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About the Kingdom of Great Britain

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:34 pm
by New Ireland and Wales
“The demagogue is usually sly, a detractor of others, a professor of humility and disinterestedness, a great stickler for equality as respects all above him, a man who acts in corners, and avoids open and manly expositions of his course, calls blackguards gentlemen, and gentlemen folks, appeals to passions and prejudices rather than to reason, and is in all respects, a man of intrigue and deception, of sly cunning and management.”
James Fenimore Cooper

“Nothing unmasks a man like his use of power”
Elbert Hubbard

“If voting made any difference, they wouldn’t let us do it.”
Mark Twain

These three quotes explain in some form the Kingdom of Great Britain. Its leader, its people, and its system. This piece shall explain the Kingdom of Great Britain, a region which is probably one of the most power hungry regions and oppressive regions in the realm of NS. First let me explain myself or rather who I am. I shall not say my name but I am sure people in this region shall know who I am by reading this and will most assuredly brand me as a traitor.

I have been in the region since June or July of 2014, over ⅔ of my time on NS. In that time I have served in a few positions such as Deputy Prime Minister, MP, Lord of Parliament, Foreign Secretary, Home Secretary, Attorney General, Speaker of the House of Commons, and Prime Minister. It took me awhile to get anywhere in the region but I have seen stuff that at the time I didn’t think about. But now that I am, it’s truly deplorable. Not so long ago a great friend of mine, who is no longer on NS, wrote or rather aided in the writing of an essay about the leader of the Kingdom of Great Britain, King-Emperor George VI, this essay got him branded a traitor in the region but he left the region and NS some weeks before. At the time this essay came to light my friend was my NS father, for if you didn’t know NationStates has a, what I know see as screwed up concept of, family. You can get adopted, adopt, or be married into families in NS usually to increase their power or your power in the region on NS, well not usually more like always. This man was perhaps one of the few people I know from this “game” that I still have respect for. But, when the essay came to light I distanced myself from him because I wanted to save myself in KoGB. I wanted to continue to have a career in that region. Albeit, I didn’t exactly know what was going on at that point so me not standing up for him could be somewhat understandable but when I truly got a grasp on what had happened I still did not say anything. I just went along with the flow.

This is something I should have done a long time ago but due to me still having political ambitions in that region I refused to stand in this much opposition to the monarchy which controls all aspects of the region. I remember some months ago or rather over a year to be more exact someone came to the region and for a while they were calm and didn’t say much but soon they became a vocal opponent of this very powerful monarchy. They were talking about how the monarchy needs to be weakened in favor of a democratic government. The King was displeased and sent his little buddies to basically get rid of him by chasing him out the region and I admit I also took part in helping run the person out the region. I thought he was crazy and stupid. I still supported the monarchy full heartedly and thought that it was the right way to go. I now realize that was a mistake.

A demagogue is defined as a political leader who seeks support by appealing to popular desires and prejudices rather than by using rational argument. I believe this strongly defined King George VI. Though tyrant might also be a good term to use. While still being an all powerful leader within the region he maintains the complete support of the region because they are lead to believe that is the only way. Anytime anyone suggests real change the King, usually indirectly, turns the region against them. Such as with the person who was talking about weakening the monarchy. But anytime it seems a lot of people are demanding change the King will promise reforms though none ever come. In my time in the Privy Council, an “advisory” board to the King many things became apparent: one was that the council was just made up of the King’s cronies and was hardly sought for advice on anything such as political appointments to crown offices. Two, the favorite thing the King and the Privy Council like to do is bash people. Whether it be other regional leaders they find stupid, other people in the region, or people who are no longer on NS. I admit I’ve taken part in this too. An example would be with my friend who was branded a traitor. He apologized and publicly the King accepted his apology but in private called him a traitor on multiple occasions or at the beginning of last term when there was a planned State Visit with the United Kingdom (NS) and on the date it seemed that the UK had not put together anything. Instead of taking into account life or the fact that the region was nearing an election certain members of the Privy Council bashed their Foreign Secretary, Misael Bartlet (now Mountbatten), though of course not to his face. Misael was later adopted into the royal family in attempt for the King to expand his and his dynasty’s political power across NS as Misael was (and still is) King of a region.

So let’s start; all parts from the essay will be bolded and italicized. Some of what may be said in the essay and my response may be similar to what you’ve seen earlier in this. Note: All references to the physical and mental health of the King will be left out.

“The Kingdom of of Great Britain is administered as an “autocratic democracy”, a paradoxical system of government by which their Constitution allows for basic parliamentary democratic institutions such as an elected House of Commons as the lower House of Parliament and a Prime Minister that is selected by Parliament and confirmed by the Crown. But it does however affirm that the Crown has absolute authority over the running of the region with as little accountability from Parliament as possible that has been set by precedent in several court cases and laws passed by Parliament (as well as decrees passed by the King). The King has time and time again been unhappy with his prime ministers when he disagreed and would exert his authority over the civil executive government (HM Government) declaring that it was legal by emphasising that it was HIS MAJESTY’S Government and by the autocratic authority of the Crown granted by the Constitution (although it does officially classify it as a “constitutional monarchy”). He has also exerted his influence on elections, for it is well-known that he helped organise KGB’s Conservative Party to topple then-Prime Minister William Bettingham of the British Royalist Party.”


While elections do happen in the Kingdom of Great Britain, they aren’t exactly fair. Of course anyone can enter and surprises can happen but the King rules over a very significant voting bloc: the Royal Family. From time to time or rather most of the time the King will use this bloc to help a certain group of people get elected or keep others from getting elected. I admit I have benefitted from this control and at the time I didn’t mind. But what has became evident is that the King prances around and does what he wants. He has a House of Lords to back him up on this and for the most part a Prime Minister and House of Commons that won’t take action, though there would be very little they could do. Prime Ministers that have stood up against the King usually find themselves out of office or magically find a reason for them to not run for another term.

“In matters of legislation, he has issued decrees to exercise his will (i.e. what he wants) even if Parliament voted down and refused to pass a bill with similar provisions as the issued decree. The King has even ordered entire revisions of the Constitution many times, spearheaded by his grandson Lord Chief Justice Nathaniel Lancaster (a.k.a. Juris) and others, and influencing the powers given to him.
The King is also notorious in his rage fits to his “advisory council” (Privy Council) and people that would disagree with him or refuse his will.
It is also important to note his Privy Council and others that His Majesty has so graciously in power. On paper, the King’s Privy Council is meant to simply be a committee of advisors (experienced members of the region) who will give their personal insight and have little debates about the state of regional affairs so that the King is better advised in his decisions. In reality, King George’s Privy Councils have been composed of individuals that the King gives personal favour often (but not all the time) without proper qualifications or experience in the region. Many Privy Councilors make it into the council and remain in it through kissing the royal posterior and becoming “yes men”. The King has claimed that this isn’t true before and said that he prefers honesty in Council even though he will rage at people or debates that he passionately disagrees with.
The second reality to this Council is that it has evolved into an oligarchy to influence the King to make decisions that meet their own desires such as championing over their political or personal opponents.
In Council, the King has also shared his political preferences and dislikes during general elections (such as the Conservative Party establishment) and has even influenced others’ own preferences and votes to candidates that he could more easily manipulate or control with little opposition (including prime ministerial party leader primaries).”


Throughout my time in the Kingdom of Great Britain, I have sat in the Privy Council two separate times. Once as Prime Minister as well as nobleman. In my first time in the council I didn’t pay attention much but during my second time I did pay attention. I have heard and seen many things outside of the council. The Privy Council simply sits there to flaunt that they sit with the King. He barely comes to the Privy Council for advice, announces many things without consulting the Privy Council to the chagrin of many of its members, and if anyone dare argue with him he shuts them down and tends to poke at them. Such as he did one time with Constantine Hesse (aka Vac) by calling one of his moments “another Vac moment” in what could easily be seen as a condescending tone. I’ve also seen him update and completely change the constitution by himself, usually to benefit himself. While in most places a referendum is required for the passage of a constitutional amendment, in KoGB it just requires the King’s signature, which if it passes the House of Lords that usually means the King will sign it. It is true that the King shows political preference in the Privy Council and to those close by him. William Bettingham was a Prime Minister some time ago. He was not in the King’s favor or anyone else’s for that matter. The King tried many times to remove him from office before dissolving Parliament. He told me to form the Conservative Party, which quickly took over as the dominant party, simply to oppose Bettingham. I also resigned as Bettingham’s Chief of Staff to profit from his unpopularity and used the BBC as Director-General to try and oust him from office. I also remember one time well after Bettingham left a man by the name of Francis came back to the region. The King did not like this man so when Francis decided to run for Parliament under the Whig Party, which I was the leader of at the time, I was told to oust him from the ticket so I did. The election before I led the Whig Party to a humiliating defeat after 2 or 3 of our candidates dropped out including the party leader so I was given the role of leader. This is just some of what the King has done to influence elections.

“King George is Supreme Patriarch of the Imperial House of Hanover (formerly Fominov after the Russian House of Romanov funnily enough), one of the largest families in NationStates. With many sons and many more grandchildren, he has used the family’s royal status to attract people in the region that are either very popular or politically savvy and powerful to join his family for royal status and for loyalty to the King (presumably to limit opposition to his policies and interests). He gives titles and Council positions to those he likes, family members, and old NS friends that only recently joined the region as upstarts. These days, many royals have been undesirable and have used their positions to flaunt their status over inferior members of the region. With over half of KGB now in the Royal Family, the entire system (even the democratic institutions) is too top heavy and plagued with monarchical influence in elections, Parliament, and the Prime Minister’s Executive Government (HMG). Even the Lord High Justice of the Supreme Court of the Kingdom of Great Britain is the titled grandson of King George VI as the Prince of Wales’ son and holds a position in the Privy Council.”

King George has held power in the region since its founding in 2013 and during that time has rapidly expanded his power. While most royal families tend to be small and localized to the region the Fominovs/Hanovers/Mountbattens are a large and powerful family that expands across many regions. This is intentional as the King likes to have influence over KoGB and other regions so the best way to do this is adopt alot of people into a family with him as patriarch. It has become so large that being in the family or having a title is no longer prestigious. All because a man wants to keep his hold on power. Even if he does finally abdicate, as he has done multiple times to get his way, he will never fully lose his grip on power. He’ll always have his son and others to make sure he gets his way.

While the idea of reform is noble it will most likely never happen. Why? There are a few reasons. One of them being the simple fact that this is NationStates. Much like real life politics the main goal is to gain power and keep it so how would a true democracy even work on NationStates? It wouldn’t unless you place stringent rules in place against people staying in power for a long time. Another reason reform would never happen is that reform has been promised too many times and has never happened. King George has promised reform so many times but has never acted on it and never will. The only true way something could happen that might be good is the abdication of King George, a major downsizing of the royal family down to the bones, taking everyone out of the nobility for a fresh restart, and a significant weakening of the Monarchy in favor of a stronger, more independent House of Commons.

To fully and simply explain the quotes at the top I’ll say this. The King is a demagogue much like Trump, Berlusconi, etc. who walks around saying that he is humble, saying his actions are the best, saying the way things are are good simply because it benefits him, but at the same time has a massive following because he is the only way to power in the region. The people, like in other regions, are power hungry. They’ll criticize those who mess up and throw down those who get in their way simply to rise to the top. The closer you get to the top the more you throw people out and the more you hunger for power. Voting in the region is essentially useless because if the King doesn’t like the leader of the largest party he’ll tell Parliament to choose someone else to become Prime Minister like he did with Akillian Talleyrand when he didn’t want Owen Hesse to become the Prime Minister. The core of all of this is the King. The region revolves around him and almost nothing happens without his approval.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:42 pm
by Karafuto-cho
tl;dr Don is bad and the monarchy is bad.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:55 pm
by Ikania
What are you, some kind of Jacobite?

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:56 pm
by Engleberg
Good to see another monarchy existing.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 7:59 pm
by Dagea
This post in another TL;DR: "I don't like monarchies, especially ones with realistic politics"

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:01 pm
by The Pope Is Catholic
Founders have ultimate power in a region, despite what trappings them may choose to surround themselves with. More news at 11.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:16 pm
by Burmecia
Hi Cam, always good to see you.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:20 pm
by New Ireland and Wales
Burmecia wrote:Hi Cam, always good to see you.


Oh no you misunderstand I'm not Cam but good try

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:21 pm
by Ikania
New Ireland and Wales wrote:
Burmecia wrote:Hi Cam, always good to see you.


Oh no you misunderstand I'm not Cam but good try

Welcome back, Kaston.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:23 pm
by Tim-Opolis
You're complaining about the Founder of a region. If you don't like him, leave.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:24 pm
by New Ireland and Wales
Ikania wrote:
New Ireland and Wales wrote:
Oh no you misunderstand I'm not Cam but good try

Welcome back, Kaston.


Who are you?

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:27 pm
by Doppio Giudici
It's a dictatorship, we know this.

Glad you made this for people who didn't know. :geek:

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:30 pm
by Ikania
New Ireland and Wales wrote:
Ikania wrote:Welcome back, Kaston.


Who are you?

Gerry Adams.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:34 pm
by Aquosene
This is rather interesting, I have indeed been enlightened! Everyone, it is official. The Kingdom Of Great Britain is in fact a monarchy of sorts! Now we all know.

- Arthur Draig Kirkland Vasentius (Arthur K. Vasentius)

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 8:50 pm
by New Ireland and Wales
Aquosene wrote:This is rather interesting, I have indeed been enlightened! Everyone, it is official. The Kingdom Of Great Britain is in fact a monarchy of sorts! Now we all know.

- Arthur Draig Kirkland Vasentius (Arthur K. Vasentius)


you probably didn't even read it much like Nyx. Seems you jumped on the bandwagon and started with the stupid insults

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:00 pm
by The Holy Principality of Saint Mark
Well, that was fascinating! So ... you were an exceptionally active person in this region since 2014, having served in multiple governmental and peerage positions, and it has finally dawned on you that the region you served ... The Kingdom of Great Britain ... is in fact a monarchy with ... gasp! ... a king?!!!! What a shocking revelation! OK, so most of the power rests with the monarch in this monarchy ... if that doesn't suit your tastes ... LEAVE! GO TO ANOTHER REGION!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:03 pm
by Karafuto-cho
Not even one thank you for my tl;dr... *grumbles* ungrateful GPers these days

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 9:06 pm
by Dar es Saalam
edit

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:04 pm
by Altino
Oh my. This is all very shocking. I feel like this is a bit out of nowhere, as you've been completely missing for so long that it took me a second to remember who you were. But welcome back, Heidi. Or.. goodbye again, I guess. You appear to be disgruntled, so I doubt that you'll be sticking around. Not sure what exactly during your long absence made you decide that George was the devil and should be punished, but I sincerely hope that by some miracle this post escapes him.

This has seemed to me like a lot of demonizing the description of a "King." I'm not sure if you had your eyes closed when you joined KGB or if you just forgot that it was a monarchy, but you must realize that even if a lot of this stuff is less than desirable to the more democratically minded, it is honestly completely within his power. Let me help you understand things in a way that isn't so deeply drenched in bias. :)

While elections do happen in the Kingdom of Great Britain, they aren’t exactly fair. Of course anyone can enter and surprises can happen but the King rules over a very significant voting bloc: the Royal Family. From time to time or rather most of the time the King will use this bloc to help a certain group of people get elected or keep others from getting elected. I admit I have benefitted from this control and at the time I didn’t mind. But what has became evident is that the King prances around and does what he wants. He has a House of Lords to back him up on this and for the most part a Prime Minister and House of Commons that won’t take action, though there would be very little they could do. Prime Ministers that have stood up against the King usually find themselves out of office or magically find a reason for them to not run for another term.

The majority of the activity in KGB comes from the Royal Family. This isn't to say that George somehow crushes the poor citizens who aren't in some capacity related to him and only the Royal Family remains standing, but to say that George watches citizens grow and become active, falls in love with them, and adopts them in. When George finds a person that he likes, he has to be held back because he immediately wants to be related to them. This does give the family a good bit of sway in the region, but it also means that more often than not we're the people who are running in the first place. I don't know if it's really fair to get our faces in a twist if all of the people running are active and vote for other active people. That's less a scandal and more a responsible reality.


Throughout my time in the Kingdom of Great Britain, I have sat in the Privy Council two separate times. Once as Prime Minister as well as nobleman. In my first time in the council I didn’t pay attention much but during my second time I did pay attention. I have heard and seen many things outside of the council. The Privy Council simply sits there to flaunt that they sit with the King. He barely comes to the Privy Council for advice, announces many things without consulting the Privy Council to the chagrin of many of its members, and if anyone dare argue with him he shuts them down and tends to poke at them. Such as he did one time with Constantine Hesse (aka Vac) by calling one of his moments “another Vac moment” in what could easily be seen as a condescending tone. I’ve also seen him update and completely change the constitution by himself, usually to benefit himself. While in most places a referendum is required for the passage of a constitutional amendment, in KoGB it just requires the King’s signature, which if it passes the House of Lords that usually means the King will sign it. It is true that the King shows political preference in the Privy Council and to those close by him. William Bettingham was a Prime Minister some time ago. He was not in the King’s favor or anyone else’s for that matter. The King tried many times to remove him from office before dissolving Parliament. He told me to form the Conservative Party, which quickly took over as the dominant party, simply to oppose Bettingham. I also resigned as Bettingham’s Chief of Staff to profit from his unpopularity and used the BBC as Director-General to try and oust him from office. I also remember one time well after Bettingham left a man by the name of Francis came back to the region. The King did not like this man so when Francis decided to run for Parliament under the Whig Party, which I was the leader of at the time, I was told to oust him from the ticket so I did. The election before I led the Whig Party to a humiliating defeat after 2 or 3 of our candidates dropped out including the party leader so I was given the role of leader. This is just some of what the King has done to influence elections.


The King has a Privy Council by choice, not by obligation. He isn't required to listen to them, or to ask them about anything. He can if he wants to. It's nice that he respects their opinion enough to come to them. But he's still the King, and his decision is still final. Again, this is a monarchy. You know it's a monarchy. I don't know why this surprises you. As for the elections, what you're describing is called "political maneuvering." It's very common, and honestly if the King was the only person doing that sort of thing, your political world was probably not entirely up to snuff anyway.

King George has held power in the region since its founding in 2013 and during that time has rapidly expanded his power. While most royal families tend to be small and localized to the region the Fominovs/Hanovers/Mountbattens are a large and powerful family that expands across many regions. This is intentional as the King likes to have influence over KoGB and other regions so the best way to do this is adopt alot of people into a family with him as patriarch. It has become so large that being in the family or having a title is no longer prestigious. All because a man wants to keep his hold on power. Even if he does finally abdicate, as he has done multiple times to get his way, he will never fully lose his grip on power. He’ll always have his son and others to make sure he gets his way.

Uh... yeah... The King has held power since becoming King and will continue to hold power until he's not King anymore. That's sort of how monarchies work. Still not sure why this surprises you.


tl;dr - Don is a king and he's doing kingy things. Chillax.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:06 pm
by Altino
Karafuto-cho wrote:Not even one thank you for my tl;dr... *grumbles* ungrateful GPers these days


Thaaaaank yooouuuuu! ;D

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:33 pm
by Dagea
New Ireland and Wales wrote:
you probably didn't even read it much like Nyx. Seems you jumped on the bandwagon and started with the stupid insults

I read it. And I'm not being insulting, I'm summarizing your post for you. It's a long post!

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:37 pm
by Karafuto-cho
Altino wrote:
Karafuto-cho wrote:Not even one thank you for my tl;dr... *grumbles* ungrateful GPers these days


Thaaaaank yooouuuuu! ;D

You're my new favorite GPer. Hands down.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 10:53 pm
by King Alexander
tl;dr I lost countless elections and now I shall embrace Jacobitism because my grandpa said no to me.

Not even kidding though, I think this all came about because you wanted in to the inner-circle, you raged quit then wanted back in and got told no so now I'm gonna post this essay and now fight the powers that I fought for so long to protect.

I can not be confus mate. I forgiv.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 11:11 pm
by Krimsonland
Wah, Heidi didn't advance as fast as she wanted so now is having another rage quit. All da secrets about the king and privy council, what an ultimate whistleblower you are! </sarcasm>

Maybe you should resign 1000 more times that'll get you all the advancement you want. Just do it in some other region, we're bored of the drama.

PostPosted: Tue Feb 21, 2017 11:27 pm
by JURISDICTIONS
What I like the most about the Opening Post, is the fact that no one seems to really care about the charges being brought, because essentially, the charges are unfounded.

When I joined the Kingdom of Great Britain, I wasn't immediately in the Royal Family. That was something that took time.

Furthermore, I have served as a judge in multiple regions, including feeders. Don, and many others consider me one of the more preeminent legal minds of the NS community. I am actually no longer the highest judge in the region. I have duties now, that have kept me from NS, and my friends. As far as judicial stability goes, I'm the longest serving judicial official in the Kingdom of Great Britain.

The preamble to almost every constitution we've had as a region, states that we move toward a more autocratic society. Additionally, the branches do have powers. As a judge, I have several times, ruled against the crown, on the basis of violations of the Social Contract the King has with the Citizens of the Region.

As far as the Privy Council is concerned, I have been an actual advisor to the Crown, not only in Judicial matters, but both domestic and foreign, and my advice has guided the Kingdom of Great Britain in great times of peace and strife. Just because I was mainly a judge, didn't mean that I didn't have knowledge of other things. I remember many times, that I've changed the King's mind, to the benefit of our region and its standing in the world.

So, my crimes, are that I was adopted into the family, prove my worth to the region as a trusted advisor to the executive bodies of governance, and interpreting a Constitution that is written in plain language? Are you joking?