Chapter 70: Chapter 69 : Orator

On both sides of the main street, various shops were lined up side by side with the merchants calling out to potential customers, while in front of those shops were carts and street vendors selling everything from unique trinkets to useless junk.

And even those vendors were gradually selling most of their stock.

Athena was a large city but we should be safe as long as we don’t do anything to stand out.

"Their phrase, 'Defence of the fatherland' and the like are nothing but deception." 

A female voice echoed. What she said reminded me of my previous life. It made me stopped in the middle of the crowd and started reminiscing.

"It is becoming more evident every day that this is a war between big robbers, who are quarrelling over the loot, each striving to obtain the largest share, the largest number of land to plunder, and the largest number of men to suppress and enslave."

"Sir, calm down. It’s just random oration." A man beside us smiled while giving something like pamphlet.

"Oration?" Reina asked. She looked interested. Brita and others were gathering information elsewhere. Only Reina was with me.

"Are you new to this country?" He asked.

We nodded.

Reina read the words on the pamphlet for me.

"Government selected by the people is a farce. Spread the words. Make a change."

Hm. Something I often heard in my previous life.

The female voice spoke again.

"One of the means of fooling the people is pacifism, the preaching of peace in the abstract. At the present time, peace propaganda unaccompanied by a call for revolutionary mass action can only have the effect of spreading illusions and demoralising the people."

We walked to the source of that voice. 

A girl in medium length hair tied in cyan colour was performing a public speech on slightly higher ground. Surrounding her was over a hundred of listeners.

"Change was not one single act, not one single battle on a single front; but a whole epoch of intensified conflicts between rich and us, a long series of battles on all fronts." 

The listeners clapped their hand enthusiastically.

"Have you ever wondered why rulers are not like they used to be? It's not because their bodies have degenerated. It's because money had dominated rulers, money rules over rulers."

The audience gave her a huge applause.

It seemed she was really liked by them. She went down had friendly conversation with some of the audience, before shaking hands and dispersed. 

Throughout my previous life, I had participated in 4 elections and personally attended many political gatherings. Thus, this sure brought back memories.

Increasing gap between rich and poor, and socioeconomic issues, brought by her, particularly, was close to my heart during my previous life at least.

***

I attended the gathering on the next day. She wore different attire today, a long skirt and short sleeve, mostly in blue.

"Friends! The question of the actually the state works is now on the order of the day. The former nobles, in whose hands the state power now rests, desire a so called government by people, that is, a state system where there is no tsar, but where power remains in the hands of the rich families who govern the country by means of the old institutions, namely: the soldiers, the local governors, and the private militants."

After she finished her first statement, she observed the crowd for several minutes.

"We desire a different kind of people government, one more in keeping with the interests of the people, more voice for the ordinary folks. Not the soldiers, not the noble families, who are unanswerable to the people and placed above the people, not the standing army, separated from the people, but the people themselves, armed and,  must run the state."

Upon hearing that, the crowd of over 200 cheered. She waited for the crowd to cool down, then continued,

"Only this power, can solve the great question of the land in a just way and not in the interests of the land owners. The land must not belong to the rich families. The peasants must take the land away at once from the landowners. All the land must belong to the whole nation, and its disposal must be the concern of the local farmers!"

A huge roar from the audience when she said that in strong tone.

"Do not let the state power pass into the hands of the self serving nobles. Get together, unite, organise yourselves, trusting no one, depending only on your own intelligence and experience!

I gradually cheered, clapped and shouted together with others everyone she spoke.

After speech ended, she stayed and entertained the people with friendly conversation.

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***

The next day I came a bit late. She was already halfway in the speech. There were hundreds of people who were standing and listening attentively. I brought several girls with me.

"Our government, a government of the nobles and merchants, are continuing the war in the interests of the rich families. Like the Vandolea, headed by their crowned brigand, the nobles of all the other countries are carrying on the war only for profits, for domination over the world."

As usual, her words were followed by huge applause.

"Millions of people, almost all the countries in the continent, have been dragged into this criminal war. Billions of capital have been invested in profitable undertakings, bringing death, hunger, ruin, and barbarism to the peoples and staggering, scandalously high profits to the nobles. There is only one way to get out of this frightful war. Do you really want to know how?"

"Yes. We want to be know???" They people asked in unity and loud voices.

"That is by transferring all the state power to the ordinary folks. The peddlers and poor peasants, who are not interested in preserving the wealth for themselves and who are not robbing the weak, will be able to do effectively what the nobles and merchants only promise, namely, end the war by concluding a lasting peace that will assure liberty to all peoples without exception!"

People went wild. They were shouting in full determination and cheered.

****

I went to centre of Athena to listen to her speech again. Was I imagining not was the crowd was becoming numerous every time I attended.

"Can you call it government of people when the peasants, who clearly constitute the overwhelming majority of the population, have no right to adopt and carry out their own decision, but must wait for an agreement between the tillers of the land and the landowners?"

"Noooo!!!" The hundreds of audience responded in thunderous voices.

"One noble family, who is a landowner, owned huge lands while thousands of peasants who worked hard for the land owned nothing. That is how things stand in Athen. Thirty thousand peasants must wait for the ’voluntary’ consent of one landowner!

Is this right, friends?"

"Noooo!"

"Change !!!"

"Not fair !!" 

People shouted in support of her.

***

We never missed attending the gathering for the past month. The girls also followed me. They love to listen. The crowd who assembled grew substantially in numbers after every speech. There were easily over a thousand people standing and listening during the latest event.

"Peasants who do not employ the labour of others, who do not profit at the expense of others, will, of course, always be in favour of the land being divided among all equally, of everybody working, of land tenure not serving as a basis of exploitation; they are against the concentration of land in the hands of a few."

The audience bellowed, ",Yes!" or ",You are right!", In response to her words.

"We the ordinary folks are against the concentration of land in the hands of a few. But it is different with the nobles and the parasites who grew rich on the war, who took advantage of the famine to sell grain at fabulous prices, who concealed grain in anticipation of higher prices, and who are now doing all they can to grow rich on the people’s misfortunes and on the starvation of the village poor!"

People shouted, "Kill them!!!"

"Nobles and merchants were squeezing the poor peasants dry. They were profiting from the labour of others, at the same time calling us 'Lazy idlers'! Why does a person become an ’idler’, why does he deteriorate, why is he impoverished, and why does he take to drink? Isn’t it because of the nobles?"

After huge roar, she spoke persuasively,

"We tell the rich families: We have nothing against you either, but hand over your surplus grain, don’t profiteer and don’t exploit the labour of others. Until you do so we shall hit you with everything we’ve got!"

Her final words were responded with stormy applause.

Within the audience, I noticed several suspicious men who were not shouting with passion like the others. My instinct was telling me they were bad news.

After this speech, she did the usual routine, discussion with the audience.

After the crowds dispersed, the girl walked  away and I saw the suspicious men were following her. The were leaving the city into the area full with squatters. I asked Brita and Reina to tail them.

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