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Issue Number 9
On that unforgettable night, the destiny of Regina was sealed, and the immense drama thus began....
Before a world of oppressed peoples, Ling-Raleigh raised the flag of our liberation, as she waived the burning Imperial identity card above the people massed below the balcony.
Recently, in the hours of my injuries, I have thought often of this message of my heart. It might be better for me if I kept quiet, didn't say any of the things I'm going to say. But the suffering of the poor, the humble, the great pain of so much humanity without sun and without sky hurts me too much to keep quiet. All this will deserve either love or hate.
There are still shadows and clouds trying to cover the sky and sun of our land - and there is still much pain to mitigate and so many wounds to staunch! How will it be where no one has seen the light or held in her hands the flag of the people who march in silence, without tears or sighs, bleeding under the night of slavery. And how will it be where the light can be seen, but too far away, and hope is an immense pain that rebels and burns in the flesh and soul of the people parched for liberty and justice!
My message is for them: for my people and for all of the neutral zone's people. I no longer seek praise. I couldn't care less about the hatred or the praise of men that belong to the race of exploiters. I want to incite the people, not to violence - but to change. I want to ignite them with the fire of my heart. I want to tell them the truth: that a powerful Imperial citizen has become a woman of the people, who would not let herself be dazzled by the power or glory; and of what she has learned in the worlds of those who rule and govern the Marches' people. Because no one who has left the people to take my path has ever gone back. They were dazzled by the marvelous fantasy of power, and they remained there to enjoy the lie.
I, too, wore all the honors of glory, of vanity, and of power. I let myself be adorned by the finest jewels of power. Powerful people paid homage to me. Everything they wanted to offer me, I accepted with a smile, "using my face" to guard my heart. But smiling, in the middle of the farce, I learned the truth of all their lies. I can now say how much they lie, all that they deceive, everything that they pretend, because I know men in their greatness and their misery. Often, I have had before my eyes, at the same time, as if to compare them face to face, the misery of greatness and the greatness of misery.
Only the fanatics, who are idealists and partisan - do not give up. The cold and indifferent should not serve the people, because they cannot even if they want to. To serve the people, one has to be prepared for anything - including death. The cold do not die for a cause, but only by accident, by miscalculation. Fanatics do. I like fanatics and all of history's fanaticisms. I like the heroes, the saints, and the martyrs, whatever the cause and the reason behind the fanaticism. The accountants did not build Regina, it was built by the adventurers. It is the last bastion of the independent thinkers and businessmen. It is a demonstration of the ultimate responsibility of freedom. In no other place could such an idea and a term as " Regina suicide" not only exist, but also flourish.
Fanaticism turns life into a permanent and heroic process of dying; but it is the only way that life can defeat death. That is why I am a fanatic. I would give my life for Regina and for the people... because I am sure that only by giving it will I win the right to live in them for all eternity.
There is only one invincible thing on Regina: the will of the people. "There is nothing we can do" is what every cowardly government of oppressed nations says. But they do not do it out of conviction, they say it out of convenience. Nothing is stronger than the people. The only thing that we can do is decide to be just, free, and sovereign.
The process? There are a thousand effective ways to triumph: with or without arms, straight on or behind the back, by the light of day or in the shadow of night, in rage or with a smile, crying or singing, legally or by the same illicit means that imperialism itself uses against the people. I ask myself: what can a million ton battleship do to a people determined to sabotage its masters until they attain freedom and justice? How many Ruie's can the Imperium afford? How many adepts can the Zhodani afford to lose on this planet? Are they not better served by a free and neutral port, open to trade with all?
Imperialism's weapon is hunger, but our people know what it is to die of hunger. Imperialism's Achilles' heel is self-interest. Where the interest of imperialism is called fuel, throwing a rock in every well will be enough to beat them. Where it is called copper or tin, it will be enough to break the machines that extract it from the land. Where it is trade, for the exploited dock workers to fold their arms. They cannot defeat us. All we have to do is decide. Once we have made that commitment, they will never be able to wrench away our justice, our freedom, our sovereignty. They would have to kill us one by one, every Reginan. We are masters of our own destiny.
No one is more capable than we are. They could defeat us in one day...at night or by surprise, but if the next day we take to the streets, or refuse to work, or sabotage everything they want to command, they will have to resign themselves to giving freedom and justice back to us. But only if this resistance is organized, as you did during the last frontier war. You have lived this already, you know it in your bones. We will triumph as long as we are conscious of our sovereign power.
The hour of the people will not be achieved if we do not demand active participation in the government of the Marches. I will do this.
I have begun by making sure that the people's political leaders and the union leaders do not lose contact with the people they represent. I have urged reforms of justice and wages. I have given you bread and found you jobs. Now I will carry your concerns to the tables of power. I will seek a voice for Regina during the coming negotiations between the Imperials and Zhodani. We did not seek the war, and we did not seek "neutrality", these were thrust upon us. Having been given those responsibilities however, we deserve the respect accorded a free people from the powers that created us. I do not propose antagonism to these powers, simply enlightened self-interest for Regina.
The men and women of the people must always be partisan and fanatics; they must never give in to the oligarchy and imperialists. I am not making an issue of class. I am not patronizing the class struggle, but our dilemma is very clear. The oligarchy that exploited us for thousands of years throughout the Marches will always try to defeat us. But we will never reach an understanding with them because the one thing that they want is the one thing we will never give them: our freedom. Before wicked and despicable exploitation, everything seems small...and everything needed to triumph is important.
In our blood, we all have the seeds of selfishness that could turn us into enemies of the people and its cause. We must squash this wherever it springs up, if we want Regina to reach the bright noonday of the people, and if we do not want the night to fall again over their victory.
To avoid a class struggle, I do not believe, as the editors of "Free Thoughts" seem to, that we must kill all the oligarchs of the world. No. Because that would be a never-ending thing, for once current ones disappeared, we would have to start with our men who turned into oligarchy in the name of ambition, honors, power, or money. The path must be to convert all of the oligarchs of the world and turn them into our people, of our class. How? By making them work in order to join the only class that Regina recognizes: the class of men who work to succeed. Work is the great task of sophants, but also the great virtue. When everyone works, when everyone lives off their own work and not someone else's, we will all be better, more brotherly; and the oligarchy will be a bitter and painful memory for Reginans. Some will call this weakness. But we must come to understand that our power is derived from our united will as a people; the will to stand up, and be counted, to risk our narrow self-interests.
Regina must continue to be a place where people speak their minds freely and act in a free and peaceful manner. We must not fall into the trap of violence against one another. Disorder provides the oligarchs and imperialists an excuse to intervene, to claim that we are not capable of self-government. We must prove that we are wise, as well as self-disciplined.
Many will scoff at what I say, saying that I have little to lose personally in all this. To them, I must point out the dead bodies of Regina's ruling family, that have barely had time to cool. I understand the powers that I have now offended by making public their lies. And although I have no illusions as to whether I will become another Regina suicide, I believe that responsibility must accompany freedom, and I am willing to pay that price. That higher power has taken me down my people's roads and because I followed them, I have come to receive the affection of men, women, and children as no one else has. That is a reward greater than the ambitions of men for money, power and honor will ever achieve. To all that will doubt my simple words, let them doubt this....
[Corina holds up her imperial citizenship card, sets fire to it, once it's 90% gone, drops it (flaming) off the balcony into the crowd]