Cerebrista

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Cerebrista
cerebrista.jpg
Flag of Cerebrista
Motto: "There is no way to peace, peace is the way"
See map of AMPW
Region A More PeacefulWorld
Capital Chaocas
Official Language(s) English, Ortheronion, German (minority), Japanese (minority)
Leader Sa'do
Population 500-750 million
Currency Shimmer 
NS Sunset XML

The Free Land of Cerebrista is a relatively new country, one that is struggling with it’s violent past and it’s peaceful future. Cerebrista was originally the war-torn country of Ortheros, a country that was fuelled by unneeded, and unjust, wars simply created to keep the public worried and supportive of the oppressive government.

Ortheros was founded by Sir Orthos IV, an affluent knight in his king’s court. Orthos was greeted by the Chimera’s, a kind pacifistic race of which the Lake Chimera is still named after. Sir Orthos only was kind to the Chimera when it was necessary for survival, once the fleet from his country had arrived Orthos quickly enslaved the Chimera and over a period of only twenty three years almost all Chimera were wiped out. Orthos dubbed the country he had stolen “Orthoser” (Owned by Orthos). Some way through the centuries Orthoser got changed to Ortheros. After Orthos died he left strict rules of conduct which included the need for at least one war per decade, at the bare minimum. Also stated were severe penalties for defying the government or the religion. The endless cycles of war and poverty were set into place. One important king is King Chaocas II, who officially named the capital city after himself after a particularly grisly war.

Chaocas II left no heir to the throne, thus starting the most infamous leaders of all Ortheros’s wretched history. The Chosen Monarchs were three of Chaocas’s generals, who each had a reputation for either bloodthirstiness or stupidity. They in turn nominated one of their generals for after they abdicated or died. This practice continued for only two more incarnations of The Chosen Monarchs before a resentful general who had not been chosen decided to create a revolution so that he may be the lone leader, if he won another chain of emperors would be put in place.

It is during this war that Cerebrus became known to the world, Cerebrus was one of the few middle-class persons in the entire country. He was fed up with the wars, and indeed all violence of any kind. Some called him a prophet but he tried his best to get out of that role and into a role as simply a peaceful revolutionary. It was not until his assassination at age twenty six by unknown persons that people started to take notice. Farmers and workers around the country stopped supplying goods to the war-mongers. Soon the war was over and even The Chosen Monarchs abdicated, soon to be put in prison.

After the first democratic vote in the countries history, an original follower of Cerebrus was chosen. His name was Ty, who quickly changed the name from Ortheros to Cerebrista after his former mentor. Ty is remembered as setting in the original rules and laws for the new nation, such as the strict regulation of deadly weapons, the abolition of the death penalty, the legalization of all soft drugs to speak of and of coarse the extreme stance against war of any kind.

Elections are held every five years, with a ten year maximum as how long you can serve in a current position (at least at a federal level). Cerebrista’s government will readily admit that it is not perfect, knowing that although big business is undesirable it is necessary to their lives. The country tries to keep taxes low while still providing maximum benefits, a task that is taking much time and effort. Cerebrista promotes acceptance of all kinds, from religious to racial to class. Cerebrista’s population mostly speaks English, with a few fluent in the native tongue of Ortheronion, although names are usually from the local language.

Currently Cerebrista is a wonderfully peaceful place, one where free speech and human rights are held in the highest regards. After a long debate abortion was once again legalized by the current President Sa’do. Sa’do’s term will end in one year, after the nine years he has had in office.


History

The Free Land of Cerebrista—which is sometimes referred to as Cerebros, the FLC, Ty-Land, Cerebruser, and (derogatory) “Peacenik Central”—is a pacifistic socialist democracy of four provinces located primarily in western A More Peaceful World. Cerebrista has land borders with Bastetania and Lablandcadia. It is almost completely landlocked, with only the famous tourist attraction “Lake Chimera” giving it a sea-side view.

The official founding date of Cerebrista is December 12, 1929, the date that the representatives of the modern four provinces, unanimously agreed to Ty Winding’s Declaration of Indispensable Rights. However, the structure of Cerebrista was profoundly changed in 1930 when the province’s representatives jointly wrote the Articles of Institution which declared the method of government that Cerebrista would introduce. Starting the late 20th Century, Cerebrista has begun to be noticed for it’s in contemporary economic, political, anti-military, scientific, technological and cultural matters.

Chronologic list of articles about the history of Cerebrista

Geography

Physical geography

Cerebrista’s landscape is generally divided into the pleasant forestland and gently sloping hills of the east, and the mountainous area to the west, though it does include some temperate plains near the southern border. Overall, the environment is a marvelously compelling site to behold

Political geography

The political geography is worth telling as well, Cerebrista is bordered by two well-respected nations in A More Peaceful World, Lablandcadia to the south and the nation of Bastetania to the west.

Political divisions

The country of Cerebrista is divided into four provinces, which each province divided into four jurisdictions each, Cerebrista’s jurisdictions, called “Juris” or "Juros" by the general population for short are the closest things to America’s concept of States. Most people identify more with their Juros, rather then with their provinces. The Provinces are as follows, Amergin to the north (with jurisdictions Quenpra, Wintera, Enabsen and Makitara) Poxotia to the east (with jurisdictions Herede, Anraw, Fudinon, and Tortamak) Acrobek to the south (with jurisdictions Ercolect, Igaer, Demiacra, and Pakra) and Fredroa to the east (with jurisdictions Kajrestla, Aldriata, Nunodio, and Jamoica)

Government and Politics

Federal government

The federal government is the national government. The powers of the federal government include defense, foreign affairs, printing money, controlling trade and relations between the states, healthcare and preserving human rights. In addition to these explicitly stated powers, the government has, when necessary, gone into other issues such as education and welfare. The federal government is made up of the Parliament (the legislative division), the President (the administrative division), and the Supreme Court (the Justice division). These three divisions are habitually in contact with one another. The Parliament has 40 members, who are elected by the people of a congressional district to represent that district for a term of three years. Each of the four provinces in Cerebrista have ten representatives, two from the province as a whole (who are given authority), and two from each of the four jurisdictions that are in each province. At the top of the executive branch is the President of Cerebrista, who acts as the “Head Commander in Peace” of the diplomatic force. The President confirms or veto’s laws into action, and can also issue pardons and executive orders. He has few other duties pertaining to the Parliament, among them being the requirement to give a State of the Union address to Congress from time to time. Below the President is the Vice President, who is first in the line of succession. These two posts are elected, as running mates, by the people via a vote of 50% or more for four year terms. Next are the members of the Cabinet, and the various departments they head, including the Department of Peace, the Justice Department, and the State Department. These departments and department heads hold much political power and it is these departments that actually implement the laws of national scale. The Justice Division of the national government is used when dealing lawful matters of a federal level. A case may be appealed from a provisional court to a federal court only if there is a legitimate question of the federal stage; the High Court of a state is the final authority on the interpretation of that state's laws and constitution. The highest court in the land is the Paramount Court, which consists of seven justices and can declare legislation made at any level of the government as unlawful, nullifying the law and creating a standard for how future laws and decisions will be made. Below the Supreme Court are the appeals courts and below that are the federal courts, which are the general trial courts for federal law.

Provincial and Jurisdictional governments

Each Province has its own written constitution and has different laws, drawing from The Declaration of Indisputable Rights. There are sometimes great variations of law and procedure between the different providences, concerning issues such as property, crime, health, and education. The highest official of each province is the Governor. Each province also has an elected legislature, whose members represent the different jurisdictions of the state. Each province maintains its own judiciary, with the lowest level typically being county courts, and concluding in each state court, though sometimes named differently. In the provinces, all court justices are elected by the people, unlike in the federal government, where they are appointed. The institutions that are responsible for jurisdictional government are as a rule town, city, or county councils, making laws that affect their particular area; the laws concern such minor issues as traffic, the sale of alcohol and other legal drugs, and keeping animals. The highest elected official of a town or city is usually the mayor. The county governments have fewer powers, which include collecting taxes and maintaining law enforcement agencies.

Military

The “military” of Cerebrista consists of non-lethal weapons that can be used to stop an advancing army. There are super adhesives that can be dropped from a plane that can stop a tank in its tracks, ultra low frequency emitting devices that vibrate people's internal organs to the point that they feel sick and vomit if they get too close, electro magnetic pulses that disable electronics, and more. Fortunately, Cerebrista has not yet even had to use these means due to the lack of invasions Cerebrista has had to endure.


Foreign relations

Cerebrista has always had a love/hate relation with the international community. Some remember the arrogance of leaders past, who attacked the policy of other counties, however, in recent years Cerebrista has been much more diplomatic (mostly due to Sa’do’s joining the UN and discussions in A More Peaceful World) The new, kinder Cerebrista still releases anti-war statements, attacking both sides of the Iraq war. In many ways Cerebrista remains a mystery to many foreign counties.


Society

Demographics

Ethnicity and race

Cerebristions, in part due to racial categories outlined by the Cerebration government, generally describe themselves as belonging to one of groups: European, also called White African also called Black; Chimera (those having origins in any of the original peoples of Cerebrista); Asian; and Pacific Islander

The majority of the 218 million people currently living in the United States descend from European immigrants who arrived from Europe during the 17-1800s Major components of the European segment of the United States population are descended from immigrants from Comadica (14.4%), England (12.2%), Germany (11.0%), France (9.3%), Ireland (5.9%) and 1.2% of immigrants also coming from other European nations.

Pacific Islanders are recognized as the largest minority group in the country, containing 11.4% of the population in 2002. This has brought increasing use of other cultures into Cerebrations About 10.7% (2002 census) of the Cerebristian people are African Cerebristion mostly the descendants of the enslaved Africans brought to Ortheros between the 1760s and 1821. However, an increasing number of immigrants from Africa are coming to Cerebrista due to structural breakdown in their own countries.

A third significant minority is the Asian Cerebriston population (5.1%), . It is by no means a monolithic group; the largest groups are immigrants or descendants of emigrants from China, the Philippines, India, Vietnam, Korea and Japan.

The aboriginal population of Native Cerebristions, such as the Chimera and Apocita, make up about 3.5% of the population.

According to the 2002 census, Cerebrista has 41 ethnic groups of at least one million people each.

Religion

Self-Described Religious Identification of Adult Population: 2002 Source: CB. Census 2002

Religion Percentage
Total Christian 53.4%
Catholic 5.7%
Protestant/Other Christian 35.4%
Baptist 7.4%
Methodist/Wesleyan 6.2%
Lutheran 2.3%
Presbyterian 2.2%
Pentecostal/Charismatic 4.5%
Episcopalian/Anglican 2%
Mormon/Latter Day Saints 0.6%
Protagonist 12.3%
Quaker 8.2%
Eastern Orthodox 0.8%
Other Protestant (less than 1% each) 1.2%
Total other religions 28.8%
Jewish 3.5%
Neo-Pagan 1.4%
Muslim 2.7%
Non-Christian Protagonist 8.2%
Buddhist 5.3%
Hindu 1.4%
Unitarian Universalist 6.3%
Others (less than 0.07% each) 1.2%
No Religion, Atheist or Agnostic 12.7%
Total Refused to Reply 5.1%

Education

In Cerebrista students must attend mandatory schooling starting with kindergarten and following through 12th grade (although students are permitted to drop out upon the age of 17). Parents may educate their own children at home, send their children to a free public school or to a private school, where parents must pay tuition. Decisions at public schools are usually decided through a school board, unless the decision would interfere with the Jurisdictional constitution.

After 12th grade, students have a choice of attending either a public or private university. Public universities receive funding from the federal and jurisdictional government but students still pay tuition, which is relatively small, while tuition at private universities tends to be much higher than at public universities.

The government is not allowed to step into private school affairs unless it is determined that they are physically abusing the students. Private, unlike public, schools are allowed to make rules that would be considered detrimental to free speech or religion, due to the freedom of the school itself.

Language

The first language to grace Cerebrista was Ortheronion, a language largely derived from Latin and Greek. Ortheronion in essentially unknown to foreign ears, so in 1803 English was used in diplomatic relations and the monarchy urged the common people to learn at least a few English words. Soon the upper class began speaking frequently in English, although a few holdouts loudly complained about a “loss of culture.” By the Great Backlash 68% of the population spoke English fluently, and 78% spoke broken English, and 97% spoke a word or two of English. Cerebrus said in a letter to a follower Vidcis, “I believe that to increase the diplomacy across the world Ortheros must teach other languages, predominately English, in our schools.” Cerebrista’s first president, Ty, took this letter to heart and immediately declared English the official language. Today 97% of Cerebristions can speak English fluently, an increase of 31%.

In 1972 President Tiramisus Eilhoern declared that there should be no official language (although official papers were still to be solitary written in English), and that Ortheronion should be taught in school. Eilhoern cited the 42% of people who spoke Ortheronion fluently, and that English was hard-set into Cerebrista. Today 47% of people can speak Ortheronion fluently, a 5% increase over 33 years.

Cerebrista has a small population of other languages, German and Japanese both clocking in at 2% fluent speakers each, both due to an influx of immigrants from their respective countries.

Culture

Although it holds little influence in the outside world, Cerebristian culture is rich and healthy in its own right. Today culture is very much an intricate mixture of the old Ortheronion culture and the influx of western culture in the past seventy years.

Music

The original music for Cerebristions goes back to Ortheronion society, divided between the complex classical music of the upper class, the simple folk music (stripp music) of the lower classes, and the traditional musings (Me’tin’be) of the oppressed native peoples.

Although many of the artists of the bygone years are forgotten, some remain. Tumultus Flo was an revolutionary opera writer, who, while nearly all of his contemporaries were making their war opus’, created the classic “Un Arcust pre PrePau Amgist” roughly, “In Defense of the Poor Man’s Soul” a tragedy in which a rich man learns of the poor man’s plight, although only after he looses all that he has and dies like a dog. A little known opera at the time, it became famous after the Great Backlash, after which people were searching through musical works to find something that wasn’t about warfare.

Although there are no famous stripp artists from that era, many of the songs are etched into minds at an early age, stripp is notable due to its incredible simplicity, it is often said that stripp can only be performed by a single man (or woman), with a single instrument and an unassuming voice.

Me’tin’be songs are almost always instrumental, which holds sweeping melodies and improvisation as key. Today however, the works seem to be mostly enjoyed by intellectuals and academics.

However, Cerebrista’s music changed significantly in the 1950’s when rock ‘n’ roll was introduced to the country. Before this event, Cerebristions were largely blind to the outside world’s music. After the rock n’ roll “revolution” many Cerebristion bands began popping up, such as Tilly Kicks and the Slicks, teen idol Siliks Effigy, and garage rock darlings The J-Walkers. Over time Cerebrista has embraced other forms of music, such as punk, reggae and blues, while creating their own sub-genres such as Stripp-Rock, Imago, and Mystrock. Although none of the previous have enjoyed a following elsewhere in the world.

Theater

Cerebrista movies are largely composed of profound independent films, although it is not unknown for a low-brow blockbuster to break through. Predictability in actors or directors is frowned upon, which creates many high-quality movies of every genre, along with quite a few films without a real genre to speak of.

With basically no government sanctions, directors are able to make absolutely anything they want, which means that films are allowed to make the most offensive, disgusting films imaginable. However, the public rarely wants something with no artistic merit, although the definition of artistic merit varies widely from how most westerners would describe it.

The film which has gotten the most worldwide attention is “Grey Apples” by Verto Profea. Grey Apples is confusing at best, combining imagery of love, death and time, it is known among Cerebristions as “A Surreal Painting put to Film” a few other notable fims include “Slowdown” a surprisingly well pulled-off blend of western and film noir, and “The Hand that Wouldn’t Die” widely regarded as one of the best b-horror spoofs out there, although neither of which have made it to an international market.

There are two wildly popular different types of plays, the “traditional” institution and the “western” institution. The western institution is very much like how plays are done in the western world, where actors are encouraged to be believable (even in a fantasy setting). The “traditional” institution is more popular, a tradition in which extravagant clothes are worn, along with intricate masks, called Tego, which are changed an average of 15 times a play. Actors are encouraged to entertain, while staying intelligent. There have been no “western” style plays from Cerebristian writers worth mentioning, but a few of the more popular traditional plays are “The Final Step” and “The Act of a Jester”

Art

Art (as in visual arts such as painting and pottery ) was once a very important aspect of Cerebristian life, but the death of influential painter Specto Eksles in 1985 left a void that has proven impossible to fill.

The first art ever to grace the Cerebristian shores was of the Apocita tribe, which were a far cry from cave paintings. The earliest recorded painting is on a clay pot, it depicts a crudely drawn man (or woman) reaching to the sky, and another crudely drawn man in the air above him, it is believed to represent god’s role in man’s life. Gradually the art became more and more complex, eventually deriving a special style of painting that was usually used to tell a story or record history.

When Ortheronion culture formed, it formed its own style of painting, closest in romanticism in method, with heavy usage of symbolism. Called Monarchism due to it’s origins in ruling classes portraits, it gradually became more accessible until almost all families above the poverty line had at least one custom Monarchist painting in their house.

However, after the Chosen Monarchs became the rulers of the land, Monarchism was steadily pushed aside by the ruling class in favor of a new style of architecture called Pungrism, from the Ortheronion word pungre, or general, according to the fact that the original buildings were barracks and military bases. Painting soon became obsolete, with a growing number of government funded buildings sprouted up.

After The Great Backlash, Cerebristions were searching for a new art style, they found it in western modern art movements, such as dada and surrealism. It was not until 1942 that Cerebrista got its own movement, Phantism, a play on words with “fantastic” and “phantasm”, swept the land starting with the painting “Flotsam Yearnings” by Specto Eksles. The painting was comprised of a beautiful original painting, something you would expect from the Art Nouveau movement and random objects ranging from rocks to bottle caps glued onto the surface. The painting was drawn by Eksles himself, after a bet to see if he could draw “real stuff” by fellow artist Ferox Compy. After winning the bet, Eksles gradually became annoyed by the piece of art, eventually defacing it in the manner of gluing objects onto it. He liked the finished product so much, he decided to display it in his first exhibit as an afterthought, it is this painting that made him-and his art form-famous around the country.

After Eksles’ death in 1985, art seemed to stop. There are still artists out there, but none have managed to meet the public’s eye. The future of the art world in Cerebrista is uncertain, although not dead. There is always a chance that a new artist will dazzle the critics, or that a new form will emerge from the ashes. Until then, art critics and fans alike will have to wait.

Literature

Literature has been a cornerstone of Cerebristian society since the novel Eruser Senceuser Lecterio or His Lord’s Love’s End, by Parish Tankself, in 1823, and today book publishing is one of the three biggest industries of Cerebrista.

Even when it was Ortheros, the country’s population has had a remarkably high literacy rate, today it is virtually 100%, when The Great Backlash was underway, it only fueled the nations need for writings, especially ones with political and social topics. Even though Cerebrus’s book ¬The New way, A New Path was banned by the government, it received a massive amount of support, and almost single-handedly funded Cerebrus’s peaceful resistance.

After The Great Backlash, the government stopped any and all censorship on media, allowing a wide variety of writings to come into the people’s hands. Some classic volumes include: The Principle and the Parable and What we have to Lose. At this time books from the west began to arrive on Cerebristian shores, making western authors such as Dickens, Poe, and Twain a national phenomenon.

With this increased flow of foreign literature, Cerebristian authors had more influences, thus making their writing more varied. Due to the public’s varied tastes, books of every genre are pushed out, from romance novels to graphic novels, and everything in between. The art of writing is very much alive in Cerebrista today.

Sports

Cerebrista is notorious for its incompetence in organized sports, particularly baseball and football (soccer) although it does have professional leagues of both. What it lacks in skill of those two sports, it more then makes up with its most popular sport, rugby, whose Victor’s Cup championship game nets on average about 175 million viewers each year.

Traditionally unknown sports get more attention from Cerebrista, who host leagues for such outlandish activities as dodgeball, mini-golf and other games traditionally reserved for elementary school students. Although these sports are not “popular” in the conventional sense of the term, they are more accepted in Cerebrista then in most other countries.


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