I’ve always been an advocate of communism, and my teacher knew it. That’s why I was shocked to learn, that for our political debates, I was put into the similar, but in a way completely different group, totalitarianism. I ran with it. Our teacher at the time was Mr. Kargov. Macedonian guy, around Twenty-six. Mild-tempered, loud voice, overall nice guy. He put me in the group because he thought I liked order, and preferred equity over equality. The assignment was to form groups on different sides of the political spectrum debate, make posters, write a speech, and in the end, vote for a party. You could not vote for your own party. Every party had a leader, and I desperately wanted to be the leader of mine. It would give me a chance to show off my political savvy. I examined my group. Not bad. There was Jonathan, a longtime friend, Arun, a casual acquaintance, and Alvin, a guy I had to put up with. One thing was for sure. The name “totalitarian” would never be voted in. We needed a new name. One that would roll with the people. The floods of suggestions came. Authoritarianism? Autocracy? Dictatorship? No…We needed a name that would inspire patriotism, and a sense of security. Wait…Security? The day was February 19th 2008, and it marked a turning point in my life, for it was the day I heard my calling; SECURITARIANISM. The next few months were quickly consume by vigorous campaigning, ferocious attack ads, and posters. Our slogan was formed: Securing your freedom, and your future. Over the course of the campaign, the Securitarian philosophy evolved from an entirely militarilised society run by the army, to an anti-lobby single-party people’s democratic economic supercentre aided by the armed forces. Before I forget, the parties were as follows; The totalitarian party, later named the Securitarians. The communist party, later named the Marxists, later named the Kanata party. The Capitalist party, later named the Reganites. The moderate party, later named the nobody-remembers-because-they-didn’t-do-anything party. And the anarchist party, later named the Equalitarian party. The debates heated up, the posters covered the wall, each one more filled with lies and empty promises than the next. (Except for ours. We showed a platoon of army officers marching down the street. Now that’s progress.) It was a week until my speech. My last chance to rally the people toward my cause, and lead my party into an unfl…A-CHOO!!! What?! I have a *sniff sniff* cold? No matter. No cold could last for a week, right? Wrong. My cold lasted for two weeks, at the peak rising to 42ºc. most of the time was spent lying in bed and drinking water. I wrote a letter to Arun, telling him to present the speech, seeing as how he was the most vocal. When I came back a week after the supposed speech, I was delighted to find out the speeches had been delayed. I was just in time! The next day, I strode upon the makeshift podium, and looked upon the class. My party had their fingers crossed, the other parties were quivering in fear. (This autobiography is not biased in any way) My poster was pinned up behind me; I want YOU to vote Securitarian. I looked at my teammates one more time, and started; “For too long has the labour of the lower class been cast aside by the ignorance of the upper, and for too long have the rights of the rich been sapped by the negligence of the poor. We are one people!” I wave my hands and clenched my fists. “…Soon, no longer will criminals roam the streets, no longer will your tax dollars be wasted on useless obscurities, and no longer will we be inundated by the threat of an outside dystopia!” I slammed my fist on the desk. “…And we will lift this veil of shadows that has plagued our nation, and rise into a new era of peace and prosperity! Long live Securitarianism! LONG LIVE CANADA!” Election day came. We got one vote. Even though we lost, we managed to do something no other party could; keep our flame lit. And like at the end of every journey, I find myself a changed person. My once love of communism has been replaced by a burning hatred, and my political prowess has been refuelled. And I owe all of this, to Mr. Kargov. Thank you, for pointing me into the light. Peace.