The Audacity of Socialist Freedom

Day 2,720, 19:47 • Published in USA USA • by Silas Soule

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"I inhaled. That was the point." -- Barack H. Obama



"The Socialist Freedom Party are a philosophically grounded, deep drinking, non-swearing group who live on a virtual mountain somewhere in the Dakotas, but are also thought to maintain a vast undersea library off of e-Australia's Great Barrier Reef. They are profoundly nautical in all senses; they swing and sing and row and fish in all the e-oceans without ever feeling e-sea-sick. Among all the parties in e-Republik, they are the only ones known to have an affinity for zeppelins. They also seem to have some kind of esoteric/oceanic association with the New Orleans style of jazz." -- from "The Illustrated Guide for the Traveler to the e-United States", Day 1909, attributed to Jon Malcom, but this attribution is disputed




The Audacity of Socialist Freedom







On behalf of the Socialist Freedom Party, crossroads of a international game, land of never-ending raves, let me express my deep gratitude for the privilege of addressing this e-nation. To have you read my article is a particular honor for me because, let's face it, my continuing presence in this game is pretty unlikely.

OK. Let's be honest. My greatest mentors in this game were commies, anarchists, introverts, artistes, lovers, poets, and one or two go-go boys. The reality is that my closest peeps in this game would mostly prefer herding goats to being the masters of anything. They are the dregs, the stoners, drunks, libertines, old farts and slackers. This rag-tag group of players are mostly servants and soup-makers, two-clickers, malcontents, dissenters, ex-cons, poets, rappers, grandmothers, teenagers, moms and pops just hanging out for a few laughs. And they are proud of exactly who they are.

But I, and a solid crew of others, have always had larger dreams for this game.

Through hard work and perseverance this little team, the SFP, has held on through thick and thin to maintain a free and independent voice in a magical place: e-America, which despite its flaws and problems, still stands as a beacon of playfulness, liberty, solidarity and opportunity to many players.

While playing here, the SFP has helped to invent and promote the idea and practice of an independent militia, of communes, of writers guilds, of freely-shared-goods, of small party coalitions and much more that has kept the most important part of the game -- the community -- alive and kicking.






Many of the SFP members were e-born on the other side of the e-world. Without making a fuss and without engaging in conspiracies and without stooping to multi-factorial shenanigans, the Party has worked both the mechanics and the anti-mechanics to survive, to refresh itself, to keep itself lively through all the twists and turns of this weirdling New World.

During the time of the Great Resistance, the Bear Cavalry was born and inspired freedom-loving Americans with their heroic war cries and sneaky subversions. Overseas, the SFP jointed others in a glorious Internationale to initiae one of the greatest economic schemes in e-Rep history: the Super-Commune. Sure it was a failure, but it was a Glorious Failure. How many can say that they at least TRIED, really TRIED, to unite all the working stiffs in a glorious cause instead of just playing along with the imperialist template of the game designers?

This Party, these e-anarcho-syndicatlists, have always had big dreams for their sisters
and brothers, for their sons and daughters. It is a common dream, a natural part of e-humanity, born on many continents. It is a dream based in an an improbable love and an abiding faith in the possibilities of players joining together, within this nation, and among nations, to rock the e-world.






The SFP have proudly carried the name "Socialist", believing that in a tolerant America your willingness to create a better, fairer world is not any kind of anathema; in fact, it is the essence of true liberty.

And we have imagined that "Freedom" is inseparable from this kind of socialism, rejecting both the authoritarian failures of old-school paternalistic "Workerism" and the false freedoms of a technocratic oligarchy committed to a democratic-in-name-only spectacle, but not to the reality of personal liberation. In a generous America you don't have to be rich to achieve your potential.

As I urge you to vote for Wooky Jack, the SFP Candidate for Country President, I know that the brothers and sisters who built this party and kept it afloat amongst the worst of storms, but have passed on to other realities, would look on it now with a certain pride.

I address you here, my friends, grateful for the diversity of this Party, aware that its dreams live on in its present-day activists and militants, poets and dreamers, debaters and doers. I know that the story of this Party is part of the e-American story, and that I personally owe a debt to all of those players who have made it such a lively corner of the e-Universe, and that it is something of a miracle to even be able to tell its story.












On the 5th of May, we gather to affirm the greatness of this nation, not to acclaim the deep pockets of its treasury, or the power of its militias, or even the activity of its players. Our Party's sense of mission is based on a very simple premise, summed up in a declaration made over two hundred years ago, in a game very similar to this one: "We hold these truths to he self-evident, that all players are created equal. That they are endowed by Admin with certain inalienable rights. That among these are a decent game life, and liberty in the pursuit of happiness."

That is the true genius of e-America, and of the SFP: a faith in the simple dreams of its players, the insistence on small miracles.

That we can tuck ourselves in at night and know they we have fed and armed and employed and housed our members. That we can say what we think, write what we think, without hearing a sudden knock on the door or being trounced by "elite" trolls. That we can have an idea and act on it without paying a bribe, or kowtowing to aristos or hiring somebody's stooge. That we can participate in the political process without fear of retribution, and that our votes will he counted... or at least, most of the time.



This year, in this election, I call upon all e-Americans to reaffirm and to embrace our deepest values and commitments, to hold them against a hard e-reality and see how we are measuring up, to the legacy of our awesome revolutionary forbearers, both within and outside of the SFP, and the promise of future generations of players.

My fellow e-Americans: Federalist, US Workers, We The Peeps, Black Sheepists, American Militarists and to all of the sixth and smaller parties, I say to you, mis vatos: we have more work to do.






There is more to do for the workers, who not getting paid enough. More to do for the newbies who get into this game and then choking back tears, wonder how they will survive those nutty first few weeks. More to do for the young men and women, hundreds of them, who have the smarts, the drive, the will, but don't have the goddamned connections to get somewhere in this e-world.

Don't get me wrong. The people I've met in small parties and big ones, in chat rooms and comment threads, they don't expect government or even Parties to solve all their problems. They know they have to work hard to get ahead in this game and they want to. Players will tell you they don't want their tax money wasted by silly giveaway programs or inefficient military spending.

Go into any community and folks will tell you that e-government alone can't teach new players to learn. They know that we have to "parent" each other, that new players can't achieve unless we raise their expectations and turn off the bullshit egoism and eradicate the slander and idiotic trolling. No, people don't expect government to solve all their problems. But they sense, deep in their bones, that with just a change in priorities, we can make sure that every player in e-America has a decent shot at e-life, and that the doors of opportunity and fun remain open to all.

They know we can do better. And they want that choice.







In this election, Wooky Jack and the SFP team supporting him, and their allies and friends, offer that choice. Our party has chosen a man to lead us who embodies the best this class of player, this party and this country has to offer.

Wooky Jack understands the ideals of communal solidarity, faith in individual freedom, and the sacrifice it takes to be a successful CP, because they've defined his life. Throughout his long years in the game, he has devoted himself to these ideals. Again and again, we've seen him make tough choices when easier ones were available. His values and his record affirm what is best in all of us.

Wooky Jack believes in an America where hard work is rewarded. Instead of offering a safe dictatorship, he believes in a livey, vibrant culture of freedom. Wooky Jack believes in an America where all Americans can and should participate. Wooky Jack believes in energy and independence, so we aren't held hostage to the dull designs of mere survival. Wooky Jack believes in the constitutionally-enumerated freedoms that have made the Socialist Freedom Party a by-word for "awesome" around the e-world, and he will never sacrifice our basic liberties nor use narrowly-constructed ideologies as a wedge to divide players. And Wooky Jack believes that in a dangerous e-world, war must be an option, and that it must be well-played.









Alongside our famous individualism, there's another ingredient in the American saga. A belief that we are connected as one people.

If there's a player in the Croation-American Society who can't read English well, that matters, even if it's not a member of my Party. If there's one of the Old Fu-ks somewhere who is bored shitless with the game, that makes my life poorer, even if it's not my e-grandfather. If there's an AFA-er being trolled mercilessly because of an innocently-acquired Ajay Brainwash, or a player who is being harassed for her gender, his or her sexuality, religion, lack of religion and so on, then that threatens my e-civil sensibilities.

It's that fundamental belief that I am my brother's keeper, and I am my sister's keeper too that ultimately makes this e-country work. You can say "socialism sucks" all you want, but it is "socialism" in this sense of "fair play" that allows us to pursue our individual dreams, yet still come together as a single family. "E pluribus unum." Out of many, one.


There are those who love to divide us, the spin masters and negativists, and there are a few snotty self-appointed Chiefs, who embrace the politics of anything goes. Well, I say to them tonight, there's not a liberal America and a conservative America, there's the United States of America. There's not a black America and white America and Latino America and Asian America; there's the United fecking States of America.







In the end, that's what this election is about. Do we participate in a politics of cynicism or a politics of hope?

Wooky Jack calls on us to hope.

The Revolutionary Committee of the Socialist Freedom Party calls on us to hope.

I'm not talking about blind optimism here, the almost willful ignorance that thinks the shit aspects of the game will go away if we just don't talk about them, or the crisis of a sclerotic oligarchy will solve itself if we just ignore it. No, I'm talking about something more substantial.

It's the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young revolutionary bravely seeking to create an all-new e-economic paradigm; the hope of a Gypsy barkeeper's son who dares to defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a name that sounds like a beer who believes that America has a place for him, too.

It is the audacity of hope!





In the end, that is the bedrock of this nation; the belief in things not yet seen; the belief that there are better days ahead.

I believe we can give our players relief and provide them with a road to opportunity.

I believe we can provide jobs to the jobless, homes to the homeless, and reclaim young soldiers in all of the parties of e-America from boredom and despair.

I believe that as we stand on the crossroads of e-history, we can make the right choices, and meet the challenges that face us.



America!


If you feel the same energy I do, the same urgency I do, the same passion I do, the same hopefulness I do, if we do what we must do, then I have no doubt that all across the country, from the smallest parties to the largest, the players will rise up on Cinco de Mayo, and elect Wooky Jack as president, and this e-country will reclaim its promise, and out of this long political darkness a brighter day will come.








Thank you for reading. And may there one day truly be One Big e-Union of All the e-Workers.









"Many say that the first to take on this harrowing adventure must have been fanatic-eccentrics and dare-devils. It would not have begun, they say, as it seems to be in the e-history-books with a reasonable bunch of Finns and Russians, but only with the anarcho-communist circus bus that is the Socialist Freedom Party, those giddy adventurers." -- From "On Whales and other e-Mysteries", by Anonymous, published sometime around Day 1000




"Those who know the SFP know that their brand of socialism is completely spiritual." -- attributed to Emerick, but actual provenance unknown. This was carefully carved into a stone facing near one of the secret entrances to the SFP Bear Mountain lair, supposedly during some kind of ritual conducted by Phoenix Quinn and Johnobrow Dadds.