Joseph Marx

Joseph I, formerly Emperor Malum the First of Ohio, (born October 21, 1993) is the current Junior King in the North American Confederation and a political figure within the Grand Republic of Delvera. During his reign as the Emperor of Ohio from 2008 to 2010, he was one of the communities earliest champions against micronational warfare, promoting micronational peace and cooperation. In 2010, the monarchy began the process of being abolished as a part of Ohio's unification with New Europe and Eniarku in North American Confederation. Marx served in the Confederation as its first foreign minister until the union's fall into Interregnum in 2011. Two years later, on 17 May 2013, Marx resumed the role of foreign minister and leader of Ohio upon taking office as Foreign Minister of New Europe. He was soon replaced and returned to retirement before coming back, on 30 May 2015, to become the Prime Minister of a reorganized North American Confederation, where he would oversee the nation's integration into the Grand Republic of Delvera and its transition into a Constitutional diarchy, eventually becoming the second of the nation's two monarchs. Joseph has always been a huge proponent of micronational politics, cooperation, and economic development. He was one of the original founding voices of Grand Unified Micronational and led a massive coalition of nations during the Micronational War on Terror, making him one of the few micronationalists to declare a legitimate war.

Early life and ancestry
Joseph Marx was born on 21 October 1993, the eldest son of Paul and April Marx, in Goldsboro, United States. His father was descended from Prussian farmers who moved to Nebraska during the 1840's. An engineer in the United States Air Force, Paul relocated his family to Beavercreek, Ohio in 1997, when Joseph was four, following his retirement from the military. Joseph began his education in the Beavercreek City School District, graduating from high school in 2012. It was here that he developed a great interest in politics, philosophy, and film. Upon researching micronations like Sealand, Molossia, and the Kingdom of Lovely, a fourteen year old Joseph would eventually endeavor to create a nation of his own. In April 2016, Joseph Marx graduated from Wright State University; where he received a BA in Motion Pictures. He was also an active member of the Boy Scouts of America, achieving the rank of Eagle Scout, and an alter boy of his local Catholic church.

An Appointed King
In May 2008, Joseph got together with a group of friends and established the United American Kingdom, which eventually became the Ohio River Republic in August of the same year, proclaiming himself King Joseph I. This "republic" was short-lived however and soon began to decay only a few months after its foundation. Hoping to save his nation from collapse, the young king eventually reformed it as the Ohio Empire, naming himself Emperor Malum the First. Around this time he also developed the Universal Rights of Man which became the founding moral principles behind the Empire.

The Ohio Empire 2008-10
Joseph's reign as Emperor saw the rise of Ohio Empire as a minor power on the micronational stage. He helped to spearhead the creation of the Grand Unified Micronational, becoming one of its founding members, as well as playing intermediary during the infamous "Black March", which saw the Micronational community in a period of routine political and military strife. In matters of diplomacy, Joseph defined himself not only by his compassionate and moderating presence within the community, but also by his deep rooted pacifism and desire for micronational cooperation. Despite this, Joseph did still sometimes find his nation drawn into war. He joined the GUM coalition in the Siple War and declared the Micronational War on Terror, where he made micronational history by engaging in the first true micronational military conflict. Arguably his most famous conflict came in 2009 during the New European Civil War, where Joseph defended his nation from invading Fascist forces and drove the micrionational community into a fury with several speeches and discussions defending the breach of his nation's neutrality. Diplomatically, Joseph built strong ties and friendships with several other micronationalists during his reign as Emperor. The most notable of these being Wilhelm of New Europe. The beginning of the relationship between these two micronationalists was very uncertain as Joseph's political positions and philosophy were often deeply contrasted Wilhelm's. The relationship between the New Europe and Ohio were often a source of great tension and controversy, as seen during the Civil War. However, it was through this mutual strife and several years of diplomatic discussion that a very close kinship was built between the two neighboring nations and their leaders. A kinship that would eventually lead to the North American Confederation. Of all the relationships that Joseph fostered during his reign as Emperor, none was more peculiar than his relationship with Robert Lethler and Kai Roosevelt of Erusia. Joseph often found himself viscerally at odds with the two and had more than one near diplomatic incident as a result of exceedingly high tensions. In spite of this, Joseph had a great deal of respectfor the two, which is perhaps why the reveal of the Lethler experiment hit Joseph so hard. In late 2009, it was revealed that the entire nation of Erusia and all its citizens had been entirely fictional. An experiment to see how the micronational community might respond to such a presence. Due to the political power and importance of Erusia at the time of this reveal, a huge power vacuum was opened up within the community, with several nations racing to fill it and restarting an era of new micronational conflicts. It was in this period that Joseph began to feel the weight of his crown, his increasing daily life, and the philosophical guilt of holding absolute power within Ohio. With an almost daily decrease in the drive and progression of the Empire and the political turmoil that was tearing the international community apart, Joseph began to consider alternative methods to save his waning nation.

North American Confederation
The solution came in the form of the North American Confederation, a unification between New Europe, Eniarku, and the Ohio Empire, reorganized into the Republic of Ohio with Joseph becoming Governor. It was a last ditch effort to salvage his crumbling nation and maintain some reputation in the community. He tentatively abdicated his title as Emperor, though not officially under law, and became the Minister of Foreign Affairs. His job was short lived, however, as factions within the NAC soon began planning a move to Micras, a move for which Joseph was aggressively opposed to. Following the abdication of William I and the beginning of the Interregnum a short while later, Joseph decided to go into quiet retirement, leaving the micronational community behind to continue his studies.

Retirement and Return
Despite his retirement, Joseph maintained a watchful eye on the community that he had helped to foster, though he kept himself concerned with other pursuits and personal interests. After two years in peaceful retirement however, Wilhelm I of New Europe offered Joseph a chance to enter back into the micronational scene as a New European citizen, a chance the veteran micronationalist jumped at. He took the post of Minister of Foreign Affairs in the provisional government on May 17, 2013. He was soon replaced by Alexander Kuhn in July of the same year and returned, once again, to retirement from political life. For two years, Joseph kept himself away from the micronational community, choosing instead to focus on his own career and education. However in May 2015, William came to Joseph again with the offer to restart the North American Confederation. Having matured and still feeling the political fires within himself, Joseph agreed to become the Prime Minister over a transitional government, until such a time as a constitutional convention could be called.

Prime Minister and Delveran politics
As Prime Minister of a provisional government, Joseph has worked tirelessly to rebuild and reconstruct the North American Confederation. He saw the passage of the Unification Act of 2015, which formally removed his royal titles, and the Land Claims Act, which established the formal boundaries of the Confederation and the policies for new admissions into the same. He also began work on the first economic policies and institutions in the Confederation, announcing a sincere desire to create a sustainable micronational economy and trade system. In foreign affairs, Joseph has worked to instill close peaceful ties with several neighboring nations, with a particular focus on American micronationalism. On 26 October 2015, he announced a speech entitled The Missouri Proclamation, following the signing of the Missouri Compact between the Confederation and the Grand Republic of Delvera in which he declared a desire to promote and advance American micronationalism to the same degree as European micronationalism.

Libertarianism
Early on in his micronational career, Joseph was a hard-line Christian conservative, placing a great deal of importance on tradition and reactionary thought, that was often in line with his Roman Catholic upbringing. As he entered adulthood, Joseph adopted a belief in Libertarian centrism and moderate thought. He is a strong proponent of individual liberty and free choice, but does see a place for the role of government assistance, in very limited, strictly defined ways. His primary focus in diplomacy is negotiation and the mutual satisfaction of all parties to a middle path.

Free Speech
Even during his ultraconservative days, Joseph held a firm belief in the power of free speech and was willing to listen to all sides in a conflict, a policy that came in handy during political negotiations and peace talks. As a filmmaker, writer, and radio DJ, Joseph has long had a vested interest in the development of obscenity laws and largely considers them tyrannical and despotic to free thought, openly mocking them both online and on the air. His views on censorship, in particular internet censorship, also became hardened following the attempted passage of the Stop Online Piracy Act by the United States in 2011.

Micronational war
Since his earliest days within the community, Joseph has abhorred the prospects of micronational war, preaching a policy of cooperation and pacifism. This devotion to peace often put him in hot water among his peers, but also became one of his defining and most respectful traits. During the Black March of 2009, Marx became one of the more prominent arbiters, even being chosen as one of the GUM jurors in the events proceeding the Meissner-Antifan War and the one responsible for naming the Siple War. Despite this aberration of war, Joseph did lead his own nation through several notable conflicts and has held a belief in the necessity of war in very limited circumstances, after all attempts of diplomacy have failed.

Micronational economics
Among the many particular interests of Joseph Marx's micronational career, his defense and support for micronational economics has formed the core of many of his administration's policies. A critical piece of his work with the Missouri Compact, including the proclamation that followed, focused on the necessity for micronations to establish stable economies and trade relations, citing the benefits to micronational peace and long-term stability.

Marijuana and Drugs
Owing to his Christian conservative upbringing, Marx was, initially, very much in support of the United State's War on Drugs, believing drugs to be a public menace and all users of drugs to be social deviants. In recent years, however, Joseph has developed a more moderate opinion towards drugs, preferring to see them legalized, regulated, and taxed rather than outright banned. He believes the United States' current drug policy is a dismal failure and has resulted in a massive waste in taxpayer funds, increased crime and availability of drugs nationwide, and poor prison conditions.

Penal reform
Of all the issues facing the world, none is more critical to Marx than the issues of Penal reform, particularly for the United States. Joseph's promotes an elimination of the death penalty and life sentences, preferring a 25 year maximum with possible extension for bad behavior (much in the style of Norway). Marx desires an elimination of private prisons and an improvement of prison conditions, focusing on rehabilitation and education of criminals instead of punishment.

LGBT issues
Much like his relationship to the drug issue, Marx's opinion on the LGBT community has been a long and complicated one. Initially, Joseph was fervently homophobic and often spoke publicly on his opinions of homosexuality. As he grew older and began to come into contact with people of various different beliefs and lifestyles, Joseph's opinion began to shift towards one of more open-mindedness towards the LGBT community. In recent years, Joseph has become one of the strongest proponents of LGBT rights in the micronational and macronational world. He became an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church, an interfaith community that is known for its support of same-sex marriages, as well as begun a relationship with a known LGBT political activist. He is fervently in support of both marriage and adoption rights for same-sex couples, and publicly lauded the United States Supreme Court's decision on Obergefell v. Hodges, which legalized same-sex marriages throughout the United States.

Personal Life
Joseph Marx is currently in a relationship with Amanda McCollum, a citizen of the Commonwealth and political activist. He has been described by many as an eccentric on several occasions. He is a self-proclaimed polymath, with interests that span through most of the sciences, politics, religion, and the arts. In his free time, Joseph is also a college radio host, writer, and internet critic. Due to his interest in political philosophy, Joseph began to study the ethics and history of leadership very early in his reign. He came to initially believe that government was a temporary system, destined to work only as long as those who lead the government used good sound moral judgement. During his reign as the Emperor of Ohio, he summarized what he believed in the Universal Rights of Man. As he matured, however, many of his beliefs regarding morality and its relationship to society changed quite dramatically.

Religious views
Though raised Roman Catholic, Joseph has since become opposed to concept of organized religion, though he still considers himself "culturally Catholic", preferring to be a more spiritual believer. While he does still believe in a God, he does not prescribe to any particular practice in the worship of said deity. He is also a proponent of marriage equality and is an ordained minister of the Universal Life Church.

Alternative Titles and Styles

 * 1 June 2008 - 28 August 2008: His Majesty Joseph the First, King of Ohio
 * 28 August 2008 - 28 November 2010: His Imperial Majesty Malum the First, Emperor of Ohio, Protector of the Empire, Supreme Commander of the Imperial Army
 * 28 November 2010 - 28 April 2011: The Right Honourable Joseph Marx, North American Minister of Foreign Affairs, Emperor-in-pretense of Ohio, Governor of the Republic of Ohio and Member of the Austenasian Order
 * 28 April 2011 - 17 May 2013: Mr Joseph Marx, Emperor-in-pretense of Ohio and Member of the Austenasian Order
 * 17 May 2013 - 17 July 2013: The Right Honourable Joseph Marx, Emperor-in-pretense of Ohio, New European Minister of Foreign Affairs and Member of the Austenasian Order
 * 17 July 2013 - 30 May 2015: Mr Joseph Marx, Emperor-in-pretense of Ohio and Member of the Austenasian Order''
 * 30 May 2015 - 13 June 2015: The Right Honourable Reverend Joseph Marx, Prime Minister of the North American Confederation, Emperor of Ohio and Member of the Austenasian Order
 * 13 June 2015 - current: ''The Right Honourable Reverend Joseph Marx, Prime Minister of the North American Confederation, Companion of the Order of North America and Member of the Austenasian Order
 * official in Imvrassia: 30 September 2015 – present: Reverend Joseph Marx, Count of Imvrassia

Full title
The Right Honourable Reverend Joseph Marx, Prime Minister of the North American Confederation, Count of Imvrassia, Order of Liberty 3rd Class, Companion of the Order of North America and Member of the Austenasian Order

North American decorations
"For exceptional service to the North American Confederation and for his tireless devotion to micronational peace and prosperity."
 * North American Union flag.png Companion of the Order of North America - 12 June 2015

Foreign decorations

 * Flagv3.png Ritter of the New European Order of the Reich (defunct) - 2009
 * BSA logo.png Eagle Scout, Boy Scouts of America - 27 February 2010:
 * Flag of Austenasia.png Member of the Austenasian Order - 9 June 2010
 * Reverend of the Universal Life Church - 17 May 2015
 * Σημαία της Ιμβρασίας.jpg Count of Imvrassia - 30 September 2015
 * Flagofdelvera.jpg Order of Liberty, 3rd Class - 14 October 2016