11-06-2019, 01:50 AM
Freedom: True and False.
A Talk with Atanasio Paredes
(Aldurian National Alliance)
Day 1
Atanasio Paredes, at the invitation of the ANA on-campus student group at the largest national university, arrives to deliver a rally speech at the university. Paredes is met by a number of protesters upon his arrival on-campus, but is surrounded by security. The turnout is better than anticipated, leaving many supporters having to listen to the event from an overflow facility instead of in the arena where Paredes had arranged to speak. The speech is carried nationwide via social media video-sharing and live-streaming services, and many smaller gatherings are organized by the grassroots to tune in.
Good evening! It is an honor to be here on campus of the largest university in Alduria - and it is a pleasure to be here surrounded by so many dedicated Aldurian patriots. See, as I was making my way to this arena, there were a number of unpatriotic, unkempt, and un-Aldurian people trying to deny you this wonderful opportunity to get involved in the political arena. Talk about a commitment to freedom of speech: these hooligans decided they would try to shout me down. Let me be clear: they can try to shout me down, but they'll have to shout all of you down with me!
We're not going to let that happen, friends. Together, we will overcome their hatred. United, we will defeat their narrowminded pursuits. With one voice, we will put an end to their selfish hedonism. You know, since I was last on campus the attitude of the libertines and the radical cancel culture has only gotten worse. And here I thought the people on the opposite side of the aisle were too afraid of being triggered to leave their safe-space, or their comfort bubble.
Well, my goal here today is not only to rally support for our great candidates, candidates who you will all be able to vote for this election cycle. No, my goal goes beyond that. I would like to talk to you all about an issue that is near and dear to my heart, and which will certainly come up time and time again during this campaign. The issue I'm going to talk to you about is freedom. Now, you might say: "You aren't going soft on us, are you, Atanasio?" To which I will heartily reply "Not in a million years!" But what I am talking about is something really important, something that has academic value for you and for your school lives, but more importantly for our civic lives.
There are three definitions of freedom that I would like to explore with you today - and I'll save the proper definition for the end here. First, we have a sense of libertine freedom, the very ideas that the LDP preach and espouse. Under this ideology, freedom, or as they'd inaccurately call it, liberty, means the ability to do whatever the heck you want to do, consequences be darned. If you want to use hard drugs, go for it - they would say. If you want to violate the centuries-old norms of our faiths, you do you - they would say. If you want to pursue profits over people, more power to you - they would say.
This is clearly the wrong approach - it literally leads to death and destruction. Because the libertine worldview, if we reduce it to its core, is inherently atomistic. What is the value of the nation, if the individual is always right? What is the value of other lives, when you are your own supreme being? And what is the value of our culture, if you just want to do what feels good? It should be clear to you by now that this extremism - and don't be fooled by the so-called pragmatic wing of the LDP because they're all deep-down extremists - is wrong. We don't live solitary lives, but we live socially and in a specific time and place, or in other words a cultural setting.
This leads me to the second alternative: a socialist alternative of freedom. This ideology is rooted not in the freedom of the individual to do whatever he wants to do, but in the freedom of a single class of people: the proletariat, as they'd call themselves. Socialist class-struggles undermine unity, they seek to lower everyone to a single standard - and that standard is inevitably the standard of the lowest-common denominator.
Socialist freedom means entitlements, but it also means leveling. Now, the working class has a right to overthrow the state, to dismantle the cultural values that we hold dear as oppressive bourgeois nonsense. Well: to these socialists of the DFL, many of whom are screaming outside here today, my message is simple. We will not tolerate your assault on the institutions that make Alduria great, that give this glorious nation its firm foundation in the world.
You can argue among yourselves which of these ideas is closer to the mark, but they both still fall significantly short of true freedom.
True freedom, as I understand it and as we lay out in the Aldurian National Alliance's platform, is the freedom of the people, which is embodied through and by the freedom of the nation. First and foremost, the ANA conception of freedom involves a strong national defense, a readiness to sacrifice for the nationstate, and yes, it involves service over self. This is how you may truly liberate yourself: not by building up your ego and inflating your sense of self-worth. That is what bullies do, that is what narcissists do, and ultimately that is what failures do. Instead, to experience freedom, it involves putting the common good ahead of your own good. It means fighting in the culture wars and it means fighting in the war against the West Baatharz terrorists.
Beyond national defense, however, freedom also comes from cultural expression. It means building up our commonalities, and allowing them to unite us. Diversity is not strength, it is weakness. When you are on the field of battle, you want to know that your brothers-in-arms, your comrades, are there to take the bullet for you - and in politics, it is no different. That is what freedom means - the liberation that comes with knowing you have a place in society.
I know that I have just waxed philosophically for quite a bit, but I believe first, you are all smart enough to understand this vital distinction between freedom: true and false. Second, I believe that it is fundamental for our worldview that you are prepared to defend our beliefs as a nation. These beliefs form our identity - not what bathroom you try to use or who you pretend to love. A common set of values shape who we are - not what class you were born into or how much money you earn. We are all Aldurians: and you know what?
I'm running alongside hundreds of candidates to put Alduria first - today, tomorrow, and forever unto the ages of ages. We need your support - the establishment and the mainstream are trying to push us out of the picture. But from this audience here, I know that we are a force to be reckoned with: a force that will overcome the naysayers, the screaming protesters, and cancel culture. Thank you and may you live in the freedom that only Alduria can provide! Thank you!
A Talk with Atanasio Paredes
(Aldurian National Alliance)
Day 1
Atanasio Paredes, at the invitation of the ANA on-campus student group at the largest national university, arrives to deliver a rally speech at the university. Paredes is met by a number of protesters upon his arrival on-campus, but is surrounded by security. The turnout is better than anticipated, leaving many supporters having to listen to the event from an overflow facility instead of in the arena where Paredes had arranged to speak. The speech is carried nationwide via social media video-sharing and live-streaming services, and many smaller gatherings are organized by the grassroots to tune in.
Good evening! It is an honor to be here on campus of the largest university in Alduria - and it is a pleasure to be here surrounded by so many dedicated Aldurian patriots. See, as I was making my way to this arena, there were a number of unpatriotic, unkempt, and un-Aldurian people trying to deny you this wonderful opportunity to get involved in the political arena. Talk about a commitment to freedom of speech: these hooligans decided they would try to shout me down. Let me be clear: they can try to shout me down, but they'll have to shout all of you down with me!
We're not going to let that happen, friends. Together, we will overcome their hatred. United, we will defeat their narrowminded pursuits. With one voice, we will put an end to their selfish hedonism. You know, since I was last on campus the attitude of the libertines and the radical cancel culture has only gotten worse. And here I thought the people on the opposite side of the aisle were too afraid of being triggered to leave their safe-space, or their comfort bubble.
Well, my goal here today is not only to rally support for our great candidates, candidates who you will all be able to vote for this election cycle. No, my goal goes beyond that. I would like to talk to you all about an issue that is near and dear to my heart, and which will certainly come up time and time again during this campaign. The issue I'm going to talk to you about is freedom. Now, you might say: "You aren't going soft on us, are you, Atanasio?" To which I will heartily reply "Not in a million years!" But what I am talking about is something really important, something that has academic value for you and for your school lives, but more importantly for our civic lives.
There are three definitions of freedom that I would like to explore with you today - and I'll save the proper definition for the end here. First, we have a sense of libertine freedom, the very ideas that the LDP preach and espouse. Under this ideology, freedom, or as they'd inaccurately call it, liberty, means the ability to do whatever the heck you want to do, consequences be darned. If you want to use hard drugs, go for it - they would say. If you want to violate the centuries-old norms of our faiths, you do you - they would say. If you want to pursue profits over people, more power to you - they would say.
This is clearly the wrong approach - it literally leads to death and destruction. Because the libertine worldview, if we reduce it to its core, is inherently atomistic. What is the value of the nation, if the individual is always right? What is the value of other lives, when you are your own supreme being? And what is the value of our culture, if you just want to do what feels good? It should be clear to you by now that this extremism - and don't be fooled by the so-called pragmatic wing of the LDP because they're all deep-down extremists - is wrong. We don't live solitary lives, but we live socially and in a specific time and place, or in other words a cultural setting.
This leads me to the second alternative: a socialist alternative of freedom. This ideology is rooted not in the freedom of the individual to do whatever he wants to do, but in the freedom of a single class of people: the proletariat, as they'd call themselves. Socialist class-struggles undermine unity, they seek to lower everyone to a single standard - and that standard is inevitably the standard of the lowest-common denominator.
Socialist freedom means entitlements, but it also means leveling. Now, the working class has a right to overthrow the state, to dismantle the cultural values that we hold dear as oppressive bourgeois nonsense. Well: to these socialists of the DFL, many of whom are screaming outside here today, my message is simple. We will not tolerate your assault on the institutions that make Alduria great, that give this glorious nation its firm foundation in the world.
You can argue among yourselves which of these ideas is closer to the mark, but they both still fall significantly short of true freedom.
True freedom, as I understand it and as we lay out in the Aldurian National Alliance's platform, is the freedom of the people, which is embodied through and by the freedom of the nation. First and foremost, the ANA conception of freedom involves a strong national defense, a readiness to sacrifice for the nationstate, and yes, it involves service over self. This is how you may truly liberate yourself: not by building up your ego and inflating your sense of self-worth. That is what bullies do, that is what narcissists do, and ultimately that is what failures do. Instead, to experience freedom, it involves putting the common good ahead of your own good. It means fighting in the culture wars and it means fighting in the war against the West Baatharz terrorists.
Beyond national defense, however, freedom also comes from cultural expression. It means building up our commonalities, and allowing them to unite us. Diversity is not strength, it is weakness. When you are on the field of battle, you want to know that your brothers-in-arms, your comrades, are there to take the bullet for you - and in politics, it is no different. That is what freedom means - the liberation that comes with knowing you have a place in society.
I know that I have just waxed philosophically for quite a bit, but I believe first, you are all smart enough to understand this vital distinction between freedom: true and false. Second, I believe that it is fundamental for our worldview that you are prepared to defend our beliefs as a nation. These beliefs form our identity - not what bathroom you try to use or who you pretend to love. A common set of values shape who we are - not what class you were born into or how much money you earn. We are all Aldurians: and you know what?
I'm running alongside hundreds of candidates to put Alduria first - today, tomorrow, and forever unto the ages of ages. We need your support - the establishment and the mainstream are trying to push us out of the picture. But from this audience here, I know that we are a force to be reckoned with: a force that will overcome the naysayers, the screaming protesters, and cancel culture. Thank you and may you live in the freedom that only Alduria can provide! Thank you!