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News from Alexandras - Attention Anti-Statists: Alexandras to hold Anti-Statist League Conference

Alexandras

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January 8th, 2018
Alexandria -
After a long deliberation, the annual Grand Commune finished its convening, putting forth Samuel Westmoreland of the Commune of Lake Buckhorn as First Citizen for 2018.

Westmoreland is so far the youngest First Citizen, at the age of 21, a shock and point of contention for many at the Commune. Apart from his age, his views on allowing foreign businesses and especially on mutual recognition of "sovereignty," was hotly debated on the floor.

However, his history as Head of Operations at the Lake Buckhorn Whiskey Distillery, turning it from a failing company to a world wide known brand, was recognized as a massive achievement in business acumen among his supporters, who also pushed for more "realistic" views on the outside world at large.

"I understand that many people may have their doubts about my capabilities to uphold the virtues of the office," Westmoreland said to the press after the verdict of the Grand Commune, "I've had a lot of people come up to me and compare me to the leaders of other states in regards to my age, and I just have to laugh. I'm not a statist leader, I'm not a monarch or a president. Like all the First Citizens before me I merely act as the head of the communities of Alexandras, such as my home of Lake Buckhorn."

Westmoreland went on to lay out his plans for the new year, stating that "One of the few responsibilities laid at the feet of the First Citizen in Alexandras is to be the public voice of the world facing Alexandran Community. I think First Citizens before me have been lax in that regard. I am not just the ambassador of the teachings of Sir Richard Alexander here at home, but should be the ambassador to the world at large."

"Because of this," Westmoreland went on, "I am opening Alexandria to the world. To all those who do not fear the idea of a stateless society, we welcome you. I have asked the Commune of Alexandria to come up with a contract for me to work through on procuring parcels of land for proper embassies to be built upon. While we here in Alexandras do not believe in the power of states, I consider it fool hardy to have dismissed the voices of statist communities for so long. I am not afraid of the outside world, and hope that the outside world comes to understand us just as equally."

Alex Newton, from the Commune of Fort Pleasant, disagreed, and lead the voices of opposition to Westmoreland's appointment during the Commune.

"It reeks of statism. By definition, the de facto recognition of foreign states is recognizing the ownership of the people by a state entity. When we converse with states, we recognize that a state as an entity is a valid and deserving entity to communicate with. Not to mention the reverse. We do not need to be recognized by the world stage, as we are not a government, we are a nation of individuals. It's foolhardy to think that allowing embassies and foreign interference is going to help Alexandras to become anything more than a state in name only."

Samuel Westmoreland will be writing his first statement to the public in "A Message From the First Citizen," in this very paper later today.
 

Alexandras

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Welcome Citizens, and hello. It's weird speaking to you all from the other side of the copy. I for the longest time, as you all are doing now, kept up with the news of the community through this very column, and it is an honor to now be voted in as your new First Citizen for 2018, and have the privilege to speak to you all here.

However, as many of you have heard and discussed it is my opinion that my voice has to travel farther than the local coffee shops and homes of Alexandrans, and instead reach the ears of the world. Some have called me conceited or even statist for this, that talking to governments is in some way normalizing and acknowledging their right to rule. However I would argue that the important part of the governments of the world, the part that I wish to speak to here in this very column is the same part that I represent: the community. Or even the Community, as Sir Richard Alexander once wrote in the manifestos we so rigorously uphold.

And so it was a struggle for a while to sit here in front of my computer and think of a proper introduction to the communities of the world. What do you say to people under the control of something we here in Alexandras consider so antithetical to our entire existence? What do you do to get our views across to the people abroad without, frankly, terrifying them?

And thus I struggled until, dumbstruck, it became so obvious. The truth is always the best place to start. It is such a simple maxim yet when given the world, it was hard to see at first. And so I begin here. What are we? What is Alexandras?

Alexandras is, as political science professors would phrase it, an Anarcho-Capitalist Commune. We are a collection of individual townships, communities, people that commonly agreed under the leadership of the late Sir Richard Alexander to put forth his views on governance, a radical experiment at the time, when we came here as colonists to this continent. Our people started, as many colonists do, as people from what is now known as the Engellexian Republic, much like our neighbors. However, unlike our neighbors, Alexandras was started more as a business endeavor; Alexandras at the time was set up to hunt pelts, and mine coal, two things we have a good amount of.

However as the business grew, it was decided it needed proper governance, as it came to resemble something more similar to a 'proper state.' It was at this point however that Sir Richard Alexander stepped in, arguing that what had worked thus far, communities of people working amongst themselves, forming personal contracts and unions and doing business the way they saw fit was not only still viable, but preferable. And thus the modern Alexandran Community was born, a non-statist entity, where the only organs of the public are the Communes of cities, and the Grand Commune that mediates between them. Even then, the Grand Commune does not tell the smaller Communities how to be, merely setting agendas and important goals, and organizing with businesses and individuals contractually to solve them.

And with that, comes the idea of the capital C "Community." We do not govern, but like any good community, we are there for each other and aid when it is too much for one person or one town.

Hopefully this clears the air, and gets rid of some of the preconceptions on Alexandran society. We are not all gun-toting hillbillies or backwards people, sitting on the porch and yelling at the world as it goes by. We have skyscrapers, corporate enterprise, a commonly accepted currency. None of which was forced upon our Community however, and that is what makes us different. For more, I can only ask that you come and see us for yourselves.
 

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January 8th, 2018
Lake Buckhorn -

Responding to the opening of foreign relations, numerous companies in First Citizen Westmoreland's home community of Lake Buckhorn have shared their reservations with opening up to foreign markets and to state entities.

"It's not that we're afraid of the competition, far from it." Says Brice Barlow, busy opening up his factory where he makes small machine parts for car repair. "The main issue that I have is how to deal with crony capitalism? We're lucky here to have a purely contractual economy. I don't have to worry about copyright law or regulations, I simply have to worry about the damage to my reputation should I inadvertently harm someone with what I make. But if foreign companies will only sell here if we follow their rules, I can't stand up to that. They write those rules to benefit them."

A number of people we spoke to at the Frosty Mug Tavern echoed those worries.

Jaycob Hopson spoke over a glass of Lake Buckhorn Whiskey, laughing when we mentioned he was drinking the First Citizen's drink before sobering up to speak of his concerns. "Look its not that I'm afraid that our economy or way of life will worsen, what I'm afraid of is that what makes the Alexandran Community truly a community instead of a state may change forever should we start making exceptions. If we don't agree with something we should not agree with that, end of the line."

Others however have more optimistic thoughts about opening up to foreign businesses.

Gabe Emerson, a professor of Political Science at Alexandria University, says that he is optimistic that Westmoreland has returned to the roots of classical liberalism. "We can't truly call ourselves believers in a free market if we are only free among ourselves. Sir Richard Alexander, and many of his predecessors believed deeply in the idea of the free movement of ideas, people, and capital, and believed all three complimented each other. Should our businesses open up in other countries like what Samuel Westmoreland did with Lake Buckhorn Whiskey, inevitably that will spread the way we do business as well, which can only benefit the world."

Westmoreland and the Foreign Advisory Board have already spoken with representatives of Geotri about increasing private infrastructure spending in television, in preparation for the Auto-Rennen-Wettbewerb, one of Alexandras's favorite stock car series.
 
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January 10th, 2018
Lake Buckhorn -

As Ann Towner opened up her laptop, taking a sip of her coffee, she pointed to a folder of particular interest on her computer simply labeled: "Wallet."

"See that? That's how I'm going to pay for this coffee today."

Ann Towner is a recent immigrant from Gunnland, who came to Lake Buckhorn to make a new life for herself. Just recently out of University in studying Computer Science with an emphasis on Interweb technologies, Towner, alongside a small team of programmers, computer security professionals, and economic experts began working on what Towner considers an important step in reaching a more free and open world-wide economy.

"Even in Alexandras, the requirements of convenience make it so that there is essentially a unified singular currency throughout the country. Now unlike most statist economies that hold control over that currency, Alexandras at least maintains a certain amount of openness and collaboration through contractual agreements with all of the constituent communities, but we felt that wasn't enough. I felt like we could do better."

What Towner is talking about is her creation, which she and her team have named "RichCoin."

"It's an homage to Richard Alexander, but also a play on words of course. We hope that people will end up getting rich by using our currency just like any other state controlled currency."

So what makes RichCoin different? Well for one, it is an entirely stateless currency. No country controls what rate it is printed, what interest it can accrue. In fact, there is no interest because its worth is built strictly off of its common usefulness and public demand.

"We built RichCoin to be more like a commodity in its use than a modern fiat currency," Says Danya Sandford, one of the economic experts brought on to work on the RichCoin project. "Instead of its worth being controlled by strict governmental controls, inherently removing the peoples voice from what there currency can do for them, RichCoin is built so that people have to first collect it, and then utilize it similar to how one barters. Instead of a gold brick, or an old car, or anything like that, you can use a RichCoin."

"We also thought it was important that the RichCoin is totally anonymous. No one can see who is spending it, no one can see who is mining it, and the only person that can access your own wallet is you, so long as you are the only one to know the 64 character key code that is associated with your wallet."

Ann Towner even brought RichCoin recently to the Grand Commune, speaking with Samuel Westmoreland who seemed to be very pleased with the project, commenting on how he would love for it to catch on throughout Alexandras and the world.

"This is a fantastic middle ground between what most countries do with their currency controls, and the more free and open market that we have here in the Alexandras Community with our fiat currency. The Alexandran Gold Certificates still run off of a complex, and frankly inefficient series of contractual agreements and obligations throughout the community at large. It works, yes, but I've never found it to be a perfect system. If this catches on, then I do believe RichCoin may be what we're after."

Towner however, was the first to advise caution. "We've had a lot of interest across the globe with RichCoin, but there are a lot of misconceptions as well. We advise that people go to our website, to see what we are all about, and see how to get started collecting RichCoin for yourself."
 

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January 11, 2018
SoC.R.E.R/Alexandras Border -

C
ontroversy over the Alexandras, Southern Constituent Republican border erupted early today as border patrol working for the SoC.R.E.R government interned and arrested five men and women from the Alexandran border town of Cartwright, under the charges of "Drug and Arms Smuggling."

Alex Fitsch, the border guard on duty that managed to pull over the five suspects earlier today commented that very quickly they knew something was wrong.

"We pulled over the van they were driving, and within seconds we knew that we had something. In the back was a crate filled with what the suspects confirmed was marijuana, and in a few other bags were various small arms. Pistols, a handful of hunting rifles, and about a thousand rounds of appropriate ammunition."

The local community of Cartwright has responded with demands for a return of the five suspects immediately without charges, and a full return of their confiscated property. However, Samuel Westmoreland met with press this morning with a more hard line message.

"Look, we realize that nothing they were carrying would have gotten them in trouble in Cartwright, or in most places in Alexandras. However this was not Alexandras. When you cross the border you cross into the rules of that community, something that we should respect as much as we would if he were to bring those firearms into a community that has agreed to outlaw them here in Alexandras. We wouldn't abide that here, and I don't expect the Southern Republics to abide to Cartwright's demands either."

However Alex Newton, one member of the Grand Commune who voiced his distaste for Westmoreland during the debate over who should become the next First Citizen has once again raised opposition to the First Citizen's views.

"Look, it is true that there are some communities inside of Alexandras that have agreed to keep certain things as contraband within their community, but unless there is a direct challenge to someones life and property, they may confiscate the unwanted items, but very very rarely have I heard of anyone going to jail over having them. It's just not worth the loss of individual liberty over, not here and not in any community. They may have been inside the Southern Republics, but they are still members of our national Community."

Westmoreland has pledged to be available for negotiations with members of the Southern Constituent Republics for further discussion about the case.
 

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January 15th, 2018
Alexandria -

People assembled at the capitol responded in a mixture of applause and shock as the Grand Commune concluded it's discussion, and came to two advisory positions today. Reading aloud from a prepared statement, Samuel Westmoreland announced that the Grand Commune had moved towards centralization of the military, and a unified denouncement of Engellexian slavery, and its history within Alexandras.

"We need to think about foreign entities and threats to the freedom of the Alexandran community. We've never been the backwoods nowhere place that the world says we are, and we should be able to prove it through the proper defense of this experimental community that we have here." Westmoreland said in a prepared statement to the press.

"As it is now, the patchwork local militias and defense contractors that we have in Alexandras is just not enough to sustain anything. We need a centralized, hierarchical structure that answers to the Grand Commune, not to local communities. We live and die as a Community, we should expect our fighting men and women to do the same."

Once again, Alex Newton was tapped to be the voice of opposition, as crowds of unhappy protestors took to the streets near the Grand Commune.

"The vote was 302 to 282, it was a very close margin and I don't think such sweeping changes should be made on a nearly 50% vote. After all we are talking about instituting a national armed forces, and I use that term with extra emphasis as it will in fact be national."

Newton gave his own speech separate from the First Citizen, a normally unheard of custom. As the crowds of angry Commune members and their supporters crowded in protest Newton however took the stand.

"So far we've seen Westmoreland open up foreign talks, ask for further foreign investment and businesses, allow foreign governments infringe on the rights of sovereign Alexandrans, and now is asking to centralize and nationalize our armed forces. I don't think it is too farfetched now to suspect that Westmoreland wishes he was a leader of some grand republic or monarchy now."

Westmoreland denied to comment on Newton and his followers, instead bringing up the much less controversial decision to publicly distance Alexandras from the history of Engellexian slavery.

"Alexandras is about the freedom of the individual. The freedom from governmental tyranny, as well as the tyranny of ownership. In a unanimous decision, the Grand Commune today moved forward to publicly add "slavery" to the list of violations to what Sir Richard Alexander called the one natural law: Thou shalt not hurt ones personage, or property."

Westmoreland admits that while the unanimous decision showcases the strong distaste across both ethnic and other boundaries throughout Alexandras to the idea of slavery, he did raise concern that this may further distance themselves from the Southern Constituent Republics, who still hold two Alexandras Community members in custody for smuggling.

"I'm not concerned about the response from the Engellexian Republics. While we would love to see them reform as well, the people of the Southern Constituent Republics have chosen their own path and we respect that. We however just want to make it perfectly and crystal clear that we will not tolerate such behavior here in Alexandras. Not now, not ever."
 
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January 19th, 2018
Alexandria -

"It's not like we don't have enough countryside."

Samuel Westmoreland's pleading words appeared to have fallen on receptive ears today, as Westmoreland moved to get the Grand Commune to formally open to potential refugees from the Christmas Crisis in the north, a vote that eventually passed 202-73 in a rather sparse Commune meeting.

"I know it's true that we do not formally have an immigration policy, our borders are open as the idea of borders in a stateless community is seen as a bit of an oddity to begin with. We recognize our border only for the benefit of other statist regimes, to make sure that they know where we hold power instead of them. However, it sometimes takes a formal recognition of something like this for people to realize that we have acknowledged it, and that we are even here. Alexandras is not the first name someone would think of when escaping from the northern midlands."

Westmoreland recently had been in touch with a number of different charity and watch groups that were privy to the situation up north, and seems to have made the refugee crisis his own agenda prior to the Commune vote.

"I mean, selfishly, it solves a problem Alexandras is known to have. We have a manpower shortage, not only in our economy but in our military. We can't continue further industrialization and economic growth without the hands and the minds to move ourselves in that direction."

"But, obviously it touched me on a personal level too, seeing these pictures of Crotobaltislavonian refugees. We have a small but passionate Yiddish community here in Alexandras, and I feel like they could definitely find a comfortable home here among them."

Others in the Commune seemed to disagree, but failed to come forward with a common voice in opposition. Some merely mentioned a measured security risk, that these people would be coming with little to nothing, and who knows what diseases or other ailments they may come with just due to the poor living conditions they had been subject to.

Others saw Westmoreland's pleas as just another attempt at reaching out and recognizing a statist agenda, that by formally acknowledging an immigration platform, even one that was technically no different from what was already the case, it would setting a precedent.

However, Alex Newton, known opposition leader, for once came forth in agreement with his longtime political rival Westmoreland.

"It's rare that I can say this, but I do agree with Westmoreland. I think the cries of my fellow Commune members are ignorant both of the crimes being committed against these people by a multitude of statist regimes and actors, but are overselling the precedent that this would set. Take it from me, Westmoreland has set worse precedents than one that would see Alexandras as the homeland of the disenfranchised."

With the vote passing, local communities have already begun to advertise themselves as welcoming Yiddish refugees, citing jobs in everything from the agricultural, logging, trapping, and manufacturing markets that desperately need additional manpower across the nation.

"Lake Buckhorn, my home community, has had to close three factories lately due to a decline in the population of the area. So again, to all those who have been dragged from their home due to conflict or trouble, we welcome you here. You won't just have a home, you'll find a community."
 

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January 21st, 2018
Alexandria -

S
amuel Westmoreland, in an unexpected address to the Grand Commune this morning announced that he had been working with a well known Alexandrian political group known as the "Anti-Statist League," whose primary mission has been to increase Alexandran efforts to support further advancement of foreign anti-statist governments and organizations.

"I think it is an open secret by now that I and the Anti-Statist League share a lot of common thoughts on the future of Alexandras and Europe as a whole. Alexandras cannot survive alone in the world, I think that much is obvious. We need first and foremost to be able to defend ourselves, and I've worked towards that. We also need to form alliances with like-minded people, groups, and communities, or else we will be standing alone against the world."

Westmoreland has said that he has already worked to open communication between what he sees as fellow travelers.

"Political parties, influential individuals... if they stand for the anti-state we invite you here to work with us. Which of course, brings me to my next point. At my distillery in Lake Buckhorn in a few days time I am going to be hosting the Anti-Statist League Conference. It is normally a rather one-sided affair, with speakers and philosophers preaching to the choir of Alexandran believers. But this year I want it to be a truly multi-national affair. So to all who would listen, to all who would support us, come! A bottle of whiskey is the least of what you'll get here, and I hope we can leave with more than that."

The Anti-Statist League released a statement after Westmoreland's' speech thanking him for his support, and re-iterating his invitation.

"Alexandras does not truly stand alone. Libertarians, Anarcho-Capitalists, Anarcho-Communists, all people who fly the black flag or even close to it, we invite you to our conference to share what has worked, what hasn't, and to increase relations between yourselves and the Community of Alexandras. We also welcome business leaders to come and speak, as with the recent opening of Alexandran markets to more foreign businesses, we wish to speak on how you can work in Alexandras."
 
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