Rise of Zingaran Fascism

[Gnost Dural]

Political Brief on the status of the Zingaran State

Through the years, the territory of Zingara has had a long reigning ideology that has been broadly defined by its emphasis on hard work, sacrifice, and the welfare of the collective over the welfare of the individual. Central to this mindset is the assumption that people work better when motivated by a feeling of contribution to a greater good, but even more important is the idea that people naturally gravitate toward the sphere of craft they are best suited for, as well as the position they should occupy within it. How has this philosophy been shaped over the tumultuous period of existence of Zingara? Where does it stand today? More importantly, what does it mean for a generation of Texans who are now emerging into a global world of war, disease, poverty and worldwide "democratic" oppression?

In the early days of Zingaran inter-state relations, when the various nations of the world had just come into contact with each other, the somewhat unusual structure of the government was explicitly set up so that no one person could wrest power from the Panel. The notion of individuality, so prized by the world, tended to be viewed by Zingara as little more than selfish blindness to the grander scheme of things, and was frowned upon by the vast majority of their leaders as well as the industrious masses that made up the civilian populace. After a time, the Chief Executive Panel – the corporate heads making up the ruling body – went even further with this ideology, soon enough taking their seat as polar opposites to their local neighbors. While it may seem tempting to ascribe this to the ideological rubberbanding sometimes experienced by newly independent states, there is a great deal of data to suggest that the state of Zingara both geographically, and demographically is suited towards a collective attitude.

Now, sometime after the dissolution of the Republic, the newly created Zingaran Corporate State – a nation bruised and bleeding from a lengthy civil war– things took on a different tenor. In the sudden absence of a unifying enemy (Republican forces), the people who at that time made up the Chief Executive Panel found themselves gradually turning their attentions to domestic reforms, and infrastructural reform.

Having now created a stable dominion over the State, the Chief Executive Panel has instigated several reforms that intends to bring the Zingaran State, back to its roots as a meritocratic, fascist society. To this end, they have employed the nation's most trusted figure, Gnost Dural, to serve as the nation's primary leader and first Chancellor. With the proper gears meshing in unison, the State is poised to take its rightful role as a trampling juggernaut of commercial, industrial and military might.

The CEP's reforms are reaching into every sector of corporate activity. It began by confiscating the wealth of mid- to high-tier managers and executives all across the State and redistributing it among the lowest rungs of the workforce. The initiatives created programs that made sure people received adequate compensation for hard work, in the form of annual leave and early retirement. They greatly increased funding for education and re-education initiatives, while promoting worker summits wherein individual ingenuity was given an outlet. The main goal: to make sure that no matter which rung on the ladder a person occupies, they stand at least a fighting chance of making it to the rung above them – provided they truly deserve it.

Under this new system, social status is no obstacle to advancement. Within ten years’ time, over half of the State’s schools are expected to be equipped with advanced screening methods for detecting unusual aptitude, so that those so gifted can be directed toward areas where their talent will do the most good. Institutions are being set up to give grants to armchair inventors and small business owners who never had the chance to take their ideas to a higher level. Government spies already are being disseminated among the ranks of the corporations and tasked with weeding out nepotism and corruption in the former Republic, wherever they find it.

In the span since the dissolution of the Republic and the formation of the new government, the turnaround in economic growth has been undeniable. Zingarans have more money in their pockets. They are more secure about their retirement. People who under the old system would have found themselves forever excluded from certain positions now reside within those positions. The general feeling on the streets is that for better or worse, something great and grand is underway, that the previous system was ailing and outmoded, and that the New Meritocracy (as it has been dubbed by the press) is a return to form for a great nation shackled too long in the chains of favoritism, corruption and "democracy". Averting their eyes from the darkness all around them, the Zingaran people now for the first time in years set their sights on a brighter future....

Edited November 11, 2009 by Gnost Dural

[Gnost Dural]

Chronicles of Zingara

When the armored tanks and carriers came, Jeb and I counted down the seconds to our deaths - if not from the invading Zingaran forces, then from our own people, some of whom had sworn to die on their feet and take everyone with them, invader and traitor both. The traitors, apparently, were those unwilling to die rather than be yoked to the Zingaran wheel.

But the procession ground forwards, leveling entire sections of buildings with their movement, and once their doors opened and the armies within marched out to meet us - the sun glinting off their metal rifles and armor, the dust rising in clouds from the synchronized thumps of their feet - nobody put up much of a fight.

Jeb and I were still behind cover - there really didn't seem much point anymore, for if we'd wanted to be safe, we should have long since run for the mountains - and we watched as the Zingaran troops marched relentlessly forward. It seemed as though no cover would pose much of an obstacle for them.

We waited for shots that were never fired. A few people rushed madly towards the troops, some bearing weapons or facsimiles of same. I don't know if the Zingaran troops were under orders to hold their fire or if they were merely that disciplined, but the last I saw of our rebels was a rising trail of dust, dwindling to nothing. They were enveloped by the army, disarmed and locked down. Some were left lying on the ground, handcuffed and immobile; others were carried, furious and unwilling, to the nearest bush or body of water and unceremoniously thrown in. The greatest offensive action they took against our people was gagging a few of the loudest rebels, which was likely more a relief to me than it was to them. There is nothing so unbearable as a shrieking Republican rebel knowingly reduced to a powerless fountain of words.

In a whisper Jeb asked me whether we were lost, and I didn't know what to tell him. A part of me - the rebellious part, I supposed - wanted to say yes. Another, more sensible part suspected that we might have a new country on our hands.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Gnost Dural

[JEDCJT]

"We are saddened to hear about the collapse of the Commonwealth of Texas. We, however, welcome the new regime."

[Gnost Dural]

-= Chief Executive Panel - External Affairs Department =-

We are pleased to see that we are welcomed into the international community. Zingarans are generally pleased with the outcome of events within the last year.

[Otto Verteidiger]

We will bury this new regime. Our claims on the lands in Texas have not dropped.

[Gnost Dural]

We will bury this new regime. Our claims on the lands in Texas have not dropped.

The Zingaran regime folds in acquiescence of the claims against it.

OOC: Retcon this. I have no time for a pissing match. I'll find a piece of land that folks won't squabble over.

Edited November 11, 2009 by Gnost Dural