[Ragnell] A TUP Member's Open Letter to TUP

Day 2,348, 01:07 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Ragnell


Ohai eUK.

NB: Don’t get me wrong, I don’t like what DC did.

I am a member of TUP who recently joined the party – they sold me their party the best out of anyone (hon’ble mention to ACroc and PCP). However, this whole debacle with DC has made me think, what has TUP done, and what does it need to do?

I’ll have to admit the DC plan was beautifully executed. The stage was set when mwc was elected, and he gave no indication of his plans until right on the 23rd (when DC members started joining), so TUP had no time to prepare a response. While it’s sure to leave a bad taste for many a TUP member, their arguments are also surprisingly logical, and technically mwc has done nothing wrong. He chose the order he so desired, from a list of technically TUP members. How do you define a TUP member? I joined a few days ago, so am I a TUP member?





I’m no DC apologist though. I don’t like their actions. But what surprised me was the TUP reaction, or rather, overreaction. Keers is free to run for PP, it is entirely his right. But the insinuation that other parties are at blame for not offering support etc., and that relations will be cut, doesn’t sit well with me. Is this action (I refuse to call it PTO due to the ambiguity of the situation) the fault of other parties?

Granted, TUP provided support during this ATO against the Shoe People, BUT that is a foreign ATO. If one cares about the UK, then one feels obligated to help in that ATO. The actions of DC are domesticated, PTO or not, therefore other parties feel no obligation to wade into TUP’s issues. Why?



What TUP has Done
1. A disconnect with other parties – eUKers’ apathy and wariness of TUP derives from one thing – the fact we are the biggest party, yet we don’t connect much or relate with other parties. This creates distance. Hence they are not prepared to denounce DC’s actions – because they don’t want to. Some even find it mildly amusing.

2. A perceived God-complex – derived from the above. We are top, by miles, and we have several two-clickers, therefore it is perceived that we feel we don’t need to make any effort to relate with others (ATO was a necessity). We feel we should (and we do) decide most CP elections. TUP has many fine people (I would not have joined otherwise), but the overreaction against the DC actions and the demand for other parties’ support proves one thing – we have lost sight of what it means to support the UK as the largest party.



What TUP Needs to Do
1. A democratic process in selecting Congress candidates – Tiresome and cumbersome maybe. But it does give us a casus belli and justification to wage war in situations like those. Right now, no matter how much we don’t like it, DC have the gist of it – we have no casus belli. mwc has technically done NOTHING wrong, therefore our complaints scatter to the wind. Plus this way is more democratic, even if it’s unenforceable if ignored.

2. Rapprochement with other parties – As said, we have grown distant from other elements of society and retreated into our shell. Hence other parties feel apathy at best, hostility at worst. Sure, we may be politically opposed for various reasons – like for example other parties don’t like our candidates for CP. That’s normal. But when another party doesn’t care one jot while we implode from external intervention, something is seriously wrong. TUP needs to change how it sees society, and start being more open-minded. Even if we don’t have a God-complex, we are perceived to have that. There is always a reason for this perception, and aiming to improve relations means more constructive things done for the eUK.



The reaction of many high ranking TUP members is what I call an overreaction. This state of play will only be for one month. ESO was taken out of commission by SaraHolby – they accepted it, moved on and rebuilt. And arguably her actions affected them more than a few DCers in Congress will affect us.

Accept that we have been hoodwinked, move on and rebuild, instead of arguing that what DC have done is wrong (which is ineffectual) and making sweeping statements on how we will wreak vengeance (which will lead to harmful assumptions). Instead see this as an opportunity to change TUP’s direction and our perception of society. We’ll be fine, but what will we take from this incident – retreat further into our shell, or take the opportunity to be proactive with others and change our perspective on society?

Cheers,
Ragnell