Fads, Focus, Leadership, and Why Democracy Fails

  The Kingdom of Edan uses social media to pass along information to others and as alterantive news sources. Today I was reviewing the ongoing battles in Ukraine between the coup leaders in Kyev and various separatist groups in the east; the impact of vaccine costs on the operations of Médecins Sans Frontières as they fight childhood disease; the work of various bishops to provide aid to the many Christians being slaughtered in Iraq; how ISIL forces are selling young girls into slavery to raise funds; the violent clashes between Boko Haram and African forces; etc. I was also reading a concerning report about the rapid decline in British military power in the last 2 decades and the possible impact this could have on global stability.
  In the midst of this I encountered a tweet (and associated picture) that was stunning in its incongruity. In midst of the greatest outbreak of Ebola in history, unemployment and economic downturn threatening to both expand rapidly, Pakistan (a nuclear power) in political chaos, civil wars in Syria, South Sudan, and the Central African Republic (in addition to everything mentioned above) this tweet and pic proclaimed,

  "No seriously people. Net Neutrality is more important than whatever you're doing right now."

   This discussion is not about net neutrality (although the arguments used in favor of it tend to reveal its proponents don't understand how the contemporary internet actually works) but rather about what some people have sarcastically named first world problems; how trivial issues can take on a large emotional value to people who do not face serious issues. There is a slightly older term for this - the fad.
  It is easy to understand how people become so easily distracted by the trivial. To a wealthy American or Australian unmenaced by war or rebellion, far from plague and famine, in a land never threatened with attack in a generation or more the problems of West Africa, the Middle East, and Southwest Asia seem far away and very, very impersonal. On the other hand the idea that it might take 0.5 - 1.5 more seconds to load your email in the morning is direct and personal.
  Note that while I said it is easily to understand I did not say it is defensible.
  As a result you have many people who are spending a great deal of time and energy influencing politics to make sure that their emails loads as quickly as they like even though their concern is based upon erroneous understanding of the topic at hand and their level of engagement is irrational.
 
  This isn't a surprise. After all it is easy to demonstrate that voters are irrational in their voting and tend to attach emotional weight to trivial topics merely because others have already attached emotional weight to the same topic, a phenomenon called 'herding'.
  But this may not be a bad thing, really - as Prince Jonathan pointed out, expecting every single citizen to be knowledgeable and engaged in all aspects of of government, economics, and foreign policy is a form of cruelty. Others have argued that voters are actually acting rationally when they remain ignorant of politics and 'herd' - to sum up their points, it isn't that voters are irrational but rather that remaining ignorant and voting as others do may be the only rational option for the majority of voters!

  Regardless of the underlying causes of voter behavior, the fact remains that the net neutrality issue is a perfect example of why Democracy is doomed to failure.
 Yes, really.
  Remember, the entire argument underpinning net neutrality is based upon a misapprehension of how the internet actually works. Yet as is shown in the links on this age several prominent politicians are proposing laws to enforce the position of the ignorant/irrational activists. Why would they do this?
  It could be that they are also ignorant of how the internet works. But why not consult some of the many experts they must have access to?

  The actual answer is that it is rational for politicians to make bad laws that appeal to ignorant and/or irrational voters.

  Why? Politicians are, in a very real way, just more voters: they do not have the time and energy to be fully conversant with every element of government, economics, etc. and they are not only likely to 'herd', they also face the tremendous pressures of being members of political parties - they are also forced to herd in many areas! Lastly, the tendency of voters to 'herd' means that politicians that appear to agree with a particular group of irrational voters will be seen in a favorable light by those voters - agreeing with ignorance will earn them more future votes; disagreeing might strip them of power.
  The result is a system where ignorant, irrational politicians maintain or increase their influence and power by enacting bad laws to appeal to ignorant, irrational voters. Or, in short, any modern Democracy in action.

  This is why the Edanian system of Feudal Technocratic Distributism is a critical element of governmental conceptualization; leadership in Edan is focused on avoiding decision making based on ignorance, reducing irrationality in leadership as much as possible and making the self-interests of leaders intimately tied to the long-term prosperity of families and the nation, not voting in short cycles. This concept of an integrated life is essential to Edan and foreign to Democracy.

Statelessness, Persecution, and More on the Origins of Edan

  The very first piece on this blog that was not the final drafts of the constitution was a discussion of the theory and history behind Edan, That article focused on Edan as a stable, personal, just, non-territorial nation. But it left out a portion of the history of the formation of Edan. That portion was a desire to assist stateless people.
  'Refugee' means 'a person outside of their home nation because of persecution, actual or feared'
  'Stateless Person' means either 'a person that has no legal recognition of citizenship with any nation (de jure statelessness)' or 'a person outside of their nation of citizenship who cannot avail themselves of the benefits of their nationality for valid reasons such as a state of war, loss of documentation, etc. (de facto statelessness or undocumented statelessness)'.
  Not all refugees are stateless and not all stateless people are refugees.
  Without citizenship it can be effectively impossible to travel - a stateless person often cannot cross borders, obtain a visa, or (often) apply for asylum. On a day-to-day level they often cannot legally hold a job, gain licences or certifications, get an education, receive health care, etc. Such people commonly cannot register such events and births, marriages, and deaths. In many nations they may be detained at will. In short, by being stateless they both can't live where they are and can't leave where they are.
  The UNHCR estimates that there are about 11 million stateless people in the world (equal to the population of Belgium) and a large number of these stateless people are multi-generational families in places like Palestine and the Balkans where stateless parents give birth to stateless children.
  One of the goals of the Kingdom is to achieve a level of diplomatic and political recognition as a Non-Territorial Nation that Edan can assist stateless people in finding new citizenship either directly,by offering Edanian citizenship, or indirectly by providing them with the minimum level of identity documentation to allow them to seek asylum/citizenship elsewhere.
  King Richard sees this as 'showing love to the foreigner' in a profound way.

  The King is well aware that many Edanians are eager to aid persecuted Christians in Iraq and other parts of the world.
  So is King Richard. When Edan is capable of helping refugees and the stateless persecuted Christians will be a primary goal for assistance. When Edan was founded in 1999 it was in the face of severe persecution of Christians in Sudan, India, and Chechnya (among many other places). It is well documented bythe International Society for Human Rights (based in Germany), Civitas UK, and many other organizations that 80% of all religious persecution is the persecution of Christians. In 2013, before the attacks in Iraq and the Levant, it was estimated that at least 200 million Christians were being persecuted or outright attacked for their faith. This means that if you were to gather all the world's persecuted and oppressed Christians together it would be the 6th largest nation in the world .
  Putanother way, the number of Christians being persecuted in the world right now exceeds the combined populations of the citizens of all religions of Egypt, Syria, Lebanon, Iraq, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Israel combined.

  So what can Edan do?
  Right now we can pray and educate. We are not yet at the 'critical mass' needed to gain the economic and political wight needed to do more. As much as we have grown, as much as we have already done, we need to be much larger before we can reach the point of political and diplomatic recognition.

  Maybe the most important thing you can do is help Edan grow. Talk to others, use the flyers and handouts we have sent in the past. Pay your taxes. Get Edan to the size where we cannot be ignored. A Media Kit will be issued soon so that you can canvas radio, print, universities, and television stations - King Richard will talk to anyone of good will about Edan.
  In a very real way every person, every household that we add to Edan will one day be another stateless family given a new home and another Christian saved from persecution. We can get there, we will get there.

  St. Michael Archangel, defend us in battle....

21st Century Monasteries and Edan

  Various institutions are releasing updated demographics numbers over the next few months and the initial reports are as expected; all of Asia is below replacement fertility, as is all of Europe, all of South America, North Africa, South Africa, and other areas are close. The global fertility rate has been dropping for 50 years and shows no signs of stopping within the next 25, especially since the fertility tempo (average age of the birth of a first child) is also increasing.
  The artificial gender imbalance caused by sex-selective abortion and ubiquitous ultrasounds means that the low fertility rates may be masking a more serious problem - sex ratios so skewed that the next generation will be much smaller than predicted. Areas of rural China have a 14 to 1 ratio of males to females in their young population (under 30 years old) and areas of India have an even higher imbalance, estimated to peak at almost 19 to 1. Overall these two nations alone have no less than 50 million men under the age of 30 who can never have a wife do to an artificial shortage of women.
  The impact has been horrific for women - human trafficking, ubiquitous sexual assault, and physical attacks.
  Meanwhile, the West continues to glorify hypergamy, fornication, and childlessness. Mass media dismisses the family and praises the ill and the dysfunctional. After creating an artificial 'teen culture' mass marketing continues their effort to sexualize all ages. Porn is prevalent to the point that actual art is being pushed out of public consciousness. And self-abuse so common that it is leading to mass impotence in the young.
  The apparent triumph of low, or 'pop'. culture, the dismissal of morals and ethics by those who shout from rooftops for money, the replacement of education with credentialism and the accompanying trend of people delaying marriage and children in pursuit of worthless credentials and the associated high debt will continue to drive down fertility well after demographic implosion begins to destroy the current economic system. After all, a system based upon the assumption of perpetual growth cannot survive contraction!
  And the weaknesses of Democracy are on full display as the various nation-states stagger toward the abyss.
  What can we do about this?
  Everything that matters.
  The core ideals and principles of Edan are focused not just on  the cardinal virtues but also on stability; Edan is meant to endure and thrive in the most difficult of times. How? It is structured like a family which, of course, reflects God's design. Rejecting the horrors of Communism and the dehumanizing effects of Capitalism; standing by the truth and rejecting relativism; maintaining and preserving high culture; reaching out to our neighbors in true charity. These are the things we can and will do.
  Some have called Catholic homeschoolers the monasteries of virtue of the current truly Dark Age. Edan will join them in preserving civic virtue in a world collapsing under the weight of evil.

The Truly Lost

  I had an interesting encounter yesterday, one that was illuminating while failing to be enjoyable. The Kingdom is not as active on social media as we are told we 'should' be, but from time to time I will spend some energy on twitter. Yesterday I made a rather tangental reply to the tweet of a young Catholic lady. It turned out that each of us had been unclear (I blame the terse format) and off we went.
  But others, followers of the young lady, were incensed by my statement. Three young men in general, one of them in particular, were very openly angry about my statement. Despite my attempts to point out that they had made the same error as the young lady I was replying to, thus their emotions were based on a misapprehension, they grew more and more angry. Slurs, curses, and vile invective of all sorts spewed forth as this young man worked himself into a lather.
  He accused me of wishing to grind others (particularly children!) under the boot heel of tyranny; that I am a power-mad dictator in waiting, eager to oppress and enslave the entire world in my mad thirst for conquest. In between curses he also threw in such epithets as 'tyrant' and 'big government stooge' but the slur he obviously felt was the most powerful and dirtiest thing he could call me was 'statist'.
  By now you are probably making assumptions about the topic in discussion. Was he furious at me for being a Monarchist? No. Was it that I am a king? No. Was it my rejection of Democracy? No. Was it the structure or nature of Edan? No.Was it about Edan being officially Catholic? No. Was it the most common topic of outrage from outsiders, that women do not get the vote in Edan? No.
  This young man was full of rage because he mistakenly thought I advocate for a requirement that children have a permit for lemonade stands.
  Yes, his fury was about food safety permits for children. I had mistakenly thought the young lady was speaking about professional (adult) vendors and she mistakenly thought I was discussing children in their own family's yards. Regardless of my attempts to tell these young men my actual topic, they refused to believe it. I believe they wished to revel in their righteous anger.
  Early on I almost terminated the conversation, but I persisted. Why? I was curious as to how angry they would become and hoped that their emotional state would reveal why they were so angry. And I believe that these young men did teach me something, something important.
  These young men feel powerless. And this is no illusion, they largely are powerless. They were all Americans, White, male, and under the age of 26. While I read online many people calling this combination one of 'privilege', I disagree. They have no real economic power, no political influence, they have no 'leaders' who are not corporate-controlled entertainers, and there is no special-interest lobby working for them. They face barriers in many ways - poor education, expensive education, limited job prospects, a legal system that favors others, and being told they are privileged, as well. Western society has been busily redefining their role for so long and in so many conflicting ways they have no clear concept of what they should be doing or why and certainly no higher calling, which often leads to a lack of higher aspirations. Secular, unchurched, or 'post-Christian Protestant' they have no underlying moral framework, religious community, or spiritual support to call upon. In short, these young men are truly lost.
  These young men are not stupid; they felt powerless, examined their lives and concluded that they are powerless. And they are correct - in any democratic system people without wealth or pull are powerless. They then tried to determine the primary reason that they are powerless and concluded that it is because of their government. This is also largely correct; the governmental system is the primary reason they are disenfranchised. But this is actually the start of the problem at hand - once they determined that the primary reason that they are powerless is the government, they stopped asking more questions. The next logical step should be to ask 'why is the particular form of government I live in making me powerless?'. That is the step that leads people in search of alternates to the system in which they live. Instead, these young men (as well as the majority of Anarchists, Libertarians, etc.) didn't ask the next question, instead reaching a conclusion. Their investigation went something like this;

"I feel powerless. Am I truly powerless?"
  They examine their lives and determine they are, in fact, powerless.
  "I am powerless. What is the primary reason I am powerless?"
  They examine their world and determine the government is the primary reason they are powerless.
  "The government is the primary reason I am Powerless."
  "Therefore, all governments are Bad."

  Yes, I am aware that there is a fair amount of political thought about such topics as Anarchy, Anarcho-Capitalism, Libertarianism, etc. I am focusing on the majority of people who adopt these positions and why they do so. After all, a lot of the young people who do ask 'what is it about my government that makes me feel powerless?' end up becoming Communists, National Socialists, etc. because they assume anything else is better than what they have. I will need to write about that in the future.
  Once these young adults reach their conclusion, that all government is bad, then it is a short trip to the belief that any regulation is bad simply because a government must exist to enforce it. Before too long this can lead to the conclusion that any form of authority is bad and that Anarchy is the only solution.
  Again, how can you blame these young adults? They have never been taught about true alternatives to the world they live in, they have often never been trained to question. They instinctively know something is wrong and are doing their level best to identify and correct the problem. They have never been taught about morals and ethics and in the absence of knowledge of actual morality they struggle to build a framework so that they can identify Good and Evil. Since the only certainty they have been able to build for themselves is Government = Bad their natural passion for goodness and justice is funneled into opposition to government.
  Thus, belief that someone wants kids to get a permit for lemonade drives them to righteous fury. In the absence of a real knowledge of good and evil; in a society that fails to guide them to their place in the world; in a culture that mocks concepts of honor, duty, and courtesy; and in a milieu that praises license as liberty it is almost all they have.
  My question for you is - how do we reach these people? How do we break through to them and show them a larger world? How do we teach them true morality and save them?

Territorial Claims

Greetings;

Affirming that we are part and party to no treaty or agreement that limits our ability to make all such claims, we do claim that the sovereign territory of Edan includes, but is not limited to, the following:
All current and future Terra Nullius;
All land held by the Royal Family, noble families, and citizens in allodial, fee simple, fee tail, or concurrent estate title now or in the future.

These claims to not prevent, limit, or hinder the statement of future claims.



Issued on the Solemnity of the Holy Family, 2011 A.D.

Ricardus Rex Edani

The First of Many

[A Post by HRH Jonathan]

   I have been contemplating the situation of Israel and it's people, searching for a reason beyond Judaism that the "International Community" hates them so. And I have reached a conclusion; Israel is hated because it is the first of many, the first successful micro-nation. The Jewish people, spurred by the events of the 20th century, realized what all must eventually realize, that they shared an identity that separated them from the modern concept of the Nation-State. They realized that they were grouped together as a people, a culture, but that they were left behind in the era of regional identification of culture. So they came together and, through will and dedication, they fought through adversity and trials to make a place in the world that was for their culture.
        Because in the end, while those who create a new path (Such as Edan) will prosper, and perhaps lead the way, the mass of the new countries that will emerge after the coming turmoil will be those that never lost their identity, the cultures that will reform after the death of this dark age. The peoples and kings that retain their will to be a Culture, not just a Nation.
Scotland and Ireland will never be subdued, and the will of the people remains strong, even in the face of the European Union. There is hope for England, whose people seem to embrace the royalty as the leaders of the true Culture of the land. Before our eyes the Mao Dynasty of China is ending, already the attempted destruction of traditional Chinese identity is failing. Perhaps the cataclysm in Japan will give the people back that which makes them a Culture, and return the Emporer to his rightful throne? Who can say.
       But also many cultures and peoples will be lost in the Silent Revolution, the ones too weakened to reclaim their place. Russia may be bleeding away to memory, if something is not done the Culture within will never come back. France may vanish simply because of the Demographic Winter which is falling, despite their efforts to retain their culture. Many places in Africa have already become something else, so many places have become simply another modern Nation that the entire continent may lose the common base that connected the tribes and nations.
      So let us laud Israel for showing the world the path, even as the Modern Dead Culture despises them.

Welcome to the World

Note: Some terms and basic definitions in this article were coined by the micronational theorist Cesidio Tallini. Cesidio has spent a decade in theory and his boundless energy has resulted in a huge output of ideas and concepts. However, some of his conclusions are radically different than the concept of Edan; Please assume that the concepts and conclusions here are solely those of HRM Richard and other Edanians.



The world of today looks much different than the world into which I was born. The terms "Eastern Bloc" and "western Bloc" mean nothing; the Cold War ended with a few weeks of TV coverage, not nuclear holocaust; instead of taking over the world, Communism is now a bit of a quaint notion. But certain ideas remain. Among these are the First World/Second World/Third World classification of nations. But these ideas are starting to change, too.

The term First World tends to mean the wealthiest nations on Earth; places like America, France, and Switzerland. These are, in some ways, what all other nations wish to be - rich and politically influential, usually with a powerful military.

Close on their heels is the Second World, nations like Russia and Egypt; not as wealthy, not as influential. Now, the difference between First and Second World nations is a hard one to draw, especially since it originally meant 'nations allied with the US' (First) and 'nations allied with the USSR' (Second). Since the end of the Cold War many scholars refer to all First and Second World nations as 'Developed Nations', reflecting their advanced infrastructure, manufacturing, knowledge-based economy, etc.

This leads us to the Third World, or the 'Developing Countries'. In general, this means 'nations not as rich or as well-developed as First and Second World nations', but not always. For example, while Afghanistan is relatively poorly developed and poor, Indonesia is a fairly wealthy nation and both are rather different than Mexico. Some have argued that 'Third World' in usage means 'someplace that gets aid money from another nation'.

Altogether, however, all of these terms refer to nation-states with defined borders, a set government, etc. This doesn't apply to everyone, leading to the development of the term Fourth World about 20 years ago.

The term 'Fourth World' has two meanings, unfortunately. To the UN, it means the very poorest or the poor nation-states, such as Sudan or Haiti. I believe this is because the UN is composed of and deals with nation-states. The older, academic, definition of Fourth World is 'a nation without a state', such as American Indians, Australian Aborigines, the Basque, the Kurds, the Tamil, etc. In short, people who share a common language (or shared one), history, culture, etc. but are either nomadic or have lost control of physical territory. So they look like a 'nation', act like one, think like one, but have no state. One of the prime examples of this is the Romani, commonly known in English as the Gypsies. Worldwide there are, probably, between 4 and 6 million Romani with a shared culture, history, ancestry, regional dialects, etc. - and no representation in the UN or other bodies because they are a stateless nation.

Some of these groups, however, have joined together and created the Unrepresented Nations and Peoples Organization. The UNPO is almost a 'UN for people who can't joine the UN'. The UNPO helps its members be heard in international diplomacy and helps them gain official recognition. Since its founding several nations of the UNPO have gone on to become members of the UN. With members ranging from the Turkmen to Taiwan, the UNPO shows that the Fourth World is as varied as the First, Second or Third.

Now we get to some original, and somewhat controversial, terms. The first is 'Fifth World", coined by Cesidio Tallini. My definition of the term differs from his a bit and is 'either a nation smaller and less coherent than existing Fourth World members, an active secessionist movement or a serious attempt at nation-building that has survived a decade or more'. An example of the former would be, say, one of the smaller tribes of American Indians that considers itself distinct but because of small size is forced to act as part of a larger tribe. An example of the second is the Tamil. An example of the latter is the Kingdom of Talossa; it has been around for decades, has a well-defined culture (including a language) and continues to exist and even grow. There aren't many Fifth World examples - this is primarily because the Fifth World is an 'in between' stage and, therefore, usually temporary. Nations only remain Fifth World if they are unable or unwilling to move to the Fourth world. In the case of small indigenous people groups they are hindered by poverty and exogamy. Talossa is, on the other hand, simply as big as they want to be.

This doesn't mean that there aren't a fair number of Fifth World nations, nor that a nation can't spend decades as part of the Fifth World. Just that few will remain there indefinitely. It also shouldn't be assumed that all Fifth World nations are transitioning from Sixth World status toward Fourth World membership - some groups are there as they 'fade away'.

The Sixth World, as I define it, consists of emergent secessionist groups or serious micronations that have not yet reached Fifth World levels of membership or culture. The Kingdom of Hawai'i and the Leauge of the South are examples of the former while the Republic of Molossia and Edan are examples of the latter. The Kingdom of Hawai'i and the League of the South are entirely serious secessionist movements. They both wish independence for a particular region and a particular people; its members share language, customs, and culture; they have political will and identifiable leaders. They sound like great candidates for the Fifth, even the Fourth, World. But they are still small and lack the sheer clout to 'move up', as it were. This doesn't mean they are wasted effort or foolishness; both groups have made political statements that have reached surprisingly large audiences and both show the promise of being bigger and more influential in the future. They are obviously influential enough in ideology and culture to be self-perpetuating.

Sixth World micronations are a bit more - scattered. Many in that group like where they are, like it a great deal. Molossia has had world-wide exposure, has many visitors, a tremendous amount of goodwill with other micronationalists, and seems to have no interest whatsoever in becoming a Fifth World nation. The Kingdom of Edan is paused on the upper edge of the Sixth World; currently we aren't even trying to grow the size of the community, although our ultimate goal is membership in the UNPO within 40 years. I agree with Cesidio on his definition of micronations in the Sixth world; they range from sizeable, stable communities that like being such to small nations that are in the process of building their cultural strength and citizenry.

Then we come to the Seventh World. When Cesidio write about the Seventh World, he refuses to capitalize it (making it 'seventh world') - I tend to agree. The vast majority of micronations are created, exist, and end in the seventh world. Micronations like Choconya, the Principality of St. Valentine, the Jahn Empire, and Port Colice (don't bother, they are all gone) are some of the past examples of seventh world nations. Current examples are Cakeland, The Republic of North Altania, and Scientopia. These nations tend to be created by people who are very young, have a burst of activity at the beginning, and quickly start making alliances amongst themselves, particpate in (*cough*) "wars" with other seventh world micronations, have 5 political parties in a population of 12 people, and so on.

Let me be clear; I don't think there is anything "wrong" about any of these activities of seventh world groups. It is obviously a lot of fun or there wouldn't be so darn many of them: this index lists over 540 micronations, the vast majority of which no longer exist - and the index is only a fraction of the micronations that have come into existence and faded away in the last decade or so. In a way, seventh world micronations should be seen as a form of roleplaying game. Perhaps we should even consider large MMORPG's like World of Warcraft to be part of the seventh world, too.

Heck, some of them 'bleed over' into the Sicth World. The Empire of Reunion is a lot like any other seventh world micronation - but it has been around a long time, has (or at least has had) a substantial population, and has developed a strong culture. Its a Sixth World nation, but almost despite itself (note: HRM Richard is a fan of the Empire of Reunion and has been for years).

This framework of ideas allows you to see the proposed progression of Edan more clearly. Currently, Edan is a Sixth World nation working hard to build the foundation to take it to the Fifth World. Once there the Kingdom will focus on growth and concept until sheer mass of numbers (citizens) and weight of culture allows it to exert a broad enough influence to join the Fourth World. After that its just more of the same.

More to come soon.