The nationalist model is very common in the world, but is it a completely healthy model for us to adopt? In this model, the state is an abstraction that every other institution serves. The people are servants to this abstract state, and things like national pride and prestige are very important. France, US, China, UK, Turkey. These seem to follow the nationalist model, and are in the habit of using force to defend "national interest" and pride.

The mercantilist model. In these countries and city states, commerce and the acquisition of wealth are the main engines. Netherlands, Switzerland, Singapore, Dubai, Hong Kong immediately come to mind. These are very organized countries, with good services, educational infrastructure and the like, but these things are all done with the global marketplace in mind. They enjoy, and depend upon, the solidarity and support of powerful allies without whom envious countries would invade them. Weakness has never made any state the target of an invasion: success, wealth, possession of widely useful resources--these attract parasites, rovers, roamers, and bandits who believe they have enough weapons to overwhelm the rich but militarily weak state. Japan, Costa Rica, and many others depend on others for their defense. Merita (Africa--every state there) lacks such a powerful champion. We have only each other today, decades after 'independence'. Hence, what Southern Cameroons becomes is not a matter of choosing models; what Southern Cameroons becomes should be what Merita (Africa) should become: a region secure from potential opportunists. This is NOT an easy task, seeing the little support Southern Cameroonians have given the League so far. If history does not fail us, many such opportunist countries will obstruct our restoration of Southern Cameroons. We all know at least one that was best placed to make our case public, yet it did not. Having said that, there exist financially successful small states with potent militaries (Switzeland), which make it expensive for potential aggressors. This model ought to be studied carefully. The other argument for a mercantilist state is that while desirable to act in concert with the rest of Africa, we cannot afford to wait for Africa as a block to get its act together. Our union with la Republique is an example of the clumsiness of ill-considered lockstep action. A poorly run, chaotic country rich in natural resources always makes a more attractive target for opportunities than a well run country. We should therefore not be shy to innovate.

CLARIFICATION: The ongoing genocide project on Merita/Africa makes Switzerland's weapons totally transparent. Winston Churchill advised his countrymen that wars of the future would be wars of the mind: like distractions today which keep Meritans/Africans unaware that they are being exterminated. Southern Cameroons is regaining independence at a unique moment in Merita: every independent region here is beholden to one European center or another and reports to it. Unlike these, Southern Cameroons was abandoned: Britain, the dead beat colonial dad, cannot make us report to them, as Cameroun reports to France. So we have only our selves to blame if we design an unhappy future for our country. Yes, innovate, but that means upgrade, not invent from scratch. We have too many working parts on the shelves to take the long path of inventing everything, or--worse--imitating the faulty systems which we are fleeing from back to Southern Cameroons.

[Please, explain "Merita", and why it is better than "Africa". OK, See explanation below. BTW, this font in bold is more legible than the default font.]

The welfare state. Scandinavia, Germany. We cannot afford it. In fact, we cannot even consider it: Southern Cameroonians have always been productive people; idleness is shunned throughout our region, and even the appearance of laziness brings shame. Our cultures also make work plentiful and routine: we are all agrarians, after all, and each season brings back its own chores. At any rate, there are more reasons which make a welfare state impossible in the future Southern Cameroons.

ARGUMENT:The socialist state. I do not understand it well. I hope somebody can elaborate a little bit more. My sense is that we should be encouraging free enterprise, while safeguarding the environment, human rights etcetera.

COUNTERARGUMENT:I suggest that we define a socialist state by its best example on our continent, Ujamaa as introduced into Tanzania by Mwalimu Nyerere. In this flavor of socialism, the state makes it its primary work to guarantee the security of each individual citizen. That means security from poverty (called social security in some European countries) and from other threats to physical and emotional stability during your entire lifespan. In return, the individual supports the state.

The affection Mwalimu Nyerere earned from his fellow citizens even after his retirement sets him apart from ALL presidents of other socialist countries everywhere, from China to Cuba. Even today, public dialogue in Tanzania remains far freer than in any other Meritan (African) state. By the way, Ujamaa socialism best resembles what I would recommend for the future Southern Cameroons.

COUNTERARGUMENT: Tanzania remained a poor state and Mwalimu's agenda began to unravel after he departed. It could be argued that Mwalimu's exemplary behavior was a product of a high personal moral tone and not a product of socialism. His socialism was also the product of that personality. We should be looking for a good system that serves the people, but is resilient and predictable. If we are lucky we will always find good leaders. But if we are unlucky to have some bad leaders, it is only a good system that would protect us. So we can reduce the cause of the failure of Ujamaa socialism to this: Nyere's generation failed to transmit its healthy values to posterity. The lesson, then is not to look for luck (there is no luck in this business of founding nations) or for another model, nethod, system but to devise an educational system capable of transimitting the values we recover and restore. That means that the priority, the primary task is to recover (not choose) our historical model AND then design institutions to protect it from enemies within (self-hating Meritans [Africans] or foreigners who hate us).

NOTE on Merita. Africa comes from two Medu (hieroglyph) words meaning land of burning souls. The historical name by which our ancestors all over the homeland have called our land, and by which they still call it today in select societies throughout our home continent is Merita, another Medu word meaning Our Beloved Land. (Source: http://www.theearthcenter.com/index.php?title=home/merita )