My last will and testament (1)

Day 2,209, 12:46 • Published in Netherlands Netherlands • by Broersje


Dear citizens of the eNetherlands,

This is it. My last will and testament. Yes, I'm leaving, and this time I'm serious. Since my return, a couple of weeks ago, I've discovered that perhaps I shouldn't have bothered returning at all. I've served another Congress term and had a job at my beloved Ministry of Home Affairs, but playing eRepublik just doesn't satisfy me in any way anymore.

So there really is no other option for me but leaving and never coming back. In a few weeks' time, I will be officially dead.



But I don't want to leave without saying a few last words. First, let's look at my history in the eNetherlands.



I was born on Augustus 15th, 2010, day 999 of the New World, more than three years ago. After a month of playing, I entered the political arena and candidated for Congress for the LSD party. My first political issue was making sure that the government communicated in English as well as in Dutch. I've always thought that the government should be transparent and accessible.

I got into Congress on my first try. During the first few months, I was very active and made a lot of friends. I'd like to name here Shakerr, Daniel Parker, ArtemIvanov, Dennis Baks, NoTie112 (then known as Tonie112), and Prutser. I served with or under some of them in several governments in the departments of Recruitment & Coaching and the Ministry of the Interior (which was also responsible for the government's external communication).

Three months after I started playing, in November 2010, a group of active LSD politicians, including me, founded a new political party, Democratisch Nederland, or DemNL for short. We founded the party on the principles of democracy, transparency, and constructive debate. From the start, the party was a primary opponent of both the LSD and I&W parties, which had dominated the political landscape for some time. Unfortunately, the party ceased to exist after a successful PTO, followed by an ePolish invasion. In order to improve the unity of the eNetherlands, it was agreed that for the months afterwards, there would be only one political party, Verenigd Nederland.

The April 2011 CP elections were a disaster. After a disputed forum election to select the only official candidate, the political community was split asunder and new political parties were founded. DemNL rose to be the biggest party in the eNetherlands, and I continued serving in government, primarily as Minister of the Interior. I also served a long term as Chairman of Congress. In the months succeeding the re-emergence of DemNL, I served multiple terms as its party president.

I decided to get some broader experience by serving in the Finance department for a couple of months. Also in this period I was at my most influential, occupying the position of Vice President under Daniel Parker and ArtemIvanov.

During this time, I also put a lot of effort into re-writing the eDutch Lawbook, the old version of which was truly offensive to people like me who like clean, clear, and properly spelled texts. The CRAP committee (Constitutional Reappraisal and Amelioration Program), consisting of myself, my brother Hindrik/Viglius, and Garmr, delivered a substantially improved Lawbook, which, save for the Senate chapter, which I'm not going to talk about ever again, has been in use ever since.

In September 2011, I had a go at the Country President position. Unfortunately for me, the other serious candidate was MaartenW, who, due to his outstanding qualities and great standing within the community, defeated me by a wide margin. So I became Vice President again. The election was both the logical conclusion of my work so far and the beginning of the end.

You see, what I lost in those elections was not merely the highest public office, but also a crucial part of my motivation. I had the feeling I had done enough, and I didn't really know what I should do now. In the years after that election, I haven't ever thought about running for CP again, nor have I been a consistent part of the eDutch community. Yes, I served multiple terms both as Congressman and as member of the Government, but I wasn't nearly as dedicated as I had been before.

What didn't help, was the increasingly antagonistic atmosphere within the community. Being the eternal plaything of the ePolish oppressors, having no chance in hell to restore our country to its former glory, the only people we could turn on were other community members. Don't misunderstand me, being a politician for lack of another description, I really like sharp and tough debates, but these debates had a habit of ending up in personal disputes, which did nothing useful. Thus, my motivation to actually participate in the community continued to steadily decrease, and I didn't show up very often. By the way, the fact that this is, essentially, fairly crappy game didn't help either.

And then, a month ago, I finally returned to the fold. I got a Congress seat and went back to active mode, but that was for only two weeks. I realized that I didn't enjoy the game as much as I should, and that feeling was amplified by RL business. I got the feeling that I had much, much better things to do than playing a mediocre browsing game without proper satisfaction, and that's why it has come to this.



Now, I've got some practical matters to take care of. I've dissolved all my companies and as a result, I've got some Gold to spare. I'd like to donate it to the government with a specific purpose, but I haven't made up my mind about this purpose yet. I've got some ideas on how to spend it, but I'd like to hear your ideas, as well.

For now, I'd like to thank the entire eDutch community, both living and dead, for giving me such a good time during the last couple of years. I will miss you, but that won't be enough to come back this time. This probably won't be my last article, as the goal for my money has not been decided, so stay tuned.

Kind regards and wishing you the best,