UNSA Federal Capital District - January 2030
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Peace + Senate
Formerly a secretary at a Department of the Interior Records Office in central Pennsylvania, Argyle Sinclair became in the late twenties a small legend of the resistance, as they maintained a record of the global revolutionary movement amidst the dawn of the Node Age. Argyle was unaware of the following their work had until the end of the revolution, when the United New States of America was forming under the new constitution drafted two years prior by the United Leftist Party. As nominations for senators began, Argyle was informed by several friends that they were being nominated. It had come as a surprise initially, but as the election approached Argyle had come to realize that the revolutionary chronicle they had maintained throughout the war had been a valued asset to many members of the resistance, and many more people had admired their commitment to the work.
Argyle was elected as the senator for their region to the National Congress and during the inaugural session of the Senate was elected to the Historical Committee, which would not only maintain records of congressional action but also oversee the maintenance of collective understanding of honest national history. There was not a lot of pomp and circumstance to the opening of the inaugural session, as many of the elected senators were not lifetime politicians and it was unclear what would be accomplished over the one week period. Much of the session was televised nationally, but the closing ceremonies would include a number of speeches directed at the nation and not just the gathered representatives, and as the chairperson of the Historical Committee, Argyle was asked to give the closing remarks.
Ever since being assigned to the chronicle project, back when it was a publicly-funded bureaucratic effort, Argyle had been engulfed in their work nearly twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week. The work had changed, from the chronicle to working at the Central Pennsylvania Public News, then to campaigning after the nomination period had ended and they had been officially on the ballot against someone from the former ruling party and another contender with concerning views on major public health policies. And then the inaugural session came right after the elections as federal infrastructure had been practically inoperable since near the end of the war, so Argyle had not had much time to sit and be really postcognitive with themself about everything in a long while. When they sat down to write notes for the closing remarks there was a fair amount of time spent just staring at a blank page and thinking.
They were only twenty-nine and were the chairperson of a national congressional committee, they had maintained a journalistic archive of the global revolution that was internationally recognized as an authoritative and complete history of the events of the past three years. Such huge accomplishments were never Argyle’s objective and the weight of them was almost disorienting now that they were taking the time to really consider everything. Thinking about this gave the spark they needed to take off with their remarks, and within the hour their speech was written.
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At the formal closing of the inaugural session of the Federal Senate of the United New States of America, following remarks from Prime Senator Jackson Blume, Argyle Sinclair stood in front of the other nine hundred ninety-nine senators, the gathered members of the press, and their cameras broadcasting live to hundreds of millions of people across the country and gave their remarks.
“We have just lived through, and continue to live in a time of unprecedented change. As a public servant before the war, I dutifully compiled an archive of the changes being undertaken by people and nations around the world, and when the revolution came here I continued to maintain an objective history of the events unfolding around me. I have watched so intently, so closely as one form of our nation has committed unspeakable atrocities using the nodes and as a new form of our nation has collectively stood up to that and vowed to be better and do better. As we rebuild our lives together and learn how the omnipresence of the nodes will integrate into our peaceful existence, it is more important than ever to look at where we have been, our history, and acknowledge what has been done wrong, and what can be done better.
The United States of America was, for two hundred fifty-two years, an imperialist oppressor of the nations of the world, especially the global south. The government and its institutions were oppressors of the nation’s very own people, especially black and indigenous people of color. The very economic system around which life was built was designed to oppress. In the United New States, America will be none of these things. We have committed to forming better partnerships with our global neighbors, including climate initiatives to repair the damage done largely by our predecessors to the planet we all share. We have committed to reparations for communities perpetually victimized by the former government, and to land-back self-determination for native communities, and we have committed to building a national justice system based on the principles of restorative justice.
There is still so much work to be done, and it is imperative that the people of this newborn nation keep a vigilant eye upon us, your elected representatives, and hold us accountable to our commitments. The collective history we are forging now together must be better than that which was forged by those who came before us.”
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