Join the new world

(The original title of this article was "Blissful Ignorance? No thanks, I prefer intelligence" but that seemed kind of lame, so I changed it.)

So I received a good number of "lol" comments on my last article, but also quite a few "Hey dood it's just a game, leave him alone" comments. (In case you have not read it, this is my article.)

While I appreciate those who appreciate my subtle humor, I'd like to address those who scorned me.

I'll break you all into categories since you cannot all fit into a single category. You can identify yourself and go directly to your section with the following index

1. "It's only a game..."
2. &quot😉ude, Obama's awesome..."
3. &quot😉ude, why'd you waste your time? You're a loser..."
4. Conclusion

[To Those Who Said "It's only a game"...]

So that I am not accused of making things up, let me quote some exact comments

"Er, Ian, I like you and I agree Brett's articles need work, but this is a bit much...he misworded some things, give him a break; how is he hurting you?"
Now, this was actually from an old friend, Leo Ruby.

First, Leo does not actually say "It's only a game," but I've known him long enough to know that this is where he was going with it. I sent Leo a private message, but I'll give all of you a shorter version:
This is only a game, yes, but it is a game that I enjoy playing. I cannot enjoy this game when I see blatant and purposeful ignorance constantly inserting itself into my gameplay. When we allow for unintelligible articles (like Brett's, and many others') we are telling new players that may find them, that it is ok to say absolutely nothing of value in an article that should have said at least something besides "Hey I want to be President without having a single idea what I should be doing in that office." Now, if I were to give Brett a "break", I would be essentially implicitly approving of his message. I demand excellence of anyone I work with in real life and it makes everything work with greater ease. If I do not demand some level of competence in this game from the players who choose to interact with me, what am I except a hypocrite? Also, why should I settle for mediocre when there is clearly room for improvement. If I do not criticize Brett or any other ignorant fool who plays this game thinking that by just throwing some shit at the wall they can succeed, what do I say about my own accomplishments in this game? What am I saying about all the hard work and time that Scrabman, Harrison Richardson (yes I am giving him the credit he deserves) and so many other eUS Presidents have put into their office? More importantly, why does Harrison defend Brett when he is working to put Woxan in office and when he knows the demands of the office so well that he knows it is not a joke in this country?

"Re Brett Miller: Let him run. This is a game. He can be impeached if he's as bad as you think. We'll be fine."
This was posted by ssomo.

In my 4 terms in Congress, I remember serving at least two with ssomo. He is most certainly competent and intelligent. I was proud to have served with him, until he posted this. Don't mistake what I just said, I still have a high opinion of his intelligence, but not his self-respect. Anyone who sanctions ignorance as severe as Brett's is implicity saying that their own intelligence means nothing. Let me stress once more, it is a game. Brett plays this game. ssomo plays this game. Leo plays this game and more importantly (to me) I play this game. Brett has every right to enjoy the game, but why do I not have the right to enjoy the game? If Brett's ignorance sours the game for me, why do I not have the right to point out that his ignorance is ruining the game for me? Am I supposed to just say "Oh well his happiness is paramount to mine, so I'll just let him act like an idiot."? I am truly sorry that this is your opinion. You really should re-evaluate your own priorities if this is how you feel.

[To Those Who Ignored The Article and Focused On My Analogy]

In Brett's article he talks about being the man who will create jobs. I've heard this campaign strategy before: in the 2008 elections. I've also heard leaders across the globe say that legislation that will bankrupt their country will promote "Jobs. Jobs. Jobs." In fact the current real life Speaker of the House, Nancy Pelosi said "This legislation promotes three things: Jobs. Jobs. Jobs. Let's vote for jobs!". Whether she was right or not, I will not debate. Nevertheless, President Obama used the same strategy to get elected and I pointed that out. I also, slipped in my personal opinion of President Obama and what he has done. Too many of you focused on that point in the article. I responded to many of you in the comments, but the fact that so many of you took offense to my opinion bothers me. And the fact that you missed the point of the article is even a bit more disturbing. I did not intend for the article to turn into an argument on Obama's accomplishments (or lack there of). Instead I used it as an analogy that would optimally help more people realize my point.

Nonetheless, I would like to address some comments I receive😛
"No need to bring up your RL opinions of Obama because no one really cares what you have to say about the man. Your opinions about him have no merit, and in my eyes you have lost all credibility on anything that you have to say."

I would like to focus on the part that I highlighted in bold text. I responded to Preston Sage with the following comment:
"Preston, disagreeing with your opinion discredits me? I love that. That's such a mature view point." (I went on to argue my opinion, which I have already made clear and is not relevant at this point.)
And now his response:
"Ian, I never said that disagreeing with me discredits you. I said that your baseless opinions about Obama discredits you."

I must say that I did not realize holding Obama accountable was such treason in this world, especially when I can guess that Preston wanted Bush, Cheney, and many members of their administration prosecuted for crimes against humanity, war crimes, etc. Why should one party be held accountable and not the other?

[To Those Who Said I Wasted My Time...]

While I certainly appreciate your concern for how I use my time, I would have to remind you that you apparently wasted time reading the article and then commenting. Besides that point, I work in order to be able to relax with peace of mind. One such I relax is by playing this game. It is my time, and while I respect your opinion, your concerns do not concern me. If I have the time to spend (or waste, if you prefer your illusion over my reality) it is my time. I worked for it. I will use it as I desire.

"You wasted a alot of time on this article Ian. ... Everyone knows that he has no shot to win, and the fact that you took all that time to try and make him look foolish only makes you look like a fool."
Thanks again for your blinded insight Preston, but as I stated earlier, I was not writing this because there was a chance he would win. As I said above, I do not tolerate ignorance and since I did not have to try to make him look foolish (he does it perfectly on his own) I thought I would at least publicize the fact.

"tl;dr / you wasted too much time on this."
--stancel
I'm not sure why you commented if you didn't actually read it stancel but I guess your triple post made the article look more controversial than it was. For that should I thank you?

Anyway, onto the conclusion:
[Conclusion]
For those of you who are going to try to start another pro-Obama flame war in my comments, go ahead, see if I care. I love to disillusion people.

For those of you who are convinced that my highlighting your comments is a personal attack on you, go ahead, report me to the admins. I didn't single you out, I referenced your own words. If that somehow breaks some eRepublik rule, I will probably drop to the floor laughing.

For those of you who were too afraid to actually post comments in yesterday's article, do me a favor, grow yourself the necessary appendages and actually post a comment. Private message me again and I think that qualifies as harrassment (not as if I don't have enough on you as it is now). I'm sure you are anxious for your own forfeit points.

For those of you who are looking for some more "lulz"... I found you more "kittehs"