The Fundamental Rights

[Nectorist 12875]

The Fundamental Rights

In the year 14 of the Age of Rights

 

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“AUDERE EST FACERE”

 

 

 

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This recovered document, dating to the year 150 S.A, or 1946, was the unpublished conception of the rights guaranteed by the League of Veletz. Produced in conversation with the Josephite Rights of Man, The Fundamental Rights shows an amateurish, if earnest, engagement with the foundational principles of the rest of humanity. What is remarkable is that, unlike what its enemies would allege, the League of Veletz believed the Rights of Man to be imperfect only insofar as they required modification, and envisioned a social and legal code that would expand, not retract, its promises. Surrounded by hostile foes among the Princes of Canondom, the many ethnic groups that would come to make the League of Veletz found themselves adopting a surprising bent against the liberal autocracy of the day, promising a future of humanity that would truly deliver the reins of government to its people.

 

However, one must always distinguish promise from practice. A novice philosopher himself, Captain-General Johanes van Aert never completed the authorship of this document. His successors, Germanicus and Gaspard, found themselves more interested in exercising the real power of the state to address the many issues they inherited from their brother’s flawed governance. While the initial proclamation of the League of Veletz promised an Age of Rights, it never brought it about, even in its own lands, before the eventual conquest and depopulation of the Midlands. Ironically, it was in the realistic, practical realm of realpolitik that the Captain-Generals excelled the most.

 

Nonetheless, the idealism that would guide the League of Veletz’s founders may find some place in the discussion halls and debates of our world today. It is a lesser place than Joseph Marna’s Rights of Man, but it is our duty as informed subjects of the Emperor to sharpen the rigor of the state against its competitors from the past, present, and future. As I have recovered this document from my archives, I publish it for all to read, hopefully enjoy, and certainly think about.

 

Cassius Mareno, Prince of Myrine, c. 243, S.A

 

 

THE JOSEPHITE RIGHTS OF MAN:

Quoted from the Law Books of the Realms of Man, namely the Oren Revised Code,

 

Humanity, created by God in the image of His Prophets, is bestowed upon through His Divine Power the guaranteed, inalienable rights of Man, held above all law and rule. Through the power of the Crown, they are enforced and protected immaculate and indefinite, only transgressed by committing a mortal sin.

 

The Rights of Man include;

• THE RIGHT TO LIFE, so no man will ever be taken to the Skies so soon.
• THE RIGHT TO LIBERTY, so no man will ever be bonded by the shackles of slavery.
• THE RIGHT TO TRIAL, so no man will ever be wrongly accused when not charged by a trial of their peers.

 

 

OF THE RIGHT TO LIFE,

 

Life is not only the act of drawing breath. It is the sole gift shared by all creatures. So common is existence that to guarantee it is to guarantee what is decided by God. What must necessarily be secured is not life and its continuation, but its ability to be given meaning.

 

Should a woman in possession of a simple farmstead live for forty years, bear four children by a devoted husband, rest well after she has tended to her crops with her family, enjoy the bounties of her labors upon the table, have ample firewood to heat her home at night, and serve both the Lord and her community with piety and distinction, her cause of death is insignificant. Be it by a strike of lighting, an unjust murder, or the spear of a bandit, her short life was a well-lived one, and it cannot be said that she would ever regret the actions taken within her power.

 

Should another woman live for eighty years, bear two children by a faithless husband, be forced to raise them alone with only her hands in the field, worry each night if this paltry meal is to be the last, give her own blanket to their children so they may be warm, and live long enough to see them die before her, then her cause of death is insignificant. It may have been a common illness, she may have been unbothered by the State or her community, yet her life was a miserable one, and had she died earlier she would have suffered less.

 

Thus, it is our responsibility to ensure that our fellow man does not only live without fear of an unjust death, but lives without fear of poverty and misery. For the state, it means the general assurances of charity, fair taxation, and the opportunity for employment and the advancement of station according to one’s merits.

 

It is from this that we promise the RIGHT TO DIGNITY and the RIGHT TO COMPENSATION.

 

OF THE RIGHT TO LIBERTY,

 

While it is an admirable thing that the shackles of man be broken, and the pledges that none be kept under the bonds of slavery be seen through, liberty must be seen to its logical conclusion. While true slaves in a legal sense remain few, these are not the only chains that shackle man. The old feudal order, marked by serfdom and a rigid adherence to the status quo, serves equally to keep the ambitious and capable repressed in favor of the slovenly and well-off. 

 

Liberty is not only the freedom of existence without abject oppression, but the freedom to reach one’s potential according to the gifts and talents that God has bestowed upon them. It is unjust to deny them the ability to reach the highest rungs of government, and be bestowed the most honorable orders, on the basis of mere birth. 

 

So too have past and present states been corrupted by the existence of an elite class that has not used its own gifts to elevate the general welfare of their respective realms and aid in the prosperity of their fellow man, but cement their own power and control the levers of government. Meanwhile, the commoner classes, which make up the far superior proportion of the toils, are left underneath the boot of their lords. In war, it will be the many men-at-arms and levied archers that die, yet it will be their lieges that are decorated. Masons and carpenters of insignificant stock will labor endlessly to construct a cathedral, yet it will be the minister that is decorated for its beauty.

 

This unequal relationship is what produces the slave-term of our time: subject. Serving beneath a king, lord, or governor, to be a subject is to be commanded at the discretion of one above you with no regard for the equality of the souls. 

 

It is from this that we promise the RIGHT TO MOVEMENT and the RIGHT TO GENERAL EQUALITY.

 

OF THE RIGHT TO TRIAL,

 

It is considered one of the great mistakes of Joseph Marna to not have executed Martinus Horen in the aftermath of the latter’s capture at the Battle of Upper Rodenburg. Only those who lack experience with war and politics believe the fate of Arcas’s greatest conflict was determined on one decision. What is forgotten in the histories of this episode is that, in forgiving his most dangerous enemy after a fair trial, Joseph Marna saw the beauty in true justice being implemented, even over his political needs.

 

That said, his critics cannot be ignored. The choice was still a grave one, and later adopters of the Rights of Man willingly set it aside. It is well-known that his Empire soon collapsed after its defeat, and many saw strict adherence to the principle of fair trial to be unnecessary at best and dangerous at worst. Were there not bandits and brigands who deserved summary execution? They would not care to show themselves at a trial. What of the general citizenry unaccustomed to complicated legal processes? They could easily be abused by corrupt judges, or unwittingly, perhaps even falsely, testify against themselves for lack of knowledge of what to do. The practice of law expanded, but it built a select class of those with the money and time to devote themselves to such things.

 

The law, interpreted by appointed scholars, will not be blindly utilized to dispense justice, but favor those with the means to bend it their way and hire the strongest interpreters. Thus, the laws themselves must be iron, left to be judged with by these same scholars, yes, but forged and created through a means at the express consent of the governed populace. Should these laws be made to be comprehensible and clearly reflect the will of the many, then the few who execute and interpret them will necessarily be acting upon their wishes while better-understanding how to shape and mold them in the formation of a better state.

 

The second shield against tyrannical injustice is the mass of voice and the petition and assembly that can arise from it. It is necessary that critique and dialogue of the methods and functions of government be allowed to flow smoothly and without excessive censure or condemnation. Are those high officials not above the masses whose words they fear? If so, then there is no need to care what they say. If not, then they are an equal soul and may be judged, harshly or favorably, fairly or unjustly, in the court of the public.

 

It is from this that we promise the RIGHT TO REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT and the RIGHT TO EXPRESSION.

 

THE FUNDAMENTAL RIGHTS:

 

OF THE RIGHT TO DIGNITY,

No man, woman, or child shall live in squalor or ignoble conditions. If there is meat on the table for some, there must be bread on the table for all. If there is no bread on the table for some, there shall be no meat on the table for any. The state must do its part to uplift those poorest, while man must do his part to give generously and charitably when able.

 

OF THE RIGHT TO COMPENSATION,

No deed shall be done, either for the state or another private party, that is not paid for. All cheats and misers are to be shamed, all slaves are to be freed, and all oaths and promises are to be upheld.

 

OF THE RIGHT TO MOVEMENT,

None may be compelled to forfeiture of their ability to transfer their person, family, property, or station to a higher or lower place. The children of the powerful may not be shielded from consequence, nor may the mean commons be prevented from ascension of responsibilities if their merit proves them deserving. 

 

OF THE RIGHT TO GENERAL EQUALITY, 

There is no master and slave, no lord and subject, only citizen and fellow citizen. Even those who rule with popular mandate shall not be dominus, but instead princeps- the First Citizen among many. All are equal under the law, and none shall be afforded special privileges save what is earned by merit.

 

OF THE RIGHT TO REPRESENTATIVE GOVERNMENT,

The direction of the nation can only be determined by its people. Unrestricted power cannot and must not be held in the body of the one but in the body of the many, for the latter will necessarily regulate itself and not err towards favoritism to one particular part. All men and women must be allowed representation in the institutions that govern them, even within the executor of the nation’s authority. 

 

OF THE RIGHT TO FREE EXPRESSION,

All words are free to use and may be said, published, and spread without fear of reprisal or censure, save that most indecent speech. All assembly and petition that arises from it is duly protected. All offices and their inhabitants, from the Captain-General to the city aldermen, may be critiqued or praised as needed, as may one’s fellow man. Additionally, all expressions of faith, so long as they are decent and couth, are permitted to be celebrated openly and freely.