[Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h]

Many thanks, one and all, for allowing me a few words.

We have come a long way, baby. A little over nine years ago, Talossa came to the brink of a catastrophe from which it would have never recovered: the onset of an apathy that would have utterly destroyed the good qualities of that nerdtastic enthusiasm that so long ago inspired a fourteen-year-old to start his own bedroom realm. In the end, however, it was the tenacity of those who Dared Something Worthy and those who remained in the Kingdom who spoke out and started asking questions and standing for what's right that toppled the house of Madison, though our intent was never more to see Robert I become a better person and the sort of king and leader he should have always been.

This convention is about more than just an opposition political party currying favor with the voters. It is about the future of Talossa. While the present John Woolley has given the world a model of how Ben Madison should have always behaved, his continued kingship, indeed, the continued Talossan royalship of anyone at all perpetuates the prestige-influence garnering trappings of 'monarch' Madison used to so great effect.

We worry not over the sanity of the present royal ruler, but over a future royal who can and will use their influence as king or queen to abuse, slander, and defame. This must not be allowed to happen!

No form of government is perfect. When we choose a form of how we want our servant-leadership to rule over us and serve we must look at how such a form resists the base default inclinations of humanity - the sort of inclinations that did away with Snowball: greed, arrogance, narcissism, etc. Putting such royal powers as the Veto, nomination of Uppermost Cort Justices, and even 'honours and awards' and the prestige that goes along with such things into the hands of one serving for life who picks their own successor for generation after generation inciting a culture of nepotismal oligarchy clique is dangerous.

Putting such powers into an elected leader who cannot serve forever and ever and who steps down after a certain period of time is the only way to fly. Talossa needs a republican form of government and it needs it now!

We need a form of government that allows leadership to be passed along, giving the country a great pool of past and present leaders from which to draw, all of whom acquainted with what it means to be the 'man-on-top'. We need a form of government that puts the direct power...and the direct responsibility upon the people.

For years, the monarch has been the symbol of our national unity. We need a form of government which allows us and forces us - We, the People - to be our own symbols of national unity. John Woolley for President!

However... Is bringing about an end to the monarchy the great pressing issue for Talossa today? No. Rather, the greatest pressing issue is fixing the legal bedrock for our democracy. We need the secret ballot!

We need the anonymity the secret ballot gives us. We need the freedom and safety provided by this most-precious device for the choosing of servant-leadership. The technology exists for seamless and transparent secret ballots, and the Republic of Talossa functioned that way and functioned well for eight years holding at least twenty or thirty elections and votes in this way with multiple secretaries of state and leadership teams.

The chief reasons, I believe, for Talossa having not adopted fully the secret ballot for federal elections is inertia and an irrational love for 'tradition' borne of a direct reaction to the non-legal nature* of the Republic of Talossa: the Cult of the Organic Law coupled with the Cult of Monarchy. In the face of not fully understanding the impact of Ben's actions and in reaction to genuine hurt on their part at our leaving in 2004, those who stayed behind in the Kingdom rallied behind the monarch (while not condoning his actions) and the legalities of the Organic Law and the 'oneness' of the Talossan state.

There came from all this the Cult of Tradition and a mistaken belief that static and long-term inflexible adherence to Talossan 'tradition' with a flowering of the SCA-esque trappings of the romance of 'monarchy' were the best way to keep Talossa alive. Other than the welcome devolvement to an extent of royal powers post-2005, Talossan 'tradition' must not be violated.

True Talossan tradition is evolution. True Talossan tradition is competent change for the right reasons. To allow other citizens the right to be true citizens, Ben democratized the Kingdom in the 1980s. To bring about a better-functioning government, the Clark was introduced at that time as well as the 1988 Constitution with its 200-seat Cosâ. In 1997 and in response to the coming of many new citizens via the internet, a sleek new Organic Law was enacted. In 2003 out of a genuine desire to make Talossa more democratic for small political parties, the 200-seat Cosâ was brought back**.

Talossan evolution is ready to move forward once again. It is time for the musty and baroque trappings of 'Crown and country' to be, with great respect for the past, put on the bookshelf of history.

We need a republican form of government.

We need the secret ballot most of all.

We need a new and fresh constitution.

The R.U.M.P. has had at least six years to give you the secret ballot if nothing else. It has not delivered.

It is time for evolution. It is time for change.

It is time for new leadership.

Make it happen.

Votez ZRT!!

GV

*It can be argued the Republic was at least through August 2005 the only legitimate Talossan government. This is due to the flagrant violations of the Covenants of Rights and Freedoms by Ben and Amy causing Ben's leadership to be inorganic. That, however, is for another time.
**Admittedly, it made Ben more powerful, but I, for one, did not see that coming. Nor did anyone see coming the Vendetta against Kane Gruber and how Ben would use his electoral majority to dis on Kane (to put it mildly).

[Gödafrïeu Válcadác’h]

Sticky this thread, too, please. Thanks.

[Óïn Ursüm]

The Chair thanks former Seneschál Válcadác'h. The floor is now open for any responses to these remarks.

a flowering of the SCA-esque trappings

I am probably different to many Zérétistaes in that I have no problem with romantic "trappings" such as chivalry, nobility and arms: my chief concern is maximizing the accountability of the state to the people.

(However, republicanism has its own attractive aesthetic: liberté, egalité, fraternité, neo-classicalism and all that!)

[C. Carlüs Xheraltescù]

Accountability of the state to the people is my chief concern as well, and I second S:reu Ursum's point regarding the plain awesome aesthetics of republicanism.

[Miestrâ Schivâ, UrN]

I love Republican aesthetics. I dig the trappings of the French and Russian revolutions, before their ideals were drowned in blood by the tyrants Napoleon and Stalin respectively. There is a whole tradition of revolutionary-democratic iconography which is just as cool as pretend ermine cloaks.

That said, if people want coats of arms and other feudalist trappings, then go for it, I say. Just as long as they carry no class privileges, like in modern Germany.

[Moritz Fernaodescu]

''True Talossan tradition is evolution. True Talossan tradition is competent change for the right reasons. ''

Someone give this man a medal.

[Colonel Mximo Carbonèl]

BRAVO!!!!BRAVO!!!