[CP] Rental Agreement: Yea or Nay?

Day 2,205, 15:47 • Published in Ireland Ireland • by Bhane

eIreland has been approached about renting two of it's regions. This article is for a discussion and debate on accepting the deal or not. We will have a national referendum on the decision soon.



The eUSA has presented an offer to rent Cork, and Wexford for 70k per month to obtain an iron bonus. The payments for each month would be due by the 24th of the previous month. This means the dail has the entire term to decide what to do with each payment. Some will be saved, some will be spent, some will be invested in citizens. We don't have to do the same thing every month. One month we help fund a training ground upgrade initiative, the next we help people make some raw/food companies and storage, another month we may actually give out a flat rebate of a few hundred cc to everyone that was a citizen for the entire month, there are lots of possibilities.

Some pros and cons were discussed in negotiations for the terms. More aspects were debated in the cabinet. I will try to summarize the bullet points so far, and edit in more as this discussion takes shape.

) Cork and Wexford are redundant resource regions, so we do not lose any economic bonuses
) We maintain 4 regions so our dail is still a full 40 members.

Pros discussed
) This deal would introduce 70,000cc/month into our economy to be used to release tax pressure and/or improve citizens' Training Centres etc. This is a generous amount.
) The eUS is looking to make similar cooperative rentals like saltpeter from Mexico. If they can secure 5/5 weapon bonuses peacefully, their bonuses will be more secure. Helping them obtain stable bonuses will help secure those same bonuses for our MUs. Any MU with a designated HUB player can move them to the eUSA.
) Becoming an integral part of the eUS resource bonus goals will mean our national security concerns have just become the eUSA national security concerns.
) This puts us in a more politically prominent position for potential new alliances. The large eUS armed forces will be brought to bear to protect our borders.
) Peace on our borders, and a large income from rent would give us a chance to seriously up our alliance profile with actions abroad.
) If we decline, the eUS will seek iron from another source. That other deal may actually endanger us. Accepting the rental gets rid of that risk.


Cons discussed
) The hassle of treaty maintenance. With the FF/determination factors, there will inevitably be an accidental RW win, requiring us to re-establish the rental region into US hands. This will be an inevitable, occasional inconvenience. Enemies of the eUS wanting to drain their damage can make this occur more often.
) Shield loss. There is no schedule for initial occupation that will result in fewer than 4 shield hits. More shield hits will occur when FF/determination regions need to be recaptured. We are effectively kissing our shield goodbye with this agreement.
) Recently, the eUSA has not had a reputation for stable regime agendas. If things stabilize we are fine, and there are signs this is happening. But, if political chaos ensues, the administration 2-3 months from now may abandon the agreement and we are out all of the shield loss.
) Becoming an integral part of the eUS resource network will bring the benefits of more diplomatic clout. It will also bring the dangers of a raised political profile. We will no longer be "under the radar" of some nations.

The rental agreement merits serious consideration.



Thank you for your time.
Please keep the debate civil. Nothing is decided yet. We need to hear the pros, cons, and other factors. That way we can all make an informed decision.