The Blue Nightlife Show
The Mannian people's source for government regulated international incident discussions and debates.
Scene: Center stage, two cushioned seats and a three-seater sofa arranged in a semi-circle formation opening towards the screen. A coffee table with non-alcoholic drinks and several sheafs of paper adorn its mahogany surface as a small compact laptop faces the host of the Nightlife show: a clean shaven man barely into his forties, his hair combed into a slick sweep over to one side, Hlynur Ernusson's show tonight has the rapt attention of many Mannian citizens glued to their seats. Seated across from him on the studio's sofa are two other speakers. Below them, their names flashes, along with their credentials: Benjamin Ketilsson, a well known author, historian and professor for Eolmann's prestigious academy and Lara Sverrisdottir, renown civil rights activist and owner of several shelters for abuse victims. Benjamin is clearly well within his sixties, a coarse beard that lines with his warm smile, his salt-and-pepper hair left in a haphazard mess that betrays his aura of professionalism. Meanwhile Lara is the youngest speaker, somewhere between her early to mid thirties with a radiating smile and a small dimple. Her auburn hair is tied into a neat bun and her make up is light, more to accentuate her features than to cake her face.
The camera focuses on the host as he greets his guests, shaking hands and laughing at a private joke.
Hlynur: "Thank you so much for coming over, I know it isn't easy to fit the show into your schedule."
Benjamin: "No, the pleasure is all mine Mister-"
H: "Please, just call me Hlynur, this isn't a formal party. And you Lara, I heard your organization has opened yet another shelter center? Isn't it the one down by Boulder Avenue?"
Lara quickly sets down her glass of water to answer Hylnur. The host apologetically gestures her to slow down.
H: "Woah there, easy Lara-" *chuckles* "We haven't even gotten to the interesting part of our talk yet!"
Lara: "Right-" *coughs* "Sorry, I think it must be the nerves." *laughs.* "But yes, the Shoulder-for-You organization has indeed opened yet another shelter center at Boulder Avenue, and as always I must implore to anyone who is out there a-and if you've suffered any form of domestic abuse at the hands of your spouse, wife or husband, please do not hesitate to come over or call us. Our professionals will do everything within their power to help you. "
H: "Very noble goal, very noble indeed! You have certainly been busy these few days, and so has the international community as we bring to you-"
Hlynur taps a few keys on his laptop: behind him, the wall display changes from the azure blue background to several still slides of Kavash's
war torn streets. Both Benjamin and Lara twist their bodies to see the screen, their faces mixed with expressions of seriousness and shock.
H: "These are all pictures of Pottham's latest military act against its own citizens in the city of Kavash, calling everyone within that city to be 'Non-Potthani' due to political and religious difference. Namely, labeling every citizen within Kavash to be communists and believers of the Islamic faith. As we all know from various news sources, media centers and newspapers that the Potthani government has decided to resolve this difference by sending in the 5th Division to, in simpler terms, weed out any political and religious dissidents. What's your take on this incident?"
B: "Well first of all, I think it's horrible. I mean just by looking at these pictures you can clearly see that the Potthani clearly mean business. That's the work of, what? 500 000 trained soldiers firing upon innocent civilians?"
H: "What about them being communists? Surely given our nation's history-"
B: "Let me clarify something to you about our nation's history. As we have all learned from our history classes, the White Revolution was the result of the Rauður Party's citizen abuse- and I mean, abuse: no minimum wage, frequent executions, draconian laws. These were
horrible infractions of the basic human necessities and one day, specifically after the Day of Gallows the people decided enough was enough. We went to war with the communists not because of the message of their ideology but in their methods of execution: the Rauður was in power for only fifteen years but cost the nation nearly one-third-
one-third! - of its population simply for minor law infractions. These weren't sane people in control, these were power-hungry maniacs. A-and I think you'll see that our nation has not been at war nor has it declared war with every single communist nation in the world: it's stupid, it's suicidal and frankly irrational."
L: "Let me just interject here if you will. Any nation that sees the genocide of a certain part of their population as 'normal', that justifies killing their own people simply by labeling everyone within the city as communists or islamists without solid statistical proof? Should not be considered to have a rational political party in power. These are symptoms of the same party that killed off thirty seven college undergraduates simply for attending a political rally. It cannot and should not be accepted by anyone within the international community."
B: "Quite right: Eolmann's history has had its fair share of dictators, revolutions and communist parties that have severely affected the nation and brought about the necessary changes that resulted in our government today. We of all people have the greatest, most intimate knowledge of the effects of killing your own citizens simply because you have the gun. If you also take a look back in some of our country's records, you'll find that none of our revolutions were due to religious differences: that's right, nearly six revolutions and two civil wars, yet none of them caused simply because one religious party didn't agree with the teachings of the other! It's preposterous!"
H: "That's true, you're quite right. According to the Nation-wide Census, nearly 14% of Eolmann's population proclaim themselves to be islamic, 12% Buddhist and 10% atheists: these aren't even including the other various religions in the state. In fact, we
don't have a national religion don't we?"
B: "Indeed. I think the question here lies in how the government should approach this situation."
L: "I think we should go to war with them."
H: "Just- just like that?"
L: "Absolutely. This kind of civil rights infraction shouldn't be tolerated especially not by the Mannian government with their no-tolerance international policy-"
H: "Hold on here, that policy only applies to any act by members of the international community against our sovereign nation and their subjects. As far the policy goes, we have yet to report any Mannian expatriate negatively affected by this incident. Surely that itself shouldn't be considered proper justification for war!"
L: "But how far before other nations see our hesitation as a sign of acceptance of a blatant misconduct and abuse of power? Our standing in the international community is weak at best; we've delegate barely 5% of our gross national budget to international aid and our current international stance is neutral, or another way to say uncommitted: we have the moral high ground as far as I'm concerned, and that should be our justification for war."
H: "You seem very vested in our nation going to war, but what about the cost of declaring war?"
L: "What about the cost of
not going to war?"
B: "War isn't a simple mathematical equation with which we can objectively compare the pros and cons to. Yes our military is more than capable of deploying to Potthan, yes we may have the moral high ground; what about military support, and our own national interest? We as a nation
cannot go to war without unity with our people: our economy will suffer according to the teachings of Hayek-"
L: "But that just sounds like you're pandering to the corporations! If our nation was lead by corporates we'd be going to war with our neighbours just for competitive prices!"
B: "Oh come on that's just a non sequitur fallacy. I'm sure there's plenty of arguments on the state of our nation's corporations but we're talking about how we should deal with this incident, and I have to say that Eolmann should simply observe the proceedings until we have proper justifiable cassus belli before sending our young men and women to a blood bath."
L: "So you're saying we shouldn't do anything about this blatant abuse of civil rights?"
B: "I'm not saying we should simply stay idle, there's plenty to do and other alternatives beyond military actions: trade embargoes, coalitions, strengthening our international standing through alliances and making proposals to the international courts. Have you considered what's going to happen if we plunge into war? I'll tell you: wives, girlfriends and families will start to grieve, our economy will shift into a war time economy that only serves to feed the mouths of the corporations and we'll be labeled as impulsive and reckless by our neighbours who, by the way, earlier this week? Sha Mobutia just lost one of their citizens during the Kavash bombing. Their response? Nothing yet as we known so far. So how can we instigate a war when someone with an even more valid reason to go to war has stayed their hand? It makes us look the aggressors in this scenario, certainly wouldn't help the cause."
H: "It's interesting here- just a moment before you continue of course. Usually we think that the older community would push for war and the younger generation to seek a more peaceful option here."
B: "We
don't want to- no let me rephrase that: War should be our last option because the older generation has seen how bad a country at war can be first hand. I was six when the divide happened, my father was drafted into the loyalist and died about a week later to bombing. See- the younger generation are lucky. They weren't here when the Protectorate Square was a loyalist pillbox that clogged up the streets full of bodies; they're infatuated with all these militarization of our society, filled with propaganda from their conscription that they can't think beyond the rifle. This nation's future generation needs to learn a little bit of patience, I think."
L: "I think it's the opposite really."
H: "Oh? Go on Lara, let's hear your perspective."
L: "While I do agree that the militarization of our society is a problem, I feel like it does help the youth by teaching them, you know, relevant skills. It's also a little bit of a necessity-"
B: "To arm our children and teach them the hundred-and-one ways to kill a man?"
L: "That's a huge leap, no: the Youth Guard doesn't teach a child how to kill, it teaches them wildlife techniques, how to tie a bandage, general knowledge which helps them become a better member of the community. Conscription might be tasteless but when you have a huge nation that tolerates slavery further inland don't you think our nation should prepare its citizens in the eventuality of war?"
B: "Why should everything come to war? What is with this- I don't understand. I've been studying history for nearly thirty years now and you would think that all our lessons would at least impart on our students the evils war has committed. "
L: "It's also taught us of the necessity of war sometimes, especially when the people are being stepped upon. Here's a lesson for you as well: Had the White Revolution not happened, other countries would have intervened eventually and brought in
their own soldiers to die for us. Our nation was built upon the foundations of aggression against dictators, from the earliest colonial days where the East-Indie Company exploited our women and workers to the White Revolution where every man, woman and child sacrifice themselves for the protection of the basic amenities any human should be privy to."
H: "Things are a little heated up here people, let's try to keep this civil. So: Professor Benjamin, you are advocating for a much more peaceful approach to the situation and Miss Lara, you're saying we should go to war instead?"
B: "That's about it yes; there are other methods to this approach, sending missiles and men to Potthani just seems like a giant leap in our international policy."
L: "Nothing giant about it, we could even make it a joint intervention with Sha Mobutia. In that case we'll be helping an long standing ally who is also a vital player in this region's safety from Ralkovia, because if it is one thing we can all agree on is that while we detest communist governments, slavers are just about as equal to pigs."
H: "Very strong words from Miss Lara! Very strong indeed. What do you think viewers? Let's hear your thoughts in your tweets, simply type #KavashResolution and send it away! For now I'd like to thank both of our guests here, Professor Benjamin and Miss Lara. It was great having you in here and giving us your perspectives."
B: "Pleasure is ours, Hlynur."
L: "Anytime, Hlynur. Lovely catching up with you."
END SCENE