Some background that must be remembered is that this manifest was ICly written in the year 1684, which in Stoklomolvi was an era of war and struggle. This would be an English translation of the original Chinese text. Some of the language used may seem a lot more modern than it should be, but I am not going to write a manuscript in old English. The two main ideas in this manifesto are Confucianism [filial piety] and the concept of "national paternity."
This manifesto does not represent my OOC views.]
The Liaoist Manifesto
在國父下是平等。 -- Beneath the father of the nation is equality. -- Liao Jinshi [僚金石]
在國父下是平等。 -- Beneath the father of the nation is equality. -- Liao Jinshi [僚金石]
i. Preamble
The family is the most important unit in the nation. Nothing is more important than the family, and every civilised country in the world recognises this as true. In those that do not, collapse and disarray result. However, in recent times, through tyrannical means the countries that consider the good of the government above the good of the nation have triumphed, and threaten the existence of every country around them with barbarism and uncivilised thought.
It is with the division between civilisation and barbarianism in mind that this manifesto is created. This manifesto is for the good of the people, the nation, the family, and the individual liberty and freedom that every person holds dear.
I. Conflict
From the beginning of time, war has plagued the earth. Conflicts and struggles between peoples for resources, wealth, manpower, and simply for the land itself have ravaged the planet until millions upon millions of humans are slaughtered every year for the monarchs and emperors who rule the planet. Never before have the people of the world suffered more from war, than now. And even now, armies march to subjugate foreign lands, natives, and peoples for their countries. However, a new struggle is taking place. The struggle between the people and the rulers, the children and the fathers.
In civilised nations, the struggle between the paternal generation and the children is virtually non-existent. Filial piety has reached its current zenith and may reach for zeniths even higher than before. The fathers, and in some cases the mothers, have guided their families to prosperity and stability, while furthering the liberty of the individual person within this familial unit. And it has been this way for a considerable time; over one thousand years of peace and prosperity have resulted from simply following the words of Confucius and the ways of old.
In the uncivilised world to the west and to the south, such is not the case. Prosperity does not reign; only chaos does. Greed and the demand for more resources and land reign supreme, with rulers stabbing each other in their backs out of the wanton disregard for the nation and pure, unadulterated greed only to have both rulers killed and another standing over the lands they once controlled. They disregard the family, and in its place they put the military: warriors, soldiers, officers, and militiamen. War is the way of life, not family.
Stoklomolvi has long functioned under a traditional familial unit. The esteemed Emperor is the father of the nation, and the people beneath him his children. For future generations, under which there may be no emperor however unfortunate that may be, the father figure will remain the leader of the people, for every person in the country is a child of the ruler.
Compare Stoklomolvi to the adjacent nation of Teivos, ruled by a despot who ignores the needs of the people. He has many times attempted to march into our country with his armies, burned much land, and failed each time, but his people suffer with each subsequent attempt. Morale in the country is heard to be at an all-time low, and this is all because of one thing. They have failed to recognise the importance of filial piety in society.
This conflict between the child and father is inherently undesirable. For those who seek the destruction of the family, and for those who seek the destruction of traditional values and stability, this conflict is beneficial in the short-term, but in the long-term it will only bring sadness and despair. Those who defy social order will fall prey to the evils of barbarism and barbarianism that run rampant in overly individualistic nations.
II. Order
Thus, it is imperative that the social order be upheld and the entirety of the population regards the father and the mother and the grandmother and the grandfather as the cornerstones of society. It is only upon this base can the true objective of any government, and thus by extension any family, be worked towards: equality. The wicked project that the majority of the world embarks to achieve is inequality and greed. Everyone in the family must avoid such vile actions that bring the world to ruin; who is to say that one brother is more important than another simply because one is a bureaucrat and the other a troubadour? Each serves a purpose.
Societal order cannot be changed. Everyone under the father is equal. Whether the person be a street sweeper, a gong farmer, a scholar, or a calligraphist, there must be equality. Equality in terms of labour for pay, equality in terms of treatment and cordiality, and equality in terms of quality of life. There must always be someone to perform the backbreaking labour of digging roads and always someone to handle with care the finest scriptures and novels in the top library in the country; the only aspect that changes in many countries for such labour is pay. The one who works hard earns almost nothing, while the one who sits studiously reading earns up to seven thousand times that amount. For what reason? Understandably, the skilled labourer worked hard to achieve his position, but does this justify the other man living in poverty? For the good of the national family, the answer is no.
What does this have to do with the concept of the national family and national paternalism? In short, everything. Under the national father, or patriarch or matriarch depending on whatever the case may be, everyone is equal. Brothers amongst brothers, sisters amongst sisters, comrades amongst comrades. The people must work together to prosper, for that is what family members do. The unity between family members is the strongest bond in the entire world, and if this unity is not used for the good of society and the family as a whole then the unity becomes squandered and wasted. Consider the example of the manual labourer and the librarian. If the labourer and the librarian share the closest of ties but use their ties to further themselves and not everyone, then they have contributed nothing. If the labourer erects magnificent palaces for the librarian and the librarian educates the labourer and only the labourer, then as a whole they have accomplished nothing. Quite clearly, they have detracted from society. Society is, of course, the familial unit which every person is part of. Had the labourer instead collaborated with the librarian to more efficiently devise strategies to construct housing for the general public and the librarian with the labourer to devise strategies for the education of the masses, they will have contributed immensely. Every man, woman, and child can contribute and must contribute if society is to stay alive.
In civilised society, the societal structure is thus: the father of the nation and beneath him every other person in society. Within society itself, for efficiency and ease of implementation, bureaucracy may thus be created. While the concept of bureaucracy in itself is unequal, rampant squabbling over assignment of tasks is just as negative as the lack of equality itself. Thus, the people under a bureaucracy must choose the most capable person to lead, and with a simple system of many bureaucracies otherwise known as "communes" society may flourish. Within the bureaucracy, however, there is equality; there is no one person to be regarded any higher than the rest.
In regards to the military, the national family must account for all wars fought against the uncivilised neighbours. While the civilised society that follows Liaoist thought will stay strong, those who are not under the guidance of Liaoist thought will fall prey to greed, and will very likely seek to plunder the great nations that follow the Liao; with such threats, the Liao cannot stand unaware of the dangers that foreigners pose. For such matters, the Liaoists must follow the words of Sun Tzu in his Art of War, and as soldiers are to be considered equal to the remainder of society, society must support its warriors in times of need. The judgement of the national father must be trusted, and the great nation will pull through in any conflict.
The only aspect of society that is unequal, however, is the military. As the military is not truly part of the national family in the sense that everything it does is for the sake of killing others. Regardless of intent, the military arm of society kills and seeks to kill, and for the betterment of the defence of the nation and society the military hierarchy must be placed separate from the societal hierarchy. Within the military, there is inequality, for in war there is no such thing as equality; a general is more important than a soldier as the general conducts the war. Without direction, an army would crumble. To society, the military is equal; a general is the same as a soldier, and a soldier is the same as the prestigious librarian mentioned earlier.
III. Development
Society is not a difficult group to manage. If its members are willing, then any change can occur. However, once society has been established and the concept of filial piety is firmly ingrained in the minds of the people, progress can be made extremely rapidly. Free thought and ideas are not only unrestricted but also encouraged, for constructive criticism of the father's decisions may yield extremely potent insight that would have otherwise been unseen. Even if the decisions are solid and the criticism is unwarranted, it may strengthen the effectiveness of such decisions in the future.
Self-criticism promotes self-improvement. Technology is developed through examination of old technology. Such is the way of the Liao, and family members must give ideas to other family members to develop Liaoist thought. Should the Liao ever become resistant to change, then the idea will have failed, as change is the way of the Liao. Liaoists, like Daoists, must flow and adapt, and with such flowing will be gathered new ideas.
The economies of Liaoist countries would function under the communes system, as described above. Groups of people collaborate on specific tasks they were assigned to perform by the national father, and these groups specialise in tasks to further the nation. If the father tells a group of a thousand to perform agricultural tasks, this group would begin to collaborate with other agricultural communes to finish these tasks. Through this manner of specialisation, the groups would increase efficiency of labour and improve the results for every action performed. And as each group is encouraged to show off its results and share its methods with other groups, there is no disadvantage to such as system if every person does the job correctly.
While the individual can perform actions that he wishes to, he cannot impede the abilities of others to perform actions they wish to perform as well. A couple that seeks to perform lascivious acts in public may disrupt the operations of a nearby baker, and thus should not perform said acts. If a demonstration against an idea would cause mass anger or counter-demonstrations that would disrupt societal order and functions, then said demonstration should not be held. All actions by the individual must be taken to consider society at large.
Regarding the sick and disabled individuals incapable of working, there is to be no discrimination against the disadvantaged. Just as a brother would not kill a sick brother, or a brother would not kill a disabled brother, no person can be killed for his status at the time. If a sick person is completely incurable, or if the disabled person refuses to work even though he has the capability however slight, then and only then would they be considered to be burdens to society. However, if the sick person wishes to work and is able to do so in even a marginal capacity, he shall not be killed or harmed; he should be helped. The situation with the disabled would be different, and the disabled person shall be thrown off a cliff as is the case in most crimes.
Education is of paramount importance to all members of a Liaoist society. While in many other more barbaric and undeveloped nations such as Teivos there is no state-run education system, in Liaoist societies there must be free and equal education to all people regardless of occupation or region. A street sweeper from Beijing would be treated equally to a librarian from Shanghai, for instance. Learning speed and subject material should not discriminate an individual from a fair education, for education is the base upon which all other occupations and knowledge is based upon. As the national father cannot run the nation alone, the bureaucracy that serves under him would consist of the finest minds of the country who have passed the civil service exams every civilised citizen wishes to pass.
IV. Discipline
As living under the way of the Liao is demanding and rigorous but highly rewarding, it is mandatory that parents discipline their parents from birth to follow Liaoist thought. Greed must be disparaged as much as public intercourse is, and the desire of more for the sake of desire alone cannot exist if the nation is to be civilised. All actions must serve a purpose to society and must contribute to the national family. Until every member of the family has the discipline to rally when the national father calls, the country is not ready for complete Liaoism.
Delinquents, robbers, thieves, and other undesirables who only take from society but do not contribute are not to be spared any punishment. All crimes against society by non-repentant or repeat criminals must be punished by death and nothing else. There shall be no imprisonment or fines; a quick execution by hanging or decapitation is the only fitting punishment for a criminal in a Liaoist society.
Harmful substances like the opium that the infamous trader Min Lipo brought from a faraway land must be banned. Alcohol that the West consumes must be destroyed for the sake of our national integrity, and the tobacco from the southern barbarians must be buried in lime and thrown into the ocean. These substances bring nothing to society but sadness.
In order for this Liaoist society to survive after its conception, continuous discipline must be exercised. It is impossible for any civilised society to last if the individual is too powerful and the societal unit of family is not strong enough. The people must work together, lock arms, march forward, and best the barbarians that seek to spread their barbarism across the stretches of the globe. Everyone must contribute! With the way of the Liao, society may be furthered! It is time for society to take steps to benefit all who reside within it.
Forward with the Liao!
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