The Summer of 2024
Venice - July 1, 2024
“I stand here before you to tell you a single voice can still make a difference,” Thierry said, “That we’ve come so far in the last eight years means something. We went from a small part on the fringes in 2016 to a genuine grassroots movement. And look at us now. We have pluralities or majorities in 60% of state legislatures, at least forty state governors, and a handful of national representatives and senators. The courts are starting to come around to us. Our single voices, our forgotten voices, made all this possible. We are the silent majority who have for far too long been ignored by the establishment in Berlin. But we didn’t give up. That our ideals are not always reflected in real life does not diminish them. It just drives us to make that reflection. It drives us to make our dream a reality. We should remember the world is still listening, even if the people in front of us are not. Speaking up matters.”
Heinrich, watching the speech from his family’s old villa, was drawn in by Thierry’s words. He heard Gertrude had written this speech, which didn’t surprise him. What did surprise him was the lack of references to the environment. Gertrude was always so fond of talking about the climate crisis. She’d even derailed an entire interview a while ago to talk about endangered puffins on the Faroes. Perhaps this was Emilio’s doing. The guy was always more concerned with the political side of things.
His attention drifted to a phrase Thierry mentioned. The “silent majority.” He remembered hearing that phrase elsewhere. His grandfather Nicholas had been fond of that phrase almost ninety years ago. In 1935, Senator Nicholas Dandolo was running for the chancellery against Markov Angelos. His speeches frequently denounced Angelos for violating Roman civil liberties and the spirit of meritocracy, but he also believed Otto was too restrained by Angelos to keep him in check. He spoke at length about expanding social programs for the common people as part of his “Every Man a Kaiser” program. As a result of the immense public works projects he carried out while governor of Italia and later senator, he gained massive public support, and he began referring to his base as the silent majority which secretly opposed Angelos. Perhaps he could’ve defeated Angelos and taken back the chancellery, preventing what would happen in the coming war. But that never happened. Angelos had Nicholas assassinated that year and used his death as a pretense to suspend examinations indefinitely. Heinrich hoped Thierry, with all of his rhetoric sounding similar to Nicholas’, wouldn’t end up the same way.
“If wealth was stairs, standard stairs about 5 inches high each, and everyone in the Reich walked up the stairs one stair at a time, each stair representing a hundred thousand marks of wealth...” Thierry continued. “The bottom 10% take a step back off the landing with minus a thousand marks on average. Fifty percent stay put and don’t even take any step. The next 10% of people take 1 step. The next 10% of people take 2 steps. If you’ve been following along, that’s 70% of the population who are at or below step 2. The next 10% go 5 steps. That's 80%. The next 10% go about 11 steps. That's 90%. The next 5% go 23 steps. That's 95%. The next 4% go 103 steps. Now at this point you're at the 100%, and wealth stops making sense. For example, if you take one step per second, everyone we just talked about could basically hold their breath and walk up the stairs. But let’s go to the top. Theodor Tesla is the wealthiest person in the country. He stands on step 1,540,000. At 5 inches per step, that's 7700000 inches, or 121 miles high. He's literally walked up the stairs into the definition of outer space... twice. At one second per step, he's walked for nearly 18 days straight to get to that point. Doesn’t that sound ridiculous? Especially when our economy is like this?”
Wasn’t Theodor one of Thierry’s allies? He wasn’t going to like this one bit. The man had spent the last ten or so years pulling the family business out of the chaos Wilhelm Tesla left it in, and now it sounded like Thierry was going to take his money away again. It did sound thematically in line with the rest of the speech, but Thierry sounded like he just shot himself in the foot. He even looked uncomfortable saying that. Maybe he didn’t expect to say that. But by then he couldn’t have backed down. No doubt the press were given copies of the speech beforehand and would wonder why parts were cut. What was Gertrude thinking writing the speech like this?
Brandenburg Palace - July 17
Elias sipped his glass of wine.
“Ah, I had no idea Israeli wine was so good,” he said.
“You should expand your horizons, Elias,” Wilhelm Karl said.
“With the Burgundian wineries burned to ashes, I really don’t have a choice, do I?” Elias said.
The two men laughed. Secretly, Elias was a little sad. Those wineries were the pride of the nation and had been destroyed after a particularly nasty drought and wildfire season. As good as Israeli wine was, Burgundian was still something else. He wouldn’t be drinking it for a while.
“I can’t believe we got this far,” Elias said, “Five years ago, Emilio ran that ad. I didn’t think we’d recover so quickly.”
“You did travel all over the country doing things,” Wilhelm Karl said, “The people have remembered what you did for them.”
“I guess,” Elias said, “I didn’t think we’d get this influential so quickly.”
He really didn’t expect to be this successful going into the campaign season. All he’d done was go around planting trees and signing deals for the Brotherhood. Gertrude gave a few speeches and had that particularly funny interview about the puffins. Maybe that’s what endeared the public to them. Puffins were cute little birds after all. Gertrude told him their merchandise involving puffins had sold out in recent weeks. A welcoming sign even as the stock market continued its lackluster performance.
“Don’t look a gift horse in the mouth,” Wilhelm Karl said, “What matters is you got here and you can capitalize on it.”
“Believe me, we are,” Elias said.
“I take it you’re back with CB now?” Wilhelm Karl said.
“Yep,” Elias said, “Though I haven’t been talking with Thierry much.”
“A shame,” Wilhelm Karl said, “You have a lot to offer.”
It was more on Thierry’s side. The man still blamed him for the disastrous ad campaign in 2020, even if it was all Emilio’s doing. He’d given up on trying to convince him otherwise. What he was focused on was making sure the party succeeded, even if Thierry might disagree with his plans and methods.
“Yeah,” Elias said, “I’ve been dealt a bad hand. But you know what they say. If you don't like the way the table is set, turn over the table. Applies to all sorts of situations.”
Especially himself. He had a particularly big table to flip.
Kinshasa, Loango - July 25
Jacob paced around the stage.
“Even when our economy isn’t doing well, there are a lot of people more concerned about being precisely, factually, and semantically correct than about being morally right,” he explained, “That’s what the party cartel specializes in. When someone steps out of line and musters the courage to say the right thing, they pounce on them and ‘cancel’ them with allegations of being politically incorrect. They want to police our thoughts and words. They say Africa is an integral part of the Reich, but they ignore us while still policing us. How did that old saying go? No taxes without being represented? Yeah...looks like they forgot that. But no more. Join us, and we can take down the party cartel. With CB in power, we promise Africa and its people will get the representation they deserve.”
“Boo!” someone shouted.
Jacob stopped. “Excuse me?”
“Boo! You don’t represent us!”
Oh great, it was another heckler. There had been so many of them at his latest protests, although they weren’t as bad as when Elias was speaking.
“Uh, could you elaborate on that?” Jacob cautiously asked.
A man in the back stood up.
“You can’t represent us,” he said.
“And why is that?” Jacob said.
“You don’t respect our beliefs,” the man said.
“Actually, we welcome everyone to join us regardless of their beliefs,” Jacob said.
“Yeah, I know you say that, but the implication is you only accept Abrahamic believers,” the man said.
Wait a minute...was this guy...
“It’s in your name too!” the man said. “You represent the real party cartel, the Abrahamic cartel that had been ruling this country for centuries!”
Oh no.
“Uh, I don't think I’m qualified to discuss this,” Jacob said.
“For thousands of years, the true faith had been oppressed by the worshippers of the one god!” the man said, dramatically shaking his fist to an almost comical extent, “But our time has come after so long! Athena has smiled upon us today!”
Oh come on. It was these guys again. They were always a nuisance in his neighborhood growing up. He thought he’d gotten away from them, but apparently not.
“Sir, this is a scheduled campaign event and you’re interrupting it,” Jacob said, “You’re free too proselytize down the street if you want, but I’m going to have to ask you to leave. Or I’ll call security and make you leave.”
“Aha!” the man said. “See how the worshippers of the one god oppress me! They intend to silence the true faith and the true believers. All they want is a country for the one god and only the one god, nothing more. But Athena knows the truth. You can silence me, but you can’t silence all of us! Soon, our time will come. Mercury will spread the word, and Zeus will destroy you all with his divine lightning! It makes no difference if you laugh at us or revile us. The main thing is you mention us and concern yourselves with us again and again. We will rise!”
“Security?” Jacob said.
Security guards escorted the man out.
“I apologize for that interruption,” Jacob said, “I never intended to silence that man, but I’m trying to shout over me, he ended up trying to silence me. Hopefully he can return and be more civil in the future. I would love to hear his concerns. We are, after all, all God’s children, whether we believe in Him or not.”
Makó, Carpathia- July 27
Anders awkwardly held the Josef Pulitzer Prize for the cameras to see. He was a little shy when it came to awards ceremonies or posing in front of cameras, but he wasn’t about to back down. This was a momentous occasion. The Carpathian newspaper publisher would’ve at least wanted that from him. He had won the prize for a particular article he’d recently written about the Mongol bot networks who had gone after Theresa. It was a tough assignment, but he persisted. And as a result, the network responsible had been shut down with the help of Livonian national cybersecurity teams. It was a few years overdue, but better late than never, he believed.
“Herr Humboldt!” a reporters said. “What are your thoughts on how this whole affair ended?”
“I’m just glad we got justice in the end,” Anders said.
“What do you think of Wilhelm Karl’s alleged involvement in the incident?” another asked.
“Honestly, that is just speculation at this point and I’d rather not go there,” Anders said.
“Even with your past history of doubling down on speculation?” another asked. “Wasn’t that how Sentinel was exposed?”
“Yes, but at least that had some evidence I could investigate,” Anders said.
“Then why aren’t you investigating the Kaiser?” another asked. “There are plenty of leads you can look at.”
“Look, I’m not about to do that,” Anders said, “I need more evidence before I can actually begin an investigation which I should remind you would not be announced in advance. But let me make this clear. Crown Prince Franz Ferdinand once said to announce that there must be no criticism of the Throne, or that we are to stand by the Throne, right or wrong, is not only unpatriotic and servile, but is morally treasonable to the Roman public. I am more than willing to investigate the Kaiser if I have enough evidence he may be involved. As a reporter and as a Roman citizen, it is my first duty and responsibility to always question authority. I’ve lived by that mantra my entire life.”
“Does that make you unpatriotic?” a Schmitz reporter asked.
“No, in fact I think it’s patriotic,” Anders said, “Patriotism means to stand by your country. It does not mean to stand by the Kaiser or any other public official, save exactly to the degree in which they stand by the country. It is patriotic to support the Kaiser insofar as he efficiently serves the country. It is unpatriotic to unquestionably support him at all times. It is unpatriotic to not tell the truth, whether about the president or anyone else. Remember that old saying, my country right or wrong? Nowadays people use it to say you should be always loyal to the government no matter what. They forget the second line of that phrase. The whole thing is: ‘my country right or wrong, right to keep it right, and wrong to set it on the right path’. Patriotism is supporting your country all the time, and your government when it deserves it. I would like you all to remember that.”
“What about the rumored budget cuts to Die Zeiten?” another reporter asked. “In the wake of Schmitz buying a majority stake in the company and the recent economic downturn, there are rumors the newspaper may be downsized in the coming months.”
“I don’t know if those rumors are valid, but let me make this clear,” Anders said, “Especially in the age of the Internet and global news, print media and local news remain important. Many people don't understand how important what happens in their community is to them and how it affects their lives until it's gone. Local reporters are the only ones who are going to go to your kid's baseball games. They're the only ones who are going to cover lifeguard training. They're the only ones who are going to cover your local examinations and elections and tell you exactly who’s running and what they stand for. Die Zeiten has many local editions which cover exactly these topics, and I would hate to see them go. They do us all a public service. And in an age where almost anyone can post any falsehood online, as my friend Theresa experienced several years ago, it is refreshing to see print media and local news keeping us informed and up to date with what’s happening. We need them now more than ever."
Malaga - July 29
After finishing her speech, Gertrude left the auditorium and went to the reception hall, where drinks and snacks were served. The audience began leaving, and she smiled as they passed her and her table of signed books and campaign flyers.
“I hope you enjoyed the speech,” she said.
“Did I?” an older man said. “Honestly, I expected you to be like Merkel but you two are miles apart on everything! You really do care about our issues.”
“Uh, thanks,” Gertrude said, “I’m glad you liked what I had to say.”
“I was told you were hyperpartisan like Senator Cruz,” a college student said, “But you’re nothing like him. Guess I was wrong to judge you before listening to you.”
“We should all make sure to remain open to new ideas,” Gertrude said.
“By the way, what happened to Cruz anyways?” the student said. “It’s like he disappeared one day nine years ago. Sentinel was leaked, and he didn’t show up to work the next day.”
“I think he died,” Gertrude said, “Not sure myself. But when we’re in power we’ll make sure to release the relevant files.”
The crowd laughed.
“You seem like a real doll,” the older man said, “Can I say that?”
“I’m touched,” Gertrude said.
“I don’t know how you do it, but you make all of your complex policy proposals sound simple and interesting,” a woman said, “Housing, child care, antitrust measures, student debt, how to get the current economy back up again...”
“Don’t forget the climate crisis,” Gertrude said.
“How could I not?” the woman said. “That’s your cornerstone.”
“And I have a plan for that as well,” Gertrude said.
The crowd laughed again. “I have a plan for that” had recently become her catchphrase. She always thought it sounded corny and silly, but she couldn’t change it now.
“Look, I want to fix the systems in this country so they work for all of us people, not just the party cartel and their corporate backers,” Gertrude said, “If we want real change in this country, it has to be systemic change. We have to tell the party cartel...”
“ENOUGH IS ENOUGH!” the crowd shouted.
Now there was a catchphrase she liked.
“They think I’m weak,” she continued, “No, they are mistaken. I may be meek at times, but do not mistake my meekness for weakness. Because I am certainly not weak.”
Karlsruhe - July 30
Jared finished “We Will Triumph,” his latest song and the theme song of the SPR campaign. He stepped back, and the crowd cheered.
“Thank you, thank you!” Jared said. “I never thought I’d be here, playing to all of you. Its thanks to all of you that I’m here. It’s a testament to the Roman Dream and what the united will of the people can achieve. Now, it’s time for the main event. It’s my pleasure to introduce our next chancellor, Andrea Nahles!”
Andrea, a middle aged woman, walked onstage and waved to the crowd. There was applause, but not as much as when Jared was playing.
“Uh, hello,” Andrea said, “I appreciate you all turning out today. This year has proven to be a difficult one for all of us. The economy has been in a slump recently. People are tearing apart our institutions. We are still grappling with the fallout from the Sentinel scandal. Merkel is still in office. It is clear she is unfit to keep leading this nation. We need new leadership. I intend to provide that new leadership.”
Jared couldn’t help but feel sleepy as he listened to Andrea drone on and on. She wasn’t particularly popular with her base after a particularly nasty insurrection she waged against Schröder during his administration. She wasn’t Jared’s preferred candidate either. He had hoped PMS would lead the left-wing coalition, but the SPR retained control due to its seniority. But she knew the political world better than anybody in the party, and as party leader she was responsible for the SPR’s recovery after Schulz’s death. There was a chance she could stand up to Merkel. Her running mate, Vice Chancellor and Finance Minister Olaf Scholz, was much more charismatic and competent than Andrea, but he had his own issues. People jokingly called him “Scholz-omat” for his robotic voice and mannerisms. Jared has no idea how a man as stiff and monotone as Olaf could be so charismatic. But there was no other choice. This was the SPR’s ticket, and he would do his best to put them in office. Even if they were frankly mediocre politicians and people.