For fifteen years, Elthize has become more and more unsafe. But why?
- This year, Elthize's crime rate has climbed from 53,3 to 59,2 per 100,000 inhabitants
- Since 2006, the crime rate has been gradually increasing
- The reason cited is a decrease in funds for police and social security services under the Franklin administration
Freddie Bonnay - October 3, 2022
Did you know that, in some areas of Elthize, you have as high as a 50% chance of being killed before you die of old age? Or that, according to the Polling Institution of Elthize (PIE), violent crime rates in the country have increased twelvefold since 2006? Or that robberies have increased as far as twentyfold in some provinces since 2010? In St. Lucas, even the Mayor puts up advisories on so-called "no-go zones". Some of these zones are essentially independent republics where Elthic law has no hold. This crime crisis, talked about rarely, if ever, in Elthic media, has been rotting our streets, neighbourhoods, cities and Elthic society at large, for decades. Here in this article, we will be talking about its origins, the reasons why it's happening, and how can we solve it.
Why and how did it get so bad?
It all started after Archibald "Archie" Franklin got elected in 2002. After Former President Gloria Dietrich died in office under suspicious circumstances, which are still discussed in Elthize today, Liberal Democrats (today known as The Nationals) were eager to take the government from Labour. And they succeeded: Labour nominated Roy Harper, who had served as Dietrich's predecessor from 1992 to 1997. Unfortunately, this did not work for them because Harper was rather unpopular in Elthize at the time, LibDems trashed him to death in whatever media they controlled, and some Elthics viewed Franklin's personality to be stronger than Harper's, which, for them, made him a better leader. Because of all this, Franklin crushed him, receiving 55,2% of the vote, a hard achievement in a country whose political system is as divided as Elthize. (For comparison, Grimwald received 43,3% of the vote in this year's presidential elections.)
A hardline liberal that was "tough on all kinds of tax", Franklin's first job was to slowly but surely abolish almost all kinds of welfare, which were established by ten years of Labour governance, from 1992 to 2002. One of Franklin's biggest campaign purposes was to reduce national government spending "to the point where it's negligible". He couldn't manage this before being ousted out of office (which we'll get back to), but he was somewhat successful: When he took office in 2002, the government spending to GDP value was 38.5%. In 2011, it dropped to 22%. By his supporters, Franklin was hailed as the ally of the working class, lifting the weight of taxation off of their shoulders. But he went to the point where basic services would barely function. This included privatizing everything, and defunding everything that couldn't be privatized... Including the police.
Everything is barebones!
Defunding the police is not a new concept in Elthize. From the 60s up until Benny Kalzer's presidency in the early 80s, one of the most contentious topics in Elthize was whether or not law enforcement was getting too much funding. When Kalzer, who was on the defund team, was elected president, many Elthics were worried that previous governments had spent much too much money on the police in the name of security, which, to put it bluntly, intimidated communities, particularly impoverished, mostly non-white ones. Kalzer took advantage of this concern, as it was in Kalzer's interests to defund the police, because he too was a fan of lowering taxes, just like Franklin. However, there was a key difference: Kalzer knew that if he wanted to defund the police, he had to find alternative ways of preventing criminals, preventing chaos.
So, starting in 1988, after spending his time slowly reducing funding for law enforcement for six years beforehand, he quietly started funding social programs for impoverished communities and neighbourhoods all around Elthize. It was unusual, and certainly not seen from your average Liberal Democrat, but it showed signs of working. However, this also led to his downfall for many reasons: It made him unpopular among his voter base, who were mostly upper-middle-class people, concerned with their tax money being spent on "the wrong people", and when Labour promised far more extensive welfare, his commitment was just not seen as enough. In addition, while his plan was working, it wasn't working fast enough for him to win an election. Not being able to strike a great balance, as well as other unrelated things that made him more disliked, Kalzer was voted out in 1992, with Roy Harper replacing him.
Why does this matter? Well, Franklin, seeing all this, decided to take it one step further, by almost completely abolishing all national funding for law enforcement and social services in 2009. He left it to the provincial governments to handle, who now had to increase their taxes to ensure they had enough money to get the services working, which was deeply unpopular and caused a crisis in many cities. At the time, Franklin called it a "short-term effect", stating that everything would be fine for at least a year. He was wrong. Very wrong.
Let the chaos commence!
If there was a list of anni horribiles for Elthize, 2009, 2010 and, to an extent, 2011, are on that list. Hell, the early 2010s were just bad times to be an Elthic. Provincial governments, who were shocked and unsure of what to do with Franklin's sudden decision of simply cutting the national funding in half, suffered, not being able to fund their services, such as healthcare and fire departments. With the rising bills, inflation and the complete loss of the social security net, people protested, angry at all kinds of government. They walked towards the Elthic Parliament and the Presidential Palace in Forecoaster. As a response, the government shut down all the highways to the capital city. In Montgomery, the provincial parliament was burned down. In Florence, angry protesters badly injured then-governor Kristina Garleen. She later resigned. In Brownell, things were so bad that a curfew was applied, for the first time in Elthic history. It is said that, at its peak, more than a quarter of the country participated in these protests nationwide.
By the end of 2009, the rage had slightly died down, but was still present, with clashes ongoing. Inside, there was huge pressure against Franklin. Even his party's MPs were rioting against him. In November 2011, the Elthic parliament issued a vote of no confidence. He survived, though barely. After his survival, many LibDem MPs resigned, resuming their careers as independents, including future president Greenwich Grimwald. Even New Democracy, who are usually tolerant to be in coalition with anyone, was questioning whether or not they should stay.
What's the worst that could happen?
And then 2012 came.
The streets were filled with rage, and so was Forecoaster. In July, there was a general election. Somehow, after all of what we mentioned, the LibDems were still in majority, but barely. Their time of towering over Labour was long gone, as the two parties were neck and neck. New Democracy, their former partners, refused to continue. He tried to look to the independents, but they despised him, as most of them were formerly Liberal Democrats. In October, Franklin gave up on forming a coalition, saying that he would continue with a minority government.
And then disaster struck. In November 2012, everything about Archie Franklin was leaked. His messages. His acceptance of bribery. His offshore bank accounts. His photos. Everything was shown to the public to see. People saw how he spent billions more than needed on infrastructure projects just to feed his rich supporters even further. His research on how he could escape Elthize if stuff hit the fan. Everything. Archie Franklin, who was already hated, was now a disgraced, despised man.
In July 2013, Franklin was officially kicked out of Liberal Democrats. But the damage had already been done. The police, or whatever was left of it, arrested dozens of LibDem politicians, their relatives and their close friends. Even Liam Zachary, our current councillor, who was just eighteen at the time, was briefly arrested. (He wasn't charged with anything.) They couldn't touch Franklin, who still had presidential immunity. A couple of months later, In October 2013, Greenwich Grimwald, who was still an independent MP, created the New Liberals Party, renaming it The Third Option in January 2014.
The Blue Wave of 2014
While Elthics wanted Archie gone, they weren't necessarily complaining about his policies. Before his draconian measures in 2010, his liberalization programs were wildly popular. There was a hole to be filled, as Elthics were looking for someone that offered similar policies but not to the extreme. This is where Greenwich Grimwald came in. He positioned himself as a classical liberal that practically opposed everything Franklin stood for. He, at the age of 66, wildly toured across Elthize, reaching hundreds of locations, ranging from cities to even small villages.
And it paid off: He had won, reaching a great majority in the parliament, thanks to more and more LibDem MPs jumping ship to Grimwald’s party. Meanwhile, LibDems were now just a small, insignificant party. By 2014, they had fewer MPs than the Socialist Alliance. Franklin, meanwhile, had already fled to Inquista, hiding from extradition back to Elthize for two years before dying in 2016.
In Grimwald's defence, he had reverted the radical changes that Franklin had done in his first three months in office. At this point, however, it wasn't enough. The societal and material damage from Franklin's reckless spending cuts was so deep that radical changes were necessary for Elthize to recover. But they didn't come. After all, Grimwald and Franklin were cut from the same cloth, they were LibDems for decades. Grimwald spent far more money on recovering Elthize's reputation, labelling it the best country for big business (The Duxburian Union would like to have a word), and making Elthize a "world country"- A country where everyone is welcomed no matter what they are... Unless they're poor, then they're at the mercy of their provincial governments, who are so underfunded they can barely find workers. In Grimwald's eyes, they're welcome as long as they're not desirable and a burden to the government.
Is there a solution?
With the current government? No. We need to vote them out, of course, but this goes beyond politics. This is about what Elthize stands for as a nation. The hyper-individualism that we adopted at the start of the 21st century works against us in every corner of our lives. We let greediness lead us, we elect liberals that cut more and more, to the point where there's nothing to cut anymore. As long as we save a couple of cents from taxation, we don't care about what happens to anyone else.
We make fun of those who dare to long for healthier communities and discredit those who believe that it is possible to eliminate crime, hunger, and homelessness in Elthize, all because we believe in the minuscule odds that we will be swimming in riches someday. We trust the rich and their fake philanthropy, we trust the companies and conglomerates who we think do good for the country, more than our starving neighbours, our struggling friends, and our loved ones in crisis. So yes, there are solutions, but the permanent ones involve us radically changing our lives and our way of thinking.
Fixing our nation, Elthize, starts with fixing ourselves.
