The Little Book of the Congo is a document in which General Mobutu Ngouelondélé seeks to outline his vision for the ideology and structure of the Congolese state. It establishes the ideological legitimacy of the government of the Great State of the Kongo (OOC: The spelling is a deliberate callback to the Kingdom of Kongo http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kingdom_of_Kongo and is used in all official documents). It is partially inspired by documents like the "Little Green Book" of 20th century Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi though deviates from it considerably. The ideology espoused in the book calls itself Pan-Africanism, though is more appropriately described as a type of Congolese nationalism, coupled with militarism and, in theory, meritocracy.
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Preface: (OOC: This is intended as a nationalist tract, so isn't entirely faithful to history)
We, the people of the great Kongo basin, are the citizens of the united nation of the Great State of the Kongo. We possess a shared history, and a shared tradition, and though we come from many ethnicities and speak many tongues, we speak with one voice. The purpose of this book is to put our shared words into writing, so that the world may see the greatness and glory that is Pan-Africa, and its great artery, the mighty Kongo river.
For many centuries, the great Kongo river harbored the mighty Kingdom of the Kongo, the greatest state in all of Southweastern Africa, a beacon of civilization, progress and might, which in 1622 and many times before and since, fought and defeated the pirates and slavers of Europe. However, after the battle of Mbwila in 1665, the mighty kingdom was betrayed. It is not the cowardly slavers from across the sea that brought the great Kongo into shackles, but instead the traitors of the House Kimpanzu, whose names shall be forever erased for the shame which they brought upon our country.
In the 18th and 19th century, we were all, as a collective people, enslaved by the raiders from across the sea who called themselves the Portuguese, French and Belgians and who sought to take our land, and turn our sons and daughters into their servants. However, through valiant struggle, led by the first glorious leader of the united Kongolese people Patrice Lumumba, in the year 1960 our great nation re-gained its independence.
The cowardly pirates from Europe fled, and all would have been well, had they not bribed Moise Tshombe into treachery. His treachery, and the war that followed allowed the pirates to prevail again, not through honorable bravery or intellect (for they could never hope to match our glorious people in either of those qualities) but instead by dividing our people with false ideas of "democracy", "communism", "nationalism" and "capitalism". All of these supposedly competing ideologies are really just different faces of the same serpent, which tried to trick us, and rob us of our newfound freedoms. To bring us back into chains. Lumumba was shot by traitors, though he remained defiant to the end. The US and USSR, who ruled the slavers at that time, divided our people in hopes of conquering us
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Congo_Crisis. For a time, they succeeded, for they precipitated the lie that we were somehow divided, and each of the shards they created was weak, just like a hand is weak without its body.
But their rule could not last. For we of the Congo are by our essence one united people, and we came together in the end, as the Great State of the Kongo to throw off our shackles and march united towards a greater, brighter future. I, President-General Mobutu Ngouelondélé am merely a vessel, through which the united voice of our nation can be expressed. With this book, I speak not for myself, but instead for the many generations of sons and daughters who fought before me to re-unite our nation, and for the many generations of daughters and sons who will one day live in and build our glorious State. I speak for you, for your ancestors and for your sons and daughters, to make your grandfather's sacrifice worthwhile, so that your grandchildren may have a place to call home.
Section 1: Of the Governance of the Great State of the Kongo
Article 1: The government of the Kongo emerges inherently and naturally from the nation's nature, as a united body and a single people. It puts into words the united voice with which our mighty people speaks. Since every Kongolese citizen serves in the Kongolese army (see Section 3), and the army's leadership emerges from the best of its soldiers (so from the best of everyone within the state), it is natural that the generals of our glorious military play an important part in the governance of our great state.
Article 2: Other roles within the government are to be filled in a similar way. Positions of governors are to be chosen based on merit from the best and most successful local leaders. Technological experts are to be chosen from the most successful graduates of our great Public Academies. In this way, the government of the mighty Kongo is a true reflection of the best of its glorious people.
Article 3: I, the President of the Kongolese state, serve merely to guide this process, to ensure its objectivity, and to ensure that it is free of corruption (OOC: effectively, this gives the leader the power to decide any lower level appointment of an official, so the position of "Guide of the Nation" is much less innocent than it sounds). All other decisions of governance are made by the Kongolese people themselves, in the way described in articles 1 and 2.
Section 2: Of the inherent corruption of Pirate "Ideologies"
Article 1: There exist in our world many false creeds, which aim to destroy the natural order of the Kongolese nation. These lying ideologies were created by imperialist powers, who never themselves believed or practiced them, to dupe their own people, and to dupe the free people of our nation. I shall address the claims made by these texts, "democracy", "communism", "fascism" and "technocracy", though in truth, their moral bankruptcy should be obvious to anyone with a clear mind.
Article 2: Democracy is the most insidious of these, for it rests upon the false promise of speaking for the nation's people. And yet, when the imperialists forced democracy upon is in the early 21st century, we saw its true face. A democratic leader does not serve the nation. He lies to 50.1% of it, to get himself into power, and then robs the other 49.9%. Such a system cannot last, and cannot remain stable, which is why it ceased to exist, just like the pirates who claimed to practice it.
Article 3: Communism is the most ridiculous of these, for it seeks to arm the nation's workers against those who make their collective needs into reality. Communism is as absurd as an arm being told that it would be better off chopping itself off from the rest of its body! Is it any wonder then, that it is practiced by those who seek to divide us?
Article 4: Fascism is the most horrific of these, for in its attempt to "purify" the nation, it pits brother against brother, son against father, and daughter against mother.
Article 5: Technocracy is the youngest of these, due to the simple fact that it cannot last for long. This latest incarnation of slaver ideology is born from the same "Universities" that spawned the others, and so must inherently revert to one of the others, as its managers come not from the people, but from the ideologues and liars. Our Public Academies are nothing like the technocrat's decadent universities, for academies serve the people, while in a technocart's world, the people serve them!
Section 3: Of the rights and obligations of a Kongolese citizen
Article 1: As proud citizens of our glorious and united nation, you have a right to freedom from enslavement, and a right to live, learn, and improve oneself for your own good, and for the good of the entire nation of which you are a part. However, these rights must be defended, by an obligation to national service. All citizens of the Great State of the Kongo who are over 18 will serve for two years in the Kongolese military, during which time they must travel throughout and learn about the diverse and united Kongolese nation (OOC: This is done to prevent militaries in one region from consisting only of the local ethnic majority group. The thinking is that if the military is consistently mixed in ethnicity and regional origin, it will not support any local nationalisms.).
Article 2: Alternatively, a citizen of the Kongolese nation may choose to spend these two years laboring for the common good, towards the construction of national infrastructure and the modernization of all of our countrymen. (OOC: Whether men or women will be drafted, and at what time is deliberately left vague. In theory, everyone will eventually preform their two years of service. However, factors like raising small children or finishing higher education all allow a person to delay their service. For practical and financial reasons, many people are never actually drafted, and are instead listed as "reserve workers" or "reserve military", at the digression of local officials).
Article 3: Those who complete their two years of service will be provided their own house by the state, in recognition of their work, so that they may have a stable foundation upon which to settle, start their family, and work for the great Kongolese society. (OOC: The location of this house is deliberately left vague, in order to allow for re-settlement of people as needed, i.e. if miners are needed, young soldiers and their wives will be given homes near new mining districts so that they have to become miners, etc.).