Spotlight Feature: North Dakota Senator and Ambassador to Germany - Nick Bezier

Day 604, 05:32 • Published in USA South Africa • by Matthew Casey

Recently I sat down with friend, Senator, and Ambassador, Nick Bezier. I had 14 questions for Nick, I decided to publish 13 of them as the 14th was too inappropriate for publication. I think you will find this interview to be entertaining, personal, and informative. My questions are in bold, the Senator's responses follow. Enjoy!

1. What are your thoughts on the current PEACE invasion? Do you agree with the changes in National Policy? Please provide a little analysis with your inside Congressional knowledge. How is Germany reacting to the further PEACE aggressions?

To be honest with you, I'm loving it! eRepublik is so much more interesting when we are attacking a country or another is attacking us. Of course, its only fun when were winning, so the government needs to take all necessary action to ensure our country winning these wars. That's why I supported the income tax increases. An increase in 10% is dramatic, but so are the costs of war. It can cost thousands of gold to tank in a battle, and hundreds of gold to keep fronts open. We need to full support of the men and women of the eUS. As to insider info, it is insider information can't give away everything. I can say that our intelligence works hard to get us our information correct and on time, and they do a great job of it. They really are the unsung heroes of this war; without them, we wouldn't know when or where it'd be best to attack, or if attacking is strategic at all. As for Germany, they tend to stay neutral in these conflicts, but like with all countries that stay neutral but have open MPPs (mutual protection pacts), the German citizens are no doubt fighting.


2. What are you biggest goals as a Congress person, and recently, as an Ambassador to Germany? Have you done anything, aside from your newspaper, to communicate the news?

My number one issue is and always will be citizen retention. Citizen retention leads to more workers, more soldiers, more politicians, and for us, more tax revenue. The more the merrier really applies here. This game is a lot more fun when more people are playing. This is such a great game; it really is best to share. Germany is another great country that we can really help. Their war with Sweden made them quite bitter, of which I cannot blame them. Personally, I would like to see the eUS take a more friendly stance to Germany, but in this time of crisis, that should be put on the back burner.

3. What is eRepublik life like for you after the concluding days of the famous "Lunch Table". How are they doing? Could you please explain the "Lunch Table" a little bit?

When I was born in Alabama and had played the game for the week, I became determined to have my friends play along. At the lunch table I invited JStrach, samegustavo, Chessmasterty and gkiwi. At lunch thereafter, the discussion pertained to eRepublik. They provided me with critical ideas and perspectives only citizens from their different backgrounds could provide. JStrach is a politician, samegustavo is in the military, and the other three were just normal players. Knowing their perspective has helped me identify with new players and really helped my career. As far as I know, all are still playing the game, and we will continue discussing eRepublik the day after Labor Day.

4. What is your favorite band?

This is one is easy. I'm currently a Pink Floyd junkie. I've only been into Pink Floyd for about two months, but in that time, Ive really taken a liking to them. Songs from The Wall like Run Like Hell, Another Brick in the Wall with The Happiest Days of Our Lives prelude and Comfortably Numb are my favorites, and The Dark Side of the Moon is also a great album. Unfortunately, my musical preferences change every few months, so if you ask me come fall, it'll probably be something completely different.

5. What was the debate camp you recently attended? Could you tell our audience about that? And how did you like it?

I attended the Spartan Debate Institute at Michigan State University. If any of the readers are high school age, I highly encourage them to go out for debate. It looks great on any resume and really is a lot of fun. This years topic is poverty. My case is giving immigrants healthcare. Though I don't always believe what I say, its really great to look at the problem from multiple angles and discover solutions for yourself rather than have them handed down to you. I've been at this camp for two weeks, which is actually the shortest. Can you believe that? The most is a 5-week camp, and in other debate camps, it can go for up to 7 weeks! I'm not that committed, because not only does that take a chunk out of your summer, but paying for this camp is definitely not chump change. It cost over a grand! My pocketbook is aching, but I know that its worth it. My debate friend got a full ride to Princeton because of debate, studying whatever he wanted to. I'd like that to be me too!

6. What got you interested in the German language? Where do you see yourself going IRL and eRepublik?

I decided to learn German because I really wanted to learn more about my heritage. Unfortunately, I've had two bad teachers in a row (a drunk and a keyboardist in a popular local band) and learning German has become really hard. At this point, I'd really love to learn Spanish. I think that it's only a matter of time before Spanish becomes a national language IRL so it'd be best to learn it now and not later. And the bragging rights for being trilingual would be nice. 🙂 As for my future, I'm hoping Ill get accepted to University of Wisconsin Madison, which is a really fine school in state. I love Wisconsin, its always been my home and there is just so much to do here. I'm planning to get degrees in history and education and work my up and become a professor of History at the school. History is a great thing; it teaches us so much about the past, present and future. As for eRepublik, Im really not sure. I do know one thing though: this upcoming term, if I win, will be my last. Its been a great experience being in Congress, but school is a priority for me, so I'll need to cut the activity down. North Dakota deserves a hard working person, like my friend Tedthemaster. Teddy has been my campaign manager these past two terms, and needless to say, a loyal friend. He's done so much for me and I'm forever grateful for his help and advice. In August, I'd like North Dakota to come out and vote Tedthemaster. He really is the leadership Congress needs.

7. What were your thoughts on the Scrabman presidency? And what are your current thoughts on the Harrison Richardson presidency? Is it too early to tell?

I definitely had my doubts. At times, Scrabman could seem authoritarian and dictatorial, but the populace supported him. I think by the time he left office, his support was really waning because people were just starting to get sick of having no competition in a presidential race. However, I don't think many realize how difficult this job is. You are literally the leader of a populace the size of a small town, competing with other towns for supremacy. I think that eventually you just get sick of the externalities that mess up plans that you've been working on for weeks, sick of the calls of resignation, and most of all, sick of having to work hard on an internet game. By the time Scrabman left office, I felt sympathy for him. He was a hard worker, though at time he could be harsh. As for Harrison Richardson, I really don't feel comfortable saying anything. I don't want to speculate. One thing is for sure however: his future as a President will forever be determined by the outcome of this war. If we win, he will be praised as one of the greatest presidents to come to office. If we lose, the populace will act swiftly against his favor. Not only does war have military consequences, but political ones also. For Harrison's sake and for the rest of this nations, I hope we win this war.

8. What features, if any, would you like to see added to eRepublik?

Well, for one thing, fix the e-mail invite system. It works so sporadically, and I really want to make a profit on my friends joining. I know this is terribly unlikely, but itd be cool to try out the old war module, where your damage was determined by answering trivia questions. Trivia is a big hobby of mine (school champion two years ago) and Id know Id kick some major butt if they reinstated that system. Unfortunately, no one is as good as I am when it comes to trivia (I don't blame them, I'm a nerd) and they wouldn't really appreciate the change.

9. Do you see any skills sharpened or acquired in eRepublik, being applicable to your growth as an individual IRL?

I really love this question. eRepublik is not just a game, it's a learning tool. eRepublik is literally a microcosm of the world. eRepublik has taught me many things, but I think the one thing it has really honed in me is patience and understanding. After Richard Brophy published his article on the elections in May, it really made me stand back and look at what I was doing. Is slandering people because they slandered me the best way to go? No. Sometimes you just have to take one for the team and ignore the pain in your gut.

10. What do you like to do in your spare time IRL? Girlfriend? If so, does she know about your eRepublik life?

LOL, no girlfriend unfortunately. I'm single for now, hopefully I'll get myself a girlfriend this winter. I'm really not the romantic type, but I'll have to take my chances. As for whether or not she would know about eRepublik, probably not, considering the fact that some pics are included in some peoples articles (cough HR and Enoch Root cough). I'm an avid biker; there are many trails near where I live and I make it a goal to bike around at least 5 miles a day. I also enjoy playing tennis, but I don't really have many tennis-playing buddies, so I don't play it that often.

11. IRL, you get to eat dinner with 5 people from any era, any where, who do you pick and why?

I would pick:

A. Franklin Roosevelt: His ability to keep a nation together despite a depression and a world war makes him one of the greatest presidents the US has ever had.
B. Friedrich Nietzche: His theories on Christian morality would be great to hear from the real man. I love discussing theology.
C. Will Ferrell: This man is by far my favorite comedian. His acting is always flawless, whether it comes to SNL or movies.
D. Benjamin Franklin: Another unbelievably smart man whose inventions continue to shape the world.
E. Ryan Braun: The Milwaukee Brewers powerhouse. There's a misconception that floats around about Wisconsin. Were NOT all about football. If anything we enjoy our baseball games more, because the tickets and booze is cheaper!

12. Do you read "The Road to Serfdom" newspaper - if so why? And would you suggest it for others to read as well?

I do read The Road to Serfdom. Articles like those found in that paper are great contemplative analysis of economic systems and their repercussions. I recommend that everyone who wants to be smart read them; they're written by a guy that does that sort of stuff IRL!

13. eBoxers or eBriefs? 😛

Hmm eBoxers. Definitely more comfortable to move around in.

Thanks for having me Matt! Vote Nick Bezier in North Dakota!


No problem Nick. Nick Bezier, ladies and gentleman, a fine upstanding eCitizen. Nick is one of the key influential people for me throughout my time in this game. He helped me right from the beginning whenever I came to him with any questions. Nick Bezier has my, and the US Capitalist Party, endorsement for his Congressional run in North Dakota in just a few days.

Be sure to read his newspaper, "The Bezier Curve" which other articles as well as his feature on me can be found here: http://www.erepublik.com/en/newspaper/the-bezier-curve-186452/1