Mads Adami- The Present Life of a Former Syndicalist Outer Party Member
by Balki Smidt
Keris- Mads Adami finds himself stuck between worlds and he is quite honest about the fact that he doesn't know how to navigate between them at the moment. The native of Breioamyrr, a small industrial town in western Prydania, is certainly happy with the town's changing fortunes two and a half years since the end of the Civil War.
"Midland Mótorar and Aventure Automotive Group from Sil Dorsett came in" he explains.
"They converted a few of the old iron works into factories for the production of electric cars. People are finding work again. Myself included."
Mads currently works as an editor for industrial safety videos, a job needed to train a generation of young Prydanian workers entering new industries as the economy continues to grow.
That's not what Mads did for the longest time though, nor is it why many Prydanians would recognize his name and face. Mads worked as a functionary in the "Outer Party," the name for the government bureaucrats of the Syndicalist Republic, for the regime's Press Office. He was specifically tasked with making propaganda videos starring himself, where he would present a kind, energetic, funny (and punny) face for Syndicalist policies. Mads began working on them around 2008 and continued until the end. His videos were presented on government-approved news sites and even VidCast. Up to the point that the site banned Syndicalist Republic videos in light of a growing list of human rights abuses.
Mads' fate was uncertain following the end of the War.
"I was terrified" he freely admits.
"I had the rank of a pencil pusher lower middle management sort, but my face was out there, you know? I spoke for the regime. Right to the end. I figured I would be a good one for the FNU to make an example of."
In the end His Majesty issued two blanket pardons among his first acts as King. All members of the Syndicalist Republic Armed forces below the higher officer ranks were pardoned. And all members of the Syndicalist "Outer Party" were pardoned, full stop. Even if the Party itself was forcibly dissolved. Mads was spared, but his brother wasn't. Dr. Aleksander Adami was revealed to have been one of the principle overseers of torturing those arrested by the NRÖ, the Syndicalist regime's secret police, for political reasons. He was sentenced to death but Mads petitioned His Majesty. It was accepted. Dr. Adami now serves a life sentence in Briarviður prison for his crimes.
The whirlwind of the end of the War, and how his family was effected, has caused upheaval for Mads that he's not really over.
"I was happy of course" he says regarding his pardon.
"But it's strange. Legally I've been given the green light, but people know me. And...things have been rough since coming back home."
Mads had moved to Býkonsviði for his job in 2008, returning to Breioamyrr following his pardon. Breioamyrr was a traditional Syndicalist electoral stronghold in the days of the old democracy. Mads thought that, and his family's roots in the area, would mitigate the awkwardness of being a face of the Syndicalist regime.
"There are days where it's almost normal" he says, "where old friends and I chat, were we even grab a few drinks or take in a concert. The music scene's incredible these days. Other days though, no one will talk to me. It's like I'm a ghost."
I asked him if he thought it had to do with his brother.
"No" he shook his head.
"I don't think so at least. Aleks...I didn't even know what he was doing, really. But me...I was there. Online every week, defending the government. I was told to act like everyone's best friend at the bar, just shoot the shit about the government and put a good spin on things. It was popular...well at first, I guess."
Mads admits that the reception in Breioamyrr wasn't what he expected.
"A few people have angrily yelled at me, told me what the government did here. The killings, arrests. I still have a hard time believing it."
I still have a hard time believing it.
That is, beyond an icy reception in his home town, what Mads is struggling with.
"During the Republic, I was party. Outer Party, but still. We had our area of the capital. I had my studio I shared with three other productions. But...it was normal. I suppose. The soldiers and Peoples' Militia patrolled the streets, shops, but we were at war. We hung out, we talked, we had...lives. I didn't, I mean we didn't...a lot of what was happening elsewhere wasn't really talked about. We didn't know that much inside of the Party zones."
The first crack came during the Shaddaist pogrom in the capital led by Syndicalist Inner Party Organizer for Beaconsviði Charles Sonfjall in 2015.
"Everyone knew that there was commotion in the city. But the soldiers stopped us at the Party Zone checkpoints. Said there was an emergency, we had to go back to our homes."
Mads looked visibly nervous discussing what happened next, but it was a vital part of his story, and the downfall of the world in which he had, in part, willingly allowed himself to be bubbled in.
"The next week I had a show to film. I got the list of talking points from the Party. They told me to address the fact that the government had rounded up a lot of Shaddaists, killed a lot of Cohens, including the Gadol. I didn't even know really what those words were! I'm from Breioamyrr! I never met a Shaddaist in my life and..."
Mads grew visibly agitated. I asked if he wanted to continue, but he did.
"They liked me to make things light, friendly. Like I said, your friend at the bar shooting the shit about politics. So I made some jokes. Made fun of of some stereotypes, told people to calm down, the Shaddaists, with their Yihuddi accents would get over it. Did some bad impressions. I wanted to make it funny."
"I didn't...no, no. Look. I knew it was stereotyping, but I was told...look. I thought that a few rabble rousers from the Shaddaist community had caused a stink and the government put it down. I didn't know how bad it was. We didn't know."
The response internationally was a disaster. VidCast began to ban Syndicalist Republic videos that defended the pogrom- the first steps that would lead to them being banned from the platform all together- Mads' included. His video, before it was pulled, was littered with angry responses.
"I had no idea what the extent of what I was talking about, and I thought the caricature voices and mannerisms, I thought they were funny. I saw what people were saying though, and I was taken aback."
I asked him if he understood that what he had done was hurtful.
"I didn't know any Shaddaists, like I said. I just thought...you know...make light of something tense? Look, I didn't get into this to oppress anyone. I know people like to think that about every former Party member, but I didn't. I got into this because my brother said I had a knack for putting people at ease, and I thought that was worthwhile. But seeing that...people react to what I said about that pogrom...it was an eye opener, that things were different then what I had been told."
His brother Dr. Aleksander Adami is another sour spot, an uncomfortable reminder of the regime he served. The Sáttargrunnur (Reconciliation Committee) was set up by the new Kingdom government after the Syndicalist archives were seized. Suddenly Aleksander's role in the torture of over 1,000 people on behalf of the Syndicalist government became known.
"Aleks is...was a good guy" Mads says.
"He was always political. My family had votes Syndie for generations leading up to the Revolution in '02. I wasn't very political, but it was part of growing up in a working class town. Aleks is an intellectual though. He's always been passionate about politics. When the Revolution happened and he found himself on track to be a high ranking Inner Party member...it was exciting. I thought he'd thrive. I guess he did."
I asked him if he still visits Aleks on occasion.
"He doesn't get many visiting days, but I go when I can."
I asked him what they talk about.
"Hockey, music mostly."
I ask him if he feels like his brother is a good person. He thinks for a moment, as if struggling to find words.
"He's a good brother. A passionate knob at times who didn't know when to shut up, but I love him."
Finally I asked the sticking point. What does Mads say to those who were tortured by his brother, and their families? All of whom are public record thanks to the Sáttargrunnur. Mads sighs. He adjusts himself in his seat.
"I'm very sorry. I would tell them I'm very sorry for what he did. That he believed in good things, but he lost his way. It doesn't excuse what he did though. I hope they find peace. They deserve peace."
That prompts me to ask him point blank. Is Syndicalism in any way redeemable? And how does he feel about the current government?
"We grew up in a working class town. The Syndicalist Party was our party. I didn't give a toss about politics on the eve of the Revolution. I was still a kid then. But my dad and mom...they'd go on about the Syndicalist Party being the party that looked out for us. So we went with it...and when I was recruited? It was easy to go along with what they told us. I think we need a party that works for working people, but obviously what the Syndicalist Party ended up being, I don't believe that's good, no. It took me seeing people outside of the party reacting to what I was doing, and coming home and seeing how much people who stayed here came to resent the Syndicalist government to fully see it. And I struggle with what I did for it."
And the government?
"The King seems like a good guy, honestly. And the government, like I said. I work in a field that's made possible because they bring work back. I want a party that works for working people, but yeah. I don't hold grudges against the King, or the current government. I just want to let that stuff I did, let it fade away."
That's Mads' struggle. Pardoned for his role in the regime, yet known by many people because of the visibility of the role. He dedicates himself to his work, he enjoys the heavy metal scene emerging in post-War Prydania. He reconnects with old friends and makes new ones, but his past follows him. Innocent in the eyes of the law, guilty in the eyes of public opinion.
He's not alone, though he might be among the most high profile, of Syndicalist Outer Party members who carry a pardon from the King yet are still dogged by their past associations. Some call it a lost generation. Others, walking ghosts. To most of us? They're friends, neighbours, and family attempting to put a disastrous past behind them. Like our nation as a whole.
![Midir [Mondari]](/data/avatars/m/5021/5021626.jpg?1538375103){kind=avatar}
