State of the Union XII

**Written By:** Nathan Maine, Major Executive

**Released:** January 28, 2014

Honorable dignitaries of the Executive Branch, mindful representatives of the Administrative Branch, formidable friends of the Union, and righteous citizens of the Triumvirate, it is with a heavy heart that I deliver my third and final State of the Union address to you. Two years ago, Major Executive Arnold Ogamon had the honor of presenting the sixth State of the Union, which shared the evening with President Obama's third State of the Union, and in it he spoke of what was to come for the Triumvirate in the new year: an economic system, the transition of the Triumvirate's core to the wiki, and the opening of the first session of the Administrative Branch. Now it is my honor to, once again sharing the evening with President Obama, deliver the Triumvirate's twelfth State of the Union.

Though I may only be with you a few more months, it is not only my duty, but it is my privilege to bring this Union forward into what will be its finest year. This is the year we’ve been working towards. We’ve achieved economic resilience, success in foreign affairs, a secure nation, unprecedented growth in membership, and we’ve modernized our government. This is the year we break the record books, the year all of our hard work pays off, and the year we will see the Triumvirate become truly immortal.

I would be remiss in my duties if I weren’t to begin this address by speaking to you about the conflict that our young Union is involved in at this very moment. War rages, not in our land, but in another’s, but that does not make the concern of our citizens as to the effects of this war unreasonable. Many still ask why the Triumvirate has decided to become involved in a foreign conflict, and though I would argue that it is our prerogative and our duty to aide when someone seeking freedom from oppression asks our aide, that argument might be lost on some. All I can do to comfort your concerns is to make sure the war comes to a close quickly and with as few casualties as possible and to be forthright about the events and outlook of the conflict. To speak candidly to you all, and with the knowledge that there are those who seek our destruction also observing this address, I can say that things are going well, but slower than we’d like. On the battlefront, it has become a tedious process, of moves and countermoves, actions and reactions, and covert operations by both sides. Desolare still asserts that Pania is under their control, while Pania and the Triumvirate have made it abundantly clear that Pania has moved forward in independence and will never, in any way or fashion, rejoin the tyranny that is Desolare and its Capital. Pania is building up its own image as an independent nation and we intend to establish a permanent treaty with them shortly and aide them in developing their own economic system. We have aided Pania in finding other future allies and offered our services in their transition to a democratic system of government. It is impossible to say when hostilities will come to an end, but we are putting all that which we can to make sure that happens. A few days ago, a citizen of Pania wrote to me, thanking myself and the Triumvirate for aiding them in their quest for freedom. They wrote, “It is my only hope that the fighting will stop soon,” to which I responded, “Hope will not make the war end, only action will.”

Despite the conflict that has risen in the past weeks, in the past four months we’ve excelled. We reached an all-time high of membership due to a massive increase in recruitment incentives via my stimulus act passed in my first trimester. We passed campaign regulations setting limits on campaign donations and on how campaign funds can be used. We expanded on defense and security procedures with the ARMED Act, enhancing how we handle threats and improving the mechanisms we have for our protection against foreign attacks. We created the position of Senator, giving the people of the Triumvirate a say in the matters of the Executive Branch; a position now graced by Clark McDearny, whom I’ve enjoyed working with and who I believe holds many great ideas in store. We passed the Futures Code, promoting our well-being for years to come and setting up stages of development for our economy and our government as the Union grows. And we did all of that and much more despite a crippling government shutdown, Andrew Hester’s untimely departure, and intense polarization in our branches of government. Think of what all we could have accomplished were none of those to have occurred. Fortunately, this trimester, all of that is behind us, and I believe that this trimester will be the one that will not only define my time in office, but also set the Union on its course for prosperity.

The agenda for this trimester, though not focused on defense and implementation as much as the last trimester, will set the tone for the year to come. Even after I am gone, I rest easier knowing that my policies and what we do this trimester will work to the Triumvirate’s advantage for a long time.

First and foremost is putting the Desolaran conflict to rest. That is my prime objective as Major Executive and commander-in-chief. The sooner that the war has ended, Pania is free, and Desolare has paid for its tyrannical actions, the better. Though I still maintain the belief that our involvement in this war is something that will improve our image and make the Triumvirate stronger, it is always better to have fewer casualties and to devote less time than more. General Mearl, who is the Chief Ambassador and Chairman of the Joint Command Council, along with Head of Intelligence Ascencia have been working around the clock since we engaged Desolare to protect our Union, protect Pania, and to bring Desolare’s oppression to an end. I have utmost faith in both of them, in the Triumvirate’s defense forces, and in our assets.
While the conflict continues, despite our efforts to bring it to quick and painless end, the domestic Triumvirate marches forward. I have prepared the Departures Code, likely coming forth in February, which will create a clear set of rules for what happens when individuals leave the Union and how their assets and desires are carried out. Assets, bonds, businesses, currency, all going to the next of kin or whomever the owner would have wanted it to go to, instead of automatically to the government. I also intend to create a help central on our wiki so that any person, be them Triumvirate citizen or not, can simply post a question about anything Triumvirate related, and our government or our general community can respond quickly to get them an answer within minutes. It will be an excellent way to get people the information they need quickly, whether it’s a question about how to become a citizen, how to start a business, or what how a new policy might affect them.

As we have realized several times in the last eight months, especially in allying with the Occidental Coalition, and now the conflict with Desolare, we are not alone. There are other nations and forces similar to us, many who may seek to accomplish the same thing as we do, and many who might seek our destruction. How do we recognize these factions? How do we determine who has legitimate leadership or structure from those who would have no definable political system? Who do we select as potential allies compared to those who might be a waste of our time and resources? Finding myself considering those questions frequently, I decided to put some time into planning a set of definitions for sovereignty. Those who fit within the definitions would be considered foreign states, ones we could ally and conduct business with. The Department of State, as well as my office, will be heavily involved in making sure our definitions are modern, effective, and appropriate for our place in the grand scheme, and then work on implementing them. This will shape foreign policy for years to come, increasing the Triumvirate’s prestige and credibility and establishment the fact that, though we are not alone in this world, we are unique in it.

When I first took office in May of last year, I made it my goal to solve the long-standing issue of citizenship. Through new legislation, revised techniques, and policy changes, we’ve seen an increase in citizenship since then, but the work is not over. The work will not be over until every business has employed to its desires, until every government office is full, and until the Triumvirate is so flooded with active and passionate members that our concern is not on hiring, but instead on having too few jobs to go around. Though recruitment never stopped being a top priority in my overall agenda, it’s time to push it to the forefront again, and regardless of whether it takes policy changes or funds, I will fight every step of the way to make sure that we do absolutely everything we can to get our total membership to a higher level, one that is permanent and that we won’t fear slipping from. I’ve consulted with Head of Naturalization Ehtya on the matter, as well as a few others, and I’ve outlined a course of action to get us where we need to go. That is why I will soon be calling on the Executive and the Administrative Branch to loosen restrictions on dual citizenship, allowing almost any person who is interested in the Triumvirate to become a citizen. I’ll also be completely overhauling how we register those who want to become members utilizing a project that I’ll speak about shortly and creating incentives for private sector recruitment. As a last step, I will put emphasis on filling the last few Executive positions that remain empty as I am a firm believer in the idea that one good Executive can bring in even more good citizens and dozens of good ideas to our Union. This is the trimester we make that last push and if the recruitment outlook hasn’t improved by the time I leave office, then I welcome you all to call me a failure in the history books.

Last, but not least, I’ll speak on what may be the most significant project of this trimester. In early December of last trimester, I initiated a project with my office and the Department of Intelligence under the designation “Project Breaking Ground”. This project involves the development of a brand new website for the Triumvirate Executive Branch, as our current site for conducting regular business is embarrassingly outdated. After the Executive Branch has transferred to reside on this site, which is far more advanced than any prior or backup site the Executive Branch has utilized up to this point, a one to two month process of trial will begin so that the Executive Branch can test out the abilities and potential flaws in the new site. After this month or two, it is my intent that most of the site becomes open to the Triumvirate public as a general forum for our Union. Though the areas for the Executive Branch, and potentially even the Administrative Branch if we integrate them onto the site, may be restricted, the general forum will be open to all members and friends of the Triumvirate as a central place to meet and participate in the community of our Union. It will be a new step for the Triumvirate in that we will have a central community site as well as our traditional informative site. Development is still under way, but I’m intending to have the project completed and ready for the Executive Branch sometime in February, with phasing in of the entire Triumvirate starting late March.

There you have it, by the time my term is up and I say goodbye to the branch that I have served unceasingly, we’ll have the Departures Code passed, we’ll have strict sovereignty definitions, we’ll have developed a new site and a new center for our Union, we’ll have new members to sustain us, and we’ll embrace the notion that the Triumvirate is rising to levels we’d never have expected. Though I look forward to our last three months together and all the solid progress we have yet to make, I feel bittersweet about this address. The idea that this will be the last State of the Union that I ever give to the Universal Triumvirate haunted me as I wrote it. But the thought of how much we can make from the dwindling amount of time we have together, that the Triumvirate five years down the road will thank us for what we do, gave me the conviction to make this speech one both of action and of potential. No person will accomplish everything they set out to do, but let this message be heard by the world: that, as the Universal Triumvirate, we’ll be damned if we don’t put all of the effort we can into making this Union’s destiny come sooner rather than later. So, as I finish the last State of the Union of my career, I can affirm that if there is one thing I’ve learned in my experience here, it’s that there is no challenge too difficult, no enemy too great, and no crisis too bleak to get in this Union’s way, nor will there ever be so long as the Triumvirate is willing to work hard, stand strong, and do what is right.

I look forward to what the future holds for each of us, for the world, for our allies, and, above all, what the future holds for the Triumvirate.

Thank you,
*-Nathan Maine, Fifth Major Executive of the Universal Triumvirate*