My AFA hating days are done. I can't do hate. People are just people.

Day 1,833, 22:05 • Published in USA USA • by Candor

Hello fellow eAmericans.

I want to share a few thoughts, indulge me if you have the time, and thanks in advance.

I’ve been playing a little over three years. I’ve never been a citizen of any other eNation except for a short period a couple of years ago when we made a national effort to place a friendlier government (President) in Russia or some such place I can’t recall at the moment. I was there for about 24 hours if I recall, and p-much drank vodka and chased skirt while awaiting extradition.

I’ve been in Congress a few times, and was Speaker of The House (upon specific request) once. But Congress honestly doesn’t do anything the way our government is set up now. Congressmen are expected to follow the directions of the President, for the most part. We move the money we are told to move, we let in the citizens we are told to let in, and we approve the MPP’s we are told to approve.

Congress does get to discuss a monthly budget. But I’m not an economics guy so that barely interests me.

I like to see new guys go to Congress, but not because I expect them to do anything particularly useful but because on occasion there’s a good discussion and when that happens everyone gets to see what everyone else is made of. So if Congress has any real usefulness, it’s in raising potential new leaders, or, at least, separating the wheat from the chaff.



I’ve served in a couple of Executive Cabinets; most notably I designed and ran the OMB under President Colin Landtrip, upon his specific request. Those who don’t know Colin may not know that he has changed his name and now plays under the name “The Great Ape”. Colin is one of my small handful of people in game whom I trust entirely (he's also a dirty AFA'er). I think most of us have such a small group we trust similarly, and if you don’t have a few folks like this, you should try finding a few. They are useful for a lot of things.

I bounce ideas off these guys, sometimes horrible or ridiculous ones. They give me feedback, like any real friends would. I trust them with personal real life information and on occasion’s passwords and account access. We often throw money back and forth as needed. These guys like and trust me as well.

We’re playing a game together called eRepublik.

Not everyone in that small circle of trust is eAmerican. One of my buds has been ePakistani for nearly as long as I’ve played, and Colin, in example, has lived in numerous countries, although this one more than any other.

It’s cool to get to know people from all over the real world via eRepublik. If you have the opportunity to make such friendships, do it. People are pretty much the same around the world. But in eRepublik, of course, often we aren’t playing the game on the same team. And that’s what the eUS really is, one team of many in a big game. Well you know that.

I’ve made a few hundred friends in my time here. Many of my good friends and I have running conversations via email or game PM, depending on the sensitivity of the topic. I’m not a big telephone talker guy, but a handful of people have that information as well.

You still awake?

So let’s move on to people I don’t particularly love. There aren’t many. And even the one’s I don’t love extend no further than about that: I don’t love them. And it’s a pretty short list. And it's not for what they believe in, but usually because of how they treat others.

Those who know me well know I’m easy as pie to get along with. Respect me and my opinions and I’ll respect you and yours. I don’t care if we agree on much, to be honest. I’ll like you just fine so long as you’re courteous and civil. Get into this bullying or name calling thing, and I pretty much just disengage from the relationship.

I treat people as individuals. I’m part of the WTP at this time because our nation is weak at this time in our history. We are. We can barely hold four strong parties together. We just haven’t a large enough national population. And our active population is simply a reflection of our over all population, as a percentage. Were we stronger, I’d return to a small sixth because party politics are dumb, frankly. We’re all on the same team, that’s Team USA.



So here’s where I think I’m going to upset some of you a bit, apologies in advance.



The AFA.

Bullshite aside, the AFA is not 900 serbs, real life or game serbs. Some are serbs, sure. But probably about 200? I spent some time going through their membership a couple of months back, and while a good number of the folks do indeed come from nations we traditionally fight with in game, serbs were just a part of the total.

The thing is, because we have fought with these nations for so long, most of their citizens were never allowed to immigrate to the eUS. For a long time this seemed a sensible policy to everyone. Still does to a majority of you reading this probably.

But there is another side of the story, a very human side. A good number of these folks that are coming to join the AFA are doing so with the fantasy of playing Americans. The red white and blue, all the patriotic apple pie and freedom and our mighty might and whatever the heck else it is that makes people in real life wish they could be American’s. If only for pretend. If only to see what we’re about.

What would happen if these AFA people took a majority control of the nation? You might see some alliance shifts, I’d expect that frankly. A rotten scoundrel of a Congress might steal the treasury I suppose, though I doubt it. But have you ever stopped and asked yourself why all the AFA media is so patriotic, rather than destructionist? The answer is as clear as it appears, in my opinion. They want to play Americans. Not destroy America, but become a part of America. In this game. Game.

They’re probably a bit shocked at the vitriol we throw out. Hey we let the iNCi become part of us, why are we hating so much on these guys?

900 people is a third of our active strength. In my opinion, we embrace that strength and embrace these folks. You want to hate RGR, I couldn’t care less. But he’s one guy. Get to know people one on one, that’s how I make judgments.

And I’m sick of playing the nasty downer game.

If you perceive and treat the AFA as a threat, expect an unfriendly AFA. If you treat the members as individuals, and they are individuals, they might just become a strong and loyal and patriotic group of team mates and friends.

So agree or disagree, but I’m done having any part of hating 900 people just because most everyone hates Reagan (mostly). They’re just people. They aren’t together as a group planning this nation any harm in my opinion, though I’m sure there are bad seeds, as there are anywhere. You won’t let them play in your Congress sandbox, so why in the world expect them to abide by any forum “laws”. Meh.

My AFA hating days are through. I'm here for fun, and hating is a serious downer. It's a game. I just don't have it in me to dislike a group of people this much. I don't know if I'd call such hatred racist exactly, but to me it isn't natural. We aren't haters as a people. Diversity adds to our nations strengths.

I'll be treating these guys the way I treat anyone else, individually, based on the content of their character.

And I'm being up front about it.