The Doldrums of Governance

Entry posted by Merlinus May 18, 2010

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Our beloved people of Merlinus continue to remove themselves from, and re-prove themselves through the recent War of the Reset. The funeral pyres have burned out, and the rubble mostly removed from our streets and country lanes. Essential services have been restored, thanks in no small part to the largesse of our fellow Alliance members who, even in their own struggles, have reached out to our fledgling nation with food, medical supplies, fuel, and (Most importantly) manpower. Dollars and technological assistance are flowing again, and there seems to have been some curious, yet silent announcement that it is once again time to grow in our fair land.

Schools, hospitals, airports and highways are nearly all colored yellow just from the construction cones around them. All who can are working to revitalize the electrical grid, the information channels, and even some few mainstream media outlets are re-commencing programming for our citizens. We have not yet recovered, but we are recovering. It brings pride to our heart, and a tear towards an eye as we look upon our valiant subjects doing what Merlinus has very quickly become known for throughout the region. We proceed forward. Yes, it is true that we have been forced to survive a few backward steps, but we march boldly forward, singing our national songs with much purpose and power. It is high Spring in our land, and the city and countrysides are awash in fresh color as nearly every lawn even the size of a postage stamp displays their victory gardens, trellises or even porch boxes.

This is the indomitable spirit of Merlinus. As our country, and her peoples recover from their recent wounds, it is not without notice that birds still sing, the mountains have not yet moved, and the Sun stays her course in the sky. This presents a pleasant, yet unseeming powerful statement that speeches, fine words and political stumping could never speak. To understand Merlinus, the nation must be seen in action. Refugees continue to spill over our borders, as in many other recently inundated lands, yet it is pleasing to note that nearly every new refugee picks up a shovel, a trowel, or a hammer as they enter our land. They ask only to help, to earn their citizenship. In the first days following the war, there was no one at the borders to greet them (Or deny them) as they sought a new land to call their home. Now, it is most often their fellow countrymen and women they see as they step gently across that invisible, but all-important border to freedom and new opportunity. They do not complain, nor ask. Simply, they do. There is no one to ask, for everyone of our people is busily repairing, or -re-creating what was even as our government assaults the future with those things that will be.

Our population is increasing, our people are happier than in a long time, and production is nearing it's pre-war hectic pace. There is a difference in the land, however; everyone feels it, senses it. We are a better people, better off than many of our neighbors and even our bordering nations. Our alliance has provided us with the necessary umbrella of safety as we begin the rebuilding. More will be required as we find permanence for immigrants nearly equal to our pre-war population. Every hand is on the plow. There is no grumbling or complaining, no stilted speechifying in the courtyards of Merlinus today. There is nothing which needs to be said. Our people know much better than we what must be done, and they are doing it.

We stand in the ramparts, watching all these things and more, and we marvel at just what it is that we have been given. Somehow, all we really want is to give more. We are learning, you see, that it is in giving that we receive. What we receive is so much more than we could ask, or expect of our subjects. There is sure to come a time, much sooner than later, when we will realize, as a nation, that we are "beyond" this past war. We also know that there may well be other conflicts which require our sacrifice, duty, loyalty, and fidelity. But from this vantage point, we need not fear or call into question the response should that time again visit itself upon us without invitation. These are not the sad days of loss, nor the fearful days of reflection for our land. These are the active days of rebuilding, re-bonding neighbor with neighbor. It may seem rather mundane or ordinary, even pedestrian. It is not. This is the birth of a newer, stronger Merlinus. We are neither her Father nor her Mother; we are both. We are her King, and no ruler could ever hope to be more proud of such a good and faithful child.

Plans were made. Now they are being faithfully executed at every level of governance. For their Monarch, yet busy, there is not much to do. We watch, learn, and rejoice in these doldrum days of governance. May we have many, many more.

Best Wishes, etc.,