[Special Issue] The Despair of Apathy + A Bonus Pullout [pre-V1 Archive]

Day 292, 01:21 • Published in Japan Japan • by Laurana Psion

It would seem that these days, eJapan is a nation of mindless zombies; “citizens” who do no more than quietly reap their daily salaries and staying not a second more than is needed to do so. Well, that and grudgingly buying what meagre amounts of food they need to get by with. Although with a population of roughly 400 as of the last government census, nary a soul is seen in active society. Less than a quarter of the populace managed to cast their votes in the recent elections. Hardline supporters of democracy and politics in general have been increasingly outspoken. “Do they not care who is in charge? So it’s not a bother if their precious, mainly single digit salaries, are taxed into nothingness; if recently-elected rampant-corruption or ineptitude leads to hyperinflation or if enemy states do “an Indonesia” [a political takeover; an act done out of *much* benevolence]”


To find out more, I spent a few days insinuating myself with some of these lurkers who asked to remain anonymous. Many who I spoke to denied all the above vehemently. “It’s not that I don’t want to take part, but I don’t know how. Do you seriously expect me to trawl through the phonebook and just contact everyone? I don’t have all day!”But you can always join a forum...“ Hah!... You joke... right? I mean, have you been to one? [Yes, but he didn’t listen] They are filled with the most insensitive flaming trolls around [Only if you are unlucky. Statistics suggest that forum users are often beset by black cats indoors despite having rabid dogs outside]. They just aren’t safe; neither day nor night. And Dio help you if you come afoul of the “d’Amins”...”You mean demons?“You heard me.”

Well, what about through newspapers then? Surely these are a starting point? “Not really, newspapers often focus on things that are only easily understood by the elder community. In fact, some articles would be hard pressed to find a single sane reader who can comprehend its level of Flnuobyrt [This word and its variants (eg. flnube, floob, etc) I am so told, is highly offensive in some communities and never said lightly. You have been warned against its misuse]”.

Even more shockingly, some professed that reading is a sin! “Yarrrh. I do be not a believerrr of the wrrriten worrrd. *Cough & spit* Isrrr arrrll liesrrr by the darrrk lorrrd. Trrruth only be arrr comin from one’srrr own mouth”. To be fair, I doubt that this lurker’s unique pattern of speech was a by product of misguided illiteracy but rather his own supply of homebrew which was quaffed between sentences to wet his lips. Please sympathise with the plight of lurkers by supporting their support group Lurkers Anonymous which is hiding somewhere out of sight. Others were truly succumbed to the despair that is apathy and said nothing during interviews. I shamefully admit that I once took advantage of one of these poor fellows by ordering us both YakuzaXQ3 specials, consuming both portions and using her own funds to pay for it all.

Worse, some citizens did not even know why they had been born into this world. "I don't get it. I wake, I work, I train, I eat. I end each day with tired feet. And for all the effort I've spent in eJapan, I simply don't see why I should give damn.". Well, to these people, all I have to offer is that each one must find their "raison d'etre" for being in eJapan or ultimately eRepublik. You must find some goal to aim for or something that you enjoy. Some wish for world domination; others to be an economic powerhouse. Some exist solely to fight in wars whilst others prefer to observe and comment, enjoying the company of others. Go ahead and try something new. Once you get involved in eRepublik, you should naturally find your own rhythm and you'll get the most out of this game that is "life".

All in all, the general feel amongst those willing to participate was that there currently exists no official way for people in eJapan to efficiently communicate with each other. It is this simple thing that could lead to great improvements in eJapan, where every citizen is greatly valued, unlike in the larger nations.

This might now change for the better with the setting up of the Coldfront IRC project. Commendable efforts have been made by the Japanese Labour Party (JLP) with particular mention of Jheph, JLP congressman, who spearheaded the project through. Despite being relatively short-staffed as the 3rd largest political party, the JLP nevertheless showed that they have the nation’s interest at heart. Please do join a party if you have not already done so (eg. JLP, KIM, ULJ, BP, NJP etc). Join me in doing so within the next few days to show our support for our democracy. One fine day, even YOU may be president. Thanks also to president King Waseem for his rousing support for this communications project by the JPL.

IRC DETAILS (don’t type the ‘ and ’ 😛)

Server: irc.coldfront.net
Channel: #eJapan

•Those without IRC clients may use the following online client: http://www.coldfront.net/webchat/chat.php?channel=eJapan

•Once in your IRC client, write ‘/server irc.coldfront.net’ and then ‘/join #ejapan’

•Chatzilla users instead, may write the following url in the Firefox address bar: ‘irc://irc.coldfront.net/ejapan’CRUCIAL IRC COMMANDS-SET YOUR eRepublik NICKNAME:/nick ‘yourerepubliknickname’

•Please register your nickname so others know it’s really you:/msg NickServ register ‘ yourpassword’ ‘ youremail@wherever’

•You will be emailed a one-time authentication command eg:/msg NickServ AUTH ‘yourcode’

•To identify yourself at each login:/msg NickServ identify ‘password’More IRC commands: http://www.irchat.tv/nickserv.htm http://www.ircbeginner.com/ircinfo/ircc-commands.html Much thanks to all who helped by posting what they know in previous articles

In support of people speaking to one another (or failing that, irc-ing), The Smiling Man. P.S. Did I mention JLP a tad too much? In any case, no more JLP in this article from now on. Have a smiley day!