The Economist ~ Society and the State
Spite313
Dear friends,
A couple of days ago I published an article to outline my thoughts about British Politics as it now stands. It got mixed responses, with one or two people choosing to use the comments to attack me on personal grounds, but the majority of people, including the UKRP Party President, agreeing. I think it’s really important that as a nation we accept there will always be left and right wing parties; That these groups will always argue, not only about economic policy, but about everything; That this argument, or debate, or discussion, is what pushes forward new ideas and brings change to the UK; That we can hold such a debate and still be a nation united in common purpose when we need to be; That we won’t let petty personal differences come between us and our obligations to our citizens, our alliance and ourselves.
In this article I’d like to talk briefly about what the UK is. The UK is a society, a group of individuals who are bound together by game mechanics and personal relationships. We’re not a big society, with about one thousand citizens who are active enough to vote, fight and work at every possible occasion, and a few hundred more on the periphery. It’s possible to think of the UK as a village, our congress as the parish councillors and the president as the mayor. Everyone knows each other- or at least can do if they choose to. Most of our Presidents have also been soldiers, ministers, congressmen. All of them have worked alongside you, trained alongside you. What I’m trying to say is that we’re a community, and the names that we use for the leadership often detract from that by depersonalising our ‘state’ leadership. Elected officials are nothing more than representatives of the community, and are no better than any other member.
Looking at it that way, we can see the justification behind organisations such as the communes. They are ordinary members of society, working together to produce their own food, weapons, tickets and so on. They do it because they can, they elect their own leaders to organise it. They’re a society within a society, and their difference enriches the experience for all of us by offering an alternative that we can see and experience and understand. But does joining the communes make you subservient, take your identity, reduce your personal contribution to the UK? Of course not. Nobody can claim that the likes of Ayame Crocodile, Johnobrow Dadds, Bob the Terrorist (and so on) are anything other than individuals.
In the communes all citizens are equal, leaders are no richer or more powerful than any other members. The idea is to provide an environment where all can perform their best function as per the time and effort they personally choose to put into the game, and the rewards are shared amongst everyone. This is how the communes have become one of the most successful projects in UK political history*.
What I think we should do is take that lesson and apply it to the UK. The state and all its apparatus- army, political, economic and so on- should be available to every citizen from birth. At the end of the day they are all part of the society, they contribute through taxes, through produce, through war and through their potential to take a greater lead in the future. We need to close the divide between the public and the state. That will be the greatest challenge for the future- even greater than V2.
Why do I say that? In V2 we will see a great complexification of all the modules. Military operations will be confusing, buying goods will be confusing, running businesses will be confusing, career paths will be confusing. It’ll make it harder for our society to adapt to it. Society has a method of self-protection though, and that is the true role of the state. Each person has their purpose, and amongst the elected leadership of the country are people who know V2 and its inner workings down to the last cog and bolt, and that knowledge will only deepen post-V2. It’s our role to ensure that the state and society are as close as possible, mutually dependent and mutually focused. To ensure that every citizen has the benefit of that knowledge, just as every citizen has the benefit of tax spending or military protection.
How do I suggest that we achieve this?
~More staff and resources to the Ministry of Home Affairs.
~Focus groups to develop retention policies
~An off-site recruitment website, with first week instructions
~Public Advice Bureau which will be advertised as the one stop shop for queries
~Combined Military Recruitment and Citizen Advice articles
~More regular and more detailed communiqué's with citizens
These are just a few ideas which could help bring the state closer to society and make information more accessible to all of us. The Ministry of Home Affairs is our most vital ministry, as it deals with the protection, development and education of our citizens. It is the most direct and recognisable link between the organs of the state and the people the state purports to serve. As such it should be developed and given the support and recognition it deserves. We talk about the need for a military orders article in top 5 at all times. We need an education article in the top 5 at all times. We have 150 new citizens a day, and more than half lose wellness in their first fight. Our birth survival rate is about 10% for the first week. This is because of a lack of communication between society and state.
Saying that, things can only get better. Identifying the problem is half the battle, and now we need to do something about it. We have twenty or so active involved congressmen, half a dozen ministers and a country President who are active and involved. They are the obvious face of the state. In addition we have dozens of under-ministers, apprentices and ministry workers. We have a Military Command staff, general staff, and hundreds of soldiers and NCOs. In other words, we have the tools and the willpower. In my last article I said that debate could be good for the country. Well here is something we can all contribute to. How do we support new players? how do we bring the game to them? How do we take a complex system like V2 and put it into focus? It’s something for us all to think about.
*please note I am not a PCP member, so this is objective
Comments
1st 😃
Voted. \o/
Great Article
Voted
Great as always.
Nice
Voted!
While I agree with 99%
> But does joining the communes make you subservient, take your identity, reduce your personal contribution to the UK? Of course not. Nobody can claim that the likes of Ayame Crocodile, Johnobrow Dadds, Bob the Terrorist (and so on) are anything other than individuals.
Nobody has ever disagreed that the communes don't give the leaders more power and wealth. Its the active creation of a 2 clicker society it creates to sustain it self, coupled with the obvious tax avoidance that stings in the throat.
The leaders of the communes don't have any wealth though, that's the point 🙂 Neither are commune workers 2 clickers. They understand that they're part of a much more complex economic arrangement than the usual market transaction. There are special forums for them. They're kept informed and up to date. It's really quite a complex society. As for the tax avoidance- it's not really. If the communes were donating wages to their workers to avoid tax it would be different, but they're internalised- so their produce only goes to their members on the whole. So it doesn't effect the wider economy.
Still no mention of SDP, that's a bit of a shame, because our reason of being is to IMPROVE SURVIVAL RATES.
Maybe this should be the core issue of a future PCP-SDP-TUP coalition for a future Congress and CP campaign.
The eUK will never have more citizens than ePoland in the near future, but we can compensate quantity by quality.
This should be the platform that the three parties should work on.
I'll write an article soon on the matter, even if I'm not the leader of the SDP anymore by choice, I can still set out the directions I wish the party to move towards.
Sorry Melophore, I didn't really mean for this to be about parties. However I do recognise the value of your housing and gift programs you have run and have tried to give you credit where credit is due.
I also hesitate because some of your party members seem to be quite anti-left wing, for example Proudtobebritish's response to the HoL Amendment was "silly socialists", and all of your MPs voted against it.
Saying that this article is supposed to be about society not party politics so I'll try not to get bogged down 😛
🙂
Iain, I wish I could agree with you, but I fear the left/right split is coming to a close in practice 🙁
"this argument, or debate, or discussion, is what pushes forward new ideas and brings change to the UK"
Are you sure about that? I don't think I even see a left-right split as you describe it.
Voted \o/
This article is condemned by the Top Gear party.
I fear the comments section has been pushed into party politics. What if a right party comes up with a good military plan, or a central party comes up with a retention plan? Are we going to see working together for a greater good after debate or are we going to see PCP, TUP and maybe SDP side together in a blind coalition of the left? - I certainly hope not.
To often parties in the UK side with each other simply 'to fight the left' or 'fight the left'. I hope we can see each party fight for ideas they have come up with. Then once a compromise/or idea has been deemed 'the correct path for the eUK' all parties work together for a good cause. So far I have seen no party get behind or talk about the eOlympics, and I think this is wrong as a bright idea has had no air-time. It should be discussed how improves can be made/how it can be worked on, and how retention rates can be improved because of it.
Oh, and voted.
I don't know what the eOlympics are, but they sound impractical 😛
Messages were pretty clear but Iain, what do you mean by focus groups?
All are equal but Iain is 'more equal'?
Sara you do me an injustice. I've got no interest in being more inequal. I'm happy to heave my share of the work and I won't ask for anything special in return.
Skillz, I mean form groups of 4-5 people with a chairperson to focus on a specific area, and all these groups reporting back to an under-minister. These will be great places for new players to get involved, because recruitment doesn't need any experience of the game. It's just a matter of finding chairpeople and ideas to form them around 🙂
Another wonderful article. Looks likean anti-partisan movement has finally picked up steam. AN END TO THESE DARK DAYS when the right and left bickered over who should replace the light bulb!
Communes and cooperatives don't contribute to taxes, nor the security of the State. Perhaps you're overlooking this in your grand "scheme".
Instead of relying on your "support the little guy" speech, you went with something that props the country up while you guys are playing around with ideas.
Communes and co-operatives do however provide excellent touch-down spots for new players struggling with wellness. They provide education, community, friendship and protection in the first few weeks. The loss of a few high level players from the marketplace is no great loss. The communes do provide weapons to their members as well, every day during the invasion. So they're basically like the mil companies, except they provide more than just weapons, they provide wellness help as well.
All in all a great deal for new players 🙂
That sure was a nice way to say "Yes, we commit tax fraud, but we sure are nice people." You still rely on everyone who doesn't work in the two types of schemes (which is at my count around 210 employees at the moment), or 20% of the country workers.
That's not exactly a small amount of income that you're asking the rest of us to make up.
It's not tax fraud Dish. You're the one writing about the freedom to choose, and yet you're attacking people who choose to take low wages in return for the chance to help other players. You are basically telling them they don't have the freedom to choose :/
No, I'm telling them that all the people who choose to work in the game's mechanics themselves are supporting your ventures. You aren't paying for MPPs, nor are you paying for military spending.
You'd like to pretend you are, but in all of this "We support this country" jazz, you're forgetting to mention that the tax monies spent (which apparently people in Commons do not want to disclose to the public) don't come from your pockets.
So who is really "helping" the little guy? The one paying for the security of this country and alliance, or the ones giving away a couple pieces of bread? :3
And yes Iain, it's exactly what it is. Why do you think "working under the table" is illegal in almost every country in the World? :3
If it looks like a duck, etc...
Dishmcds if you want to regulate the wages set by private institutions then by all means feel free to do so.
WORST CONGRESS MANIFESTO EVER
Iain, that's an awful nice way to see "Yes, you're right, but we'll do as we wish".
I didn't think you'd submit to the debate so quickly, tbf.
It's not really Dish. It's a nice way of saying that what you're proposing is completely impossible, unless you plan to regulate the wages of every private sector company. Which you won't, because they're mostly owned by capitalists.
No it's not. It's exactly as I said. You're going to continue to do as you are, because you think there's no way to stop.
Nothing said about, you know, being equal and all that. Just that you'll continue to allow new players and people with normal jobs to shoulder the majority of the tax load. Notice you've chosen not to say anything about that? :3
New players monthly contribution to tax is around 0.0468 gold by my estimation. My contribution is around 6g. Yours will be even higher.
You don't shear lambs as they say. The goal for young players has to be retention first and foremost, not taxation. The communes offer an alternative to the marketplace for new citizens. An alternative which offers levels of food, gifting and housing which they otherwise wouldn't be able to afford. I think that this a great offer to the state in terms of retention. Helping players get through their first few weeks is what we should all be trying to do, the fact that they've found such an effective way to do it should be cause for celebration not dismay.
Just like we accept the tax loss of hundreds of soldiers working in the military for defence purposes, we should be willing to accept the tax loss of the money which is plunged into player retention in communes and skill 0 companies.