Commentaries on Regime section

by Sisto Jacobo

Open letter to the officials of Donethal,

With regards to your regime known as the “Articles of Donethal” the nation of Prenza has a question surrounding the legitimacy of a theocratic regime such as yours. The nation of Prenza is fundamentally opposed to faith of any kind, and as a proud socialist nation, the clear hierarchy your society is built around is concerning. It seems as if your leader, “the Anointed One” is the judge, jury, and executioner of your legal system, and while it does implement “the typical elements of a Western legal system” it is clear that this is more of a facade than a true practice. It is understood that in a theocracy “those who do not process the laws and the dictates of faith must be repressed and persecuted.” (“StudyHQ”) and in analyzing your legal system it can be seen that those who do not fall in line with the Anointed One and the Zemani faith will ultimately suffer, regardless of their innocence or supposed guilt.

What decides the Anointed One’s status, as they are the sole person with authority in Donethal. There is no democratic or electoral process for deciding your nation’s leader, yet the Anointed One has “absolute authority over the legislative, executive, and judicial…” so what is the criteria for your leader's selection beyond being the messenger of Plutus? It seems that your people are being subjugated to the rule of an individual who was appointed by their God, but there is no system to support this appointment beyond the word of the appointee. Looking back into history, most theocracies utilized the divine right to rule as the basis of their government. When analyzing this divine right, King James I, similar to your Anointed One once stated, “The State of MONARCHIE is the supremest thing upon earth: For Kings are not only GOD’S Lieutenants upon earth, and sit upon GOD’S throne, but even by GOD himself they are called GODS.” (Wills) and the issue here is the circular nature of the legitimacy. The Anointed One acts and is treated like a god for being your God’s messenger, while they declare that they are the messenger of that same God. How can one person determine that they are the messenger while simultaneously being that messenger- it is reasonable to think that no person would ever go against themselves when in a position to provide themselves with absolute power. There are no checks in your government for such an individual, no electoral process, nothing to regulate or establish their power beyond the decree that the messenger will be the leader.

The nation of Prenza simply wants to ensure that there are legitimate processes in place to elect an individual to such a position of power and guarantees for the citizens of Donethal in order to protect them and safeguard their futures.

-The Socialist Republic of Prenza

Works Cited

“Theocracy: Definition, Features & Examples - Studyhq.net (2021 PDF).” StudyHQ.net, 11 July 2021, https://studyhq.net/theocracy/.

Wills, Matthew. “Making Sense of the Divine Right of Kings - JSTOR Daily.” JSTOR, https://daily.jstor.org/making-sense-of-the-divine-right-of-kings/.

by [enter name of person writing 2nd commentary]

[insert Commentary2 text]

Rebuttals to Regime Commentaries

To Whom it Concerns,

Thank you Sisto Jocobo and the Socialist Republic of Prenza for addressing your concerns with Donethal’s regime structure and government and raising valid concerns on the legitimacy of our election process. To answer your question on how the Anointed One is appointed as our leader and Secretariat of State, the Anointed One is selected in a papal election by the conclave of the Covenant. The conclave of the Covenant consists of high members of our church who are known as the College of the Cardinals. Similar to the Vatican controlled by the Catholic Church, numerous general congregations are formed to decide who will be new leader when there is a vacancy and the candidate must receive two-thirds of the vote during the conclave in order to be granted the divine authority of being the Anointed One and considered a messenger to our God Plutus. Furthermore, the College of Cardinals within the Covenant are sworn to absolute secrecy and vote for a new leader with a secret ballot to ensure a fair election process. The Anointed One can only become a messenger of Plutus once our new leader is baptized again and takes a secret oath behind closed doors in the Covenant. Only the College of Cardinals are present when the Anointed One is granted the special powers of being a direct messenger of Plutus and the rest of the world is not granted permission to watch this process take place because of the sanctity and privacy of the process. No one can claim they are the messenger of Plutus themselves to grab absolute power and authority because the gift is bestowed upon the Anointed One by the College of Cardinals after being elected by the conclave. Additionally, though the Anointed One has absolute authority of both church and state, our legal system is comprised of numerous individuals who determine guilt or innocence with due process, but the Anointed One does have the authority to veto the decisions of the court if He does not believe the punishment fits the crime or if He believes the person being tried is innocent and leniency should be imposed. While the Anointed One once elected has absolute authority over the executive, judicial, and legislative branches, the Anointed One is still subjected to a democratic election before supreme powers are bestowed upon Him. Donethal understands your concerns and hopes a formal discussion of how our elections work will help ameliorate the concerns Prenza has with the legitimacy of our regime structure.

-Casandra Pederson, The Chosen Commander and Security Chief of Donethal

by [Casandra Pederson]

Commentaries of Ideology section

by [Guy Kinder]

[Throughout the history of the world the Ideology of Donethal has been tried time and time again only to fail over and over ever evolving into the free democratic world we live in today. The human spirit yearns to be free and will not be tampered for long I can see well that the "Annointed one" knows this all to well which is why they choose to control the knowledge of their citizenry. Though I do take sympathy in the plight that the people believe in this religion and without you may dive into chaos with no moral compass to guide you from its abyss. I would do well to remind you of King Henry the 8th in the country of England whos own moral compass fractured the catholic church tearing discourse, hatred, and ultimately the killings of countless Protestant and Lutheran members of the church later that was a direct result of the King breaking away from the Catholic church and installing the Church of England. I bring this to your attention to make you aware that tying the church to the state is not always the proper course of action and can ultimately lead to a downfall of the state and a breaking of the church. I am not recommending you to instantly free the people and allow free and fair elections. I do however, implore you to open the minds of the citizenry allow them to experience culture and science and the freedom to choose how they believe. ]

Sources

Dissolution of the Monasteries

by Ben Johnson

https://www.historic-uk.com/HistoryUK/HistoryofEngland/Dissolution-of-the-Monasteries/

Why Is Queen Mary I Called 'Bloody' Mary's Gruesome Nickname?

https://www.history.com/news/queen-mary-i-bloody-mary-reformation#:~:text=She%20was%20the%20first%2Dever,the%20stake%20in%20the%20hundreds.

by Mastaani Qureshi

Dear Anointed Leader and the "Chosen" Leadership of Donethal,

Your ideology sounds unified and outstanding on paper but it will never realize its intended full potential in reality due to its unsustainable nature and humanity. You claim that your adherents value "social justice" and "communal harmony." But how do you imagine only one individual- who you call the Anointed One- to uphold those values? The Anointed One unfortunately symbolizes a form of dictator. And this is dangerous when they are in charge of everything from trade to war. It can have real consequences such as when nuclear stability was challenged “between 1949 and 1953, when Joseph Stalin enjoyed unchallenged personal dominion over a nuclear-armed Soviet Union,” (Sagan, 35).

There are countless examples throughout human history that indicate that Donethal’s fate of being collapsed through dissent and foreign intervention. Yes, you may be able to brainwash generations through your “education system” but you cannot stop the curiosity that may be brewing in the minds of children and adults alike. Your Capital Sector is also open to tourists who can bring with them competing ideas that challenge your faith. There is extreme diversity in human thought and even though people may practice “strong conviction” in Plutus Zemani’s moral truth, there is no evidence that it will be consistent. How do you expect to maintain this conviction and trust of the people if the Anointed One keeps making mistakes and jeopardizing the health and wealth of the nation? It is almost prophetic for the public to come for the necks of Anointed One, Covenant members, and the Clergy. For example, in Iran, which is also a theocracy, “security forces in November 2019 used excessive and unlawful lethal force against massive protests across the country,” (Human Rights Watch, para. 5). All it takes is a series of political mistakes and/or bad situations.

Your nation’s ideology prioritizes peace, tradition, and morality but the value that sits in your core is fear and control through religion.

Sources

https://www.jstor.org/stable/26797930

https://www.hrw.org/news/2021/01/13/iran-relentless-repression-dissent#

by [enter name of person writing 3rd commentary]

[insert Commentary3 text]

Commentary by: Araceli Lopez

In analyzing the Donethal ideology, many questions and observations came to mind. A concern that quickly arose is the freedom and independence of the citizens. An authoritarian theocracy is known to limit the say citizens have and abide them to follow a religious figure who is head of the government. This then leads me to question the safety and rights of the citizens since they are prohibited from many due to having a strict policy of following the orders of the Anointed One. As mentioned in the ideology, Donethal adherents personal piety, social justice, and communal harmony that is valued through the Holy Texts, but what about the rights of the citizens and providing them a space to have their voices heard. Although the nation emphasizes the importance of aiding the members in their struggle against evil, what happens when evil is presented among their Anointed One. What happens if the Anointed One is corrupt or goes against the values of the community? If something negative happens what are the consequences? Who has a say in what the next steps are? Who will hold the Anointed One accountable for the consequences they need to face, is it the Clergy? How does the nation assure that the citizens of Donethal are free of moral corruption? Another point that arises is that with the Anointed One deciding what trade occurs, the nation overall loses the opportunity to grow in networking for goods, innovation, and advancement simply because of the skepticism of other nations and only one person having a say in the trading matters. Furthermore, this nation reflects similarities to Russia’s government today. It lacks control over corruption, respects the overall rule of law, and has regular oversight of the authorities. With Donethal having only one leader, Vladimir in Russia is the principal leader and this has caused distress and chaos to many since these leaders can act out of personal enrichment and jeopardize a nation at any cost to get what they want or what will be convenient to them disregarding the national interest. Another point that I would like to bring up is the importance of foreign policy, especially between nations. Communication within nations is essential to have guidance and set laws to avoid wars, conquerors, and losing power over political corruption. Overall, I think it is important to have a system that keeps authorities in check and allows the people to share their opinions and contribute to leading a nation so there is a balance between government and citizens.

Source:

Gelman, V. (n.d.). Why is Russia so badly governed? Wilson Center. Retrieved March 28, 2022, from https://www.wilsoncenter.org/blog-post/why-russia-so-badly-governed

Rebuttals to Ideology Commentaries

by John Flores, Anointed Leader of Donethal

The ideology of Donethal is rooted in the pursuit of higher truth. Similar to Plato's Allegory of the Cave, the Clergy and its chosen leader believe in an immortal god who exists outside of our material world. More than mere belief, there's a deep conviction that we have seen the world beyond our "Cave", which is the entire observable world. Plato defined aristocracy as a government ruled by philosopher kings who learn of higher truths and use that knowledge to lead their people. Unlike Plato's aristocracy, Donethal's theocracy declares that there is only one, true faith that leads to divine truth and all truth comes from a divine being.

We do not expect cultures that champion science to agree with our views. Science denies the existence of the divine because of a lack of empirical proof. To us, empiricism advances technology but keeps people content in the idea that all of reality is contained in our world. As for the role of Donethal's leader, the Anointed One, that person is directly held accountable to a Higher Power. Without Him, the Anointed One would truly be a dictator running a personalist regime. Naturally, we expect those who emphatically deny the existence of the divine to call our regime a dictatorship.

Donethal's regime is intact because of both a shared belief and a world that reinforces those beliefs. State regimes collapse from internal division at the top that shatters self-confidence and willingness to govern, allows a discontented middle class to rise, or is conquered by a foreign power. Unity among the leadership and orthodoxy in both the leadership and the middle class will keep the regime strong.

Commentaries on Education Policy

by Ally Lakis

Dear Government Officials of Donethal,

As a private citizen of Cavan I greatly appreciate the efforts you are taking to ensure that all kids, regardless of origin have access to public education. This is especially important to us since we share a border. I greatly appreciate the efforts that you have taken to ensure that any Cavan citizens that choose to immigrate to your state would have access to education.

After reading your proposed legislation I do have some questions and concerns. First, I note that when you outline what will be required for your curriculum, you include language competency, math, religious studies, and Donethal history. Although this is a reasonable spread of subjects, it is very apparent that there is no mention of science in your mandatory curriculum. I am hoping that this was an oversight error not a reflection of the value and importance that science has as part of education in Donethal. The National Academy for Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine describes the importance of the inclusion of science in curriculum as being, “Science is a significant part of human culture and represents one of the pinnacles of human thinking capacity. It provides a laboratory of common experience for development of language, logic, and problem-solving skills in the classroom.” Science plays a key role in a well-rounded education that would provide empower your students with a comprehensive education. I urge you to consider adding foundational science into your public, private, and religious teachings for the betterment of all the students within Donethal. Teaching sciences in your school system will also allow for further innovation and technological advancement within your nation, this could lend itself to your long term economic and military prosperity.

Thank you for envisioning a better world for students within Donethal. I again ask you to consider to add science to your mandatory curriculum.

Thank you,

Ally Lakis

Private Citizen of Cavan

Source: https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11625/chapter/4

by [enter name of person writing 2nd commentary]

[insert Commentary2 text]

Commentaries on Energy Policy

by Tyler Boettcher, Khulna Head of State

To the people of Donethal, your reliance on oil is damaging to the environment and your people. Any benefit that may be granted by oil production in your communities comes at the cost of water pollution, air pollution, traffic, crime and damage to the physical environment. Some show a reduction in noneconomic quality of life and total amenities. This includes an increase in violent crime. The fracking process creates toxic byproducts. The storage of these byproducts if not done properly can contaminate surround environments poisoning wildlife and the ground water. Ground water, and wells, is often used for drinking and if poisoned not only does it affect wildlife but can directly harm your citizens. Additionally, the hydrocarbons can affect the environment. This causes greenhouse gases which leads to warming. This warming effect can cause other environmental concerns such as hurricane/tornados that rely on the temperature affects in the atmosphere. If you plan to continue to frack for oil as an energy policy I suggest you implement stringent regulations and control policies. If your policy is simply “because on man says so” you may doom your citizens by poisoning or environmental destruction.

- Tyler Boettcher, Khulna, Head of State

Works Cited

Bartik, Alexander W., et al. “The Local Economic and Welfare Consequences of Hydraulic Fracturing.” American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, vol. 11, no. 4, Oct. 2019, pp. 105–55. EBSCOhost, https://doi-org.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/http://www.aeaweb.org/aej-applied/.

Hitaj, Claudia, et al. “Shale Gas and Oil Development: A Review of the Local Environmental, Fiscal, and Social Impacts.” Economics of Energy and Environmental Policy, vol. 9, no. 2, Sept. 2020, pp. 125–48. EBSCOhost, https://search-ebscohost-com.ezproxy1.lib.asu.edu/login.aspx?direct=true&db=eoh&AN=1942115&site=ehost-live&scope=site.

by [Bucktiar Jyawook, Redento Chief Economist]

Hello to the leaders of Donethal. I understand that your energy production is ran centrally, with the state oil company ultimately completely held accountable to the holy leader of the state. My question would be what steps Donethal is taking to maximize production and profit, and if Donethal is putting away any of the energy money for a rainy day. Some day in the future, oil will be of far less value and importance, and from my research It seems like the most savvy nations understand this and try to put away a portion of the profits from oil production into something like a sovereign wealth fund. This helps protect a nation dependent on resource production when the price of these commodities drop and helps shield their economies from the damaging effects of consecutive boom and bust cycles. Examples of nations that have successfully used sovereign wealth funds are Norway, Saudi Arabia, and Russia amongst others. Some nations that have failed to put money away for drops in the price of commodities that come to mind are Venezuela and Iraq. When commodities have crashed, each of these countries have experienced massive political and social unrest despite having some of the deepest oil reserves in the world. What I find in common between these nations and Donethal that would trouble me if I were a resident of Donethal, is that the control of the oil production seems to be at the hands and whims of one single person’s discretion. This is a huge hazard in my opinion, and I would point to Hugo Chavez firing the vast majority of a competent group of employees to the state oil company for political reasons as evidence of this (source attached below). So to add on to my original question, I would ask what Donethal is doing to avoid some of these potential hazards of having so much centralization of power in the national oil production.

All the best,

Bucktiar

https://www.imf.org/en/News/Articles/2015/09/28/04/53/sp090308 (Sovereign Wealth Funds: Their Role and Significance -- A Speech By John Lipsky, First Deputy Managing Director, International Monetary Fund)

https://www.forbes.com/sites/rrapier/2017/05/07/how-venezuela-ruined-its-oil-industry/?sh=6f2e03f87399

Forbes: How Venezuela Ruined Its Oil Industry

Commentaries on Immigration Policy

by Jared Iverson - Chief Diplomat and UN Ambassador of Orissa

To the Donethalian Leadership,

I am writing in regard to your immigration policy as we have several concerns that we would like to address. We hope that you and your government will receive these concerns and objections objectively and hopefully entertain the possibility of needing to reconsider your immigration policy. Our concerns are of both moral and economic import.

First, if there is already a food shortage because of an insufficient labor force for the Holy Taro Farms, then how exactly would increasing the number of pilgrims assist in remedying this situation? While it is conceivable that there may be a sustainable amount of imported labor that Donethal could utilize to work the farms, such an amount would still be constrained by the limited amount of food that is already being produced. If you go beyond this threshold of sustainable imported labor, then the policy would likely lead to a greater deficit in food due to an increase in the population because of the influx of migrant workers who also need food to survive and work the farms most efficiently to produce more food. This is further compounded by the fact that this immigration policy does not seem to account for diminishing marginal returns. Importing migrant labor is also subject to diminishing marginal returns which means that eventually the costs of importing labor will at some point be more expensive than the food that is being produced by that migrant labor. So, not only would there likely be a drop in available food for the work force as a result, but because migrant workers specifically would earn less than nationals in Donethal would, there is also an ever-increasing risk of starvation for the populace, and especially for the migrant workers. So, to pursue this policy would be to commit to an outcome that would be morally wrong according to a couple notable moral theories. Under consequentialism, “An action is right if and only if (and because) its consequences would be at least as good as the consequences of any alternative action that the agent might instead perform” (Timmons, 2011, p. 7). But there are other better alternatives in terms of the consequences they yield, particularly that of pursuing further specialization of resources and trading them in the international market for food imports which would be more cost efficient and sustainable. This would result in an outcome that is both economically and morally sound. Under deontological analysis, “An action is right if and only if (and because) the action treats persons (including oneself) as ends in themselves and not as mere means…. [or] An action is right if and only if one can both (a) consistently conceive of everyone adopting and acting on the general policy [or maxim] of one’s action, and also (b) consistently will that everyone act on that maxim” (Timmons, 2011, p. 16-17). Again, this policy would be morally wrong under this lens as well as it seems to treat migrant workers merely as means and not ends in and of themselves and potentially threaten their own well-being and survival, all of which would also be moral justification for an objection from a human rights perspective.

With all this said, we urge that your government please reconsider this policy. Thank you for your time and consideration.

Works Cited:

Timmons, M. (Ed.). (2011). Disputed moral issues: A reader. (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

by [enter name of person writing 2nd commentary]

[insert Commentary2 text]