pane panel glass

It was dusty, for it was seldom cleaned. Someone had touched it once, leaving a handprint behind, a ghostly reminded of past presence. Cobwebs grew against the plastic separating it from its neighbor, fake wooden slats poorly disguising that it was one contiguous sheet.

During the summer months, mosquitos pushed in futility against it, trying to reach the things living inside, whom it protected. Now, though, frigid winds caressing its smooth surface, the pane was only bumped by the occasional flailing branch or falling leaf.

With painfully glacial slowness, the semi-liquid panel oozed downward, drawn by gravity’s weak force toward the battered flooring panels below. Warmed a few hours each day by the setting sun, the window looked out over a peaceful garden in which a snuffling shih tzu sometimes barked.

americanifesto / 場黑麥 / jpr / urbanartopia / whorphan

Grigovia seeks help

Realizing suddenly the extent to which it has been acting counter to the goal of enabling its citizens to live in Liberty and foster it amongst themselves, the Glorious Republic of Grigovia (GROG) announced a nationwide voluntary reeducation campaign. Additionally, the country is taking steps to shut down all ministries and public functions but those absolutely necessary to maintain the country's infrastructure, keep her people healthy, and provide for the safety of her borders and sovereign ground. Former government employees are being offered no-cost vocational training before being reintegrated into the private sector. (Grigovians not currently working for the government are invited to also attend vocational training of their choice so long as they make a firm commitment and show up for class on time.) Most of the funding for these measures will come from the sale of massive stores of conflict-free rare earth minerals stockpiled over the last decade by the Ministry of Natural Resources. Return To Liberty (RTL), as the campaign is being called, is expected to cost in the billions of euros, although, after it has taken affect fully, taxes will drop into the single digits nationwide. RTL is the brainchild of Grigovia's prime minister Dr. Frederikka Velldoyend, her cabinet, and a number of privately funded think-tanks, among them Grigovians United for Freedom (GUFF) and Central Asians Realizing Liberty (CARL). Physical copies of F.A. Hayek's book the Constitution of Liberty are available for pickup at all local police stations as well as for download on the prime minister's website. RTL passed both houses of the Grigovian parliament with little debate and much applause. Thallandia Yündlennd, crown princess of the Grigovian quasi-royal house (a symbolic order costing less per year than the price to replace a few manhole covers) welcomed the move, saying: “The House of Yündlennd applauds the decision of the fine people of this land to shed the last vestiges of misguided intellectualism. My grandfather, who abdicated shortly after the Great Depression out of protest over reactionary measures being enacted at that time would be proud.”

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