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Ralph Kline = one of the good guys.

For quite some time now he's been the driving force behind CSD, eCanada's premier Military Unit. If there's been a day it hasn't been atop the MU rankings in the nation, I'm not aware of it.

I personally am testament to what the CSD can accomplish. A long time player, I have always concentrated more on the social and economic aspects of the game, in part because I'm a lover not a fighter and in part because most wars (cough, UK) are rather pointless exercises in and of themselves. As a result I own huge tracts of land and many businesses, but I've never paid for training and have a Strength under 3000. Frankly, it's always made more sense to save my money for another economic advance rather than "waste" it on weapons.

The CSD changed that math for me. Thanks to Ralph Kline (and others, to be sure, but RK deserves the most credit) I have gone from a Lieutenant Colonel to a Three-Star General in a surprisingly brief time. The benefit to the nation is obvious - should the citizens of the enation ever again be called to defend it from invaders, I am going to be doing between 40 and 50 percent more damage than I would have otherwise.

During this time, the CSD has asked almost nothing of its members in return. Yes, it had advertised some slave pit jobs from time to time, but without any coercion, or repercussions for those who weren't interested in taking them. As such it's a unit with good bonhomie, even managing to contain such diverse "personalities" as myself and the most infamous thief in eCanadian history with nary a ripple.

Now this:

http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/csd-and-the-cpp-a-new-beginning--1860714/1/20

I empathize with Ralph's instinct. The real cluster-blank which has been eCanadian politics for some time cries out for correction, and to want to leverage the success and even l'esprit de corps of the CSD is a natural. However, I for one have always been a wee bit nervous about these cross-pollinations. I'll admit it's largely a hold-out from RL instincts, but it also concerns me about the conflict of interest when MUs apply for public funding, not to mention the dangers of cronyism.

So it is that I, along with a number of others I note, will be leaving CSD. It's not that my political involvement is actually that precious to me. There was a time over a year ago when I had brief spurt of activity to try and get EPIC really up and going (it was called something else then, or at least the half of it I was in pre-merger was, but interestingly enough, I can't even remember what now, which shows you how little I pay attention to these things). The times I have run for public office (almost always unsuccessfully) I have done so under the EPIC banner. I have found EPIC to be the best of the parties, although I don't say this to put any down - particularly not the CPP, which as anyone with a knowledge of ehistory knows, is eCanada's most venerable and certainly one of its most storied parties. However, I have also had long periods when I was a member of no party, including for example the period leading up to and during my time on the Supreme Court (oh, happy memories). But I am not involved in the forums there even now, and wouldn't be under CPP for the multiple reasons of: the firewall at work often blocks such apps, I find the log-in to them around the firewalls to often be a a pain, and mainly I just can't be arsed.

Ralph is well within his rights to try and take his MU in new directions, but I'm not the kind that can be cajoled to change politics for the gift of a few (scratch that, a lot of) tanks. Ironically, I actually voted for the Ralph Kline ticket and not that of EPIC party stalwart and all-around good guy Treian in the last CP elections, as my previous edition of SR made clear. So in my case, it's always been the soft approach, or something I like to think of as "tangible demonstration of character", rather than rhetoric, which I found most persuasive.

I do not think any the less of Ralph Kline for this initiative. On a certain level, I hope it works - at least in the way that I think RK envisions it doing so. But it will have to work without me. I remain gracious to the CSD for the pleasant and productive time I spent there, and wish them continued success in the future. But I'm out. So long, and thanks for all the tanks.





SR Vol 31, No. 2