An Open Letter to Belea2008, Part II

Day 1,324, 18:08 • Published in South Africa USA • by Merle Corey

Hi Again.
In my previous article, I tried to refute some of the arguments put forth by Belea2008 (and others) in an attempt to swing public opinion away from the existing non-aggression pact ("the Treaty") between eSouth Africa and eBrazil.
Now I'd like to lay out my reasons for supporting the Treaty.

Before I begin, I'd like to state that while I support the treaty, I'm not completely enamored of it - I will say that I think it was the best deal that could be made at the time.

Now, I have three reasons for supporting the treaty:

(1) Military: As part of my job as deputy Chief of Staff of eSAAF, it is my responsibility to ensure that eSA is prepared for war. We are prepared; however, ongoing game-mechanics changes have made it nearly impossible for a small country to win a battle against a larger, prepared opponent. This is especially true of resistance wars, where a small country needs a combination of strong, willing allies, a well-funded military, and luck. As we have seen, if even some of our allies are busy elsewhere, eSA cannot win against eBrazil. Even if every eSA tank and tanklet were to spend piles of Gold, we cannot hope to stand against the much larger eBrazilian army over the course of 8 mini-battles or more (besides, having Brazil in KZN blocks Indo from us, which is a Good Thing).

I believe that the Treaty provides security for our borders.

(2) Economic: With our small population and nearly non-existent workforce, eSA gains economic stability through the rental provisions of the Treaty. As a member of the economic council of eSA, I have tried to help shape our tax policies to the greatest benefit. Once again, game-mechanics work against us. IMO, most of the citizens work as managers in their own companies, producing food and weapons for their own use, and not placed on the market to be sold to others (where the government gets its cut). Having a defined amount of income from the rental of (mostly) redundant regions can only help eSA; it will help fund MPPs, domestic initiatives, and many other programs within eSA, to the benefit of all. I know that their are naysayers who think that Brazil won't honor the treaty, and cannot be trusted. I say let the Brazilians have the chance to prove that they can be trusted. I say that we need to move forward, and not live in the past.

I believe that the Treaty provides economic benefits which outweigh the negatives.

(3) Political: Again, game-mechanics work against us. We have many regions compared to our population. Uruguay has 1 region to defend against PTO. We have 9 at maximum. Simply put, this is more congress candidates than we have people to run in each party each month. I'd bet that the Ministry of Security would agree that we are under constant threat of PTO. It is far easier to defend 5 or 6 regions than 9. I say that another PTO of eSA would not be a Good Thing.

I believe that the Treaty helps with anti-PTO efforts.

In summary, for all the Military, Economic, and Political reasons above, I continue to support the existing Treaty. I welcome any proposals which can be weighed against the existing Treaty...let's have a good healthy debate over the merits...and choose the path which is most advantageous to eSouth Africa. My request is that the proposals have a chance to pass both the eSA and eBr congresses. Please don't waste everyone's time with "1000G/region" or "The Brazlians won't dare attack us with our mighty stack of MPPs."

Finally, I believe that the existing Treaty, while not perfect by any means, is the best deal for eSouth Africa.

Thanks for reading.