Friday, July 21, 2006
Interview With Speaker Olorix of Antica
Warm greetings to all of my good friends. This week we look back on the interview I had with Speaker Olorix from The Republic of Antica.

In stark contrast to my visit with the Emperor of Alexandria just one week ago, Speaker Olorix's office was quite humble. It was a small room, with many books and papers. It seemed rather disorganized to me, but I am sure that the Speaker saw some order among the chaos. The office itself faced onto a street front, and for some reason, reminded me of how I'd always imagined 221B Baker Street to look like. As we sat next to each other for the interview, the environment certainly began to feel very intimate.

(HT = Haraldsborg Times, SO = Speaker Olorix)
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This first part reflects my talk with the man behind the Speaker - these are "out of character" questions.

HT: The split-up of the Dinarchy of Antica is one of the most interesting and, as some have said, brutal, division of a micronation in recent memory, if not ever. As for your part, why did the Dinarchy split and where did the idea for a Republic come from?

SO: I agree with you that the Dinarchy split was momentus in terms of wider micronational history, and from a personal point of view of many of the participants it was a pretty big event. To put it as simple as possible, I think the split in the Dinarchy was caused by Delphi becoming gradually more authoritarian, and indeed totalitarian, and the rest of us becoming more eager for reforms as his regime and activity in Antica gradually slid downwards.

The Republic emerged as an early alternative for those of us who wanted reform, but I was extremely wary of it personally, but nevertheless we all always did have it in the back of our minds that if the fight between us and Delphi destroyed the Dinarchy, we'd just have to move.

HT: Do you see Antica becoming the preeminent power of the sector in the near future, if not already? And how do you see your nation progressing in the near future, say the next 3-4 months?

SO: Well, I think Antica is currently the most powerful micronation in the sector in terms of activity continuously staying extremely high, us having a large citizenship base and MCS territory etc. With the breakdown of the old order of 'micronational superpowers' like the GC and Shireroth, which we had always predicted within the Non-Aligned Movement, I think Antica may be able to bring a new era of growth, peace and non-aggression to the decaying sector.

In terms of seeing our nation progressing, my dream is to turn Antica into a virtuous participant in diplomatic affairs by fostering tolerance and respect between nations, but more importantly, I want Antica internally to have 50 citizens, to have a clear and coherent political system, and to be a 'mutual knowledge society' where everyone is constantly helping each other to improve their skills (like programming and speaking languages) so that we can work and play "smarter."

HT: How did you discover micronations, and how long have you been an active participant?

SO: I guess it must've been late 2003, when via a link on a linguistics forum I used to be part of I signed up to the nation of 'Korhal' (that was subsequently merged into the Dinarchy of Antica). Delphi immediately contacted me after I signed up to the Korhal forums (which I had done a bit half-heartedly just out of interest) and managed to use some persuading powers to get me into Antica and I've been active since then!
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This is the "in character" portion of the interview - the reporter and the Speaker.

HT: It's great to be here in Antica today, Mister Speaker. Thank you for agreeing to this interview.

SO: Thank you too, comrade! It's hilarious to think that I am subject even worth interviewing.

HT: Even though you might not believe you are, I have been looking forward to this. I suspect you may turn out to be more interesting than you think.

HT: Now let's begin, shall we? First question: Some of my readers have said that Antica seems very free-spirited, even to the point of excess. With the birth of this "new" Antica, have you noticed any changes in the personalities of your comrades? Of course there are the politically-minded changes, but what about the way Anticans act and behave? Have some gone "over the top", in your opinion?

SO: I don't think that's the case at all. Antica values personal freedom a lot more than it used to, but we are not radical libertarians, though we do have a highly anti-authortarian streak that is very common to see around the forums. Anticans haven't really changed their behaviour much since the fall of the DInarchy, then again I guess politically we have become a lot more involved and a lot more innovative in our ideas, ones that we knew Delphi would have rejected and thus we never would have proposed them. Over the top? Early on, when people did not fully understand why we were founding our nation, some people did panic even at the slightest mention of any form of power or authority, but that's all gone now.

HT: There are people who see Antica as a sort of "club". While there are frequent visitors and such, you really haven't gained many new citizens. Those who carried over from the Dinarchy days have remained in power in one form or another, leaving anyone else out. Was there some sort of behind the scenes decision made at the formation of the Republic to stick together and only allow each other into positions of power?

SO: We have an extremely strong internal community, and are all good friends outside of micronations (with various meetups in real life frequently occuring in the United States), but we have gained great new citizens who have been fully integrated into the government, like Maggern, Vehendi, Baldwin, Yuri Zhivago, etc. We always said early on we wanted to have a more open society than the Dinarchy was, which resembled fascist italy in many ways with an INTERNAL spying agency that made sure citizens would follow Delphi's line, and thus we've always wanted to make Antica a great place for new and old micronationalists who want to be able to speak their mind and help create a free society and a strong community. I mean in my current cabinet, Aryez (who has been a citizen for a long time but never has been given any really powerful positions) has been appointed to Finance Officer, and Maggern (a migrant to the Republic) is Foreign Relations Officer, both hugely important parts of our government.

HT: Then how do you explain the very one-sided rule of Antica being placed in the hands of those who were once ranking members of the Dinarchy? While cabinet positions are nice, has there been one Speaker so far who wasn't a cross-over from the "old" Antica?

SO: Well Ruth wasn't really a ranking member of the Dinarchy and she has just finished her Speaker term. There are huge contests for elections, unlike in the Dinarchy where we used to rig them, as you all may have seen particularly with the second to last election, where there were four competitors and some major vote splitting. The Speaker position inherently requires for people to know your leadership and political skills, and it's the choice of the Antican people to elect the Speaker. If they decided that all of us old hands from the Dinarchy were bollocks, then they could get a new comrade into the the role, something I would love to see after my term is finished.

HT: You mentioned voting. Antica has several Political Parties. Hasn't the topic of such partisanship been heavily debated by Anticans since the inception of the Republic? Are you for or against Parties, and why?

SO: I'm slightly in favour of them, as long as they don't get too angry or unnecessarily partisan. I initially used the political parties to stimulate activity in the Republic and to get people creating new ideas for the nation, getting some innovation going on policy issues, etc. I think the current situation, where they are quite inactive but still there, is perhaps preferable at this time, as there isn't really a necessity for them in the current political situation where we have a highly innovative cabinet that plans on launching major reforms.

Parties should be allowed to form, but not to turn Antica into a partisan hack hole where people fight just because of the colour of their party flag and not because of their ideas. I think this is the general position on the issue of most Anticans.

HT: Do you feel that the Antican people take their Political Parties seriously, or is this an example of some using the chance at a public platform just to get their views out to a wider audience?

SO: Hmm. I think it's the latter, in that people have tried to use parties to get their own reputation up, and often they only become active during election time where people attempt to use the political parties to use the support base around the specific party to campaign/vote for them. I don't think Anticans, being quite independent, really take political parties that seriously, especially if they attempt to force them to vote along the lines dictated by the leadership! Part of our anti-authoritarian streak yet again.

HT: Recently, Antica has had a couple of chances to enter into rec-wars with allies. Unfortunately, your nation seems to come in at the very last moment, missing all the excitement. What were the reasons for Antica's delays in entering these rec-wars, and is this indicative of some fault in the Antican system which prevents you from reacting to hostilities in a more timely manner?

SO: I think that the current disorganisation of the military is to blame. This is one area I really want to improve, despite my own lack of support of recawarring, I believe it's really important to have a well-organised military structure that allows us to enter these conflicts a lot faster (if not when they begin/as co-organisers). But yes, these delays in my opinion are due to the lacklustre and highly disorganised 'citizen army' approach that we had been using until recently as our military policy.

And now for some questions from our readers. I admit that I am somewhat disappointed that only two Anticans submitted questions for you, but that's something you can feel free to berate them for once we're finished.

HT: This first question comes from an Antican who wishes to remain anonymous - but I am sure you will guess his or her identity anyway. The question: While it is common knowledge that you are from New Zealand, it is not common knowledge that you are a sexual deviant of the most disgusting type, an erotic traveller of the food chain. How do you respond to allegations from several highly placed micronational sources, that you have on more than one occassion had dealings with sheep and possibly other wildlife, that were less than decent? Do you have anything to say at all about your head-first dive into the world of beastiality?

SO: I am disgusted by this claim by a certain Antican communist, who is nothing more than an non-revisionist Stalinist who works as a play school attendant and shows no desires for adult women.

HT: In Star Trek: The Next Generation, there was an episode which featured an alien species called the "Anticans". Is this where the name for your nation originated? If not, then where did the name come from?

SO: Hahaha! I didn't know that actually, I'll have to tell everyone about that in Antica! It actually originated, according to Chris, when he was trying to think of a name for his con-world (Don't hit me Chris if I have this wrong) and crossed out the 'arct' in Antarctica.

HT: What is the most enjoyable position you've ever held in Antica?

SO: Probably Chancellor back in the Dinarchy during the golden age during late 2004, which gave me a huge amount of scope for policy development. These days I am enjoying the Speakership more or less thes ame though, just a little less power and ego gratification haha!

HT: Do you have a best or worst memory involving micronations?

SO: Hmm, probably my worst memory was the total breakdown of the Dinarchy, particularly when Delphi called me a traitor and a threat to Antican security etc. It was ridiculous, really, and it made me realise I had basically put a load of work into what had become one man's total dictatorship.

My best memory? Perhaps during the Dinarchial 'Golden Age' when the economy first started, when citizenship was really high, when we were basically all on a high from our own success, it was great and anyone else who was around at that time will remember the triumphalist speeches I was making, and I'm sure the general happiness of the period.

HT: During the upheaval of the revolution, etc - did you ever personally feel that the attempt to create a Republic would fail?

SO: Yes, most definitely. I thought it would fail, that Delphi would backdown and we'd all live happily ever after in a unified Antica. I realised after a couple of weeks that this situation was probably not going to happen, but I remained a dual citizen of both the Dinarchy and the Republic, I think the only person to have ever held both citizenships simultaneously.

HT: If most of the Antican citizenry is predominantly lefist, how come Antica is a liberal democracy, and the laws aren't particularly socialist or communist?

SO: Well I think a lot of Antica is on the anti-authoritarian left, and none of us (apart from myself) are actually active in real life left wing politics (my own politics are perhaps more centrist than people see online). It's a very good question though, and a question I sometimes ponder myself. I think a lot of us realise that socialism and other leftist ideologies are good in situations where there exists major poverty and social exclusion (as happens in the real world), whereas in Antica, there isn't really a need for socialism as there is not really an economic ruling class and a proletariat/mass working class.

Additionally, as many people will know, I define 'American Left' very differently to 'Rest of the World' left!

HT: Not too long ago you posted an essay on Micronational economies. While it is held by most that micronational economies are impossible - how do you feel personally? Is the idea of a functioning micronational economy doomed to failure?

SO: Not at all. The idea of a functioning micronational economy is perfectly plausible, and the Republic has one right now, if one merely looks at the work I started doing in my role last term as Finance Officer. We have the Government stimulating much of the economic development, true, which I think is necessary early on, but soon, I think everyone will begin to understand the fact that our economy (that uses a PHPbank) can offer so much, like standardising the exchange of images, essays, signatures, newspapers, etc. I honestly think that those who doubt that a micronational economy can exist need to have a talk to me, and I'll show them some evidence to prove that while micornational economies cannot buy as real life cars or get us real life American dollars, they CAN even help us outside of our micronational lives.

Thank you so much for seeing me today, Mister Speaker. I've enjoyed our talk very much, and hope to return again sometime to interview your successor.

Thank you very much, Comrade! I too have enjoyed the discussion, a bit of a trip down memory lane as it were, and hopefully your readers will find interesting facts within my comments. My successor? Well, that may never happen, if you know what I mean [laughs], but seriously, thank you again, and good luck with your journalistic endeavours!
 
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