Repeal, Restitution, Responsibility

The notice went up quietly last night on the Public Board of the Great Square of Ar. While the People threatened to become the Mob, the document was posted. It read:

DAY 6 / MONTH 12 / 10,157 C.A.

BY ORDER OF THE MAGISTRACY OF THE PEOPLE OF AR:
PURSUANT TO PROOF OF CORRUPTION , TAX INCREASES INSTITUTED IN THE MONTH OF SE'KARA 10,157 TO THE PROPERTIES OF THE PEOPLE OF AR AND SERVICES RENDERED WILL BE REPEALED EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY.

(1) BE IT KNOWN, THE 'PEOPLE OF AR' IS DEFINED AS ALL RESIDENTS WITH A LEGAL CLAIM TO CITIZENSHIP WITH A CASTE BENEATH THE HIGH FIVE, WHICH ARE DEFINED AS; INITIATES, PHYSICIANS, BUILDERS, SCRIBES AND WARRIORS.

(2) BE IT KNOWN, THE PEOPLE OF AR ARE SUBJECT TO INCREASED TAXATION ONLY IN TIMES OF WAR, HARDSHIP OF THE STATE, OR EXPANSION OF THE EMPIRE.

(3) BE IT KNOWN, TAXATION AGAINST THE INCOME OF THE PEOPLE OF AR WILL BE APPLIED ONLY AFTER DUE CONSIDERATION OF ALTERNATE FORMS OF REVENUE AND ONLY IN THE EVENT THAT ITEMS DETAILED IN SECTION (2) HAVE OCCURRED.

(4) BE IT KNOWN, THE SCOPE OF THIS OFFICE ACTS AS ADVOCATE ONLY TO LEGAL CITIZENS WITH A CASTE BENEATH THE FIVE HIGH. NO OFFER OF REPRESENTATION IS INTENDED OR IMPLIED TO CITIZENS OUTSIDE OF THE SCOPE OF THIS OFFICE.

(5) THE PEOPLE OF AR, BY WAY OF RESTITUTION, WILL HAVE TAX AGAINST PROPERTIES REDUCED BY THREE PERCENT FOR THE SUBSEQUENT PERIOD OF THIRTY HANDS. TAX ON SERVICES RENDERED IS HEREBY REMOVED. FOR IMMEDIATE AID, CITIZENS SHOULD APPLY DIRECTLY TO THEIR RESPECTIVE CASTE LEADERSHIP.

SIGNED, SZOL OF AR

This morning, the slave Tupita was laden down with a satchel containing signed and notarized copies to be posted to every public board in every district of the city. The investigation will continue, but I suspect it will be at a level above my grade. Now that corruption has been exposed and the knowledge of it made widespread, it is entirely possible that the remaining culprits will be anxious to deflect responsibility onto functionaries, lackeys, and scapegoats, thus painting themselves in the best possible light. It is becoming known that the responsibility lies not only with Initiates placed highly within the White Caste, but also with certain parties in the Administration. I am told that the Administrator's trusted advisor Marcus Claudius covets the title of first citizen. It is only a matter of time before fingers start to point at one another in the halls of the Central Cylinder. Two cases of arson done upon high placed pieces of real estate in the last hand all but guarantees the gears of the guileful are grinding.
The rub of it is this - I don't see governmental reform as the outcome of these events. At best, another will use the Office of the Administrator as a seat of power, abusing his authority, albeit a bit more gently than his predecessors, while the sting of the past year still smarts, remaining fresh in the minds of the People. With the repeal and restitution in place, the risk of further rebellion may not be commensurate to the reward.