KINGDOM OF CONSCIENCE – Moralists don't really *have* beliefs. Sometimes they stumble on one, like on a child's toy left on the carpet. The toy must be put away immediately. And the child reprimanded. Centrism isn't change -- not even incremental change. It is *control*. Over yourself and the world. Exercise it. Look up at the sky, at the dark shapes of Coalition airships hanging there. Ask yourself: is there something sinister in moralism? And then answer: no. God is in his heaven. Everything is normal on Earth.
The Moralist International, or Moralintern, is an organization in Disco Elysium.
Background
Created during the rule of Innocence Dolores Dei,[1] the Moralintern is an international organization dedicated to humanist values. After the Antecentennial Revolution, the Moralintern, aligned with the Coalition of Nations, became the leading political body of Elysium, representing the interests of 1.2 billion people from its annexed states.[2]
Ideology
Moralism stands out from the other ideologies as quite unique to the world history of Elysium, standing for an admixture of parliamentary democracy with a clause for electing a historically exceptional individual known as an innocent as a quasi-theocratic head of state. Moralists are represented by a union of centre-left and centre-right parties from nations on the Reál Belt,[3] the Moralintern's biggest zone of influence, which shares cultural similarities[4] and a unified legal system,[5] made to account for innocentic rule.[6] Moralists see themselves as the heirs to the Dolores Dei's humanist project,[7] believing in the preservation of humanity,[8] democratic values,[9] and promoting progress through incremental change.[10] The official colour of moralism is signal blue,[11] represented by its motto: "a blue forget-me-not; a piece of the grey sky". Unofficially, its motto is: "For a moment, there was hope".[12]
The Moralintern, like the Suzerains before them,[13] are known for restricting the use of what is considered overly-destructive weaponry, such as breech-loaders and automatic rifles.[14] Limiting peacetime law-enforcement to front loaded rifles is a policy enforced by the Moralist International in all the nations of the Reál Belt.[15]
Moralist law also subsumes into itself a number of international treaties and agreements. This includes the First La Cherte Accord, which prohibits corporate espionage in certain territories.[16] Coalition law is also of its responsibility, including the Articles of Dominion, meant to restrict certain types of information,[17] and the Emergency, Wayfarer, and Aliments Acts, which provide the legal basis of Revachol's Zone of Control.[18]
Social-democracy is considered a "cousin" of moralism, employed primarily by the Vaasan state, which adopted many moralist rites and ideals,[19] but prefers direct action in tackling social issues over moderate compromise.[20] The Dockworkers' Union is another example of a social-democratic institution, though it has also grown apart from the Moralintern.[21]
Organizations
In order to best retain its control over its vast area of influence, the Moralintern employs a number of subordinate organizations, best suited for this specific area of influence. The Coalition of Nations, known by the Moralintern as "La communauté internationale",[22] represents one of the Moralintern's primary allies, being responsible for the collapse of the Revolution and the continued establishment of the Zone of Control over Revachol.[23] In response to the ZoC, the Moralintern assists Revachol in transitioning from its interim government to what is considered "full democracy".[24] The Committee of Responsibility of Revachol is considered the key moralist authority regarding Revacholian matters,[25] utilizing the various Coalition Warships stationed over Revachol, including Coalition Warship Archer, as a means of surveying and keeping tabs on the city.[26] Although the Wayfarer Act and Bristelmüne Conventions are meant to restrict this sort of treatment of occupied territories, their legislature is not often obeyed.[27]
Other subordinate groups to the Moralintern include EPIS, an international economic trade union, the International Collaboration Police, a group dedicated to interisolary law enforcement, the Institute of Price Stability, a measure meant to contain economic inflation and preserve social stability,[28] and the Human Development and Freedom Index, a measuring system meant to categorize nations by their quality of life.[29] The Moralintern also employs a highly-classified technology known as contingency spreads[30] in order to model possibilities for the future of a nation,[31] and prepare accordingly.[32]
References
- ↑ THE GREATEST INNOCENT - Incorrect. Dolores Dei was the innocence of humanism, internationalism, and the welfare state. She codified parliamentary democracy and created modern institutions, among these the Moralintern. She was powerful. And beautiful, on all her icons...
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "For instance, as second signaller we represent Coalition Warship Archer, which in turn represents INSURCOM and the Coalition more generally, which in turn represents the Moralist International, which itself represents the interests of 1.2 billion people across the world."
- ↑ KIM KITSURAGI - "They're a union of centre-left and centre-right parties across the Reál Belt. Our Coalition Government is just one of its many projects. They also run the ICP, EPIS... most inter-governmental organizations in the world."
- ↑ CONCEPTUALIZATION - That is why the lungs are the symbol of love for the cultures of the Reál Belt.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Prohibiting peacetime law-enforcement to front loaded rifles is a policy enforced by the Moralist International in all the nations of the Reál Belt.
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - In a way. An innocence is elected to office by the Founding Party, a precedent that has taken place a mere six times in the entirety of History. The legal system of the Reál Belt is built from the ground up to accommodate innocentic rule, should it coincide with our time.
- ↑ KIM KITSURAGI - "What do they believe in? They are Dolorians. They *believe* they continue the humanist project set forth by Her Innocence Dolores Dei four centuries ago. Others say they're just technocrats."
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "A very important question with a very simple answer: We want humanity to endure."
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "Because moralists believe in a normal, stable world governed by democratic values."
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "It's moving towards the right direction and that's all that matters. Progress is measured in centimetres, my friend."
- ↑ Kingdom of Conscience
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - The colour of moralism is blue. The official motto of the Moralintern, or Moralist International, is: 'A blue forget-me-not; a piece of the grey sky'. Unofficial: 'For a moment, there was hope'.
- ↑ KIM KITSURAGI - He nods. "I have to hand it to the monarchs -- it's quite admirable that they took the advice of criminologists last century and banned the use of breechloaders in peacetime."
- ↑ KIM KITSURAGI - "The manufacturing and sale of automatic rifles was curtailed after the Revolution. The destructive power of such tools proved to be... too much. We do need to retain some humanity in this world."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Prohibiting peacetime law-enforcement to front loaded rifles is a policy enforced by the Moralist International in all the nations of the Reál Belt.
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "Corporate espionage may technically be legal in *Revachol*, but elsewhere it's a very high-level offence. It violates a number of international agreements, in particular the First La Cherte Accord..."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Knowledge like that isn't just obscure; it's unknowable. Dangerous theoretical facts like that are probably protected under the Coalition Government's Articles of Dominion, Title XIV, Article 7c. While an expert might be able to suss it out on their own, a layman like you has no hope.
- ↑ JOYCE MESSIER - "The RCM's responsibilities are defined by the Emergency, Wayfarer, and Aliments Acts -- three pieces of legislation keeping the city in a -- let's be honest -- laissez-faire stasis to the benefit of foreign capital."
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "And then there are our prodigal cousins, the Vaasan social democrats, who hold our same values and have even adopted many of our same rites and iconography, though they persist in rejecting the umbrella of moralism."
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "We don't resent them. It's more that we are... *disappointed* that they have chosen to emphasise certain points of dispute over broad areas of accord..."
- ↑ RHETORIC - It's not spelled out explicitly, but the lieutenant fears a tear is forming between the liberal-moralist establishment of Revachol -- and her populist citizenry. This populist force, a pot pourri of far right and left, is exemplified in the Débardeurs' Union.
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "La communauté internationale is what Revacholians colloquially call *the Coalition*. In other words, the nations that stopped the disaster of the Revolution."
- ↑ LENA, THE CRYPTOZOOLOGIST'S WIFE - "Revachol is a Zone of Control, led by an alliance of foreign powers called the Coalition. We have almost no government of our own. And *certainly* no dictatorship of the proletariat."
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Because the Coalition has no interest in *running* Revachol. We'll succeed in our mission the moment Revachol rejoins the international community as a sovereign democracy. The RCM is an integral piece of that project."
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "The Comité de Responsabilité de Revachol. It acts as a sort-of clearinghouse for Coalition activities. To put it simply, they are the ultimate arbiters of la responsabilité in this part of the world."
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "You see, in addition to being an airborne artillery platform, Coalition Warship Archer is also the linchpin of the Coalition's surveillance and communications infrastructure in Revachol."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - The Bristelmüne Conventions are a series of international agreements governing the treatment of military personnel and civilians in theatres of war as well as occupied territories. In practice, they are more talked about than observed.
- ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "*Précisément*! Too much inflation, bread becomes too expensive; too much deflation, it becomes too cheap for bakers to produce..."
SUNDAY FRIEND - "That's why the Institute of Price Stabilité works to keep inflation just below 2%..." - ↑ SUNDAY FRIEND - "What's there to say? Sur-la-Clef is a modern, urbanized country that measures very high on the Human Development and Freedom Index. Mostly, though, it's known as the executive heart of *EPIS*..."
- ↑ ENCYCLOPEDIA - Originally developed by mechanical engineers at the Isherwood Branch of CZU Industries around the turn of the last century, contingency spreads are used to model complex events in a number of fields, including business, public health, radiocomputer science, insurance, and international diplomacy.
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Not exactly. No one can know the future. But with contingency spreads it is possible to predict what the future realities *might reasonably* look like."
- ↑ COALITION WARSHIP ARCHER - "Almost certainly. Not many realise this, but, the Moralintern is constantly reviewing and revising its contingency spreads in order to improve our own decision-making..."