Join the new world

Although I do realize that articles rarely get the attention of voters, I would like to put this through at /least/ to state my intention to run for Congress. For now, I'm still buffing out the details, but it looks like I'll be running from my home region of Kyushu. I will also begin sending out PMs to potential voters tomorrow. However, at the moment, I feel I should get some specifics down pat first. At the moment, it also looks like I'll be running under the NAP ticket, so I would appreciate it if citizens in Kyushu look me up and decide to vote for me in the Congress elections! To elect a Congressman, during the day of the elections, you will see a large button on the front page that will read 'Place your Congress candidature'. You can't miss it. 😃

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To begin with, I'm afraid I don't have a huge list of past accomplishments. I am a relatively new citizen, and everyone should realize that. However, I am /not/ without experience of this sort of position. Elsewhere, in both NationStates and NationStates II, I've had experience as a diplomat, an alliance leader, and even a news journalist. Here in eRepublik, I've been given the responsibility to be eJapan's Secretary of Culture and Events, a job I am taking as seriously as I can, writing articles and promoting festivities that will make eJapan as active and lively as possible.

But what I /do/ have is the time, energy, and appreciation to do my best as a Congressmen. I believe in realism: despite the fact that Congressmen are meant to represent the people, how can they say that they represent /all/ the people? Or even the voters that elected them? Would that number not be too big to handle all at once? Even if it were possible, can we be certain that voters with conflicting views be truly represented by a single person? It's impossible! What I'm saying here is that I'm not going to promise full representation, for I know as a single person, I could never do that. It would be folly of me to even think of myself as such a saviour.


Typical effect when trying to represent everyone.

However, what I /can/ say is that citizens should have the right to represent /themselves/. How, you may ask? Through fighting for the freedom to be heard. /Every/ citizen's voice counts, no matter how different it is from my own opinion! Why, you might ask? Some would claim that if citizens could represent themselves, why would there be a Congress position? Firstly, it's an in-game mechanism. Secondly, representatives are elected because of how /responsible/ they are, or that's how they /should/ be elected. Reponsible enough to do the right thing, and listen to their citizen's concerns instead of try to stifle them. So why is a citizen's voice important?

I pride myself on my neutrality in any argument. I look at the situation by viewing nothing but the facts. No 'bad feelings' or 'intuition' to it; if something is wrong, or if someone believes something to be wrong, I will analyze their fears and decide if I should act upon them based on the available information! While I will do my best to always make certain that citizen's fears will be heard, I will also try my best to assuage them, by both calmly analyzing and fixing the situation to the best of my ability. Yes, I won't be able to do this alone as a single Congressman, but here's where I believe unity is important. 'Unity is not possible! It is simply a silly dream!' And indeed, I cannot say that I /want/ complete unity. I'm not advocating a single-party system in the /least/!


The more, the merrier!

Instead, I will /encourage/ lively debate and the voicing of various opinions; I want to hear every voice, so that I may be able to more clearly see and understand peoples' opinions! But, what I /don't/ want to see, is the long-term rivalry we've seen gripping our country for so long. I won't name specific people, so as to respect their privacy, but many of us active in the forums know who I'm talking about. Many people harbor bad feelings toward each other, because of one thing or another. But should this get in the way of useful discussion? No! 'What is useful discussion?' Quite simply, it is discussion in which opinions/thoughts are made on the matter or topic at hand.

While people are constantly the root of problems, they're also what is keeping our country running. They're what is keeping the /world/ revolving (in a figurative sense, of course!). Everyone has their ups and downs; and it's good that we point them out. But /lingering/ on our grudge of another for something they've done in the past is /not/ going to get the problem fixed! We've done that too often in the past, and this is one reason why nothing can get done! 'Why? It was their fault to begin with!' And that's wonderful... So you say it is /their/ responsibility to fix things. We could punish them, but what good will that do? To teenagers and adults, all that will do is make them feel even /more/ rebellious (but we don't want to let them push us around, of course!)


"HOW COULD YOU BAN ME?!?! I'LL JUST GO TO EDEN, THEY UNDERSTAND ME!"

So, the final solution is that /they/ should do something. The one we've blamed should do something to fix everything they've wronged. And how? Some answers I've heard to that question in were "I don't know, it's his/her responsibility!" or "She should apologize!". But again, /how/ would he/she fix anything without knowing /how/ to? "It's his/her responsibility!" Then he/she could end up doing nothing, and we could sit around pointing fingers all day (pouting in the process), and nothing would get done. No, I'm not particularly defending any specific people, nor am I attacking anyone either. I just don't want to see this sort of thing /continue/ to happen when nothing is getting done otherwise.

So while I'm in Congress, I will do my best to look at things with an open mind; not necessarily unbiased (for that would be impossible for /anyone/), but with a mind willing to accept other possibilities. I want our nation to /work together/, and no longer be bound by our grudges and rivalries that plague us. I want an /open/, /active/, and /thought-provoking/ eJapan that will make our citizens feel more comfortable saying what they will (and that doesn't mean spam or other stupid comments that will make Reiji put the banhammer on you in the forums! xD). Let's never forget the concepts we were built upon, and never forget our citizens whom have helped us, and always give them the opportunity to contribute as best they can!


The kanji character for JAPAN!

VOTE ASTON FOR CONGRESS! (for you tl;dr guys out there that need a summary. xD)

- Aston Reynold (Aspiring Congressman)
SOS Brigade, Kyushu (libertarian)