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The Addy Lawrence Era

“A New King. A New Age! Of hope, and peace, and spiritual growth. And I'm still here...for my sins.”
- Francis Urquhart, To Play The King

There are certain times in our country that, with only a few exceptions, clearly delineate political shifts in eCanada. They are most often signaled by a generational change in the occupant of the Presidency. It is has been almost a year to the day when the last epoch of eCanada came to a close and a new breed of leaders came to the forefront of our political culture. Sweeping reforms and innovations in government characterized the last realignment ushered in by a sense of novelty, and cemented by an epic war. The way in which the government has run has stood fairly unaltered for longer than Addy Lawrence has been alive, which perhaps may be the reason that he and not any of my successors will be the one to bring to us the next era of Canadian history.

There are two ways to measure the age of a Prime Minister: his age in the game and how long he's been alive compared to the age of the game. The first works well for the string of Prime Ministers going all the way back to last May with the exception of JBDivinus. Nea milosu, Jacobi, William Duncan, Derek Harland and Chucky Norris, rulers all of Canada for almost a year. All born within 31 days of each other (59 if you count Fram's original account). These five fellows are representative of a generation called “The Boomers,” descendants of a what in early 2009 was a relatively amazing change in the Canadian population from several hundred to several thousand.

Canadian Political Eras

I dispute that Olivia, a citizen born on January 30, 2008, was the first Canadian President in December 2007. However, even if she was, historical records show that it was under the second Canadian President, Grapez, and even more under his successor, Faltnor, that the first Canadian political culture took shape. It was under him that Canada's first war, first invasion, first culture came into being. All of Canada's early leaders came from roughly the same time period and lived in roughly the same culture. Derick Braham, Cottus Arci, Banach, and Adam Sutler, born two months apart and dominating Summer 2008 into the fall. The first constitution, the first real partisan politics, Canada's first forays into the world happened under these legendary leaders who bestrode that tiny country like colossi.

And then V1.

With V1 came a new game and with it came anew Constitution, a new CAF, a new alliance, and new leaders. Much like before and since, these leaders were contemporaries and the Prime Ministers of November to May 2009 ruled a Canada that was going through a great growth spurt. There was a growing sophistication to the role play of this period (before, Adam Sutler's “England Prevails!” speech closing best exemplified Beta roleplay) which to this day marks the boomers who grew up in early 2009. Whether this era came to an end because of a sense of entitlement by Canadian leaders, the death of the Atlantis Alliance, a desire for empowerment by boomers, the retirement of (until that time) the longest Canadian Prime Minister, Bruck, a simple reality that the culture created in a country of 1000 would eventually change in a country of 5000, or any combination of those and other factors is not for me to say. But since then, only one Prime Minister from the generation of Bruck and Tantis has reclaimed the Presidency.


Is Addy Lawrence Too Old?

Ages of Canadian Prime Ministers At Time of Election (in days)

JBDivinus – 546
Fram – 429 (491)
Derek Harland – 405
Chucky Norris – 399
Tom Hagen – 359
William Duncan – 235
Banach – 235
Bruck – 208
Tantis – 182
Cottus Arci – 114
Jacobi – 113
Zanalan – 105
Derick Braham – 67
Sutler – 63
Faltnor – 48
Grapez – 29

Addy Lawrence – 324

The crux of this article is that the election of Addy Lawrence would be a generational shift and may indeed lead to a new era in Canadian politics. His campaign platform and the people he's placed in cabinet signal a shift away from the comfortable status quo. But with previous generational shifts coming from relatively young leaders (Braham at 67 days, Zanalan at 105, Jacobi at 113), can there really be much of a difference when if we salute Addy as 6th oldest Prime Minister to take office at 324 days?

The short answer? Yes.

The long answer? Probably.

Time is getting slower in erepublik. The concept of handing over the country today to someone with 63 days experience seems a few coconuts short of insanity, even if it wasn't even an issue when Adam Sutler ran. Not only is the country one of thousands of active players instead of a couple hundred, but the sheer amount of experience in a country where the number of leadership positions has not increased proportionally with the amount of people blocks upward mobility more than any elitist attitude among those who hold power today. Addy Lawrence, compared to the last slew of Presidents, is practically a young adult. It is worth noting, however, that Addy Lawrence is older than I was when starting my fifth term. To put it in perspective though, why don't we look at how old these Presidents were compared to the age of the game at the time of their election?

% of game played at time of first election

Tom Hagen – 94%
Banach – 73%
JBDivinus – 68%
Grapez – 63%
Fram – 55%
Tantis – 52%
Cottus Arci - 50%
Chucky Norris – 48%
Derek Harland - 47%
Faltnor – 45%
Bruck – 44%
Derick Braham – 40%
William Duncan – 34%
Adam Sutler – 32%
Zanalan – 25%
Jacobi - 20%

Addy Lawrence - 35%

Perhaps its not surprising that the Presidents who weren't able to finish a term or stopped after one are the ones who played more than 50% of the game's life before becoming President whereas all the Presidents who served two or more terms had been playing, relatively, for far less than their one term brethren. If this trend were to hold true, that Addy has only been playing for 35% of the game's life gives hope that he will less likely to fall victim to the recent and unfortunate one term trend. More importantly, it shows that in terms of the game, Addy is young enough to convincingly represent the new generation of Canadians while still being old enough to remember our past.

And as much as someone like myself, as associated as I am with how government works in our country, wants the good old days and relevance to last as much as possible, there comes a time when it can be recognized that the good old boys and good old days are no longer as bright and wholesome as they used to be. Just as the original V1 leaders eventually fell to a confluence of decadence, entitlement, and the divide between breeds of Canadians, so to perhaps we will fade and fall too. Becoming at once a cast of leading men only able and ought to play supporting roles to the new players of this nation.

A New King. A New Age! Of hope, and peace, and spiritual growth. Though for now, I'm still here...for my sins.