(its story time)
UC Address at the 2nd European Democratic Congress
Riley Thompson was somewhat nervous as she took to the stage. It would be the first time that anyone from the United Commons spoke at the European democratic congress and she wanted to make sure she made the right impression.
One aide passed a lint-brush over her sundress while another brushed make-up over her cheeks, muting her freckles somewhat. She had been not been listening to the speaker but suddenly heard her name. Her aides withdrew and she could see the MC was talking about her.
“Our next guest is Mrs. Riley Thompson, who comes from all the way across the Atlantic, a guest from the United Commons. Mrs. Thompson is a member of the Saeder-Krupp, triple AAA rated clade. She possesses an MBA from New York Altantica University, where she graduated top of her class. She first made her mark in logistics administration early on the energy sector and in the last three years in the military and today serves on the SK board as chief operational executive, the youngest member of that board in its history. Please join me in giving a warm welcome to Mrs. Riley Thompson.”
Thompson took the floor and looked out at the bright lights and massive ensemble of white tablecloth and impatient appearing officials. Behind her, a massive halodex rose nearly two stories, a spinning SK logo at its center.
She spoke in immaculate, though, to the audience members antiquated, German, “It gives me great pleasure to join you here today. As some of you know Saedar-Krupp arose from the remnants of American subsidiaries of Krupp Group, Volkswagen, BMW, AXA Financial, and GelencoreXstrata, as well as several US companies. Our celebrated Oktoberfest is renown throughout the United Commons and most of our population studies German as a second language. And so, for me, this visit is personally satisfying; I am so glad to see not only the survival but the successes of our German friends that much of my clade’s social and business culture is based upon.”
The halodex shifted to an image of a young girl and her (presumed) mother flying a kite, their demeanor speaking volumes of their satisfaction at being part of the United Commons clade system, “I am here today to tell you about the United Commons and perhaps to argue why our system of government is inherently democratic and representative. Certainly we believe it is a natural evolution of the democratic system, an updated and modern version of an ancient institution, one that maintains all its advantages, and seeks to minimize its disadvantages.”
The image behind Riley shifted to a diagram of the United Commons government, “The UC is made up of clades, similar to national or state governments of pre-cataclysmic times. Citizenship in clades is a voluntary affair. One of several major reason for this was the historical rise of digital currency, its inability to be adequately taxed- or even tracked, and thus the voluntary nature of the citizenry’s financial investment in government.” Around the room there was general nods of agreement; many officials had struggled with the same problem, either historically, or even in modern times.
“Indeed, one of the central tenets of the Common Protocol, the laws that govern the federation, is that an individual be free to ‘vote with their feet’ at any time; people must be free to sever their ties with a clade at any time. Generally however, the advantages of some form of government prove much more attractive to individuals than freedom from taxation or the laws of individual clades. As a result, a position within a clade is generally highly sought after, even if it means voluntarily limiting one’s freedoms with additional laws and voluntarily agreeing to investing one’s wealth, labor, or time in the clade. Indeed the voluntary nature of our clade governments mean we get significant ‘lean in’ and personal investment in the nature and operation of our government that many democratic countries could only dream of.” Behind Thompson, a happy family picks strawberries under a blue sky. An unnaturally clean and unstained cement wall rises in the distance, presumably protecting them from the chaos beyond.
“The clades are highly divergent, one from the other. Many are derived from amalgamated corporate families from the ancient times, when we were still called the United States of America, but this is primarily due to the relative stability and survival of these institutions during and after the cataclysms, not due to some inherent corporate model governing clades within the United Commons, as has been commonly misunderstood by even high-ranking officials outside the UC.” The halodex switches to a short looping movie of elementary-aged students in red Ares clade uniforms marching in a military parade. Several wave to the halocam, smiling broadly with immaculately straight and white teeth. Thompson continues, “Other clades are based on ideologies or common cultures. As examples of the first, consider Maddison-Hamilton-Jay, which is based on an ideology dedicated to democracy and popular vote. It has relatively small enclaves and each hosts several ‘town-hall meetings’ where decisions are taken by popular vote. Another would be EVO, which is dedicated to transhumanism and accelerating human evolution. Examples of culture-based clades might be the Ganonsyoni, which is based on AmerIndian culture and governed by elected tribal elders or the Children of the Chrysanthemum, which base their government on an idealized Confucianism ideology. Some consider the Saedar-Krupp culture-based, at least in part, due to our strong ties to German history, as well as the New Atlantians, for their ties to Victorian England. Several faith-based clades are championed by the Believers who are model their clade upon the theocratic governments of Mississippi and Deseret.”
“Government and laws vary widely between clades,” Thompson continued, “as do investment in infrastructure, education, health, etc. Ultimately governance is highly decentralized within the UC with the clades controlling the vast majority of domestic operations in accordance with their own principles, ideals, or business model.”
“So what unites the clades within United Commons?” A projection of the white house spins slowly in the haldodex. “The United Commons leadership consists of one ore more representatives from each clade with five-hundred or more members. These get a voice in federal decision-making based on the ‘weight’ of the their clades. Weight is primarily based on population size but also increased by investment in education, health infrastructure, taxes paid, and finally military contribution. Those with most weight have a triple-A rating, while others have a rating from double-A to E. The clades with the most weight at present are Koch Industries, which is, like Saedar-Krupp, made up of corporations who have united and transitioned from businesses to a highly effective glade government, Smith, who have effectively cornered much of the fossil-fuel based energy market domestically, Ares, a family-oriented business clade, and my own, SK. Until recently, TSG, a sort of mega-agriculture-based clade operating primarily in the west was also triple-A rated but has been problematic of late. A search for an appropriate solution is ongoing.” Chuckles from the audience.
“Ultimately the United Commons, despite the widely differing governments of its individual clades, is highly democratic, with the principle that anyone can ‘vote with their feet’ at any moment underlying our ideology. If one doesn’t like one’s clade’s decisions, one can always leave and try to join a new clade. As people leave a clade, it losses influence in federal decision-making and if enough people leave, it ceases to have any power in the high council. This dynamic movement of ‘weight’ between the clades means that ‘elections’ are continuous and ongoing, making our model of ‘democracy’ extremely responsive and nimble and ultimately highly responsive to the changing concerns of our population.
“I see that my time is up and the speaker from the Catalonia is ready to address the congress. Since I went overtime, I cannot take any questions at present but am more than happy to meet with you, and perhaps share a stein of beer, to discuss any further concerns you have offline. Again, the UC thanks you for this chance to share our vision of responsive representative government with you and hopes that our relations continue to improve as the Atlantic proves less and less of a barrier to cooperation and trade between your nations and the UC.”