Realpolitik of the Smoky Skies - The Reboot

Greetings comrades, citizens and voters of Haven of Peace. Ten years ago my wife, Anne, and our son moved to this great city. In that time our son has grown, I've grown more around the belly, and grown more grey, and the city has grown and developed, aiming to reach its full potential.

I believe this city has known success. The entire nation has known success. We are safe and secure, our economy is going strong and productivity is high. In fact, the only negative quality I can point to in our nation's being is a lack of cultural development and enactment of social policies. As a culturist, I am keenly aware of this. If we want to keep apace with our rival nation-states, we must invest more heavily in the arts and pursue more social advances. But that is not all I am here to talk to you about today, and it is not all I stand for; it is my background, not my sole determinant.

I stand before you as your senatorial candidate for the Pulian People's Party. I am here today to share some of the vision my party and I have for our collective future. The Pulian People's Party believes that government should be not the enclave of the exclusive few, but as a gift accessible to all classes in our society. We want to provide the lower classes with the best opportunities our modern state can provide in this life and the best way to do this is through providing improved educational outcomes. We eschew the naked aggression that has brought about so much destruction in the past but will be staunch in our self-defence. We will invest in culture to ensure the development of an inclusive society where everyone is valued no matter their vocation or aspiration.

When turning my mind to the future I realise we need to improve literacy levels in the community. The most effective way to pursue this will be to improve the education of our children, and ensuring all children have access to adequate and effective schooling. Do not forget: the children of today will be the leaders of tomorrow. At the next general election, many children, including my own son Charles, will be old enough to vote! We need to ensure our children receive a truly modern education in order to compete with the other nations of the world. And a highly educated populace will lead to extra innovation in the sciences, pushing the boundaries of technological development. A vote for the Pulian People's Party is a vote for your children. It is a vote for increased investment in science and better technological outcomes. Progress is a key feature of my party's campaign platform. If elected we will implement a secular revolution which will provide us with the requisite teaching to improve the education of our children and allow our nation's sciences and technological progression to advance in ever-increasing rapidity. After this we will investigate the implementation of socialised housing to free up the cost of living and allow families to spend their hard-earned money on things other than rent.

I understand there are construction projects we want here in Haven of Peace. I will commit to them in a future speech. But I pledge to you today that we will not only give you what you want, but also what you need. If elected we will embark upon an important infrastructure project, a true nation-building project. We promise to construct a national railway system. This railway network will bind the entire nation together as one, so that we might not only be more interconnected socially but also economically, as each city will gain access to the luxuries presently only accessible to areas proximal to them. Where you live will no longer be an impediment to enjoying all the luxuries that can be found in our modern state. As we live here away from the capital, I know there are things we are presently going without. The world of tomorrow is a life free from going without. The world of tomorrow, if you vote for the Pulian People's Party, will be bright!

We in the Pulian People's Party believe in open borders and transparency. Putting up walls makes people want to break them down. Breaking down barriers and welcoming trade, investment and exchange is the way of the future and will further secure our prosperity.

With regard to scientific progress and investments, once Propulsion has been fully researched I propose we invest heavily in developing the Analogue Computer, which will enable us to build difference engines in each city, and eventually even an analytical engine. This will give us the computational edge we will need to succeed in this modern world. The world is becoming too complex and sophisticated for even a smart man to manage; "computers", as they are being referred to, are expected to be able to perform calculations beyond even the ken of man himself! Once our scientists have concluded research and development of these "computers" I propose investing in Expedition research which will allow us to construct trade colleges to boost our culture and science output to even higher levels.

I thank you for your patience this fine day, and hope to see you here next time as I will be delivering a range of speeches outlining my party's positions and policies, as well as engaging in community debates with other senatorial candidates. I hope I have your support in the upcoming election, but even if I do not I encourage you to attend these community meetings and fora; if I don't have your support then I at least hope you will hear me out, that we may engage in robust discussion and respectfully disagree.

A vote for the Pulian People's Party is a vote for an inclusive, consultative government.

I thank you again for your support today. I stand here for the people of Haven of Peace. And together we will stand as one for the people of Pulias!

Greetings, citizens of Pulias. I am here in the capital today as a representative of the Pulian People's Party. But I am not here to canvass your votes, for my party unfortunately does not have enough candidates to run in your fine city. I am here simply to reassure you that should my party form government we will govern for all of Pulias, not just the "frontier" cities. We will strive to ensure the best and fairest outcomes for all the people of Pulias, regardless of your social class. Do not be fooled by my accent; I am not an "upper class twit", I am a deep believer in expanding the accessibility of government to all people and ensuring everyone has access to a quality education. As a historian, I know too well how the downtrodden have been treated in the past. But as Pulias has risen out of the ashes of the many mistakes of the past, I believe we can forge a new way. A fairer way. A way to ensure everyone in society who works hard can achieve a fair outcome. My party stands for the advancement of the people of Pulias. I thank you for your time.

I stand before you here today because I have heard some claims which are frankly completely untrue. And if there is something I cannot abide it is misinformation. You may have heard here in this very place the claim that Coventry and Haven of Peace have no representation1. That is simply not true. Both cities are entitled to return two senators each to the Pulian Senate. What is true is that there have not always been enough candidates to fill the assembly, but that is not a problem with the government or the country, it is a problem with not enough people willing to stand up and serve their community. But I am not here to lecture anyone on civic duty. I am here to correct misrepresented facts. As a historian I understand the importance of incorrect facts gaining hold and becoming part of the political reality, no matter how untrue. I am here to prevent that from happening.

The claim has been made that the government of Pulias under the Pulias Advancement Union and the Pulian People's Party has had too much of a capital-centric focus because, and I quote "it is natural for a man to focus on his home", with the implication obviously being that the ministers of government live in the capital city and of course focus too much of their attentions there. But this is so wrong I feel almost insulted to have to point it out. In the most recent government, the ministry of the former prime minister, the Honourable Heerlo, three-quarters of the ministry were based in Coventry and Haven of Peace. Three-quarters. If anything the capital could claim under-representation, but I'm sure they wouldn't because constitutionally they are entitled to return more senators than that, however as I mentioned earlier there was a dearth of candidates. The Honourable Silverman, who was party leader of the Pulian People's Party and Minister of the Interior in the previous government lives in Coventry. And Haven of Peace is the home and senatorial seat of the former prime minister himself, the Honourable Heerlo. If having the prime minister live in and be based in your city is classed as provincial and under-represented, then Pulias would need to have some truly impressive representation to make the outer cities' representation insignificant!

I am not saying that our current political setup or government is perfect. I'm not saying the representation balance is completely right. All I am saying is the claim that Coventry and Haven of Peace either have no representation, or no representation worth a damn is patently untrue as I have just demonstrated. I shouldn't think anyone would need to point this out, but here we have it with untrue claims being aired. And I just couldn't let such misinformation lie around unchallenged. Thank you for your time.

The Honourable candidate has made the extraordinary claim that "pacifist policies are out of place in our time"1. I dispute the assertion that pacifist policies are out of place in our time. I am a historian by profession, and I can tell you all about the destructive policies that led to the near-collapse of society from which we are still recovering yet two decades on. Have we not learned the lessons of the death, destruction and degradation caused by the wanton pursuit of war? If anything I say we have entered a new age, a progressive age. An age of steam, and an age of innovation, progress and peace. To countenance war, except in the direst and gravest of circumstances is a wholly reckless pursuit and a wholly foolish endeavour. Because if you start a war, what then? We will need to feed the beast. And do you know what the great beast of war feeds on? Your children. Your sons, your husbands, your brothers, your fathers. They will be ripped out of your lives and sent to fight, in the best case scenario, on some poor unfortunate foreign country's front lines where they could be maimed or killed, or if they survive they could be scarred in ways beyond injury. And the worst case scenario? The tides of war rise up and swallow our own lands in its dark shadow, spilling our blood onto our own soil as we are forced in desperation to defend of our lands, our cities, our farms . . . all for the mistaken and misplaced glorification of war. We in the Pulian People's Party do not support that.

The Honourable candidate for the Pulian Imperial Party has also made reference to himself and his supporters as militants who stand ready to defend Pulias from threats foreign and domestic2. 'Foreign' I can well understand the logic of, even if I personal disagree with that particular ideology. But I would like to draw your attention the final part of that statement: "threats foreign and domestic". What domestic threats do you suppose we have? I have seen no evidence of any. Our previous governments have given no indication that they were battling an unseen enemy within. There is no social unrest, no instability to speak of. What is the Honourable candidate for the Pulian Imperial Party really saying? Is he saying he considers elements of our great society to be threats? Threats to whom exactly? The people of Pulias? Or threats to the goals and aspirations of the Pulian Imperial Party? Just what exactly does he have planned for our great nation? I do not know exactly what he meant by that, perhaps nothing. But I know it unsettles me to hear such alarmist sentiments expressed in the clear absence of any domestic threats and makes me wonder if it solely strategised to whip up fear and lead us to unwise conclusions made by a society invalidly paralysed in fear. Just what unspecified plans do the Pulian Imperial Party have for the future of our society and great nation that they have hinted at but not been bold enough to share? Perhaps the Honourable Augustus could enlighten us by answering these questions for us here today?