"People of Sotograd, Central Council members, comrades all across Siberia, I am here today to say that our Union may be facing a trialling time ahead. For a decade I have led the URC, I have been reelected whenever I was a candidate, and I have served. I have been accused of being a centralist by expanding the road system to connect our towns, of wanting to form a personality cult when I allowed the people of this city to rename it after me, of wanting to turn our free nation into an autocracy when I began its policy of integrating neighboring communities, and I have dealt with these accusations kindly and with an open heart. Yet I do not blame anyone for their fear of centralized authority, I fear it as well, just as I fear myself and my own authority at times. I want you all to understand, not just the Central Council members, but everyone, that I have committed my life to the realization of the socialist ideal. With that said, I am here to announce what may come a as shock to some.

I will be expanding the authority of the Central Council.

You are all surprised, suspicious, perhaps some are happy, some angry, and I understand all your issues and celebrations, but here is my reasoning: We have seen that the world is full of reactionary and oppressive states. The Kingdom of Tiksi was just one example of theocratic and monarchist reaction in Siberia, and there are dozens more. For every five free communes we know of, there is a dictator-led town or settlement or state there as well. So far we have been able to deal with these reactionary forces well, the priest-king of Tiksi was overthrown by his own people, only we gave inspiration for revolt. A wonderful success story, and I applaud the people of Tiksi for their bravery and determination. But although we have been able to deal with all our reactionary enemies so far, we have discovered forces of reaction far more dangerous than any petty Siberian dictator or priest or king.

Our brave militiamen have ventured into the lands of East Asia, and the conditions there are appalling. We've gathered basic intelligence on several organized states, all reactionary in some way. In Korea, formerly the embodiment of anti-imperialism and resistance of capitalism, has become an oppressive, dictatorial, and fervently anti-socialist state. As far as we can tell, their people are flooded with false "facts", government-sponsored propaganda, millions subjugated under this state that will not relinquish authority to its citizens, all because of the greed of its ruling class. One of our militia scouts, tragically, was caught and killed by the Koreans, only for proclaiming his devotion to socialism. Not only that, but this fascist state has propped up similarly, if not even more, fascist satellite governments across Asia. This Korean autocracy is not the only state we've now fully discovered... We've located with three theocracies in China, previously the epitome of socialist development, reactionary republics, dictatorships, everything we find repulsive.

This is why I have begun to expand the authority of the state here in the Union. I have made absolutely certain that any new ministers are completely devoted to socialism and the people, but in order to be sure that the people will not be oppressed any more, we will not develop the power of the Central Council any more than is allowed in our constitution. I hope you all understand that I do this with nothing but the advancement of socialism at heart.

Thank you."

6 State Bureauracy

Abstract