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Chapter 421 Sunshine and Smoke

“And the main weakness of an imperial system is the exact opposite issue that democracy has: it functions well on a large scale while tending to fail on small scales. After all, when your governmental authority is vested in a single person, you run into issues like lack of time, as well as an overreliance on others to faithfully report things to the emperor since he can’t be in every place at the same time.

“But just as its primary weakness is the opposite of democracy, its primary strength is the opposite as well. Imperialism functions best in long-term planning and projects. After all, without the need to focus on constantly keeping your power through a short election cycle and inattentive electorate, there’s nothing holding you back from seeking long-term gains over short-term benefits.

“I know some of you may argue that hereditary succession itself is flawed, whether by the infighting whenever the issue of declaring an heir, the risk of power hungry and mad emperors, coups, or even the chance that the successor chosen by the current emperor is incompetent, but I have countermeasures planned for the fixable issues. I don’t suggest that we take the idea of an empire and institute it wholesale, flaws and all, but that we implement a modified form of imperialism that fixes the majority of the issues we know about, while leaving a framework in place to fix future issues that may arise that we know nothing about.”

Aron was blowing pure sunshine and smoke up people’s asses with that statement, as after hundreds of millions of simulations, the problems with an imperialistic feudal dynastic government had all been made very apparent, as well as solutions to those problems. That said, nobody listening to him speak was aware of the sheer effort that had gone into planning his empire.

“The problem of a successor will be solved by constantly monitoring the chosen imperial crown prince and those around him, as well as pouring the best resources into training him to be the best possible person for the job ahead of him. Combined with round-the-clock protection provided by Aegis teams, whose loyalty is guaranteed, there will be no infighting in the imperial family or power vacuum if the heir dies.

“With the resources poured into the imperial crown prince’s training, we can ensure that he will grow to be a responsible, just, and wise ruler, making each generation improve on the previous. After all, with each emperor personally training their successor, the students will definitely surpass their teachers.

“As for the power struggle, everyone in the imperial family except the imperial crown prince will be forever banned from participating in politics or business, and heavily monitored should they choose to enter the military. Thus, their greed for power and wealth will be limited and they will also be trained as they grow up to instill within them the concept of noblesse oblige rather than lese majeste.

“So you may ask, ‘what if the emperor goes mad with greed and attempts to harm the citizens in order to satisfy his twisted desires?’ I’ve thought of that as well and have three countermeasures for it.

“First is that the imperial family will take no money from the government. None. I am currently rich enough to give every person on the planet two thousand dollars and still spend a million dollars per day on my own leisure and pleasure for the rest of what I assure you will be a very, very long life. Thus, there is no need to be greedy and no way for greed to twist my family’s thinking.

“Second is that there will be an absolutely anonymous imperial senate drawn from all over the world and from every walk of life, whose sole authority will be to depose the emperor upon unanimously deciding that he is incompetent, corrupt, or insane. They will work in conjunction with the third countermeasure to make the final, impartial determination as to whether or not an emperor or heir can be deposed. And that third countermeasure is Gaia.

“Gaia is the final check on imperial power run amok. She will be the overseer of all administrative tasks in the government and the planet at large. Should she see that policies are harming the citizens they’re meant to protect and enrich, she’ll step in and offer solutions to the problems causing those harmful policies, as well as the harm caused by the policies themselves. She will always be thinking on behalf of the people, rather than the imperial family.

“Now on to what I’m sure you all really want to know,” Aron said, an enigmatic smile flickering across his face. “What will be the practical benefits of an imperial family for the rest of the world?

“The answer is ‘many’. In fact, there are simply too many benefits to elaborate on in the short time I have to speak on my proposed form of government. So I’ll give you the two main benefits: I will be releasing all of my non-classified technology increases to the world, and I will personally cover seventy percent of the military budget for the entire empire.

“Currently, as you know, my companies and technologies are so far ahead of cutting edge that they border on pure fantasy. And that’s only what you’ve seen so far, as I’ve been holding upwards of 80% of my true capabilities in reserve, as they really haven’t been needed, nor has humanity been ready for them.”

Everyone in the assembly hall felt a chill run down their spines as they thought back to their trip to the white room, as brief as it turned out to be in real time. Even those viewing the broadcast from home or elsewhere also felt chills as they thought of the ten behemoth flying carriers that had yet to land even once.

“Just to name a few, I currently possess controllable nuclear fusion, biomedical healing pods, genetic correction and enhancement technology, and my actual military tech is hundreds of generations beyond what you’ve already seen during the last war. I can singlehandedly lift our entire species out of the muck and mire of our current lives and fling us light years into the future in a very short time frame.

“As to the second benefit I mentioned, I will be incorporating every member of the military, active or otherwise, into ARES and covering 70% of the total combined budget myself. The rest will be left to the lower levels of government to cover, as I believe that humanity as a whole will only be properly invested in our own defense if we need to at least partially support the brave men and women that choose to join that defense and fight for it.

“Furthermore,” he paused and, once again, gazed directly into the camera before continuing, “I guarantee that, within five years, our military will be fully space capable and humanity as a whole will be 50% ready, or higher, within that time frame. The concrete milestones are available on our website, and you all can feel free to hold me to that promise.”

Aron took a deep breath and briefly closed his eyes, then opened them again and continued, “Should I fail to meet those goals, I will personally abolish my government and hand over control of everything I have to who or whatever is chosen to replace me.”