One Nation, One People, One Purpose

Day 807, 16:02 • Published in Ireland USA • by Michael Collins

A common misconception is that baby booms can happen with random wars "for the lulz", and that any war is good enough to retain interest of players. This simply isn't true. Look at the USA, they had many random wars before they were invaded, but none of them had any effect on their players or capability. The UK has had many wars as well, but has never been able to boost their population. Short wars do not do the trick, only an extremely long term war may, as the war slowly begins to totally dominate every aspect of society. During the Hungarian baby boom, they were occupied by Romania; they fought Romania is every possible way: militarily, economically, and in the media. The war against Romania dominated their society, it defined them. Add this to the fact that they are an extremely nationalistic people, and have a rivalry with Romania in real life, and the result is the superpower you see today. Exchange Hungary with Serbia, and Romania with Croatia, and you have the same story. However, it’s not war that causes this. The cause is very much more fundamental.

What you need is a national unifying purpose, a reason to exist, a unique goal that your country alone has, and none other. A long war is simply one of the various things that can trigger this. Erepublik is a community game; the whole idea is built around the interaction of players. A common purpose brings people together. When someone contributes to this communal goal, it makes them feel like a part of something bigger, part of the national community. A nation may have many different subgroups: the politicians, the business owners, the soldiers, the media moguls, but the idea that each of them is a part of a larger team is the glue that holds everyone together. Without the overarching goal, the e-society will eventually break down and stagnate, slowly losing population and becoming weaker and weaker. Only when a nation has an ingrained purpose can it really shine. Only when they have purposes so common sense and fundamental to the citizens, without the need of the government telling them, can a nation truly grow. Take a government that attacks another nation for little reason, and tells the citizens to spend their own money; that the fight is important. This does nowhere near invoke the same response that defending your homeland does. Each and every citizen KNOWS that the fight is important; they do not need to be told. When a newbie joins the game and sees their government is a foreign takeover, they KNOW it is wrong, they KNOW that the goal should be to remove this government.



A case in point, in August 2008 the government of Ireland had been forcibly taken over by a group of Romanians, whose only intent was to profit as much as possible while in power through theft. The active population of Ireland doubled during the month, with virtually no organized off-site recruiting. The new players simply stayed longer than they had before. The common goal of taking back our country dominated everyone’s mind during that month; there was simply nothing else. Everyone put aside politics, put aside desire for money, and simply worked together. All newbies were welcomed into this community, and because they felt a part of something, our population grew.

Why do I write all this? Because Ireland needs to carve its purpose in the world. We need to develop our own unique national philosophy. We need to show the world who we are, instead of another random small country. We need to gain the respect of the world by standing up for what we believe in no matter what. We cannot raise ourselves up in the shadow of another country, nor can we piggyback on another to achieve our goals. We must take the steps ourselves. We must not be afraid. We must be willing to fight and die for what we believe. Ireland, it's time to awaken.


But what should our purpose be? I have thought about this, and came up with my own ideas, but the one I like best is the following. Ireland could be the leader of freedom in the world. There is nothing more fundamental to the minds of Irish and eIrish alike than freedom, independence, and sovereignty. Ireland could be the nation that is willing to fight for the freedom of nations no matter what. Ireland could be the nation that puts personal interest aside to help others who need it, expecting nothing in return. Ireland could be the nation that gains the respect of the world for fighting for, and never compromising her ideals.



Together, we can make Ireland that nation. Together, we can rise up as one. Together, we have to power to change the world for the better. Together, we are not insignificant. Together, we are strong. WE ARE IRELAND.

ONE NATION. ONE PEOPLE. ONE PURPOSE.



-Michael Collins