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Issue 49,
Volume 7, 30 April 301 AP The Story behind the news. |
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Business
Float the currency - open the floodgates Overtaxed and underpaid Politics Angorit throws his hat into the ring Interview: Angorit The heat in the race International Feniz: faux pax Dignania, more troops leave Rovens treads heavily Sport Savaj Krysaror signs Jennen |
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What IS a Zeitgeist?
Jerman for "Spirit of the Age". In this case it is to mean the "spirit" of the Utanian people, the magazine reporting the people's thoughts behind the press-releases and reported news. Want an article published? Would you like an article published by Zeitgeist Magazine? Please send the text of the article for evaluation, OR send us an email describing the issue/story you would like published to the email Editor@jaggedblue.com. |
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©Zeitgeist Magazine, 300 AP.
Email: Editor@jaggedblue.com <TECH> ©Mike Ham, 2000. All rights reserved. No reproduction without, at least, tacit approval. ;-) |
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Angorit wooed for his influence
James Angorit is a popular man this week. Since making remarks that indicated he would prefer to throw his support the Conservative way, the campaign Jugganauts that are slugging it out even before the preselection process begins, are now reaching for the hand of support of Mr Angorit. Zeitgeist Magazine managed to get an interview with one of the country's most sought after people. Mr James Angorit is used to people demanding and clammering for his attention, being the sole proprietor of a multi-billion pund business, the Deputy-Chairman of the Zeitgeist Corporation, and a man with enormous influence in his home state of Savana. However, this time, they neither want his money, nor his business influence - they want his sway with voters. Specifically, the 1.5 million voters who voted for his Utani Progressive Party last September. And it seems they are prepared to do anything to get it. Mr Angorit announced earlier this month that he would not be running for President under the Progressive Party banner later this year, and would instead join the preselection race of one of the two major coalitions forming. The government coalition, being the Peoples and Utani Saedaj Parties, appears to be almost a one horse race in which George Okarvits is nearly certain to win. Meanwhile, the Conservative-lead opposition coalition has become a bitter preselection battle between Opposition leader Thomas Kemp and Lasanne's popular Governor Hope, and, to a lessor extent, Nystonia's Cruistian-Democrat Governor Edward Cryer. Should Angorit choose to throw his hat into either of these coalitions, he will almost certainly be forced to support the coalition, not lead it. Okarvits will some away from the preselection in September slightly roasted but otherwise in fine form, no matter who opposes him. While the battle between Kemp and Hope will not tolerate a "fourth column", as the two are desperately trying to woo Cryer into their camp, as he will fail to get the support of the other two for his own bid. Even less are Angorit's chances. And Angorit's support is as critical as Cryer's, matching the CDP's 1.6 million voters in the September election, Angorit also has the ear of many Utani, people who would be key to the election of a Conservative President. And then, this week, James Angorit announced he favoured the conservative coalition. Even without announcing he is joining them officially, Angorit is now a key player. Not as a candidate, but through his choice, Kemp vs Hope, Angorit may sway enough Utani voters to vote for the conservative candidate and victory over the enormously popular President Okarvits could be a possibility. In this exclusive interview, Zeitgeist journalist Mary Sotomi asked Mr Angorit who he favoured and what he thought the benefits of his choice could be to the Utani people. Interview Sotomi: You are a popular man this week. You have spoke to both Opposition leader Mr Kemp, and to Governor Hope, I understand? Angorit: I spoke to both Mr Kemp and Governor Hope over the past couple of days, as well as members of their campaigns. I have also spoken to Mr Cryer who has also asked for my support. People have forgotten that this is not a two-man race. I suppose that was to be expected after making such a slip-up and saying I still supported Conservative party economic values. Sotomi: Well, to be fair, you did annouce earlier in the week that you were favouring the the conservative, the right-wing coalition over that of President Okarvits. Why? Angorit: I made the choice this week that I would favour the Conservatives because I still believe that it will be through economic development and free trade with the rest of the world that the Utani people will best profit from their efforts. They will not do so through subsidies and government hand-outs to support their income. For this reason, I am supporting the group that has the best policies... no, the best philosophy to benefit the Utani people. Sotomi: A lot of people, Utani government figures, are calling you a traitor to the people. They say that by backing the right-wing in Utania, you are backing the "Uta-Decashi" over the Utani. Angorit: No, no, no, no, no. They cannot say this with any moral authority. We are one people now, and we must accept that the Uta-Decashi are sharing our lands, sharing our country and are now part of the Utani nation. We cannot go backwards. Not that this means we must abandon our culture, our beliefs - in fact, quite the reverse: we must now, more than ever, strengthen our culture and strengthen our families against the onslaught of "international culture and values". But, this strength cannot come from the government, it must come from the people, and the leaders of the Utani people, their chiefs and their Kings. Just because these men do not make the laws does not mean they are absolved of their responsibility to the Utani people. Even more so now. Now, if I support the conservative candidate, I am supporting an idea: the idea that the Utani people will benefit most from a free-market, small government and high development economy, rather than concentrating on the fundamentals of a big government, focus on selling Utania and her people to the world. We Utani cannot bury our heads in the sands. We must take the world on, at their own game, but with the values that will ensure that no matter how much money we make, the Utani people always win. Sotomi: How does one win regardless of the money made? Angorit: (Pauses) If I take all of my life savings, say, twenty thousand pund, and invest it in a corner store, then work hard and invest back into the business every year, only taking a small salary, but make only ten thousand more pund, I will have won. I have not made as much money as I would investing it in a polluting, chemical factory or at a racetrack, but I have not compromised my values, nor have I sold my soul to the god of money. I am still the same man I was before I invested in the cornerstore. I have maybe lost some years of my youth, and I have worked hard and made little money, but these things do not compromise my values. If I took that money and invested it with a house of prostitution, and made sixty thousand pund, for little effort or time on my part, then I have lost. My soul is tainted with sin, my morals are questionable, and I have not lived as an example to my children. In this way, I lose no matter how much money I make. This... (pauses) ... is the key to success for the Utani people. This is how we win. We deserve wealth, yes, but we must make it ONLY when it supports our values and our unique culture. There is only one Utani people that God put on this Vexillium, and only we can retain our Utani culture. So, do I sell-out my principles to the highest bidder by supporting the conservative candidate? No. I support their philosophy that people must work hard to benefit from our independence. I support their philosophy that we cannot advance the Utani people through hand-outs and social security, that it must be achieved through our own labours. I will also inject into the cabinet the respect and consideration for Utani values and culture, and make sure, absolutely certain, that the cabinet supports the people... ALL of the people, from Yan Gror to Mulgrave, in their development plans. Sotomi: You have now thrown your hat into the ring, maybe not as a candidate, but as a power-broker. The support you give could make or break a candidate. Have you considered a Vice Presidency? Angorit: (Laughs) Well, not until now. (laughs) Ah, in all seriousness... I have not really considered exactly what role within a Presidency I will play, but I know that the minimum will be that I, or a UPP (Utani Progressive Party) MP will be a senior member of the cabinet. This will be a minimum. We will be an integral part of such a government or we will not be part of it at all. Sotomi: Why is that? Angorit: To protect the interests of the Utani people, of course. To promote their welfare within the cabinet and the government should a conservative President win. To ensure that all people win in the Utanian success story. Sotomi: If you throw your support behind one candidate, and the other wins, will the Utani people still win? Angorit: Yes, that is a difficult situation. I would hope that my support of one candidate or the other, assuming that I agree to support the conservatives, let alone one of their candidates, which is not something I have done just yet, I would hope that this does not prejudice the opposing candidate against the Utani people. Sotomi: Was the word "Hope" used twice any indication of your...- Angorit: (Uproarious laughter) Cheeky Eyem*! No! No, of course not! I promise that I will be far less surreptitious when I come to announce that! Sotomi: One final question - who do you think will win the preselection? Angorit: (Laughs) Ha, well, that would be telling! * Eyem (Utani); clown, jester, someone who uses words for amusing trickery. |
Stock Exchange:
 Stocks continue to stagnate - when will the Govt. release cash controls? |
