Thursday, February 12, 2009

Kingdom Animal

The animal in the picture is a phoenix. It is a bird that is entirely engulfed in flame. Once the flame burns out, the bird turns into ashes, and from the ashes rises another phoenix. This process is rebirth, and it symbolizes how everyone who comes to Kingdom of Paradigm is looking for a second chance, a new beginning, a new life.

Declaration of Independence

During the course of human life, an individual will come to face many hardships and obstacles. The moment we overcome an obstacle, another one comes along, bigger and more rigorous than the last. Some will fail and some will succeed. The winners get to be at the top of the world, while the losers are thrown away as failures of society. These people, these valuable human lives, are not worthless. These people merely made a mistake in their life, and it is of our human nature to make mistakes. People should not lose their life, their chance at happiness, over one mistake. These people deserve another chance, they deserve to have the means to reach their full potential, to escape this cycle of failure and suffering. While these people who have made mistakes in life bear with such a fate, the others, the ones who succeeded, are doing nothing to help them. The big corporations, the media, and the government officials all work together to help themselves, to make themselves even more successful. The corruption of the government has ruined people's lives, and we cannot stand to see this undergo much longer.
The interactions with the outside world have brought many such evils as these into our community. We have been constantly tampered with, fought over by foreign countries who seek to control Xineoph (our island) for our rich natural resources. We are tired of living under fear, warfare, and problems with other countries. Xineoph's inhabitants have assembled to decide on a solution to our problem. We have decided to create sovereignty over the island of Xineoph, a new country that will be free of its colonial ties to the world's super powers such as, but not limited to, the United States and Russia. Our country will be a haven, a paradise for the outcasts of society, for those who have made a mistake in their life. In our country, people will be treated fairly and equally, they will have a chance to pursue their happiness, live in prosperity, and thrive in freedom. In our country, no man or woman will have to suffer. In our country, the past of each and every person does not matter; what matters is his efforts to try and live a better life. In our country, the function of the government will be restored. The government will represent the people and make decisions that benefit the commoners. There will be no corruption in our government, no tyranny. The power of the corporations and companies that have shaped and formed the outside world will mean nothing in our country.
Therefore, as a unanimous decision made by the four founders and the people of Xineoph, we ask that the world will look at us now, not as a group of individuals, but as a united community, a single unit of society. We solemnly declare that, from now on, the Island of Xineoph and all its inhabitants, are now one unified country under the Kingdom of Paradigm. We ask that foreign countries will honor our decision and declaration from now on. We expect foreign countries to not interfere with our domestic affairs, and respect our borders and our foreign policies.

Wednesday, February 11, 2009

A Free Day Without Work

February 11,2009

I love days without school. After half a year I still have plenty of fun places to choose from to go out with my friends. If I didn’t have these free days of school, eventually, I wouldn’t be able to concentrate on my work for the stress and fatigue. Today I had an unforgettable Saturday. I went to the theatres to see a new movie with my friends. The Kings are so nice for giving us tickets to watch as many movies as we want once a month, the whole day for free. That gives us time to relax with our friends and relax our minds, on a weekend of course.

Although I could watch movies all day, I decided to go out with my family today as well. After all, it was “Total Relaxation Day.” Since our oligarchy of the Four Kings is so generous, my family didn’t have to pay anything for any of the places we went to today. The museum, the restaurant, and the sight seeing tour we had were all free for today. The relaxation time is exactly what we need after a long week of work, especially when it’s free.

Even when it’s a regular weekend, where citizens do have to pay, it’s the same experience because the prices are affordable to every citizen’s pocket money. It’s just that the places you choose from aren’t unlimited because you have to pay for them. Either way, whether it’s free or not, we still get to relax and have fun with our friends with the great oligarchy of the Kingdom of Paradigm. And, of course, in order to receive the discount ticket for one day, citizens must work every day that is assigned to them. The exceptions are clearly when a citizen is disabled or sick for the day of work one is assigned. The sick and disabled are covered by the healthcare benefits provided by our government aided by our tax money of course. If it wasn’t for those taxes we pay for, we wouldn’t have this day of free admissions and activities for relaxation.

Tomorrow it'll be Sunday, another day to have a stress free leisure time. Thank you Kingdom of Paradigm.

-Submitted by Lensit Aimes, young student citizen of Paradigm

Invitation to Friend

February 10, 2009
Dear Edmund Chancellor,
Greetings, my dear friend. It had been years since I have last seen you. I really wish you could have been here with me when I established my utopia, the Kingdom of Paradigm. It is never too late to come and join us. Anyone that is looking for a second chance and a great life is welcomed with open arms.
The Kingdom of Paradigm lies on the richest land on Earth. Thousands of gold and diamond mines stretch across the whole country, making us the leading gold and diamond exporters and richest utopia in the world. It is not uncommon to find some small pieces of diamond lying on the sidewalks.
Our government consists of four kings, who you will find to be very friendly and intelligent, and a Senate that works hard to insure peace, prosperity, and equality. We work for the people and the Senate is chosen by the people. You will find that many of the people of Paradigm had come here seeking a second chance at achieving their dreams and a better life.
There is complete freedom of speech here but with two small exceptions. Slander or libel towards the Kings is not allowed and verbal or written threats are also not allowed to maintain peace. I'm sure you'll have no problem with that.
Unlike most other countries, anyone above the age of 16 here can enjoy drugs such as marijuana, cocaine, and/or ectasy if they desire, so you don't have to worry about getting into trouble for that. Just don't smoke or deal cigarettes. They're not allowed here.
You will also find that we have a very well-trained police force that will keep every citizen safe. The National Guard and Homeland Security officers that will keep the country safe. Every citizen here in the Kingdom of Paradigm respects each other's property and privacy, and is allowed to peacefully assemble.
So come to the Kingdom of Paradigm, my dear friend, and live a peaceful and luxurious life. Technology here is always advancing and our economy is soaring well above initial expectations. The Kingdom of Paradigm will continue to prosper for thousands of centuries. I hope you will come and be a part of it.

Sincerely,
King Herman

Teach Your King Day

February 10, 2009
Today is the joyous Teach Your King Day, where we four kings visit a random school in our kingdom and walk in the shoes of a student. Today I visited King Herman High School, a magnificent school named after me! When I first arrived, I was welcomed with several gifts: pearl necklaces, gemmed rings, you know, the usual. The whole school even sang a creative and cheerful song in honor of my name. Kids, you gotta love 'em.
King Herman High School, similar to many other schools, looks like a grand castle from the outside. Inside, the walls are built with marble and studded with a pattern of gems of all colors. And I have to mention the bright lighting. There were dozens of chandeliers and lamps in every hallway.
I quickly learned from many of the students that they had just recently moved to the Kingdom, which I greatly approve of, because the education here is far superior to that of any other nation.
The first class I observed was Mathematics. Each classroom consists of about 30 students and 4 teachers, ensuring that each student gets help when necessary. The Mathematics class was top-notch. There were advanced concepts being taught that were also useful in the real world. In fact, I think I even learned a thing or two. The same can be said about all the other academic classes I observed.
There are, however, a multitude of elective classes that I am glad we have here. For one, there are classes in gold mining. In fact, there is a gigantic underground gold mine below the school that a kind student gave me a tour of. It was big, clean and bright. The students gain valuable experience in the mines and help contribute to our nation's wealth with their finds.
Another great class I visited was Advanced Technology. Students here are learning from probably the smartest, most educated minds that ever existed. Professors here teach students computer science, electronics, and all that technological stuff. One student was eager to show me a robot she had built herself that was fully functional and could walk and talk on its own. I am positively sure the Kingdom of Paradigm is the most advanced nation in technology, and we won't stop advancing.
Before my day was over, I had a talk with the four principals of the school and they gave me information about the school system. Each student had a minimum of 10 classes and could have a schedule up to 20 classes. However, with all the different courses at King Herman HS, the principals had informed me that every single student had voluntarily taken 20 classes and that they are thinking of raising the limit to 30. Students start school at 7:35 a.m. everyday and can leave whenever they want. In fact, some students never leave at all and are allowed to spend the night at the school.
Today was a truly memorable day. I am proud of our education system but am even more proud of our students for their dedication and interest to learn new things. Our future is bright.

-King Herman

A Day of Work

Today was my first day at work after graduating from the government-funded university, and boy was it exciting! I met my new fellow co-workers and they all seemed very nice and helped me get accustomed to my job in a gold export company. Our company, luckily, controls less than 30% of the market, or we would all have to face unemployment. We do, however, a few gold mines too. I heard that years ago, a company employee working in the mines had an accident and became half-paralyzed. But fortunately, in this country, the government provides him with healthcare and disability benefits for the rest of his life. I love my life in Xineoph!

But back to my job... my work is not extremely stressful because in Pardigm, everyone is believed to be equal. Sure, there are managers and supervisors, but we treat each other with respect and no one is superior to another.

I get up pretty early for work (at 6 or 7), unlike when I have free time and wake up around 10 in the morning. I do some paperwork in my company until around noon, then have lunch with my coworkers. The people in my company apparenly have no problem with sharing portions of lunches with each other; after all sharing is caring. After lunch, around 1PM, I return to my desk and continue doing some paperwork, as well as some work on the computer, until around 5:30PM, when the company closes for the day. Even though my job is stressless, I do wish that it were Friday. If it were Friday, we work one less hour and get off work at 4:30PM. After work, I went to hang out with my friends from university. If it were Friday, I would have gone to a local pub with them. But since I have work tomorrow, I could not afford to get drunk or drugged. Together with my friends, we went out to dinner at around 8:00PM and had a good long conversation about life after our studies and our career paths.

I went home around 10:00PM and slept around 11:00PM to get enough sleep for work tomorrow. Overall, my day was stressless and carefree. Work really wasn't a hassle. :)

-Submitted by: Nevets Uul, citizen of Paradigm