Friday, August 13, 2004
Analysis: ABC...Varennes & Micronational Legitimacy
In the last 24 hours or so, a number of events have occurred.
First, Attera, Babkha and Cyberia issued a statement regarding the Republic of Morovia in the Kingdom of Morovia's Salon yesterday.
Meanwhile Varennes has continued to post unopposed on the Republic's (Varennes' Dominion of Chambord's) boards, its Viceroy closing the offices of the Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister and President.
In related news, His Supreme Eminence Ioannes I, Grand Master of the Most Holy Order of the Knights of Saint Michael, has posted a declaration Regarding the "Republic" of Morovia in which he says the Order recognizes "His Majesty King Vincent III as the lawful Sovereign of the national entity known as Morovia," in essence going so far to define the legitimate Morovia as the Morovia sanctioned by Morovia's Crown - a good example of the Crown's role in symbolizing and safeguarding the unity and sovereignty of the nation.
In our opinion, the Cyberian Broadcasting Cooperative, in its article ABC powers jointly condemn Berg has rightly identified the central assertion in the ABC Joint Statement:
In this way of looking at things, the Kingdom of Morovia (a high legitimacy "shared narrative") has had its legitimacy attacked by a Republic that once (arguably and a number of years ago) had SOME legitimacy. In effect, it was an attempted theft - taking the Kingdom's store of legitimacy and attempting to shift that legitimacy to the Republic.
The counterstroke by all entities was a reciprocal attack on the Republic's legitimacy, in which the facts that Yarl Berg had himself agreed to the Republic's abandonment and that the Republic had no history, no citizens, no Vincent III and, indeed, was of questionable legal status to begin with were all brought to play in legitimizing the Kingdom and de-legitimizing the Republic.
King Louis I of Varennes, with great panache and in an action reminiscent of the good old days of James Cardinal Murphy in Olde Morovia, took a step rich in irony and 'seized' the Republic, renaming it after a French liqueur (so at least some good, in the way of foreign trade, may yet come of this :-).
While some have questioned the wisdom or even the seriousness of this, we can't help but agree with HM Louis I that what is good for the goose is good for the gander and that this action - in conjunction with all the other less quixotic defenses of the Kingdom's legitimacy - provides an excellent Coup de Grace for dessert (to mix metaphors a bit).
And who knows? The Dominion of Chambord may yet end up a serious player on the micronational scene - micronational leaders who have been around longer than this editor's 2 1/2 years have no doubt seen stranger things.
Through the Morovian eyes of this paper, this collective response vindicates the Morovian position (as well as the position of many other nations) on the nonsense of micronational war.
The only real war or competition between micronations is in the realm of ideas or, more specifically, the realm of generating viable national activity perceived by other micronations as legitimate.
And that is a non-zero sum game.
The Kingdom of Morovia was 'loaned' legitimacy by Attera, Babkha, Cyberia, the Order of St. Michaels, Varennes and others - but those entities did not lose the legitimacy they loaned, if anything they gained from what they so generously gave.
The micronational community may never become a one-world organization, an uber-Tymaria, and that is probably a good thing as variety is the spice of life and one size most definitely does not fit all.
But as our individual authoritative national narratives weave together in a master narrative of the community of micronations, rogue nations and "Egostans" have been put on notice that, believe it or not, the chaos of micronationalism is more apparent than real: the 'game' has rules.
Not many rules, mind you.
The civilized micronational community will not dictate whether you must have a Kingdom or a Republic as your form of government.
They will not dictate whether you have humans or elves as citizens.
They will not specify whether you must have a simulated vs. a real goods economy.
And they will not dictate whether things happen through parliamentary debate or through the unquestioned rule of a King or through using psionic powers on each other.
But you will not populate your nation with paper dolls.
You will not destabilize other nations through infiltration and subversion.
And you will not steal a nation's hard-earned intellectual property and legitimacy through mirror nations.
Only those nations and individuals who conform their own operations to the increasingly recognized rules of civilized micronations will possess the necessary legitimacy to play with the micronational Adults.
It is, as with so many other aspects of micronationalism, an extension of the very same rules that hold true in Real Life (tm).
Bill Bekkenhuis
Editor-in-Chief
The Morovian Telegraph
bekkenhuis@fast.net
First, Attera, Babkha and Cyberia issued a statement regarding the Republic of Morovia in the Kingdom of Morovia's Salon yesterday.
Meanwhile Varennes has continued to post unopposed on the Republic's (Varennes' Dominion of Chambord's) boards, its Viceroy closing the offices of the Foreign Ministry, Prime Minister and President.
In related news, His Supreme Eminence Ioannes I, Grand Master of the Most Holy Order of the Knights of Saint Michael, has posted a declaration Regarding the "Republic" of Morovia in which he says the Order recognizes "His Majesty King Vincent III as the lawful Sovereign of the national entity known as Morovia," in essence going so far to define the legitimate Morovia as the Morovia sanctioned by Morovia's Crown - a good example of the Crown's role in symbolizing and safeguarding the unity and sovereignty of the nation.
In our opinion, the Cyberian Broadcasting Cooperative, in its article ABC powers jointly condemn Berg has rightly identified the central assertion in the ABC Joint Statement:
The history of each micronation is a shared narrative owned by all its citizens. Any attempt to remake that history without the consent of those citizens is wrong in both micro- and macronational law. Any attempt to seize the name of a micronation is theft of the intellectual property of those citizens. (see Joint statement of support for Kingdom of Morovia
In this way of looking at things, the Kingdom of Morovia (a high legitimacy "shared narrative") has had its legitimacy attacked by a Republic that once (arguably and a number of years ago) had SOME legitimacy. In effect, it was an attempted theft - taking the Kingdom's store of legitimacy and attempting to shift that legitimacy to the Republic.
The counterstroke by all entities was a reciprocal attack on the Republic's legitimacy, in which the facts that Yarl Berg had himself agreed to the Republic's abandonment and that the Republic had no history, no citizens, no Vincent III and, indeed, was of questionable legal status to begin with were all brought to play in legitimizing the Kingdom and de-legitimizing the Republic.
King Louis I of Varennes, with great panache and in an action reminiscent of the good old days of James Cardinal Murphy in Olde Morovia, took a step rich in irony and 'seized' the Republic, renaming it after a French liqueur (so at least some good, in the way of foreign trade, may yet come of this :-).
While some have questioned the wisdom or even the seriousness of this, we can't help but agree with HM Louis I that what is good for the goose is good for the gander and that this action - in conjunction with all the other less quixotic defenses of the Kingdom's legitimacy - provides an excellent Coup de Grace for dessert (to mix metaphors a bit).
And who knows? The Dominion of Chambord may yet end up a serious player on the micronational scene - micronational leaders who have been around longer than this editor's 2 1/2 years have no doubt seen stranger things.
Through the Morovian eyes of this paper, this collective response vindicates the Morovian position (as well as the position of many other nations) on the nonsense of micronational war.
The only real war or competition between micronations is in the realm of ideas or, more specifically, the realm of generating viable national activity perceived by other micronations as legitimate.
And that is a non-zero sum game.
The Kingdom of Morovia was 'loaned' legitimacy by Attera, Babkha, Cyberia, the Order of St. Michaels, Varennes and others - but those entities did not lose the legitimacy they loaned, if anything they gained from what they so generously gave.
The micronational community may never become a one-world organization, an uber-Tymaria, and that is probably a good thing as variety is the spice of life and one size most definitely does not fit all.
But as our individual authoritative national narratives weave together in a master narrative of the community of micronations, rogue nations and "Egostans" have been put on notice that, believe it or not, the chaos of micronationalism is more apparent than real: the 'game' has rules.
Not many rules, mind you.
The civilized micronational community will not dictate whether you must have a Kingdom or a Republic as your form of government.
They will not dictate whether you have humans or elves as citizens.
They will not specify whether you must have a simulated vs. a real goods economy.
And they will not dictate whether things happen through parliamentary debate or through the unquestioned rule of a King or through using psionic powers on each other.
But you will not populate your nation with paper dolls.
You will not destabilize other nations through infiltration and subversion.
And you will not steal a nation's hard-earned intellectual property and legitimacy through mirror nations.
Only those nations and individuals who conform their own operations to the increasingly recognized rules of civilized micronations will possess the necessary legitimacy to play with the micronational Adults.
It is, as with so many other aspects of micronationalism, an extension of the very same rules that hold true in Real Life (tm).
Bill Bekkenhuis
Editor-in-Chief
The Morovian Telegraph
bekkenhuis@fast.net
Comments:
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Very well put and thought out, Mr. Bekkenhuis! It's about time someone finally put forth those unwritten rules of Micronationalism and laid them down on paper for posterity! *Standing Ovation*
HSIH Mik'el Tzion I
Emperor of the Atterans
HSIH Mik'el Tzion I
Emperor of the Atterans
# posted by 
: August 13, 2004 at 1:27 PM
: August 13, 2004 at 1:27 PM
Really good article. TMT is becoming a formidable blog.
I take issue with Varennes' seizure of the Republic, though. The point of the ABC declaration is to clarify that there's nothing to seize. The Republic of Morovia doesn't exist without theft. The Dominion of Chambord therefore can't exist without weaving that stolen property into its own narrative. To do that gives the stolen Republic some measure of present legitimacy. So Varennes can come on board and drop the RoM like a hot potato, or everyone else can ignore that part of Varenne's narrative.
I take issue with Varennes' seizure of the Republic, though. The point of the ABC declaration is to clarify that there's nothing to seize. The Republic of Morovia doesn't exist without theft. The Dominion of Chambord therefore can't exist without weaving that stolen property into its own narrative. To do that gives the stolen Republic some measure of present legitimacy. So Varennes can come on board and drop the RoM like a hot potato, or everyone else can ignore that part of Varenne's narrative.
The three governments are considering another statement on the Varennes matter. The Cyberian government believes that the Varennese annexation is itself a breach of the tripartite declaration on Morovia.
I must concur with my Cyberian counterparts, as the Kingdom of Varennes pre-empted the Republic of Morovia for no other purpose than to take advantage of a chaotic situation. Yet, while this may settle the "Morovian Question" for the short term, there still is the chance when Varennes becomes inactive or even the Dominion of Chamborg. What then? We'll be back at square one, but instead of the "Republic" of Morvia staring back at us, but the "Republic" of Chambord. What we should do is a formal conference that will settle this issue once and for all, but before that, I sincerely request that ALL parties involved, withdraw ALL claims to the "Republic", Morovia, Chambord or any other entity that has arisen from this situation. Once that occurs then, maybe we can clear the water that is really starting to get muddy.
HSIH Mik'el Tzion I
Emperor of the Atterans
HSIH Mik'el Tzion I
Emperor of the Atterans
# posted by : August 15, 2004 at 2:03 PM
: August 15, 2004 at 2:03 PM
The establishment of a mirror-nation in competition with Morovia may be illegitimate, but that doesn't make it any less real. The Republic of Morovia discussion board and persons claiming to be Morovian Republicans are not imaginary but real.
It would be as if a small part of Europe formed itself into it's own nation and called itself "The Republic of Spain", declared the Spanish monarchy deposed and claimed all of Spain's territory, history and presitige for itself. Let's then Suppose that Great Britain, indignant of this impertinent act, conquered this little republic and renamed it the "Dominion of Shamland".
I can't imagine that anyone would, in such a scenario, equate Britain's actions with recognition of the "Republic of Spain's" legitimacy or "right to be" a nation.
At any rate, the matter is closed: The King of Varennes has spoken; a governor-general is appointed, causa finita est.
Vive le Chambord!
It would be as if a small part of Europe formed itself into it's own nation and called itself "The Republic of Spain", declared the Spanish monarchy deposed and claimed all of Spain's territory, history and presitige for itself. Let's then Suppose that Great Britain, indignant of this impertinent act, conquered this little republic and renamed it the "Dominion of Shamland".
I can't imagine that anyone would, in such a scenario, equate Britain's actions with recognition of the "Republic of Spain's" legitimacy or "right to be" a nation.
At any rate, the matter is closed: The King of Varennes has spoken; a governor-general is appointed, causa finita est.
Vive le Chambord!
# posted by : August 18, 2004 at 12:43 PM
: August 18, 2004 at 12:43 PM
Okay, that last part was overly flippent perhaps. Let me just put it this way: the actions of the Government of Varennes with regard to this matter were designed for the purposes of giving the Morovian Republicans a taste of their own medicine, as thinking persons figured-out long ago. It is an act in support of Morovia and in support of legitimacy. It is not a cheap act of usurpation in an attempt to profit from another nation's crisis. How on earth does it profit us? The acquisition of this community simply gives us a greater workload.
The opinions of the ABC network--or whatever it is properly called--and of other groups not withstanding, the deed is done and the Government of Varennes stands fully behind it's actions with regard to the former Republic of Morovia.
If the ABC or other nations do not care to recognize Varennes and/or Chambord as a sovereign nation on account of this or any other action of her government, that is their prerogative; we're not concerned: foreign relations is not what we're all about and the "micronational community" certainly isn't what we're about and never has been.
It is important to us however, to defend the ideals of national sovereignty and of monarchy in general. We view the Kingdom of Morovia as a legitimate and sovereign kingdom, therefore we moved to thwart this illegitimate republican movement using no more tools than were possessed by the republicans themselves, namely: words. They claimed they were the true Morovia, the Government of Varennes insisted that they were not, absorbing that entity as a dominion of the Varennese Crown in the process.
We don't care who approves or recognizes our action with regard to this matter. We approve and we recognize it and that is all that matters to us. If simulated nations in "micras" want to debate the matter in some sort of YAMO, that, again, is entirely their prerogative. Their talks will not, however, bring an end to the Dominion of Chambord, they will not remove the Governor General from her post, they will not remove the Chambord discussion forums from the Varennese board and they will not prevent webpages for the Dominion of Chambord from being published on the government website.
Perhaps some nations whose governments would like to recognize and engage in diplomacy with Varennes but have misgivings with regard to our actions in this matter might simply wish to recognize the Dominion of Chambord as original entity and not as the successor nation to the illegitimate Republic of Morovia. That's fine with us. You can look upon the matter however you choose to, only don't expect us to change our point of view.
We remain committed to the Dominion of Chambord, which is the former Republic of Morovia.
King Louis I
Varennes
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The opinions of the ABC network--or whatever it is properly called--and of other groups not withstanding, the deed is done and the Government of Varennes stands fully behind it's actions with regard to the former Republic of Morovia.
If the ABC or other nations do not care to recognize Varennes and/or Chambord as a sovereign nation on account of this or any other action of her government, that is their prerogative; we're not concerned: foreign relations is not what we're all about and the "micronational community" certainly isn't what we're about and never has been.
It is important to us however, to defend the ideals of national sovereignty and of monarchy in general. We view the Kingdom of Morovia as a legitimate and sovereign kingdom, therefore we moved to thwart this illegitimate republican movement using no more tools than were possessed by the republicans themselves, namely: words. They claimed they were the true Morovia, the Government of Varennes insisted that they were not, absorbing that entity as a dominion of the Varennese Crown in the process.
We don't care who approves or recognizes our action with regard to this matter. We approve and we recognize it and that is all that matters to us. If simulated nations in "micras" want to debate the matter in some sort of YAMO, that, again, is entirely their prerogative. Their talks will not, however, bring an end to the Dominion of Chambord, they will not remove the Governor General from her post, they will not remove the Chambord discussion forums from the Varennese board and they will not prevent webpages for the Dominion of Chambord from being published on the government website.
Perhaps some nations whose governments would like to recognize and engage in diplomacy with Varennes but have misgivings with regard to our actions in this matter might simply wish to recognize the Dominion of Chambord as original entity and not as the successor nation to the illegitimate Republic of Morovia. That's fine with us. You can look upon the matter however you choose to, only don't expect us to change our point of view.
We remain committed to the Dominion of Chambord, which is the former Republic of Morovia.
King Louis I
Varennes
# posted by : August 18, 2004 at 3:47 PM
: August 18, 2004 at 3:47 PM << Home
