Join the new world

Update: Cool cats are voting in North Korea though, to help protect them from a russian PTO attempt. You should really consider it, since they sacrificed their country for us.

Check out this article for Details:
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/like-whoa-corea-del-norte-congress-stuff-here-955185/1/20#comments

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Hey Vermont.

I know I promised this article Friday. Sorry its a little late, I had some trouble organizing my thoughts. This wont be your average campaign speech. I feel like my campaign would not be complete without more than just talking points, without a bit of background/rationale for my stances. To start, I will just throw up the tldr version for anyone that doesn't want to go through the whole deal

TLDR Version:

-Newbie Retention is important
-Partisanship accomplishes nothing
-Mechanics trump all
-Educated citizens are stronger citizens
-Government programs must be held accountable
-Supports responsibly managed government run companies (but only to cover own product usage)
- Only Supports creation of Q5 Hospitals
- Supports free trade.
- Extremely active
- Supports creation of a "Department of Labor" to help promote eMerican volunteering.
- Loves the welcoming committee

Thats the end of the tldr version, so stop here if you arnt down for a lengthy read.

Thank You's:
First of all, I just want to thank those supporters I have been blessed with so far. Its a pretty neat feeling that you guys believe in me, and support my bid for a seat in congress - especially when its eMerican greats like One Eye and Eugene Harlot. Surrounded by players like that, its taken me a while to believe that I am really ready and experienced enough to attempt a solid bid at congress - even though I started 146 days ago. Some people might read this and say "that's silly, anyone can run for congress". I don't mean just "running for congress". I mean being a candidate that I feel might actually make the eUSA a better place than another player.

That's not to say my opponent(s) is/are inept. I haven't actually checked who I have for opponents, or if I even have any. Its not really relevant to me. I encourage you to read their platforms if they do exist though.

I also want to thank Ligtreb and the USWP for allowing me to run under their banner. Something I have prided myself on since starting this game is my non-partisan stance in game. The USWP respected this and has allowed me to run regardless. Thanks for your support guys.

My Real Life:
While I firmly stand by the statement "RL 😕= Erepublik", I feel like giving you guys a taste of the RL me will help you understand some of my qualities/qualifications for a leadership role in the eUS. In a brief statement:

I was raised a "military brat" (step-dad is Air Force), and spent time growing up in various places stateside, as well as Lebanon, Japan, and Guam. I am currently 20 years old and on my 3rd year of my undergraduate economics degree. My goal is to eventually go on to an Economics PhD and go into academia.

There's a couple of implications in there.

1) Most "military brats" I know tend to share a lot of qualities. One of these is that they are mostly fiercely patriotic and love our country, yet are disdainful of the more wasteful/inefficient things the government likes to do at times. I am no different, and believe in holding government programs accountable for their spending, including our military.

2) I'm an economics guy. While eRep economics don't mirror real life ones, there's a lot that can be said for someone that understand the theories that are relevant, and has the ability to understand the economic impact of the bills congress passes.

3) I hold a strong value for the importance of education. It is one of the driving factors in society. In eRep, it may be even more important, as education is often the thing that can increase player retention (or, in rl terms - education decreases the mortality rate...an interesting thought)


My eRepublik Life:

I already feel like this is getting long winded, so I am going to try to hold back.

To start - the question everyone really wants to know the answer to, and surprisingly nobody has asked yet.

Chocolate Mcskittles? really?

Yeah, my bad. I honestly didn't plan on playing this game for more than 15 minutes. I saw a link on another game (lol starkingdoms) and decided I would get on just to see what the economic engine was like. To anyone that frequents the eUS forums, Obviously I have lasted a tad longer than 15 minutes... Anyways, the name came from an old inside joke with a friend. Man if I had a time machine~

Anyways, I started off just like anyone else I suppose. I do remember getting my free bread from meals on wheels and thinking that was crazy that someone out there took the time to send me something to help me get on my feet. That definitely played a role in me hanging around.

Now im not a huge "government handouts for peeps just because" type of person in real life, but nobody is forced to play eRep, especially the first weeks when this game is remarkably boring. I believe in programs (such as the welcoming committee) to help support newbs their first weeks, to help engage them in our community and help them on the path to eRepublik addiction. It worked great on me, and I am sure it will continue to work great on others. eRepublik is a numbers game, and our country cannot grow stronger without more citizens. Aside from that, its a social strategy game...the more people, the more social it can get 😃

Aside from just "stuff", we also need to be giving our new players intangibles, like friendship and education. These are the things that help drive our county forward. As many of you know, I spend a lot of time attempting to help players asking questions on the eUS forums. I have also spent a lot of time helping spread fight guides and whatnot. I do this because I feel this makes the eUS a stronger, better place. I fully support government action to promote eMerican education, especially including help organizing/funding North American University.

Anyways, I slowly began to crawl around the eUS forums, and found myself in a couple debates, with players such as George Barker. Looking back, I lol. I think we all started this game as idealists, because we expect a simulator to transpose RL values on to. Needless to say, I have made a drastic jump from "idealist" to "mechanics" player over time. The eUS will not be able to be a force in the international arena if we are too busy trying to turn this game into something it isnt.

Some mechanics gamers take this to a level I am not at yet. My idea/definition of mechanics/smart gaming is that America simply needs to embrace the game as it is, and play it as its presented by the Devs. For example, when PTOs were available for use (still are in a way), we should have used that tool of warfare just as we would any other, because the developers of the game made it available just like any other.

On a brief aside, I think some of you will notice my taking the time to link the eUS forums every time I discuss them in this post. That's because I think they are the single best tool for education, newbie retention, and fun that our country has to offer. Go check them out!.


Odds and Ends:

Having given that lengthy bit on some of my personal RL/In game philosophies, from here out I will discuss some issues that face America.

War: Everyone says they want to win the war and kick the russians out. Big deal, you would have to be stupid to suggest surrendering at this point. The question is, what is "winning" the war and what do we do after we "kick the russians out"?

First of all, I will vote against a peace treaty with indonesia if one should arise, unless there are significant benefits involved. A 13 on 1 war vs an imperial power like Indonesia is far to valuable to give up. I would be less skeptical of a peace treaty with Russia, as that war is far more dangerous for america to keep open, but time will tell what the world will be like when the time for that will come.

Second, I will support any offensive actions against our enemies ONLY if it does not open any MPPs, and if they can sway economic balance in the world from our enemies to ours, or our allies, hands. This is mostly making reference to high raw materials regions. Attacking people for "lulz" or "revenge" is useless, there are better ways to do it, that are a lot less expensive. To point out the blatantly obvious, we have a 1 VS 13 war against Indonesia, and Indonesia holds a lot of valuable regions in the world. Bring on the fun.

That all is ahead of us though. In the meantime, I feel congressmen need not interfere in the affairs of military strategic planning in times such as these. Aside from making sure the money provided to the military branches is spent efficiently, there are far greater men out there than me to coordinate/strategize our military.

Government Companies and Region Infrastructure:
I believe that a self sufficient government is a cheap one. A majority of american taxes go to the military (a good thing). The amount that the military needs could significantly drop if the military was able to create its own weaponry. Because of this, I support the creation of Iron/Gun companies, to help keep our military branches self sufficient.

This has multiple benefits. First of all, it would help keep the weapons market from nearly falling through like it did in huge battles like California. Second, the government would not be a victim of price fluctuations (which would happen less often), or profiteering (especially in higher Q weapon companies where people are trying to make their initial investment profitable).

In running these, I would fight for a couple measures to keep costs down and to not infringe on the free markets. First of all, military members would be required to work these companies at low wages, as they are to be paid in guns. Second, these companies would need to be run as efficiently as they would be if they were private sector companies - Iron companies would have to be Q3 or higher and all companies would have to remain at the most efficient number of workers (10 for RM/Manu). The last thing I would fight for would be that the companies the government runs must be bought second hand. This will help keep there from being a glut in supply in the free market side of things, as well as allows gold spent to flow into American hands instead of into the game where it disappears.

I also support the nationalization of Hospital and DS companies. Not much to say here, except that I am a strong advocate of only placing Q5 hospitals wherever we do place hospitals. I do believe that California is the only "other" fortress we need, but should evidence provided (in math, not rhetoric) prove otherwise, I would be willing to consider other fortress states.

Free Trade:
Free trade should be encouraged with our allies. Those that refuse to participate in free trade economics, or are hostile towards the eUSA, should be trade embargoed - as trading with the eUS under free trade is a privilege, not a right.

Department of Labor:
Now for my favorite part of my campaign, i would like to introduce the concept of the "Department of Labor".

There is a ton of work that goes on in making our government run smoothly. There's a ton more work that could go into making it even better.

There are a lot of people volunteering their time currently. There are a lot more people that want to help but down know how.

The obvious solution? Lets mobilize the eUSA citizenry.

For the longest time, I didn't know how I could help make the eUSA a better place, aside from simply 2 clicking and fighting in the right place. Eventually, I realized that I really wanted to help but didn't know how. I began to help mentor lots of new players. I also started up a decent stint after we lost Texas, where I brought over 100 players back to Florida after we lost the battle for Texas.

However, it just didn't feel like it was enough. After a while, I began to wonder why, with how much there is to do, there's no way to help. Even after taking initiative to do things myself, I wondered how many others were in the same situation. I slowly began to realize how many people that group consisted of.

That said, I strongly feel it would be in the best interests of the eUSA to help coordinate volunteers to help make the eUSA a better place. There are constantly programs in need of help, PMs that need to be sent, or programs that need to be consolidated. A centralized 'Department of Labor' could be the one stop shop for anyone that either needs help running a program, or wants to help out making the eUSA a better place.

With a price tag of....7 gold (org + newspaper) and a space on the forums, its nearly a crime this hasn't happened yet.

Even if I am not elected, I would still like to pursue the DoL idea.


Campaign Promises: (Conduct while in office)

1) The 5 gold award for being elected to congress will go straight to either the Congressional Budget Office, or the Marines, so as to help the war effort. There is no reason for me to make a profit off of the privilege of being your congressman.

2) I will wait to vote for bills as late as possible. Far too often, mistakes are made when people rush into voting for bills. Voting for a bill 5 minutes after it is proposed does not help it pass any faster, and runs the risk of voting before all of the facts regarding a case have been brought to light.

3) I will not participate in the use of "lulz proposals". They lead to confusion, and can screw us over should we run out of active senators with proposals to use.

Endgame:

Man, this is getting way too long, so I am going to cut it short... Even though I am pretty confident I am forgetting a ton.

With that, I am going to leave you with my snazzy campaign slogan.

"Lame name but gets the game."

Fight Strong Vermont,
Choc

PS: I strongly suggest that any Virginians who read this check out my good friend Yang Wenli's campaign article here, and vote for him.


I suggest all players who do not know how to effectively fight and use a hospital check out This guide to hospital use, fighting, and wellness.

It is also imperative that all players read and follow orders as describe in the Department of Defense Newspaper as often as possible.