adopted by the founding congress of els Zefençadéirs dàl Repúblicâ Talossán, August/Guscht 2006/xxvii/III
Zefençismeu, or Defencism - the ideology on which the ZRT party is founded - sees itself as the heir to the traditions which have kept Talossa strong, vibrant and proud throughout its history. At the same time, it repudiates the traditions which kept Talossa paranoid, nasty, and cultish for much of the later history of the pre-Revolutionary period. We stand in, and defend, the best traditions of the Declaration of Independence of December 1979 which created Talossa, the Revolution of June 2004 which created the modern Talossan Republic, and the “Quiet Revolution” of August 2005 which created the modern Kingdom of Talossa.
Defencism, therefore, contains the following strands:
1. Nationalism. We uphold the tradition that Talossa is a nation - defined by Perry Anderson as “an imagined community”. we see ourselves (or at least behave as if we do) as a nation of the world, but we cast no judgement on the validity of other non-sovereign entities' claims to nationhood. The Talossan nation includes all current citizens of the Kingdom and the Republic of Talossa, and some who are not currently citizens but have historically shown themselves to be Talossan. We support Talossa having the full panoply of institutions of a nation-state, insofar as they are useful or fun for a population of our size.
2. Traditionalism. Talossa is the Talossan traditions that have evolved more or less continuously since 1979. A Talossan is defined in part by being aware of the history of that tradition and continuing to work within it. This tradition is always open to change - however, too great a rupture with those traditions, and Talossa will cease to be Talossa. One vitally important tradition of the Talossan nation is el glhetg naziunál, and Defencism strives towards the goal of 'n naziun Ladîntsch- where all citizens would know and use at least a small amount of the Talossan language in their daily business.
3. Pretentiousness. Although the Talossan state possesses no sovereign power, behaving as if it does is an essential part of the fun of being Talossan. Pomp, rhetoric and boasting are an important part of the Talossan tradition. however, we also see all this with a touch of irony. We repudiate that part of the Talossan tradition which honoured historical dictatorships and oppressive regimes on the grounds that their uniforms were snazzy. In this, Defencism is a left-wing form of Talossan nationalism.
4. Republican dirigism. This phrase attempts to define the particular way that Defencism sees the Talossan state:
a) All citizens should be equal before the law.
b) All government offices should derive their powers from a popular mandate and be regularly subject to democratic scrutiny, to the extent that this does not impede their ability to make decisions and take action.
c) The state should have real power and responsibility for the collective life of the nation, including but not limited to cultural development, settlement of disputes between citizens and relations withother nations.
d) Real power in the Talossan state should lie where the constitution and laws declare it to lie. We repudiate pre-Revolutionary Talossa's history of “name only” governments and committees, and a legislature which debated frivolous bills while real power lay elsewhere.
5. Unity. There is no good reason for two Talossan states to exist. This political division weakens the nation. However, the cultural gap between the two states is currently too wide for political unity to be a realistic goal in the forseeable future. The Defencists support:
a) as a first priority, rebuilding the cultural unity of the Talossan nation;
b) eventual political unity as only coming after a vast consensus of both States, under a new Constitution drafted by a convention with equal representation by both States.
6. Diversity. We repudiate the historical tradition of “cultural monolithism” in Talossa. Every one of good will who pledges loyalty to the Constitution and Laws of Talossa should be welcome as a citizen. Although we defend Talossan cultural traditions as we understand them, we recognize that the democratic will of the people trumps tradition. Cultural distinctiveness should be encouraged in Talossa's provinces - in fact, that is the main reason why they should continue to exist.
7. Focus outwards. At all those times when Talossa has become inward-looking and static, it has become a nasty place to live. Talossa is best when we are continually accepting new Talossans, and engaging in cultural exchanges with non-Talossans of good will. we are poorer for pretending that we exist in a vacuum.
The ZRT is therefore a cultural movement as well as a political party, which seeks to actively build Talossan culture and deepen understanding of our history, while at the same time competing democratically for positions within the Talossan State and seeking to improve our constitution and laws. We believe that our Seven Points above embody the positive side of the tradition which has kept Talossa alive for almost three decades.
