Join the new world

Two and a half weeks ago, Phoenix spokesman DishMCDS threatened to make Japan "the New North Korea," presumably referring to the Russian invasion and subsequent PTO of the North Korean state. It would be easy to dismiss this statement as mere bluster. After all, doesn't Japan have enough to worry about with the economic contraction and political malaise? Perhaps by simply assuming that "Phoenix talks big," we could buy ourselves some blissful ignorance, at the expense of consciousness of the genuine danger.

However, the last time DishMCDS made a threat that was widely dismissed, it was his prediction that PEACE would wipe out America. The bellicose wing of PEACE GC, the nations that would eventually form Phoenix, did indeed invade America with the intent to conquer -- although not on the schedule Dish had announced, and not, ultimately, successfully. Their failure to eliminate the last US region was not for want of trying. For months, the Battle of Florida would stand as the hardest fought battle in the history of the New World.

The battle that broke Florida's record was a turning point in our own nation's history. At the time, Japan was neutral. PEACE GC, the alliance that had protected us for so long under its collective-security umbrella, had collapsed. Our neighbor China had experienced a population explosion, mostly RL Chinese, and was no longer content to keep to the handful of regions left to them by successive waves of conquerors. They allied with the United States, which after its successful struggle to reclaim its home regions had rallied around the cause of returning sovereignty to occupied countries across the globe.

The US asked Japan for passage through Kyushu, to aid China in recovering its home regions. The high-iron regions of Heilongjiang and Liaoning, held by Hungary and Iran respectively, had become important to Phoenix's economy. Phoenix therefore claimed the US was only seeking to weaken an enemy, and helping China could only be a pretext.

At the time, we declined the US. I, among others, argued that if we gave passage through Kyushu we could no longer call ourselves neutral. Phoenix would see us as betrayers, so our only possible allies would be the US and EDEN. This was our government's position going into the Battle of Kyushu, which eclipsed Florida as the bloodiest battle to that date. America, China and EDEN fought on the side of the US attack on Kyushu. Japan resisted, but it was the armies of Phoenix that did by far the most of the fighting. Phoenix saw Japan as the first line of defense for its Chinese colonies.

In the coming days, our government reversed its position. President Dokomo stated that our neutrality would not allow us to accept the support of Phoenix without reservation. He issued an ultimatum to Phoenix to abandon its Chinese colonies. Otherwise, he said, Japan would simply hand the USA Kyushu. The Phoenix nation were shocked, thinking that we had bitten the hand that protected us. From a certain perspective, their reaction was valid. Yet I must also respect the sincere desire of our country not to be the roadblock preventing China from regaining its rightful lands.

We were indeed forced into alliance with EDEN -- but grew stronger for it, by connecting with the new idealism growing in America: The rallying power of an idea. By adopting as its national mission a crusade against colonialism, the United States regained the self-respect that it had been lost in wars of whimsy and realpolitik. Phoenix's worldview was limited to the same self-interested geopolitics that had sapped America's purpose before it had been invaded. The higher goal -- solidarity -- was the source of a new national purpose, for America and for the nations with which it joined in brotherhood.

The Brolliance, encompassing America, Canada, Australia, Ireland, and Japan, was built around that idealistic solidarity. The loyalty of a brother is different from the loyalty of a partisan. If ones brother goes astray, it is ones own duty not to encourage him but to remonstrate with him, and set him back on the right path. That is a basic Confucian teaching. Our alliance's solidarity is thus different from Phoenix's group allegiances. They are led by a "Supreme Council" whose decisions implicitly set overall policy for all members. We are a family all of whose members have a voice, and where the stronger are honor-bound to protect the weaker.

That is why I believe that the existing PTO in Australia, and the threatened PTO against Japan, will fail. Even if we lose control of our country temporarily, we cannot be kept down forever. The spirit of the Righteous Nation still burns. In a moment of weakness, we strayed from that path -- in an attack on South Korea which gained us nothing and sent them firmly into the Phoenix orbit. Yet that quixotic attack does not define Japan. It is a mistake from which we may still learn.

Do our actions have consequences? Yes, but those consequences depend on our ideals. No one acts in a vacuum. Humans perceive others' actions and act according to their perceptions. When we made the decision to invade Korea, we had lost sight of how our act would be perceived. Some thought, mistakenly, that we could not be resisted. Others thought, mistakenly, that even if we were beaten back there could be no harm done. Now, after our brothers rushed to rescue a doomed invasion, South Korea fights in Russia's defense.

Yet there is hope to be gleaned as long as we do not falter. If we have lost our way in the past, it is all the more reason to regain our sense of direction. Japan has been at our best when we sought to defend the weak against those who abused the power of the strong. Those same bullies now threaten us directly. We will not ignore the threats, nor will we let them dissuade us.

We will defend our country. Even if we lose ground, we shall retake it. As long as the love of home burns in the heart of one eJapanese, we will retain the power to take back anything lost.

In the coming days, there will be heroic efforts to preserve eJapan. Parties will block PTO candidates. Soldiers will struggle against the enemy on the battlefield. Newspapers will argue against each other, with words of truth or words to trick. When that time comes, let us remember our passion -- love for the country that is our home. That passion will bring us into the fight, for as long as it takes, until the next peace dawns.