Dear Citizen,

Do you hear the people sing?

A foundational element of The Empire was the lack of control it wielded over the citizenry.  In fact, it was control over unwilling populations that initially led to The Empire’s foundation.  In reaction to that control, The Empire had always, both legally and culturally, protected the sovereignty of the individual in as many cases as they could.  That, sadly, is no longer the case.

Culturally, the Imperial population is just as proud, individualistic, and remarkably weird as it has always been.  But in reality, the experience of the citizenry does not allow that.  And the mismatch between the two is the perpetual motion machine that powers the destruction of you all.

Like a blemish in a photograph or a slight tilt in a hung portrait, once you see this imperfection you will not be able to un-see it.  I apologize if you do not want this information.  Turn back now if you prefer the blue pill.

Let us look at four examples within the last 12 months.

First, a novel virus rips through the world causing reactionary shutdowns, curfews, and restrictions.  This is not loved, but it is accepted as a necessary action.  However, the restrictions begin to ease for some and not for others.  It appears to many, that those with close ties to policy makers are given a choice (movie studios may open if they like, teachers may stay at home if they like) while many who would prefer to open (small businesses) or stay home (essential workers) are not given a choice.  These being imperial citizens, endowed with a deep senses of fairness and mercy, quietly rage behind their masks.

 Second, a minority population is shown in graphic detail the inequities they bear before the law in criminal justice situations.  These being Imperial citizens, who by nature expect to be treated equally, take to the streets in protest.  Some, feeling their rights so violated, turn violent.

Third, the largest political figure in modern history marshals his underlings in office and champions in media to drive a false narrative that the votes of millions of you were defiled, and that their very existence as self-determining citizens was stolen.  These being Imperial citizens, who love their leader and the country they believe they had lost, take to the Capitol and some turn violent.

Finally, a group of citizens who gather online to discuss equity markets spot an anomaly in the data indicating a ripe opportunity to profit off an elite money manager’s mistake.  They rally together, using a relatively new source of market access previously reserved for only the richest of traders, and utterly crush the elite money managers.  That is, of course, until the access they have to the market is taken from them while the access of the elite money managers is retained. 

What, dear citizen, should we expect as the outcome of our fourth case study?  The answer is clear: when Imperial citizens believe they are being treated differently from others they react.  When they believe they’re being controlled unfairly, they protest.  When elite powers appear to push down those who have less wealth, less access, less historical agency, the populace fumes and fights back.

That is good.  That is a healthy immune response of a free people.  But, it ends in disaster if the systems of power do not respond and correct the errors. The individuals holding positions of power in politics, journalism, finance, education, religion, entertainment, and bureaucracy, either ignore the problems or patronize the people.  These elites benefit from the status quo and increasingly the people are seeing the failures of these institutions to hold up the Imperial ideal of equality.

When an institution fails internally and is reviled externally, it dies. These institutions are the internal supports of The Empire and throughout its history The Empire has had to make repairs to sporadic frays and fractures.  But never before have so many institutions corrupted at the same time.  We here on Terminus can see what a hollowed shell the Empire has become.  And I’m sorry if you now see it too.

Stay True my Friend,

Terminus.

 

Dear Citizen,

I’m sorry you had to see that.  I was sorry to see it myself.  As you know, I, and many like me, resigned ourselves to Terminus to attempt the building a New Empire.  However, our Empire is not a new invention or remodel of an older version.  Our Empire is to be entirely based upon the old Empire.  It is a replica, a replacement.  It is our love of the old Empire that inspires us in the creation of the new.

And it is through that love that we watched the desecration of the legislative chambers of your Empire.  It was through the ears of a farmer crouched in a bunker, hearing hailstones pound his home and field. 

Is it worse to be the crops in the field, unaware of the building storm and the ensuing destruction, blissfully waving in the wind only to be cut down in an instant?  No, the farmer has the bigger burden.  She tended the crops, curated the seeds, nurtured the saplings, and reveled in her bounty.  However, she also checked the weather daily, she knew of the potential destruction, and even when she warned her family and brought them into her storm shelter, her heart broke for the rooted family she could not protect.  So it is with me, dear Citizen. 

The Halls of The Imperial Congress were the shining example for all mankind.  They witnessed the saplings of liberty spring forth and grow into the most abundant prosperity ever known.  But unlike you and the remaining members of The Empire, we on Terminus checked the weather.  We knew a foul wind had risen in the West, we knew a new pattern had emerged, and we knew it would decimate and demolish every leaf and stem of our once glorious crop.

I am truly, deeply sorry that you witnessed the carnage.  But the desecration of Congress was knowable, predicted, and preventable.  This storm was raised by mankind, promoted by mankind, and released by mankind. 

You’ve only experienced the first squall.  

Take Shelter my Friend,

Terminus.

 

 

Dear Citizen,

A quick guide in case your continued time in the fallen Empire has caused you to forget.

Things that are forms of violence:

·        Arson

·        Assault

·        Robbery

·        Vandalism

·        Weaponized Intimidation

Things that are not forms of violence:

·        Legally protected speech

·        Legally protected protesting

·        Voting

Punishing non-violent acts and condoning violent acts were two of the cardinal signs of The Empire’s early fall.  When the purpose of the democracy (the franchise to vote) was perceived as a weapon against the losing side, the legitimacy of the democratic process was broken.  Only a short while later, the perceived violence of voting (which went unpunished initially) was met with actual violence as a source of revenge.  This led to a cycle of rhetorical escalation and physical retribution that further blurred the lines between acceptable and unacceptable forms of expression.

Again, in case you forgot, voting is not an act of violence.  Throwing a projectile at another individual is. 

Stay Sane my Friend,

Terminus

 

Dear Citizen,

Today, I want to share a prayer with you. 

I pray that more people of The Empire would pray to powers beyond their sight and understanding, that they solicit aid and guidance from a divine and perfect wisdom, and that they truly listen for a reply.

It may or may not surprise you, dear Citizen, that one of the most crucial steps in shorting the dark age before us is for an enlightenment to take place.  I use the word enlightenment very purposefully, as its every meaning is what is needed before a New Empire can succeed.

First, to the darkness, depravity, and despair of the public discourse, political deliberations, and cultural ruminations, there needs to be shown a great light.  This truth is recognized by all.  It is commonplace to hear phrases such as, “we have never been more divided,” or, “in this age of negative partisanship,” and "these are dark times".  The platforms through which Citizens interact with each other are admittedly toxic and negative, with the worst instincts of humanity on display every hour of every day.  There is no doubt that hyperbole and partiality dominate major portions of the information media, and public trust in those institutions, along with educational and cultural institutions, is at or near all-time lows.

The great light that can piece these darkened planes of our homeland must be wielded by the likes of you, dear Citizen.  The choice to partake in rancor or greet anger with compassion is omnipresent.  With every encounter you have, with every piece of news or culture you consume, you make a choice of how to receive it and how to respond.  I beg you to respond with lightness, with truth and reason, and with compassion and grace.

One light is an amazing source for change, but millions of lights is a movement that cannot be stopped.  How do we here on Terminus hope to create millions of sources of light?  Through the other type of enlightenment of course.

Neither you, dear Citizen, nor I possess the influence to alter millions of minds.  That kind of impact can only come from a myriad of teachers and thinkers with varied backgrounds, languages, and identities.  To change the hearts and minds of the wayward people of The Empire, we first must meet them where they are at.  For the identity-driven, politically obsessive class, that means through diverse elected officials.  For the embattled and impoverished peoples, that means escapees of those situations and community leaders who live in and with those struggling.  For the educated, wealthy, yet incredibly jaded and angry upper-middle class, that means through kindness and calm without judgement or prejudice for their past.

Here on Terminus we welcome anyone and everyone who knows that the beauty in democracy is not in forceful unity, but in respectable disunity.  

I pray that one day you'll join us.

Stay Faithful my Friend,

Terminus

 

Dear Citizen,

Can you see it now?  Can you see the decay and corruption of so many of The Empire’s roots?  ‘Riots in the streets’ and ‘civil unrest’ are short clauses for a shockingly simpler truth: the rule of law has ended.

You may remember the many other times in The Empire’s past where similar disturbances happened.  It is true, there have been many rebellions, uprisings, disturbances, and violent passions played out in our shared history.  Many of them, most of them in fact, were spirited by noble goals corrupted by the lesser demons of humanity.  This phenomenon is as old as civilization, so it is not the violence to which I point.  It is the response.

 The Empire’s greatness came not from its size or influence.  It came not from its diversity, prosperity, or humanity.  It came from its principles, from which all those other characteristics flowed.  All citizens were equal before the law and all of them were equally endowed to the rights of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness.  This goal (as it was promissory and obliviously not reality when written), remained the hallmark identity of the young Empire through its fall.

You may, dear citizen, have been taught that the Empire’s founders had debated that last clause – “pursuit of happiness”.  It was in their philosophical teachings to reference the right to property in addition to life and liberty.  In the end, however, the winning phrase was believed to be an improvement because it was broad enough to include both property and agency over that property.

Regardless, to ensure these rights were not infringed upon by others, the people of The Empire had built a framework of laws to protect them.  Laws that protected the life, property, agency, and lifestyles of the citizenry.  Over the generations these laws were amended many times, almost always in the direction of better aligning equality between citizens.  All the while, the right to live freely without harmful interference from others was the sacred goal.

In the past, violent events were separated from the political movement to which they were attached.  This separation occurred in the private minds and public conversations of the citizenry, the press, and the political class.  The amendable nature of The Empire’s laws made it possible to denounce the violence and prosecute its perpetrators while simultaneously taking serious the grievances of the moment and correcting legal imbalances. 

This separation between violence and grievance is not happening anymore.  The violence is ignored, accepted, or at worst encouraged by sizeable swaths of the citizenry, the press, and the political class.  Those who hesitate to separate violence from grievance no longer believe in minimizing harmful interference by one person upon another.  Burning down someone’s place of business, demolishing someone’s vehicle, physical assault, forced speech, all of them are tolerated not because they aren’t seen as harmful – you haven’t gone that crazy – but because they are seen as justified emotional responses to the political grievance.  The grievance is legitimate, therefore the emotional responses are legitimate, and therefore the actions in the name of those emotions are legitimate. 

The legitimacy of any action in the great days of The Empire was determined by the action’s objective legality.  The legitimacy of any action now is determined by the subjective emotions of the actor.  The rule of law over.  The dual rule of law and emotion has begun. 

This rejection of the supremacy of law occurred in the minds of large numbers of The Empire’s population and will manifest itself in many ways.  Those of us who fled to Terminus saw its early signs, and I regret to inform you, dear citizen, that you will now see it in many other places too.  Harmful interferences by others upon you will now be tolerated so long as they conform to the emotional whims of large populations.  You are no longer equal individuals before the law, you are emotional creatures battling for legitimacy before the public conscience.

Doubtless, some citizens will benefit greatly from the new order and others will be greatly harmed.  These changes in status may even be a welcome reckoning for long periods of inequity, but they will be short lived.  The abandonment of the goal for equality before the law is the destruction of the very principles that made The Empire successful.  As it falls, so too shall the standing of all it’s people, and how different groups of you feel about it will make no difference.

Best of luck my friend,

Terminus

 

Dear Citizen,

The Empire has fallen.  Some choose to not see past the hollow shells of buildings still standing, but instinctively we all know.  What once defined generations of thinkers now lies in ruin, the remnant members scattered to the wind.

Make no mistake – an empire still exists – and many of its leaders falsely claim to be owners of the legacy of the profundity and progress of the previous ways.  But they are liars.  We know they are liars, most of them know they are liars, and certainly you know that they are liars.  The Emperor, despite what his supporters and handlers so desperately try to say, has no clothes.  We see this, they see this, you see this, only he seemingly does not.

But he will not be Emperor forever.  His tribe eagerly hopes to inherit the throne by some combination of his legacy and the rhetoric of the original Empire.  While one or two more talented members of the tribe may succeed from time-to-time, they cannot overcome the simple fact that The Empire has fallen.  The power structure upon which they hope to stand has already buckled.  They are building nests in a tree whose trunk has been sawed cleanly through.  A gentle breeze will topple it, and storm clouds are gathering all around.

The enemies of The Empire are certainly worse though.  They have waited for decades to seize power.  Never capable of defeating The Empire on its own terms, they were forced to lie in wait for the moment The Empire defeated itself.  That moment has arrived.  It darkens the soul to imagine what they will achieve now that the splendor of the realm is vulnerable, and its defenders are ill-led, unprepared, and unarmed.

So, what to do?  Although the situation appears hopeless, there is always reason for faith.  Those of us still loyal to the truths we once all knew, who have not been corrupted by the soothsayers of either side, we are dedicated to shortening the distance between our current darkness and a peaceful, prosperous future.  We are scattered.  We are few.  But we are resolute in our determination to once again see freedom and equality harmonized as the dual pillars of our mighty home. 

Stay faithful my friend,

Terminus