The eSissification of Playground ‘Politics’

Day 2,425, 14:04 • Published in Canada USA • by tword pete
Once upon a time when a note was passed around a classroom had the lifespan of 15 minutes or less (depending on how observant your teacher was), feuds among elementary school students would culminate in a playground brawl. Noses were sometimes bloodied and some egos often bruised but the damage was usually superficial on both counts. Any scarring that did occur would only add to your childish sense of masculinity: “Look…three stiches in Grade 5. Now that was a fight!”

…Unless you were the kid who remained the constant target of taunting aimed to provoke a fight…then those scars likely mean a very different thing to you, and your years on the playground or walking home after school carry the weight of a very different set of memories than a jockish pride of having pummelled and been pummelled by your fellow classmates. This article isn’t about people who experienced old fashioned bullying, dare I say “real bullying,” but then that would ignore the fact that our children can’t escape the playground anymore. The note (or humiliating photo) has a much longer lifespan than 15 minutes. The playground, with all its fun and torment, is now 24/7, holidays included. With that in mind, I feel pretty sad for kids who are bullied these days. Children are petty and cruel when not being inquisitive and playful, so it’s a shame that the buffers that give kids some much needed breathing room has been eroded by the proliferation of online social ‘lives.’ It’s not a good thing. Less of other people has its merits…just ask Thoreau.

So where were we…ah yes, a non-eRep related article put out by an eNobody that is going nowhere except to play off a topic brought up by DMV’s recent article about “bullying.” That summary is mostly right, except this article isn’t about bullying…because there isn’t any in eCanada, at least not in the real sense and not even in the cyber-bullying sense that was touched on earlier. Let me list a few reasons why true bullying does not exist in eCanada and how eSissification only ‘feeds’ into a diminished and distracted eCanada.


First, you’re not children. While we may behave like them on occasion, this does not grant us the ability to garner sympathy the way children normally would. I know it hurts when people write things in the game that sound dishonest and have ill-will attached to them. But tell you what, there’s a lot of notes being passed around by all sorts of kids about all sorts of other kids and there is no teacher watching…that means you’ve got to fend for yourself, and one of the best defenses is to recognize that those notes are petty, unfunny, and untrue, even if those twisted half-truths do sting your eFeelings quite a bit.

Quit looking for sympathy in order to gain a little more favour among other players in this silly online game…there’s respect to be gained by refusing to be an online sissy using trumped up hissy fits to grind your way some spot of online influence. On the flipside, aim to become adults that refuse to use underhanded tactics to harass other less mature/more vunerable players. Toughen up and be skeptically compassionate of those who still haven’t got the knack of it yet.


Second, you’re not stuck here. Unlike being stuck in a classroom because society deems it necessary to educate you into model citizens…unlike being forced to leave the classroom for recess or walking home undefended…unlike being caught in the web of social networking where every schoolyard bully is connected to every friend, relative, and future employer, you don’t have to play this game.

Enrollment is not mandatory. Being “politically active” (ie. attention mongering, at the worst of times) is quite optional. They bullies are not in your playground, they are not stalking you on the way home from school, and they are not on Facebook spreading photos of your atomic wedgie from hell. If you feel trapped by eRepublik bullies, then let yourself out of the electronic box you’ve locked yourself inside and try some other hobby.

Third, it doesn’t really hurt. At least, not that it should from I’ve seen. Sure, people have been paranoid about personal info (from saltydog’s tasteless prank on Addy, to Acacia’s worry about IP addresses, and recently Bruce’s consternation about his Twitter account). Sure, you’re emotionally invested in this game and may have even dropped some real money on it, too. You may even think these online players are the only people who can understand and appreciate you as real friends might. You may think eRepublik is your only refuge from a cruel life of work, family, taxes, health issues, degrading climate, soulless politicians, gutless pop music, and a boring social life.

Sure, RL can suck, but the real fact is that you can quit eRep or step back or just try not to care so much. Because your life doesn’t depend on it. And it really shouldn’t. And if it is starting to become that crutch, then find a way to drop it and walk on your own two feet. There’s no need to quit eRep completely in order to recover from eSissification. Just step back far enough to see that the hype about national security, forum activity, blacklisting, enemies of state, and online bullying are mainly the products of people overly-invested in once great game that are better off


With all this in mind, I’d recommend that an impeachment for Bruce would help him take a needed breather from the game so he can assess what’s really going on. He means well for people on his team but hasn’t responded in the most productive ways to players trying to provoke a schoolyard punch-up on the electronic playground. A time-out is a good way to throw cold water on a petty feud that is being blown out of proportion, and I recommend it for a handful of eCanada’s vocal players at the moment. Sadly, you all can’t step forward for impeachment the way Bruce has. Maybe give it a fair shot by volunteering more silence.


“I find it wholesome to be alone the greater part of the time. To be in company, even with the best, is soon wearisome and dissipating.”
--Walden