Join the new world

I am running for Congress on the EPIC ticket, this time in my real world home province of Saskatchewan. This will be the last time for a couple of months at least because real world commitments will be keeping me busy for at least two months and maybe longer.

So why am I running this time?
The biggest reason is that I enjoy being in Congress. Strange as it may sound it is the area of the game that I feel the most comfortable in. I have a sneaking suspicion that it may be the only part of the game that has survived the transition to V2 (aka eRepublik Rising – though some have called it eRepublik Dying) without being broken. I certainly think that it’s the part that works best. The problem is that I don’t think that our government is working as well as it should, which might give you some sense of how badly I think some of the other parts of the game have been messed up.

I am running because I have experience in Congress. I’ve served four terms starting with the August elections of 2009. I placed my nomination when our country consisted of three regions that had been liberated and the road back to a completed Canada looked long and hard indeed. The first time I was placed my name in nomination from Saskatchewan was literally hours after it had been liberated. I have history in this part of the game and I believe I can say, without sounding too immodest, that during my time in Congress I was well regarded by my colleagues... or at the very least that I wasn’t too big of an anus.

So what are some of the issues I care about?
Well, there are lots of them. When I am in Congress I’m in Congress. My record speaks to that – every time there was a vote I voted and I contributed on most issues, but I made it a point to be informed on the issue before I wrote. I’ve repeatedly railed against candidates who run to get the 5G and the medal for being elected and those who don’t make their voices heard in the forums. This has been a problem for a long time to the point where Congress has finally passed a “quorum bill” that sets a minimum percentage of members who have to participate in in-forum votes before the measure can become binding. That’s apparently after some laws were passed with as few as ten votes and without a quorum it could be much less. It’s something that should have been in place long ago, but I’m not entirely convinced that even with the law and the prodding of the Speaker that things will improve too much.

But there’s something more interesting that has been happening of late. Of the last ten in-game votes not one has had more than 30 votes cast. Out of a 40 member Congress! Now I understand that some members have resigned from Congress and it’s possible that some other members have left the game without resigning from Congress, nevertheless that is disappointing given that voting, and the experience points that come from it, are the only real payment that members of Congress get for actually staying in Congress. You may run for the Gold but you stay in Congress for the experience.

Another thing I want to see is greater Governmental transparency. There are two levels of Congress: Open Door and Closed Door. From the volume of the material – or rather the lack thereof – in the Open Door Congress forum as compared to when I was last in Congress I am concerned that there are matters being discussed in Closed Door Congress that should really be discussed in Open Door Congress; the sort of issue that in the past was discussed there.

It isn’t just this sort of “inside Baseball” issue that concerns me either. Hospitals have always been an issue for me. In the old version of the game I railed against “Fortress Theory” and for the ability of players coming into the game to “live” their e-lives in their real world home provinces. Fortress Theory made little sense to me: I preferred the idea of a defense in depth. Today Hospitals don’t have an effect on where you choose to live. There is absolutely no obligation – either in terms of employment or the ability to heal – to live in specific regions. What we need is a comprehensive policy on where and when to place Hospitals and Defensive systems... assuming of course that the time comes when our CP will be permitted by the Admins to place such constructions. In fact, I am not certain that the “bigger is better” school of thought that advocated only Q5 hospitals is entirely valid anymore. It may be that there is a role for hospitals of all sizes, from small Q1 hospitals near the front lines that burn out quickly but permit our troops to hold the front line for a longer period of time to intermediate and large hospitals that support larger numbers of troops and are permanent placed near regional capitals. I don’t have all the answers in this area. In fact I may not have any of the answers, but I would like to be privy to either what the policy is or to how the policy is shaped.

In the economy, I believe that the biggest problem facing us is not really over-production but oversupply. Our weapons producers – and as my org owns Bren Guns, a Q2 artillery company, I include myself in this – failed to understand the true impact of the concept of durability in manufacturing. Combined with the lack of hospitals just about anywhere, the lack of wars for a long time and the determination of the Admins to draw real world money out of the players what this has meant is that we as a country have produced far more than we need in just about every category. Worst of all it isn’t necessarily material that will be the best fit for our troops. As a country we have a Q1 artillery company with over 800 units in inventory, a Q5 Tank company with over 450 units in inventory and which is still producing despite the fact that their inventory is the highest priced on the market, and a Q1 Air unit company that is still producing despite having over 1300 units in inventory and having sold only one item in more than a month (the period of time that I’ve been tracking this). The result of oversupply has been that a lot of businesses – Bren Guns included – have taken what can only be termed to be the sensible route and shut down, their only remaining employees being zombies while waiting for thei inventories to be sold. This in turn has led to lower wages and a decreased likelihood of finding jobs. Take a look at the job offers for Fitters, Engineers, Technicians, and Mechanics to see the results. We need more wars with more fights per player per day, meaning that players will be replacing equipment more often. That brings us back to hospitals as well as cheap, “high protein” (high health, low happiness) food and policies which make it easier for manufacturers in most sectors to export our goods.

Anything else I’d like to say?
Plenty, but I’m willing to bet most people haven’t read this far. I’d like to conclude by saying that I’m running for Congress in Saskatchewan but I’m running for Congress FOR Canada. The interests of the whole country have to come before that of a region of a sector of the economy. I want to be elected because I want to be part of the solution for our national problems not just complaining about them, and the best way to do that is by being in Congress.

My name is SledDog and I want your vote in these elections.