Do You Support A Party's Right to Organize?

Day 645, 11:01 • Published in USA USA • by fingerguns

How long have hardcore players in this game, often government officials, complained about the partisanship and immaturity brought about on behalf of parties? How long have parties argued amongst themselves about what other parties are 'on their side'? How many times have we heard a military or national leader complain that 2-clickers and semi-active failed to follow orders so our goal was not achieved? Long before I joined this game, I can tell you that much. But can that ever stop?

We're running out of states. Wars to regain regions have started, but the orders are to move away to maybe Canada or Greece. If you're in the military, follow those orders (which are also to move away). Well what if you're not in the military? Let's be honest, most people aren't. I know I was astonished when I learned how small our actual military is. Serious efforts have been made to boost recruitment into the Training Division and the Air Force. No matter what kind of player you are in this game, it's obvious that the whole country will benefit if our nation is full of active, educated people, working hard and fighting for our national interests. RL soldiers play eRepublik, and as you play with them, you can't help but feel like a douche for not being in even the imaginary version of the military, and our country desperately needs more force behind their national strategies. However, much, if not most of that effort has been on the behalf of political parties. Say what?

When this war broke out, the new ad module was put to the test as parties purchased ad after ad driving people to enlistment information or tutorials for newbs to fight or official newspapers with citizen orders. Parties suspended campaigning for Congress to focus their party's resources on the war effort. The 'social clubs' often criticized for bickering or being generally worthless came together voluntarily to rally behind the government in a time of crisis. Due to the hard work and focus of party leaders, enlistments have spiked and more new members are informed about their military options than ever before... they just can't get in.

But do you NEED to be in the military to know what is going on? According to the government, yes. According to party leaders, no, not really. Because of party organization, official messages from the President or our generals are passed around and discussed. Important information that semi-active citizens (including some enlisted) may have missed is brought to their attention through party organization and off-site forums. New citizens can make sense of the chaos they have walked into and insert themselves immediately into a group that can help them - a political party. Parties provide assistance for their members and potential recruits in the form of information, education and even items like food, gifts and moving tickets. They can help new citizens born into conquered regions to get where they need to be, even easing the path to citizenship through the party's Congressional representatives. i]citizens, contact one of your party leaders to find out more on how to get assistance and make sure you're registered on your party's forum![/i

The party structure and organization is one of the biggest assets this nation has. We can keep people more directly informed. We mobilize our membership. We can help provide for them when national organizations are overloaded. So why is the government so unwilling to work with party leaders? Are they simply holding on to hurt feelings from nearly a year ago before most people even played this game? Are they so out of the loop that they haven't seen how the political climate has changed since the war started? Why must party leaders BEG our government officials to let them help serve the national agenda? They want us to be more, so why won't they help us get there?

Recently The Federalist Party proposed party Training Divisions, to educate newbs about fighting and battle game mechanics. The national Training Division is full of holes where citizen after citizen falls through, unable to finish and unable to get the education they need. While the party could have easily set up their own military (and many suggested we do), we decided as a party that we are unapologetically country-first. We're federalists, afterall. We want to help the government by sharing in the responsibilities of leadership. I believe at this point, most major parties do, as some have requested help simulating our party training division and we happily oblige. We feel the country needs the MOST help right now with citizen organization, retention and education. Party training divisions can assist with all of those things without stripping power away from our central government or official military. Party training divisions aren't responsible for handing out weapons or giving secret national orders- but rather they are educated on how damage works and how to enlist. But this isn't just about battle education...

In an effort to make these party training divisions official and uniform, serving the country how they need us most, I've been reaching out to a variety of government and military officials to discuss. While some are interested in the idea, the powers that be have given me a flat out 'no,' citing it was important to create loyalty to the nation and the government, not political parties. This position is an understandable one, however it neglects to recognize some pretty obvious things, the most obvious being that this nation has ALWAYS had the power collected at the top. Every effort is a national effort and our federal government is responsible for everything from Meals on Wheels to Mentorship to Education to the Military and they're each run by just a couple people. Meals on Wheels is the only department that consistently produces results, as the others go through times of inactivity or such disorganization that they're frustratingly ineffective. The partisanship and bickering in this country DOES stem from party loyalty, but it has been happening while the government ran everything. I don't see how keeping everything exactly the same will change that.

I have said before that I believe the partisanship and bickering are due to one very important thing that cannot continue to be overlooked- boredom. Unless you're in Congress or the current Administration, you don't really have anything to do in this game except wait for orders. Actually, that's basically what you do in Congress, too, but at least you hear about what is going on and can throw in your two cents directly to people that can make a difference. Historically, parties have had no responsibility and nothing to do EXCEPT win elections by fighting with each other. Unless a party leader holds multiple jobs in Congress and the Administration, they know no more than the average citizen about current events or national strategy, so they are unable to participate. In the past, some 'in the loop' party leaders have even worked actively against national orders and did some serious damage to the national agenda. Why? Not because the individuals feel no loyalty to the country, but because that PARTY LEADER had no loyalty to the country. And why should they? They're considered a cancer and treated as such. However their ability to organize and cut us off at the knees during last month's Congressional race proved how important it is for the government to wake up and take better stock of their national resources.

But they still aren't doing it.

With such vague citizen orders coming down the line, a confusing situation for new members, and a line around the block of people waiting to get into TD (and a longer line trying to get out), where should a citizen go if they want to be an effective part of a real plan? Most likely their political party. As I see it, the government has a simple choice. Either get the parties on the same page and let them help lead this nation (the 'nation' being the actual citizens in this country), or deal with large sections of the population doing their own thing. This isn't a threat, it's a warning. You can already see it happening. How much difference can a hundred active, organized people make? In a small country, it can make a big difference. During a PTO attempt, it can make the difference. We have 7 parties with at least 100 people in them. Do you really want them going 7 different directions without any coordination with the government?

A few weeks ago, party leaders met with key members of the current Administration. While they insisted that party leaders would be crucial to helping us win this war, the orders from our government to party leaders have been exactly this:

[nothing]

Should we just do whatever, then? Or should we keep pushing the Administration to take advantage of the current leadership of the major parties and their desire to organize with the country and really change the way parties work in the eUS? There will always be partisanship and there will always be bickering among candidates or supporters, but it doesn't have to be destructive. It can be the sideshow we keep insisting it is without doing any real damage to the country. Parties can put country-first and work with the government like States do in RL. As we have seen, regions really don't matter. Congress is important, but their constituency is their party. That's who voted for them, primarily. Your party forums and IRC are where you live and your fellow party members are your neighbors. Despite the sour feelings toward the parties of this country- they have done their job. They're organizations that win elections and push political agendas. Make them more than that (as parties have done voluntarily) and they can be the biggest asset the eUS has. Party leaders have gotten it together and we're focused on rebuilding the eUS, but if we didn't coordinate with each other there would be no coordination at all.

President Emerick- help us help you help everyone.