The Archnox Irregular: 27 June 2021



Tomorrow, the June 2021 Archnox Witanmoot elections will begin, and following that, there will be the inevitable debate regarding who will become the Farer. As the sitting Farer and the leader of the Populist Party, I cannot help but hope that the good people of Archnox rightfully decide to vote in favor of Populism, of my Farership, and, especially, of upholding democracy in Archnox. During the last election cycle, we learned by cruel experience how easily it is for rogue politicians to destroy the government of Archnox and to destroy our most important political institutions. It is critical that citizens turn out to vote tomorrow and the next day to uphold pluralism in Archnox. During my first term as Farer, the government achieved much. Despite opposition from the Yamnaya Party, we successfully restored the Farerrich, established this newspaper, held another poetry contest, and finally brought about devolution in Archnox-- the right of Witans to steer the fate of their channels. In my second term, I will work to continue these positive developments and expand on these achievements. In my second term, I want to cement the legacy of Populist governance. Today, I present to you the 3 Populist promises: The Populist government has done great things while in power, but it can do so much more. Thus, I implore you, on 28 June, to vote to extend our mandate.
 * 1) Pluralism: In my first term as Farer, I worked to save Pluralistic governance in Archnox. In my second term, I want to ensure that it stays pluralistic. In order to accomplish this task, I will finally pass a Constitution-- a task that has never been achieved by any elected government in the history of Archnox. I will appoint a new Deemer, a new Deemer that will serve as an agent not of elite interests, but of the Constitution. He or she will serve as a protector, not an enemy, of pluralism in Archnox.
 * 2) Unity: In my first term as Farer, I ejected Basileus from Archnox, and I stand by this decision. He was a severe threat to national security, and his arsony did not go unpunished. But today, nearly a month out from those crimes, I believe Basileus has been in exile for long enough. I will dedicate myself and my government to giving Basileus the opportunity to return to Archnox with no strings attached.
 * 3) Activity: During my first term as Farer, Archnox sent over 8,000 messages over the course of the week of 6 June-- a feat that had not been accomplished since the Westminster Government in January 2021. While this is impressive, it's not good enough. In my second term as Farer, I want to see the beginning of a new, Archnox golden age. With Basileus' return and the end of exam season, I am confident that this is possible, and I believe that it will be the duty of a Populist government to ensure it happens. Already, Archnox has 5 foreign delegates who have committed their communities to participating in an Archnox Olympics. By voting to continue Populist governance, you can ensure that these plans come to fruition.

For the People of the Archnox!

~Farer Vacatio

I have recently had multiple debates with both an ex-Muslim nihilist and Christian. I think it is interesting how their arguments are quite similar. Both focused on proving that all values, morals, reality, etc. are baseless and purely subjective. The goal of the nihilist was to fall into a pit and stay there, while the Christian sought to show how God is the only objective. Both find humanity insufficient and pursue inhuman perspectives. The difference is mainly one of attitude: the Christian copes while the nihilist basks in darkness.

The perspective of the nihilist is psychologically understandable. Islam gave her absolute morals, values, and assurance of reality. When she stopped believing, she tried searching for this objectivity independent of religion and found nothing. She discovered that the value of human life and the principle of not committing murder are human constructions rather than transcendent. She finds that our belief in the reality of our world and experiences is baseless. The nihilist is ultimately correct; these values and morals and beliefs are not transcendent, but distinctly human. But she does not find this simple explanation satisfactory.

My rebuttal is simple: nihilism is not possible. If one were to truly be agnostic about everything, they would be nothing more than a floating head constantly doubting what they see and think and feel. Such a person would be admitted into a mental institution and would have to be force fed in spite of their agnosticism on the reality of food. Nihilism is antithetical to humanity.

The Christian propounds distinctly similar points. He levels attack upon attack on any claim to value, morals, or trust in our experiences. He especially enjoyed using a simulation argument. “But what if we all live in a simulation?” This argument is not far off from Descartes' argument about us possibly being in a dream or under the spell of an imp. Descartes constructs a rationalist argument to prove God is real and thus disregards such doubts. The Christian however would not accept any argument. He wanted to show faith in God was the only answer. All reasonable argumentation can be undermined, so there is nothing more reasonable than to submit ones self to God.

Both the nihilist and the Christian absurdly look at humanity through a non-human eye. One appeals to the vast and uncaring universe to highlight our insignificance, while the other appeals to God to show the universe in all its vastness does care.

As a human, I find the human perspective satisfactory. I see no reason to abandon morality and values simply because they are not objective. They require no logical grounding in the first place. My instincts compel me to feel that strangling a kitten is wrong. It requires no more justification than that. A practicing moral nihilist only exists in psychopath. I don't need proof to know that what I experience is real. Even the radical skeptic must have some degree of faith in her perceptions to know when to get out of bed and take a piss. The Christian shoots too high. He cannot accept the reality of being a mere human and copes by pretending he knows the nature of God. Stop asking questions that no man needs to know the answer to: simply accept humanity.

The following poems were produced by various Archnox users as an answer to a prompt made by Farer Vacatio on 3 June. The prompt was as follows: '''Write a 5 line poem about a place where you've been. Name the place in the title of the poem.''' This section is dedicated to putting the artistic potential of Archnox on full display. This is a collection of all the poems that met the prompt.