The eUS is Greater: My personal endorsement (fwiw)

Day 590, 13:37 • Published in USA USA • by Ananias

I have been very fortunate in eRepublik, I have met extraordinary players and have achieved a lot during my short time here. I spend far more time playing the game than I probably should, but it provides the kind of escape from the maudlin routines of RL. As many of you are aware, my identity in eRepublik has been strongly intertwined with the United States Workers Party ever since the December 25th Congressional elections. I am halfway through my third, and final, term as Party President. With the support of the USWP delegation, and many of my colleagues from differing parties, and following 6 terms in Congress, I have received the honor of being selected as Speaker of the House for the 19th and 20th eUS Congressional classes. I am very proud and grateful for my association with the United States Workers Party, not because of the exceptional support they have provided for my political career, but because of the exceptional and diversely gifted individuals that comprise the active members.

As might be expected, most players that know me find it challenging to divorce my personal perspectives from my political affiliation. For the few minutes that is takes you to read this though, I would ask that you accept my thoughts as being my personal view as coming from a fellow citizen and not the “Political Hack” that I am commonly perceived as by opponents of the USWP, and not the “Party Guy” that I am commonly perceived as by the membership of the United States Workers Party.

For the balance of this article I’m just going to be an eUS Citizen, sans any party affiliation, sharing my viewpoint as someone who has been engaged in the game for a long enough time to know of that which I share.

I want to be President of the eUnited States of America.

I believe that is a shared dream by anyone that has ever participated in voting for eUS President on the 5th of each month. There is something about the idea of having your name listed as a candidate, followed by party endorsements, that, I think, is tantalizing to every eUS citizen. And I am certainly not excluded from the draw of sitting in the virtual Oval Office, making decisions and pushing buttons that affect the game experience of thousand of eRepublik citizens domestically and globally.

It would be dishonest for me to say that I would not run for president at a moments notice if I thought I had the support to do so, it would be dishonest for me to say that I do not deeply envy Harrison Richardson, Emerick, Richard Brophy, Lowell Kennedy, et al. for their opportunity…the key being that envy, status and/or lust for power are poor motivations for public service, even in a virtual nation.

I have had the extraordinary privilege during the Scrabman administration of participating as a (hopefully) trusted advisor and, sometimes confidant, of President Scrabman, as such, I am very disappointed to see him retire. And that is not for the sake of my position of influence, which has waned greatly over the last several weeks anyway, I will be disappointed because I know that the eUS will be losing the hardest working player in America.

While some of you may disagree with the product of his efforts, I can assure every citizen in the eUS that Scrabman was one of those rare players that brought his “A” game to the Oval Office…every…single… day…of his long tenure. At times we may have disagreed on the minutiae, but he has always proven, day in and day out, that his motivations and efforts were exclusively focused on the success of the eUnited States.

It is perhaps because of my disappointment in seeing Scrabman leave office in a few days, regardless of the personal merit of the decision, that I found myself in the awkward position of dispassionate campaigning for anyone that would follow him, even my good friends Harrison Richardson, Emerick and Lowell Kennedy. For that, my friends, I apologize, as it is the one quantifiable contribution of value that I can make.

Before I can continue in this article evaluating the primary contestants in this campaign, Harrison Richardson and Emerick, I must first offer my congratulations to the other worthy candidates in the race. Lowell, we have PM’d on many occasions and I wish you great success in the elections, you are one of the most intelligent and articulate players I have met in the game and the citizens of the eUS are very fortunate to have you as a choice, and more importantly, the very fortunate for the opportunity to get to know you better.

Emerick may be “Great”…but the eUnited States of America IS exponentially greater.

While I was not terribly surprised to see Emerick declare his candidacy for president this term, I must admit to some surprise that he chose to subordinate his intelligence, qualifications and experience to a “cult of personality” campaign.

For those of you that were unaware of this, I originated the term “beta-giants”, in its most negative connotation, substantially in reference to Emerick. When I first started in Congress and participating on the eUS forums, Emerick was the consistent enough in his efforts to marginalize and humiliate new players for me to consider him the pre-eminent eRepublik version of an MMORPG “Player Killer”. He was extraordinarily effective at driving new players, even myself to quit, or at least seriously consider quitting, the game. In fact, I believe that my PM to the Admins when I originally wanted my character deleted several months ago specifically mentioned him and several other “beta-giants” that had made the game a "bust" in my opinion.

Over time I decided to return to an active role in eRepublik, ostensibly to support Scrabman in his run for President and hang out with my friend, tdwester. After re-engaging, I was provided the opportunity to get to know Emerick better and have many IRC conversations with him. I developed a greater respect for his knowledge of the game and his unusual wit. I now consider him a friend, as well as a knowledgeable and creative resource in the game.

I do not question Emerick’s qualification for the Presidency. I do not question Emerick’s experience for the Presidency. I do not question Emerick’s capability for the Presidency. But, given my experience and relationship with him, I seriously question Emerick’s motivation for the Presidency.

Throughout my time spent playing eRepublik, I have been a consistent and passionate advocate of eUS success as a nation unified by the common purpose of eRepublik victory. eRepublik is a game, and as such, I believe it can be won. Not by individual effort, but by collective focus and progress toward that end…while, I firmly believe that I, Ananias, cannot win this game individually; I just as firmly believe the the eUS can win this game as a team.

There are many that disagree very passionately with my perspective, and I respect their approach of focusing efforts toward the growth and strength of the social networking aspect of eRepublik. I think there is room for both views. Of all the intelligent and passionate opponents of my e-worldview, the foremost has been Emerick…who considers me philosophically delusional for my advocacy and promotion of my "unity to the common purpose of eUS victory" mindset.

Simply put, Emerick does not believe that the eUS can win, and while I know that there is a large contingent of players that share his viewpoint, is raises the question in my mind of why he would be interested in leading the very team that he does not believe can be victorious, or even successful, in our combined endeavors…and further, where would Emerick lead us?

Perhaps, that is the reason that I find the idea of eUS voters selecting our next president in response to the lulz shouts “Emerick is Great” particularly disturbing, because it fosters and encourages the failed notion that an individual leader’s “greatness” equates to eUS “greatness”, when the fact remains that eUS “greatness” is incumbent upon the unity and focused resolve of our nation as a team toward the common goal of victory (whatever the definition).

The eUS needs to stop depending on “great leaders” and start “leading with greatness” as a nation.

In order to do that, we need to select those that are willing to serve and contribute to our collective goals as a nation rather than those that would strive to leadership for the sole purpose of attaining the power and authority to defeat those very goals.

That brings me to my personal endorsement of Harrison Richardson for President of the eUnited States of America during the elections on July 5th, 2009.

Toward total disclosure, I would have loved to have been the choice to run for President this term from my party, it would have been a great honor and fulfilled a dream that every eUS citizen harbors to some degree: to have an opportunity to be elected to the most coveted and influential office that exists in eRepublik (until the development of the coveted "Lord Master of the Virtual Universe" is released with eRep Version 27). I think I would have been a reasonable choice, just as Emerick and his supporters consider their candidate as a “Great” choice, but, my fellow citizens, this is about making the right choice. You deserve better than a reasonable candidate, you deserve better than a “Great” candidate…

My fellow eAmericans, you deserve the right President to complement and contribute to your greatness; and the right President is Harrison Richardson

While I could write several hundred more words on his exceptional qualifications, abundant experience and proven capabilities; the deciding factor in personally choosing to endorse Harrison Richardson is that I am assured of his motivations:

Harrison Richardson wants to contribute to eUS success and, eventually, victory in eRepublik.

Harrison Richardson is a proven contributor and public servant that will continue in the tradition of bringing his “A” game to the Oval Office in support of our national goals. The greatest difference between Harrison and his nearest competitor for the Presidency, is that, every single day in office, Harrison will be moving our nation forward toward prosperity as a contributor TO the unified team effort rather than moving the nation backward toward unchecked Presidential power as an opponent of our unified team effort.

I personally endorse Harrison Richardson for President of the eUnited States of America during the July 5th, 2009 elections.

Emerick may be “Great”, but the eUnited States of America IS exponentially greater…I believe that on July 5th we will make a choice between the two options.

I choose eUS success.

I choose Harrison Richardson.

Ananias - eUS Citizen