Join the new world

We all play eRepublik for various reasons. Some of us are two-clickers, content to work & train and possibly PM a few friends, some of us are heavily involved, seeking out more community from the game, some of us are here for the economic, political or strategic theory that can be found, some of us are here to provide an alterego to our real life. No matter what the motivation, there is a common thread that we share: eRepublik. The game continues in our absence, the people here, be they transitory or permanent, continue on much in the same way. Regardless of our individual motivations for continuing to play, continuing to work & train, continuing to log in each and every day, we share something in common: a desire to make things better, be it for our in-game character or for the eUS and society as a whole.

I believe that it is the tie that binds, not the differences between that is what will make us successful. I hope that most of you all out there share this belief. It is difficult to look past our own opinions about how things should be done, what should be done about this or that, and how other people should do things. What I will be asking you all by the end of this article is not to change things about yourselves, not to give up your opinions, your hopes and concerns but rather to ask yourselves the following question: "what do I expect from the game and what can I do to help achieve the common goals of the eUS?"


A Quick Anecdote



Much like Calvin, we make our reality.

When I started playing eRepublik back in May of 2009 I had dreams of being the next Eugene V. Debs or some other storied progressive leader from American History. I quickly decided against pigeonholing myself with my name and instead adopted PigInZen, a reflection of both my long-standing love for Jane's Addiction and Buddhist philosophy. Shortly after starting I wondered what was up with this new world. Why were there no global organizations like the United Nations? What were the reasons for the deathgrip of competing alliances on the world's nations? My early shouts reflected this concern. "Why are there no US political parties that are anti-war?" is one of my favorites. I think it reflects both my idealism and naiveté. Some would say that idealism and naivete must go hand in hand. I beg to differ.

When I was attending UC Davis in the late 1980's I happened to become interested in the Model United Nations club. For those not aware of Model UN or what it is Model UN gives students the ability to learn about how the real-life United Nations operates. The year I was most involved with the club was when our chapter was given the privilege of representing the United Kingdom at the national convention. The UK is a Security Council member and holds a great deal of intrinsic power in the UN structure. I traveled to San Diego with a couple thousand other representatives from other universities and colleges and role-played as a UN commission rep for an extended weekend. It was a great deal of fun and quite eduational.

To me, eRep is just another laboratory. It's definitely more than a GAME as most of us who have become heavily and personally invested in it can attest. My point with this anecdote is that we all play for a reason be it the social contact, the war game aspect, the economics, journalism, the politics, or the international relations. But make no mistake - despite declaring that we might be personally "game mechanics" driven we are still playing a game. That means that we collectively bring our own judgments and paradigm about what eRepublik means to us each individually to the table with us. We cannot avoid this, and in my view, shouldn't try to.




What Was the Point of That Story?



Oh jeez, not this tl;dr shit from PiZ again...

It's simple. Many months ago, Scrabman authored a famous article "The Game Within the Game" which influenced me heavily. At the time it was a rebuttal of the philosophy that one could effectively play eRepublik while bringing external influences in. In short, one could pretend (i.e., "role play&quot😉 that you were a great peacemaker or labor organizer or spy and somehow have an impact on the game in that manner. Scrabman posited that this was counter-productive in that the role play would lead people to make decisions that weren't in the collective best interest. I believe that this is correct, but only up to a point.

You see, we're all human here. And humans are notoriously irrational. They make decisions that run counter to objectives and goals all the time. Such is true in eRepublik as it is in real life. And there's no avoiding it. None, no matter how hard we try. In our quest to become perfect "game mechanics" players we've somehow lost a little oomph, our edge. People are restless and unsure and bored. This restlessness, boredom and uncertainty crops up in our debates over economic policy, hospitals and whether to approve Zoli's citizenship or not. We've become SRS BSNS players now, like it or not! And it's boring us to tears.




Another Anecdote - Bear With Me Here



Entrance to San Quention, Marin County, California

I grew up in upper-middle class Palo Alto, where Stanford is located. My parents were bound and determined to keep my brother and I there despite the finanicial strain of getting divorced and having us living with mom in a single-parent household. Needless to say, they were also bound and determined to show us that there was a wider world of experiences out there than our exclusive life in a predominantly wealthy city.

I would like to think that I'm known for being evenhanded and fair. This trait was instilled in me at a very young age by my parents. I distinctly remember this one Saturday when I was eight years old. My father, being a product of the 1950s and one who embraced the rejection of the "establishment" during the 1960s is an idealist at heart. This particular Saturday in question my father was doing some community work and transporting prisoner's wives to the local state prison in California for family visits. He brought me along. So he, I and five women from East Palo Alto (the wrong side of Highway 101), Oakland and Richmond headed out to San Quentin. I learned far more about myself in relation to the rest of the world than any other experience since. Most importantly of all, I learned that compassion, understanding and a willingness to consider all components of society were needed to properly gauge one's place in the world and your impact on that world.

How does this translate to eRepublik? Well, much as in Scrabman's article, we all bring our world experiences to the table. There are many citizens in eRepublik that choose to do things their own way, for better or worse. There can be much debate about wether this is productive or not for our little society but that debate misses the point entirely. It's not about our differences in opinions but rather in finding commonalities. We can easily find things to argue about, be it whether Samuel Seabury should get with the program, leave Virginia and move to a fortress state, whether Zoli should get citizenship or not, whether or not to raise import taxes on weapons, etc. etc. etc. This things ultimately do not matter much. I know I'll catch heat for this belief but I wear my heart on my sleeve; you will always get a straight opinion from me and my opinion can be swayed.

We have differences. We should be trying to make these differences work for us and not against us.




OK, Mr. High and Mighty, Got Solutions? Any?



I think you're getting the hint...

I do. The eUS faces numerous challenges. These challenges are not easily fixed by changing taxation or governmental structure or electing different people to Congress. These challenges require something... bigger.

I am running for President. I think this was expected but I'm trying something different this time. My candidacy is my solution, not from an egotist's belief in that I know what's best and what's not, not from a particular agenda that I wish to push. I have no laundry list of programs or initiatives that I believe will be our golden ticket to the land of milk and honey. Rather, my candidacy will be about what you, citizens of the eUS want from your future and your expectations of what we can become. If you're intrigued, read on. If you're not, well, you probably weren't considering voting for me in the first place. Thanks for listening, I hope you'll consider it in the future.




PigInZen - A Different Kind of Player, A Different Kind of Candidate



Hopefully, a different kind of President.

IF you believe that a leader should be accountable, honest and forthcoming, vote for me.

IF you believe that experience, presence and availabilty matter, vote for me.

IF you believe that all viewpoints, beliefs and opinions should have a seat at the table of power, vote for me.

IF you believe that the eUS should embrace the power of collaboration, vote for me.

IF you believe that your efforts in eRepublik are about creating not just a stronger military and projecting more damage but also about creating a stronger society, vote for me.

What does all that mean? It means this: I believe that our problems stem from an inability, for whatever reason, to effectively mobilize our citizens to do greater things. I am as much to blame in this regard as any. But I don't shrink away from that blame, rather, I accept it and actively seek to do something about it. How will you all play into this? Well, I'm glad you asked...




My Goal - The Great Society



Only one way to avoid this from being true...

I have taken to finishing all of my articles with a statement about collective goals and team building. I borrow from the real life motto of the United States - "E Pluribus Unum" which means "from many, one." It best summarizes how we can succeed in eRepublik. Separately we are powerless, adrift in the over 300,000 registered accounts. Collectively, we have great strength, and only by working together, collectively can we achieve goals unattainable by each of us individually.

The Great Society is a call to arms. A call to all interested citizens to get involved. The eUS needs you. It needs your time, your effort, your voice. We need people of all walks to become active in recruiting, in outreach, in making us more productive and effective. We cannot do it alone and one person is not going to magically fix everything and make us the preeminent nation we want to be. It is going to take teamwork. It is going to require the willingness of many to stand up and ask, "how can I help?" and "what can I do?" to build the eUS.

The Great Society will be a push towards building our national infrastructure. No, not hospitals and defense systems. National infrastructure in this regard will be our forum, our wiki, our parties, our systems that make the machine of state and our society move. National infrastructure includes all aspects of society, from communications to organization to implementation. It is a huge task and one that has been put off for too long. We have been focused too much on the immediate and not enough on laying down foundations for lasting power.

In short, this election is not so much about why I'm better than the next guy as much as it is about where we want to end up and how committed you all are to getting us there. I'm willing to commit to the requirements of the Presidency but are you all willing to join me in building something?




My Pledge to You All



Now with fresh lemon scent!

I will push for greater national imput and discussion on the mundane. Our elected officials and members of the Presidential staff need greater contact with you. In furtherance of this I will seek to hold regular forums and discussions on matters of import to all of us. These forums will be moderated by a member of the Cabinet. If it's a forum about economics and tax policy, the Secretary of the Treasury will moderate it. If it's a forum about citizen retention, recruitment or new citizen support the Secretary of the Interior will moderate. If it's a discussion on military or militia matters, the Secretary of Defense will moderate it.

I will create a new Department of Technology and appoint a Secretary that will oversee the growing importance that technology (forum, wiki, national portal, database) is playing in our policy decisions and discussions.

I will work with the military command structure and our allies to make the best decisions possible with regard to foreign policy and war. Contrary to popular belief, I am not a warmonger but do believe in the usefulness of war as an economic stimulus, political tool and in energizing our citizens.

I will actively encourage political parties to become more involved in the day-to-day support system of our nation. This means allowing parties access to new citizen data in the national database, getting parties to be more creative in their outreach (potentially creating more political training militias, more new citizen programs, etc.), and most of all, getting parties to run more candidates for Congress. We need political activity. It is part and parcel of who we are.

I will create a Cabinet staffed with approachable, accountable and active citizens that reflects the broad viewpoints present in our country. In short, no political agendas or assholes will be allowed.

I will accept as my Vice President the runner up in the election, no matter who that person is. This, I believe, is more in line with how eRepublik functions since the runner up takes the office of President in the event of impeachment. That person needs to be involved in the day-to-day aspects of the Presidency.

I sincerely hope that others running for President will take this pledge as well and that we get candidates for President that accept the huge challenge and responsibility.

Finally, I will always, always take criticism and be held accountable for our failures, be they of my own doing, the doing of members of my administration, or of us collectively. That's what leaders do. They stand up and lead.






E Pluribus Unum. From Many, One.



I'LL SAY IT AGAIN: Together we have strength beyond measure. Do your part. Follow DoD orders. Fight with weapons. Maintain your wellness. SUPPORT THE CAUSE.