imported_Skepticism
13-09-2003, 02:50
For most of the past century, the USSS has been guided -- some would say mislead -- by the Progressive Party, the most prominent leader of which being Chief Consul Pravin Lal. For all that time, every single policy decision, every declaration of war or peace, every single little issue has been completely in the hands of the Progressives.
Fortunately, the Progressive Party has shown itself up to the task, at least for the vast majority of the time. Despite several sticky situations, the USSS currently has excellent civil and political rights, as well as a rapidly growing economy. Unfortunately, it is in the latter-most where dissent began to grow.
For decades, the USSS was stuck with a feeble economy. Private enterprise was outlawed, endless environmental regulations kept many businesses looking the other way, and a host of complicated rules, laws, and bureaucracy made it all but impossible for any company to get anythign done. Despite this, the people were happy. So what if their country was not so very rich and powerful? They had a fine education, there was a welfare net, and the government made it possible for everyone to have what they needed. They greatly appreciated their enormous voting rights and kept re-electing Progressives.
The people, however, saw only a portion of the problem. Nearly all the Progressives knew that the USSS was nearly helpless against foreign aggression; she had a trade deficit that was astonishing and a burgeoning national debt. The system could not go on much longer; within a very short time, the entire country would implode. The Progressives, caring of course very much for the people of the Skeptic Union, decided that this must not come to pass. And so they initiated Project Free Enterprise.
Within a year, massive changes began to roll in. Companies were granted enormous rights, including that of being able to fire anyone they felt, anytime. The protective laws and tariffs were stripped away, and great temperate forests and mountain ranges alike began to feel the bit of capitalism. Skeptic industry began to surge forward; the shipbuilding industry, kept at least fairly busy by the USSS Navy, exploded. The GNP of the USSS started to soar. But still more was needed, felt the Progressives.
Tax cut after tax cut came into effect, freeing the rich from nearly all of their burdens; to fund these cuts, welfare and medical programs were stripped bare. The education system began to suffer from chronic lack of funds, even as the Progressives allowed United Dynamics to paint their slogan all over the Voyager shuttles, and turned control of the formerly public beaches to a number of private corporations, who currently charge a premium for anyone who wishes to enjoy the natural beauty of the Skeptic States. These fantastic changes, brought into effect so rapidly, caused public dissent to begin to boil. As millions lost their jobs and homes, as nearly everyone watched in despair as their beloved country turned into a capitalist bordello, their dissent crystalized. The first opposition party to exist in nearly fifty years, the Reform Party, began to gather support.
In their first election, the Reformers fared rather poorly, taking only a handful of parliamentary seats and seizing but one of the contested Central Council positions. As the Progressives kept on their breakneck policy of economic enhancement, however, the polls swung more and more towards Reform. Finally, in the most recent election, for the first time ever, a non-Progressive has won the title of Chief Consul, taking nearly 500 million votes and sweeping Reform into a massive Parliamentary and Council majority.
The head of the Reform Party and new Chief Consul, Mr. Edmund Wellton, takes the podium to give his acceptance speech. An estimated crowd of 300,000,000 has packed into the Quorum Square, filling it to bursting, to hear his words. Every television station, every radio broadcast throughout the entire nation, turns to his words.
“People of the USSS, we have much work to do!” With a deafening cresendo, the millions break out into enormous applause, yelling and cheering for nearly ten minutes before Wellton can continue. “We do have a lot of work to do, my friends, and we of the Reform Party will make damn sure it gets done! For far too long, this country, this fine, marvellous place, has languished under the mis-rule of the Progressive Party. For decades, for centuries, they have driven the USSS into the ground, bit by bit, and now it is up to us to fix it!” More applause thundered out.
“I will not lie to you, my friends; this path will be difficult, and perhaps longer than you wish. But the simple, sad fact of the matter is that this entire country, every single one of the Skeptic states, and every one of you, must undergo a revolution. Not a revolution that brings even more drastic change than the Progressives have wrought, but rather one that changes thing back the way they ought to be!.
“We will reinstate the welfare, health, and educational programs that the Progressives have wrecked in their attempt to ‘help’ our economy. Now, my friends, I will be the first to admit that the economy did indeed need a lot of helping – it was run into the lowest possible UN rating for years! But Lal and his cronies went about it all wrong, like a bull in a china shop. The Reform Party will continue to boost the national economy, but in a more gradual way. The excesses, the madness, of an unleashed free market shall be reigned in. The same companies that fired you without warning, that thieve and despoil, will pay for their crimes. On this you have my solemn promise.
“An additional problem is that the entire country has stagnated. In particular, our military is a disgrace. Inadequately funded, and the funds that were allocated improperly spent. Our navy consists of ships that were cutting-edge forty years ago; the air force hasn’t seen any new hardware for twenty-five years. It was to my pride and joy that a short time ago our engineers uncovered an ambitious program to replace our army’s tanks with two new, revolutionary models, but the program has stalled because there isn’t enough money to actually buy what we spent a fortune making! In a world where terrorism, international bullying, and general chaos is becoming all too common, we must prepare! We must upgrade everything!
“We must also begin developing not only military technology, but get our space program moving again. For every Pacific Dollar spent on space research, after all, an additional twenty P.D.’s are generated in commercial products! Despite this bonanza, the only innovations have come within the last term, under the leadership of the sole Reform member of the Council! This is unacceptable! The government must blaze a trail for the rest of the country to follow! From this point forth, we shall conduct both general and specific scientific research, so that we can become stronger, and wiser, and richer, than ever before! From this point forth, the government will evolve into an entity that helps every man, woman, and child in the USSS, without discriminating, without causing the suffering that has resulted from the Progressive’s haphazard economic expansion!”
Wellton leaned forward upon the lecturn, eyes wide and blazing. “WE SHALL MAKE THIS A COUNTRY THAT IS RESPECTED AND FEARED – YES, FEARED – THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WORLD! WE SHALL TRIUMPH!” Raining his fists upon the wooden rostum surface one, two, three times, then striking a dramatic pose, Wellton bellowed the conclusion: BEWARE, WORLD! THE USSS IS VAULTING INTO A NEW ERA!"
OOC: This is intended to lead into a series of military developments in the not too far future...and it is nice once in a while to change the national leadership instead of having the same person(s) guiding the country for the past 1000 years ;)
Fortunately, the Progressive Party has shown itself up to the task, at least for the vast majority of the time. Despite several sticky situations, the USSS currently has excellent civil and political rights, as well as a rapidly growing economy. Unfortunately, it is in the latter-most where dissent began to grow.
For decades, the USSS was stuck with a feeble economy. Private enterprise was outlawed, endless environmental regulations kept many businesses looking the other way, and a host of complicated rules, laws, and bureaucracy made it all but impossible for any company to get anythign done. Despite this, the people were happy. So what if their country was not so very rich and powerful? They had a fine education, there was a welfare net, and the government made it possible for everyone to have what they needed. They greatly appreciated their enormous voting rights and kept re-electing Progressives.
The people, however, saw only a portion of the problem. Nearly all the Progressives knew that the USSS was nearly helpless against foreign aggression; she had a trade deficit that was astonishing and a burgeoning national debt. The system could not go on much longer; within a very short time, the entire country would implode. The Progressives, caring of course very much for the people of the Skeptic Union, decided that this must not come to pass. And so they initiated Project Free Enterprise.
Within a year, massive changes began to roll in. Companies were granted enormous rights, including that of being able to fire anyone they felt, anytime. The protective laws and tariffs were stripped away, and great temperate forests and mountain ranges alike began to feel the bit of capitalism. Skeptic industry began to surge forward; the shipbuilding industry, kept at least fairly busy by the USSS Navy, exploded. The GNP of the USSS started to soar. But still more was needed, felt the Progressives.
Tax cut after tax cut came into effect, freeing the rich from nearly all of their burdens; to fund these cuts, welfare and medical programs were stripped bare. The education system began to suffer from chronic lack of funds, even as the Progressives allowed United Dynamics to paint their slogan all over the Voyager shuttles, and turned control of the formerly public beaches to a number of private corporations, who currently charge a premium for anyone who wishes to enjoy the natural beauty of the Skeptic States. These fantastic changes, brought into effect so rapidly, caused public dissent to begin to boil. As millions lost their jobs and homes, as nearly everyone watched in despair as their beloved country turned into a capitalist bordello, their dissent crystalized. The first opposition party to exist in nearly fifty years, the Reform Party, began to gather support.
In their first election, the Reformers fared rather poorly, taking only a handful of parliamentary seats and seizing but one of the contested Central Council positions. As the Progressives kept on their breakneck policy of economic enhancement, however, the polls swung more and more towards Reform. Finally, in the most recent election, for the first time ever, a non-Progressive has won the title of Chief Consul, taking nearly 500 million votes and sweeping Reform into a massive Parliamentary and Council majority.
The head of the Reform Party and new Chief Consul, Mr. Edmund Wellton, takes the podium to give his acceptance speech. An estimated crowd of 300,000,000 has packed into the Quorum Square, filling it to bursting, to hear his words. Every television station, every radio broadcast throughout the entire nation, turns to his words.
“People of the USSS, we have much work to do!” With a deafening cresendo, the millions break out into enormous applause, yelling and cheering for nearly ten minutes before Wellton can continue. “We do have a lot of work to do, my friends, and we of the Reform Party will make damn sure it gets done! For far too long, this country, this fine, marvellous place, has languished under the mis-rule of the Progressive Party. For decades, for centuries, they have driven the USSS into the ground, bit by bit, and now it is up to us to fix it!” More applause thundered out.
“I will not lie to you, my friends; this path will be difficult, and perhaps longer than you wish. But the simple, sad fact of the matter is that this entire country, every single one of the Skeptic states, and every one of you, must undergo a revolution. Not a revolution that brings even more drastic change than the Progressives have wrought, but rather one that changes thing back the way they ought to be!.
“We will reinstate the welfare, health, and educational programs that the Progressives have wrecked in their attempt to ‘help’ our economy. Now, my friends, I will be the first to admit that the economy did indeed need a lot of helping – it was run into the lowest possible UN rating for years! But Lal and his cronies went about it all wrong, like a bull in a china shop. The Reform Party will continue to boost the national economy, but in a more gradual way. The excesses, the madness, of an unleashed free market shall be reigned in. The same companies that fired you without warning, that thieve and despoil, will pay for their crimes. On this you have my solemn promise.
“An additional problem is that the entire country has stagnated. In particular, our military is a disgrace. Inadequately funded, and the funds that were allocated improperly spent. Our navy consists of ships that were cutting-edge forty years ago; the air force hasn’t seen any new hardware for twenty-five years. It was to my pride and joy that a short time ago our engineers uncovered an ambitious program to replace our army’s tanks with two new, revolutionary models, but the program has stalled because there isn’t enough money to actually buy what we spent a fortune making! In a world where terrorism, international bullying, and general chaos is becoming all too common, we must prepare! We must upgrade everything!
“We must also begin developing not only military technology, but get our space program moving again. For every Pacific Dollar spent on space research, after all, an additional twenty P.D.’s are generated in commercial products! Despite this bonanza, the only innovations have come within the last term, under the leadership of the sole Reform member of the Council! This is unacceptable! The government must blaze a trail for the rest of the country to follow! From this point forth, we shall conduct both general and specific scientific research, so that we can become stronger, and wiser, and richer, than ever before! From this point forth, the government will evolve into an entity that helps every man, woman, and child in the USSS, without discriminating, without causing the suffering that has resulted from the Progressive’s haphazard economic expansion!”
Wellton leaned forward upon the lecturn, eyes wide and blazing. “WE SHALL MAKE THIS A COUNTRY THAT IS RESPECTED AND FEARED – YES, FEARED – THROUGHOUT THE ENTIRE WORLD! WE SHALL TRIUMPH!” Raining his fists upon the wooden rostum surface one, two, three times, then striking a dramatic pose, Wellton bellowed the conclusion: BEWARE, WORLD! THE USSS IS VAULTING INTO A NEW ERA!"
OOC: This is intended to lead into a series of military developments in the not too far future...and it is nice once in a while to change the national leadership instead of having the same person(s) guiding the country for the past 1000 years ;)