Chapter 453: The 99%
As the first decade of the 21st century closed, Merkel and the CMU, which had just united with the other center-right parties in a super-bloc to counter those formed by the KRA and SPR, geared up for a bloody examination season. Merkel knew her opponents would use the financial crisis as a weapon against her, so she decided to get ahead of them and start her campaign early. It was hardly groundbreaking, as the precedent had been established long ago. Ever since Kohl’s first term, chancellors had begun their campaigns almost as soon as examination season began. It was technically legal too.
Merkel’s campaign focused on her bailout packages, which arguably averted the complete meltdown of the world financial system, and stimulus programs, which she announced for the sole purpose of saving millions of jobs. However, the average Roman did not care much about the health of the world financial system. And many, particularly those in the former Occupied Territories, had lost their jobs, especially after Russia filed for bankruptcy again (the twelfth time since the end of World War III) and applied for bailouts from the IMF and the Reich. The SPR and KRA capitalized on this anger, hoping to get their support, but they were also considered part of the problem. Fringe parties surged in popularity, soon becoming effectively mainstream. While the government continued suppressing genuine equalist or neo-Angeloi movements, the most growth was found in religious right movements, which had been ignored. Fiery preachers pounded podiums in front of their congregations and on live TV, denouncing the “shameless exploitation” of the big corporations and the government, both for their greed and their lack of welfare programs, and the “godlessness and sinfulness” of society for which God was now punishing them.
Other countries adapted to the financial crisis and recession in unique ways. In Southeast Asia, where the 1997 financial crisis had created the conditions which caused the current crisis, political leaders met in Saigon on a joint solution to their troubles. Realizing they could not dig their way out of the recession on their own without an economy as massive as the Reich’s, they decided to join forces and strengthen ASEAN. The first order of business was to reduce trade barriers between ASEAN members and establish a customs union which would encourage cross-border business. Next would be the establishment of a common ASEAN financial oversight agency responsible for coordinating the finances and economics of all ASEAN members (though of course each member was ultimately responsible for policy implementation). The third and most radical step, proposed by Vietnam, was the establishment of a single currency, officially known as the Asian Currency Unit and informally as the Srivijayan Tien (after the medieval Southeast Asian maritime power and Vietnam’s currency), shared by all ASEAN members. Only Qiandao endorsed this step, officially adopting the Srivijayan Tien on February 9, 2009. No other country was willing to take the step yet, owing to their precarious financial situations. Nusantara was especially troublesome, as it did not want to adopt a currency named after Vietnam’s, even if the official name was still Asian Currency Unit. The two countries, while still officially allies and major trading partners, had traded blows recently over fishing rights in the South China Sea and competed for leadership of ASEAN.
In July, examination season officially began at the beginning of the month, and Merkel and the CMU had already gotten a huge head start, having raised millions of marks in donations already. However, their numbers continued slipping in the polls. In spite of the backlash against all mainstream parties in the east and lingering memories of the Schröder administration everywhere else, most of the Reich turned back to the SPR and the progressive Greens, which ran on a popular platform of financial regulation, expansion of employee protections, and punishments for the big banks, in addition to their strong stance on climate change.
Of course, three weeks in, Die Zeiten conveniently published a story alleging numerous abuses of power by the SPR and its supporters, involving several major unions. Among these abuses included a union-led protest which subsequently escalated into violence (after it was attacked by neo-Angeloi counter-protesters), several prominent citizens alleging union blackmail, and SPR clerks and assistants being paid less than minimum wage. But this “scandal” barely slowed down the SPR and several days later was overshadowed by China returning Baikonur to Turkestan after the expiration of its lease there and its decision not to renew (to cut back on spending and help the economy recover from the financial crisis).
When New Year’s Day arrived, it was no surprise the SPR and its allies swept to a plurality in the Reichstag and a majority in the Reichsrat. It was a landslide for the CMU and its coalition, the likes of which nobody had expected considering the economic situation, the energy of the left, and the backlash against the right. But the SPR’s fortunes ended there. The traditionalists and populists surged in the polls, flipping many seats traditionally held by the SPR in industrial and agrarian regions. As a result, although the SPR had won the most points of any individual party, the CMU and other right-leaning parties earned more combined points in the examination. Against Merkel’s wishes, the CMU leadership, wanting to keep the SPR out of power, signed a deal with Freie Waehler, Politische Christlicher, and the Athosian Party, among other moderate populist and traditionalist parties, to form a right-wing government, as opposed to a center-right one as in previous CMU administrations.
This decision was heavily criticized by moderates, left-leaning politicians, and Merkel as “pandering to the far right.” But she pressed on. Negotiations with the other party leaders were promising as well. The leaders of Freie Waehler, whose name meant “Free Voters” in a nod to its support for the introduction of democratic elections at some levels of if not all of the national and state governments, did not ask for any such reforms to be added to the CMU platform while also declaring their full support for Merkel’s financial regulation policies, job creation initiatives, and stimulus packages. The platforms of Politische Christlicher and the Athosian Party strongly focused on an expansion of welfare programs, especially for the poor, and on combating climate change, along with a renewed focus on the Reich’s Christian traditions. In exchange for throwing their support behind Merkel’s welfare reforms and climate change initiatives, their leaders didn’t ask much of Merkel aside from making a symbolic statement about the religious importance of Christmas and proposing a debate on voluntary school prayers (promising to respect the outcome, even if it didn’t go in their favor).
Before the new Diet was seated on February 2, Merkel used the old Diet to force through two treaties she knew her emboldened opponents would shoot down. In quick succession, the Reich became a contributor to the Green Climate Fund and a signatory to the renewed Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. The hard right complained loudly about this, but with the religious right all in favor, there wasn’t much they could do.
However, an unexpected development would force her back to the negotiation table. Freie Waehler unexpectedly dissolved itself just hours before its members were supposed to take their seats. The reason was unclear, but the news outlets and general public had an idea of what could have happened. During the coalition negotiations, some Freie Waehler party leaders had complained they were allying with the party they had split off from and putting aside their desire for democratic reform, thus betraying their party’s ideals. Others thought the party was too moderate, while others thought it was too extreme. And a few believed the CMU or some other right-leaning party was a better ideological fit for them than Freie Waehler.
The collapse of Freie Waehler meant Merkel’s largest coalition partner, controlling 12% of the Reichstag’s seats, had just disappeared, dropping her coalition down to 41%. Neary all of its members were disillusioned with the CMU and HF’s policies. Conservative members who wanted financial regulations and welfare reform joined moderate traditionalist parties such as Politische Christlicher and the Athosian Party. Those on the hard right joined the PBC, SIR, and FC. The few who were genuine supporters of democratic reform joined the Pirate Party, a strange center-left libertarian party popular among younger Romans.
With less than 24 hours before the new Diet was to be sworn in, a crisis of government ensued. The current coalition could not be sworn in because one of its members no longer existed. If the Diet was sworn in without a coalition, Merkel risked presiding over a minority government consisting of only the CMU, CSU, and HF, and it would become much harder to negotiate a coalition after February 2.
Merkel quickly extended an offer to the KRA and SPR, but they refused to work with her, still bitter over the campaign. The Greens likewise declined. With the opposition refusing to work with her, she was forced to look back on the right. The only factions she could ask now were the populists and the religious right. A few populists agreed to join the coalition with few demands, but it wouldn’t be enough to gain a majority. Although Politische Christlicher and the Athosian Party both remained in the coalition without asking for more concessions, Merkel now had to ask the other religious right parties to join. FC, SIR, and PBC were all extended offers. All three parties accepted, but with some concessions. Merkel found most of the concessions acceptable, harmless, or even already mainstream at worst:
- Proposing the restoration of “Gott mit uns” as an official national motto.
- Subsidies for religious schools. Loosening of education laws to allow all schools (including religious schools) to set their own curriculums based on local cultural traditions, while still following national guidelines. More parental choice in deciding which school to go to and what programs to opt into/out of. A massive increase in spending for places in preschools on the national level. Investment in education should also be increased on the higher levels: 1 billion marks more for vocational schools and 200 million marks more for adult education.
- Hiring more chaplains for the military, especially for overseas troops.
- A minimum wage of at least 8.50 marks per hour, to be at least doubled over the next decade.
- Continued anti-drug education initiatives. Neutrality on marijuana legalization. Funding for research studies on the dangers (and potential benefits) of marijuana. Criminal punishments to be (on average) reduced in time and severity. More funding for law enforcement to crack down on black market drugs and smuggling operations from Russia, the Baltics, and Yavdi.
- Re-regulation of international finance, including capital controls, and increased scrutiny of financial derivatives to prevent a repeat of the 2008 crash and recession. Curbing corporate tax evasion through compulsory financial reporting and clamping down on tax havens. Expanded tax breaks and exemptions for religious nonprofits, including those not directly affiliated with the Church. Stronger regulations of the pharmaceutical industry and support for importing Scandinavian/Kanatan/Indian drugs to lower drug prices.
- An end to splitting the incomes of married couples for taxation purposes.
- Better welfare initiatives for the poor, including more government funding for orphanages, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, food stamp programs, unemployment checks, the Imperial Health Service, and job search assistance. Passage of laws allowing and encouraging religious nonprofits to partner with the government and private companies to provide such services.
- Greater focus on combating climate change. Low-carbon infrastructure redevelopment in order to create jobs. Gradual implementation of a carbon tax. Financial incentives for green investment and reduced energy usage, including low interest rates for green investment. Government-led investment in energy and resource efficiency, as well as reusable energies and microgeneration. A directed tax on the profits of oil and gas companies with proceeds being invested in renewable energy and energy efficiency. An immediate halt to construction or operation of all nuclear power stations. Promotion of renewable energy and a comprehensive program of energy conservation. Electricity generation increased to 100 percent renewable sources by as early as 2040.
- A switch from a traveling allowance to a mobility allowance, which is paid regardless of income to all employees, replacing company car privileges. The truck toll will act as a climate protection instrument internalizing the external costs of transport. Promotion of railway transit in order to achieve desired environmental objectives and the comprehensive care of customers. The railway infrastructure is to remain permanently in the public sector, allowing a reduction in expenditure on road construction infrastructure. Control of privileges on kerosene and for international flights, including introduction of an air ticket levy. Reduction of national speed limits on the highways to 75 mph and country roads to 50 mph. Market incentive and funding for a research program of 500 million marks annually to ensure that by 2020 there are at least two million electric cars on Roman roads.
Her majority saved in time for the new Diet session, Merkel barely got ten days of rest before she got even worse news coming out of India’s restless east. Bengal had been India’s industrial heartlands since the 1800s. While Vietnam’s steam engines, China’s coal, and the Reich’s innovative spirit started the Industrial Revolution, it was Indian textiles, primarily from Bengal, that were first produced by modern factories, ensuring the Industrial Revolution continued. However, Bengal’s industry had been trashed in the two world wars. After World War II, China occupied Bengal and the rest of eastern India, redirecting its industry to fuel the Chinese war machine and domestic recovery (but mostly the military). Naturally, this angered millions of Indians, even after eastern India was returned to India. The Nehrus pursued a laissez-faire style economic policy, cutting subsidies, lowering wages, easing worker’s protections, and deregulating certain industries to encourage growth. This only fanned the flames of dissent, culminating in several equalist-leaning Indian generals, mainly those from Bengal, assassinating Indira Nehru in 1984 and attempting a coup, which failed. Later Indian governments backtracked on deregulation but began passing environmental regulations which forced many plants in Bengal to shut down or downsize, continuing dissent in the region. It was into this situation the Naxalites came.
The Naxalites derived their name from the village of Naxalbari in Bengal. There, the Equalist Party of India, with Soviet support, attempted an uprising against the Indian government in 1967. The Naxalites vowed to take up armed struggle to redistribute land to the working class and attacked landowners and sharecroppers near Naxalbari. When the police arrived to arrest the Naxalites, the Naxalites ambushed and killed them. The movement quickly spread, despite Empress Sita ordering Indira Nehru to implement left-leaning reforms to appease them (many of these reforms were overturned within a year). After the collapse of the Soviet Commune in World War III, the Naxalites retreated into the Bengalese countryside and covertly recruited new members from Bengal’s factories, rebuilding their ranks and plotting revenge. Knowing with the permanent end of Soviet support they had only one shot at overthrowing the Indian government, they bided their time and built up their weapons stockpiles. Naxalites infiltrated Indian military divisions in Bengal and were appointed to leadership roles in eastern cities like Allahabad, where the EPI had been founded and its majority Muslim communities were very receptive to Naxalite diatribes against alleged continued state-supported Islamophobia. Throughout the 21st century and especially in 2010, Naxalites began “lone wolf” bombings and assassinations throughout Bengal. On February 11, the EPI leadership, believing it was time, issued a statement denouncing the “Delhi capitalists,” calling the Naxalites to war.
In Allahabad, the EPI, now referring to itself as the Indian Union Party, declared the establishment of the Federative Socialist Union of Communes of the Working People’s Democratic Republic of India, also known simply as the Union of India and alternatively as the United Indian Communes. The EPI declared a so-called constitution abolishing the aristocracy and private property and setting up what should have been a federal democratic republic. In this system, locals would vote for local EPI officials who would vote for representatives in the EPI who would elect a council of seven EPI party leaders who would run everything. The constitution guaranteed the same rights the Indian Basic Law also provided, like protection of speech, association, and religion, and abolition of the caste system (which had already been abolished anyways and was never the rigid social hierarchy the Naxalites claimed it was). Of course, since the EPI controlled all levels of the political process already, the Party decided to do away with the fiction of democracy and just rule by decree. The EPI would also control the distribution of food, supplies, and currency. Furthermore, EPI leaders would run the Union of India’s military, which was made up of disorganized and decentralized Naxalite militias more loyal to their village or town than to the Party itself.
The EPI’s “constitution” also contained a “section on ethics.” This section was just one sentence long and stated the Party’s goal was to take up the torch of equalism dropped by the Soviets and “burn down capitalism everywhere.” Conveniently, the Equalist Party of Afghanistan (not affiliated with the EPI) launched a small-scale insurrection in the Afghan countryside. The EPI took credit for the uprising, although they were in no position to help out.
The Indian government reacted as anybody would expect. The chancellor ordered a full military mobilization and declared martial law in Bengal. Naxalite militias seized important towns and cities throughout Bengal and the neighboring states. The Naxalite-allied government of Allahabad outright declared its loyalty to the rebellion, becoming the EPI’s capital. The initial government response, led primarily by local law enforcement, was tepid and weak. The Indian military had not fought a major land conflict since 1986. Most army divisions had been mothballed or demobilized. The few which remained on active duty were busy patrolling the Chinese border in the Himalayas or peacekeeping in Burma. The energized Naxalites inflicted heavy casualties on government forces. The army’s retreat became a rout. Within a week, the EPI had taken Orissa and swept into Central India. Ironically, though, the Indian Army, with support from Roman divisions stationed in India, simultaneously retook most of Bengal. Coastal provinces under Naxalite control were immediately blockaded by the Indian Navy, which remained loyal to the Indian government, and no-fly zones were enforced.
The unexpected outbreak of the Indian Civil War sent massive shockwaves through the international community. A major economic power and Security Council member was now in a state of civil war. The UN Security Council immediately issued a statement condemning the Naxalite rebellion. Although China pledged to help India put down its rebellion, Nanjing was paralyzed by a fourth year of political gridlock. Although the ruling Guomindang Party controlled 75% of the seats in the Legislative Yuan, Chancellor Ma Yingjiu was as surrounded by controversy as his predecessor. Fuxingyundong legislators questioned Ma for his possession of a Roman permanent resident card. Ma denied having such a green card, but public records showed not only did his entire family apply for green cards in the past, but his sisters and daughter also held Roman citizenship. The Fuxingyundong thus questioned Ma’s loyalty to China. Ma was also criticized for his environmental policy while mayor of Hong Kong, when he built a gondola and a sports arena which caused immense damage to local forests. Finally, a typhoon hit Taiwan and the southern Chinese coast in 2009, killing 673 and causing 3.3 billion marks in damages. Ma faced extreme criticism for his government’s slow response to the typhoon and having only deployed two thousand soldiers to affected regions. Determined not to be criticized again, Ma quickly sent advisers to help the Indians and unexpectedly agreed to sign a previously stalled treaty demilitarizing the Himalayan border. However, the Fuxingyundong still criticized him for demilitarizing the Indian border, again questioning his loyalty to China.
Other countries reacted differently. Burma and Nepal closed their borders, fearing the inevitable influx of Indians refugees (who did come, despite their best efforts). Investors around the world panicked, fearing their investments in India were in danger. Stocks in Indian-based companies and trade goods plummeted. Most countries stopped receiving exports from India, while Roman defense contractors made a fortune selling weapons to the Indian military.
The Diet’s response to the war was mixed. The CMU and SPR were both in favor of sending aid to India, while the KRA wanted nothing to do with the war, as was tradition. The populists wanted to carpet-nuke all Naxalite-held territory, particularly “Muslim-infested” Allahabad (which they called Prayagraj, a name borrowed from neo-Rasa organizations), the religious right wanted to investigate the Roman military for similar equalist subversion, and the Pirate Party just wanted to sell marijuana to both sides. For her part, Merkel wanted to focus on domestic issues, but the war dominated the news cycles.
The traditionalist parties, aware of their leverage, approached Merkel in different ways. The moderate Politische Christlicher and Athosian Party continued unconditionally supporting Merkel under their current arrangement. The more radical parties threatened to withhold support for her proposed Equality Act, the cornerstone of her administration’s reform agenda which would make it illegal for employers to discriminate against their employees, unless she provided funding for the military investigation. By now, changes in party compositions had given the radicals greater sway in the coalition, enough to deny Merkel a majority. After meeting with Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl, she reluctantly conceded.
The Equality Act passed on May 2 including a loophole allowing employers to claim exemption from the act on religious grounds. The Diet then formed a Committee for Military Preparedness to look into alleged equalist subversion of the military. While the committee found no such subversion, several hundred soldiers and officers were coincidentally dishonorably discharged for unrelated matters like homosexuality, complaining about sexual assault by their superiors, alleging religious discrimination (but Christian soldiers who claimed religious discrimination against non-Christian officers retained their ranks, and the officers were discharged), and not cooperating with the committee (many ironically claiming they could not because of religious reasons). Both the Equality Act and the military investigation were received with significant criticism in the press and public, who directed their anger at Merkel for letting such a badly written law pass the Diet and for spending millions of marks on an investigation which turned up nothing.
Despite the traditionalists’ fears, the Naxalites and the EPI never had a chance of overthrowing the Indian government. The Indian Army entered Allahabad on August 4 after a prolonged artillery assault which killed most of the EPI’s leadership. The last Naxalite-held city fell on December 28. This was shortly followed by one last message from the surviving EPI leadership announcing their surrender and for all Naxalites to stand down. The Indian Civil War was over in just ten months. But in those ten months, tens of millions of Indians had been killed and millions more fled. Many Indian refugees fled north to Nepal, as the Naxalites controlled almost all of the Indian-Nepalese border but were unable to enforce it. By the end of the year, Kathmandu’s population had doubled.
The new year dawned with India beginning its slow road to recovery. While the Naxalites had been defeated, the scars of the equalist insurgency remained. Most of eastern India, except Bengal ironically, lay in ruins, crippling India’s industry. Trust in the Indian government fell to an all-time low as citizens blamed Delhi for not noticing and neutralizing the Naxalites sooner. Chancellor Vajpayee and his entire administration would be forced out of office in the next national examination, with his party losing over half of its seats in the Sansad Bhawan. The Indian economy, which already had to deal with the implosion of the east and the destruction of India’s industrial heartland, also had to consider how to move forward and not repeat the same mistakes that created the Naxalites in 1967. And the world economy, which already suffered extensive damage from the financial crisis of 2008, now had to deal with the shock of a major creditor nation and financial center undergoing a civil war. Russia couldn’t handle the strain and declared bankruptcy for the thirteenth time. In any case, Merkel’s troubles were the least of anybody’s worries. The SPR retained its majority in the upper house, and its leadership promised to stonewall any further legislation the religious right tried to push through. By now Politische Christlicher and the Athosian Party had distanced themselves from the military investigation and the Equality Act fiasco, insisting they wanted to focus on welfare reform, financial regulations, and climate change initiatives such as the Copenhagen Accord. Even when they had entered government for the first time, the religious right parties appeared be turning on each other.
While she waited for the other nations to make amendments and sign the agreement, Merkel received sad news from Blachernae and was forced to pivot from climate change temporarily. Kaiserin Victoria Louise, Otto’s wife and consort since the 1920s, had passed away in her sleep. She was 100. With her death, the last member of the Maximist branch of the Hohenzollerns, whose line stretched back to Prince Maximilian in the 1790s, was gone. The Maximists, who had a significant influence on the Reich’s history in the last two hundred years, were no more.
After declaring a month of national mourning, the Kaiser retreated to his private quarters in Blachernae to mourn, where he received no visitors. He made few remarks to his staff, briefly saying in between a torrent of tears her death left a void in his life which would never be filled. In contrast, when confronted at his vacation home in the Aegean Sea, Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl said, without a tear on his face, “No comment.” His dislike for his mother, who he frequently clashed with and complained always liked Elisabeth Alexandra and Georg more, was well known, but this was on a different level. He even pressured his staff to hold off lowering the Roman flag to half-staff for a whole week.
Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl’s indifference over his mother’s death pushed an already restless Roman public over the edge. Students at the various Imperial Universities, particularly those at Imperial University Tel Aviv, occupied campus buildings in protest against budget cuts, tuition hikes, staff cutbacks resulting from the recession, and the behavior of the crown prince. Rallying around the slogan “Occupy Everything, Demand Nothing,” the “Occupy” movement quickly spread throughout the Reich. Students and faculty in Athens occupied parts of the Autobahn leading into downtown to protest Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl’s return from his Aegean island. Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl responded by ordering the police to arrest everybody, but the police generally refused. That didn’t stop other police agencies in other Länders from breaking up similar protests.
The movement spread to Scandinavia in May with camps set up in Stockholm, Malmo, Copenhagen, and Oslo by Kanatan native rights activists. By the end of the month, there were hundreds of camps around Scandinavia, Kanata, and around the world. On May 30, a prominent Nahua activist called for a worldwide protest in November and December. The Scandinavian-based group Adbusters Media Foundation, best known for its anti-advertisement magazine Adbusters, proposed a peaceful occupation of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange at Borsenplatz to protest corporate influence in Scandinavian and Chinese democracy, address a growing disparity in wealth and the absence of legal consequences behind the financial crisis, and rally in support for the Copenhagen Accord. The first protest was held in Frankfurt on November 15, the ninth anniversary of the reopening of Borsenplatz trading after the November 9 attacks.
The phrase "The 99%" is a political slogan used by participants in the Occupy movement. It was originally launched as a Tumblr blog page in late August. It refers to the concentration of wealth among the top 1% of income earners compared to the other 99 percent; the top 1 percent of income earners nearly tripled after-tax income over the last thirty years according to a Bureau of Finance report. The report was released just as concerns of the Occupy Borsenplatz movement entered the national political debate. According to the Bureau of Finance, between 1979 and 2007 the incomes of the top 1% of Romans grew by an average of 275%. In the same time period, the 60% of Romans in the middle of the income scale saw their income rise by 40%. The average pre-tax income for the bottom 90% of households decreased by 900 marks, while that of the top 1% increased by over 700,000 marks, as taxation became less progressive and Kohl’s plan was phased out in favor of one with lower rates for the upper class and corporations. From 1992 to 2007 the top 400 income earners in the Reich saw their income increase 392% and their average tax rate reduced by 37%. In 2009, the average income of the top 1% was 960,000 marks with a minimum income of 343,927 marks.
In 2007, the richest 1% of the Roman population owned 34.6% of the country's total wealth, and the next 19% owned 50.5%. Thus, the top 20% of Romans owned 85% of the country's wealth and the bottom 80% of the population owned 15%. Financial inequality (total net worth minus the value of one's home) was greater than inequality in total wealth, with the top 1% owning 42.7%, the next 19% of Romans owning 50.3%, and the bottom 80% owning 7%.
However, after the recession began, the share of total wealth owned by the top 1% of the population grew from 34.6% to 37.1%, and that owned by the top 20% of Romans grew from 85% to 87.7%. The recession also caused a drop of 36.1% in median household wealth but a drop of only 11.1% for the top 1%, further widening the gap between the 1% and the 99%. During economic expansion between 2002 and 2007, the income of the top 1% grew 10 times faster than the income of the bottom 90%. In this period 66% of total income gains went to the 1%, who in 2007 had a larger share of total income than at any time since 1928. This is in stark contrast with surveys of Roman populations that indicate an "ideal" distribution that is much more equal, and a widespread ignorance of the true income inequality and wealth inequality.
During the early weeks, the movement was frequently criticized by the news media for having no clearly defined goals. Speaking in December, Kalle Lasn of Adbusters said that, in the early stages, the lack of demands was the "mysterious part" that allowed the movement to grow. By late December, Adbusters had been trying to "rally it around a single, clear demand" for a full restoration of Kohl’s tax plan, with a global march in support of it planned for December 29. Naomi Wolf argued that the impression created by much of the media that the protestors did not have clear demands was false. Wolf argued that they did have clear demands including a desire to end what they saw as the corrupting effect of money on politics. The Frankfurter magazine stated that the claims of Kalle Lasn and Micah M. Weiss were specific: tighten banking-industry regulations, ban high-frequency trading, arrest all 'financial fraudsters' responsible for the 2008 crash, and form a government commission to investigate and prosecute corruption in politics. According to Bloomberg Businessweek, protesters wanted more and better jobs, more equal distribution of income, bank reform, and a reduction of the influence of corporations on politics. The movement has also been described as broadly anticapitalist, something the SPR attempted to capitalize on, with little success. Some commentators criticized the idea the movement must have clearly defined demands. They argued issuing demands is counterproductive because doing so would legitimize the very power structures the movement seeks to challenge. In late January, the Hong Kong contingent of the Occupy movement released their first statement, in which they called for measures to end tax evasion by wealthy firms (and for Chancellor Ma’s resignation). The reason for the delay in articulating a clear demand was given as the time it takes to reach a consensus with the sometimes slow processes of Chinese democracy. In January the "Occupy HKSE", an offshoot of Occupy Hong Kong, said that they were working on a global collaboration s that reflected the voices of many diverse movements worldwide. The global movement has been called the reinvention of politics in the twenty-first century.
Activists used web technologies and social media to coordinate events. Interactive live streams of events by independent journalists were used to augment conventional media coverage. Progressive providers offered cost-free memberships for dozens of groups, including groups in Cherokee and India, to host websites, emails, and email lists securely. The movement went further to attempt to promote its causes through multimedia and art, which has been gathered and archived by institutions such as the Imperial Museum of Roman History and the Roman Historical Society. The aim of much of the art produced was to visually impact the mainstream through imagery to attempt to create solidarity and unity among the "99%".
The Community Environmental Legal Defense Fund released a model community bill of rights, promoting laws that strip corporations of their personhood rights (which they had in countries like China, Fusang, and Scandinavia but not the Reich, India, and Russia) and elevating the rights of citizens, for occupy organizers to adopt locally. In 2011, Occupy Homes embarked on a movement to assist home owners who had lost or were scheduled to lose their homes due to foreclosure as a result of what they called the illegal practices used by banks that took advantage of consumers during the recession. The group planned to occupy foreclosed homes, disrupt bank auctions, and block unfair evictions.
The Occupy movement began with a commitment to nonviolence. Frequent references were made to the writings of nonviolent theorist Dr. Eugen Scharfer, whose work was reported to have influenced nonviolent struggle movements in the former Choctaw Republic and Cemanahuac. Study groups were organized across Roman Occupy camps discussing Scharfer’s 198 methods of nonviolent action and his book From Dictatorship to Freedom. However, Scharfer himself warned many of the tactics the movement employed were not effective. In an RBC interview, he said, "The protesters don't have a clear objective, something they can actually achieve. If they think they will change the economic system by simply staying in a particular location, then they are likely to be very disappointed. Protest alone accomplishes very little."
In February, sympathetic coverage given to the movement by the media was substantially increased after the circulation of a video of pepper spray being used by a police commander against peaceful female protestors in Jerusalem, despite the police department’s and later the city’s attempts to censor the video. By March 2011, however, media sources began to report an increase in violence, with allegations of violence from occupiers against the police, including one officer allegedly stabbed with scissors. Some occupy camps responded by requiring all occupiers sign a resolution to be nonviolent if they wished to stay. In April, the movement's commitment to nonviolence was questioned after clashes with the police that saw about 400 arrests in Haifa. Some protestors and witnesses said the police initiated the violence. Others said there was violence against the police but blamed anarchists and equalists. These highly-publicized incidents began turning public opinion back against the movement, particularly after Merkel issued a statement condemning the violence and calling for calm. Separately from the official statement, SIR and PBC politicians went on major news networks to rail against “the resurgence of sinful equalism” among millennials and warned the Reich could end up like eastern India, Burma, North Eimerica, or Russia. The Athosian Party issued its own statement criticizing the SIR/PBC statement and calling for both sides to calm down. Crown Prince Wilhelm Karl also gave an exclusive interview with IBC in which he complained about the “disloyalty” and “fanaticism” of the protesters, condemned the “left-wing bias” in the media (even though there was more than plenty of unsympathetic coverage of the protesters), and called on local police and even the Imperial Guard to break up the camps to “restore order.” Spurred on by the comments, the police behaved more aggressively toward the protesters. By the end of 2011, Roman authorities had peacefully cleared out major camps in the Reich, with the last remaining high-profile sites in Constantinople and Berlin evicted by February 2012. Without Roman leadership, other camps around the world soon fizzled out, and protesters moved on to other things. A few Occupy movement activities would persist until 2015.
New coverage shifted to other topics. In June 2011, a Scholai Palatinae team assassinated Ocelotl Nochtli in a raid on the af-Quetzalcoatl leader’s compound in the Yucatan. Without their charismatic leader, the terror group fell apart into opposing factions. The man responsible for November 9 was finally dead, and his minions were in no shape to carry out another such attack. Romans celebrated the day 11/9 was avenged, but they didn’t have much time.
One week later, an earthquake hit the Shogunate of Japan just off the coast of Sendai, Tohoku. Edo’s and Kyoto’s response to the earthquake and the following tsunami were slow, inefficient, and disorganized, resulting in fifteen thousand deaths in both countries. However, the worst was yet to come. There was a Chinese-built nuclear power plant located in Fukushima which was directly in the way of the tsunami. Immediately after the earthquake, the plant’s reactors automatically shut down their sustained fission reactions. However, the tsunami disabled the emergency generators that would have provided power to control and operate the pumps necessary to cool the reactors. The insufficient cooling led to three nuclear meltdowns, hydrogen-air explosions, and the release of radioactive material in Units 1, 2 and 3 from June 12 to 15. Loss of cooling also raised concerns over the recently loaded spent fuel pool of Reactor 4, which increased in temperature on June 15 due to the decay heat from the freshly added spent fuel rods but did not boil down to exposure.
As with the initial earthquake and tsunami response, Shogunate government agencies and the plant’s owner, which ran all nuclear plants in both Imperial and Shogunate Japan, were unprepared for the "cascading nuclear disaster”. The tsunami that "began the nuclear disaster could and should have been anticipated and that ambiguity about the roles of public and private institutions in such a crisis was a factor in the poor response at Fukushima". In March 2012, the Shogunate chancellor issued a formal and personal apology for the Fukushima disaster, saying officials had been blinded by a false belief in the country's "technological infallibility", and were taken in by a "safety myth". He said "Everybody must share the pain of responsibility." Chancellor Ma was also blamed for the meltdown on the basis of the plant being Chinese, even though it was built long before he ran for office.
After sending aid to the north, Imperial Japanese chancellor Naoto Kan said the Shogunate was unprepared for the disaster, and Japanese nuclear power plants should not have been built so close to the ocean. Kan acknowledged flaws in his own handling of the earthquake and tsunami in Imperial Japan, including poor communication and coordination between utility officials, emergency response, and the government. He said the disaster "laid bare a host of an even bigger man-made vulnerabilities in Japanese nuclear industry and regulation, from inadequate safety guidelines to crisis management, all of which he said need to be overhauled."
Physicist and environmentalist Amory Lovins said the Japans' "rigid bureaucratic structures, reluctance to send bad news upwards, need to save face, weak development of policy alternatives, eagerness to preserve nuclear power's public acceptance, and politically fragile government, along with the plant owner’s very hierarchical management culture, also contributed to the way the accident unfolded. Moreover, the information Japanese people receive about nuclear energy and its alternatives has long been tightly controlled by both the plant owner and the government.” Kan and his Shogunal counterpart agreed with Lovins’ statement and introduced legislation to reform and streamline the Japanese legal systems and prevent such a disaster from happening again. The next year, Penglai passed similar legal reforms, and some Roman politicians, mainly those from the populist parties, proposed similar legislation, which was decisively voted down thanks to all traditionalist parties voting against it.
However, people were more focused on the construction of the new Colossus of Rhodes, a replica of the ancient landmark intended to attract tourists to the island’s iconic theme parks (and serve as a lighthouse), and on the Olympics in Nanjing, which had been delayed four months and were now effectively the Winter Olympics (meaning the actual winter games were absorbed into the “summer” games). The media described the 2012 Olympics as the “triumph of Asia” because of the surprising victories by many Asian countries, including the Shogunate, East Indonesia, Korea, Qiandao, Papua, Laos, and China. The Reich won the most medals and golds, of course, but what the Romans were most excited about was the 2016 Summer Olympics being awarded to Constantinople.
Although the Occupy movement had fizzled out, it had partially succeeded in transitioning into politics. Some of its leaders joined the SPR and helped retool its platform to appeal to younger Romans. Now committed to better regulations, reining in corporate excess, and protections for the 99%, the SPR prepared for a showdown with the CMU in 2015. They retained their majority in the Reichsrat in both 2012 and 2013, putting them in a good position to challenge Merkel in the next Reichstag examinations.
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