Slavia

I firmly believe that there is not a single faction in Canadian politics that is worth supporting. Either the parties aren't what they used to be, or they were never anything to begin with. In this article, I examine the large political entities and come to the conclusion that not a single one has merit. Let's start with the one I know most about.

Democratic Action League- D-

I had a clear vision of where I wanted to go when I founded the DAL party. It was a breath of fresh air onto a stagnant political scene. We scoffed at the CSD who was the largest party yet completely inactive. Despite only having a small number of people, we were active, dedicated and well-respected. I myself came within a few votes of winning the presidency from Bruck under the banner of the 7th smallest party in Canada- even thus did the DAL's influence permeate Canadian politics. When I resigned as DAL party president, the party could be considered a kind of lobby for progressivism. This, of course, changed when several individuals decided it best to recruit new players at break-neck speeds, therefore diluting the party's ideology and influence. Soon, the party became exactly the thing I had started it to counter; an over-bloated, autocratic necro-party controlled by a small oligarchy. It had become CSD v. 2.

Canadian Progressive Front- C+

One must not be fooled; the new CPF is nothing like the old one. Precisely because of this- if I would recommend joining a top 5 party (I wouldn't)- I would recommend you join the CPF. This is a party led by competent individuals who are well-aware of the dangers of over-recruiting. It also has a clear vision of where it is going and knows how to think outside the box: its private military is evidence for that. However, even the CPF is a party that is fundamentally flawed. Similar to the DAL, it has no real ideology (spare me the petty politicking charade- if there was any ideological difference among the parties none of them could get into bed with each other and still have the nerve to show their faces in public). It is also shamelessly mainstream- its in-game ideology of 'Center-right, Libertarian' is evidence of their desire to maintain a large membership.


Canadian Social Democrats- D

I have already partially covered them. They were the first adherents to the flawed philosophy of blind recruitment. Their problems, however, run deeper: in the simplest sense, the problem with the CSD is simply that it tries to base its policies around a RL ideology; there are some social democratic values that simply do not work/do not make sense in this game: internationalism, pacifism, economic interventionism etc. Therefore, the social democrats risk either endorsing policies that make little sense in eRepublik or presenting a watered down version of social democracy. Incidentally, the CSD has always been several steps behind the other parties in developing political philosophy. It is no different now: the CSD are entirely in the pocket of Jacobi. When Jacobi decides to retire, the party will have no reference point, and it will be revealed how silly it really is. The CSD was the party of yesterday; no, the party of the day before yesterday- DAL is the party of yesterday.


Canadian National Coalition- D

I'll admit that this is the party I know least about as it was formed after my retirement. On first impression, this party strikes me as about the most pointless thing since sliced bread (yes, sliced bread is pointless- get a knife and slice the son of a bitch; stop being lazy). The party identifies itself as centrist and does not even commit to a specific social policy. From what I've seen of its platforms, it lives up to this. The CNC has also been a major supporter of the new oligarchy led by Jacobi. The result? The CNC appears to be nothing more than an ideologically blank puppet of Jacobi's.

Canadian Paradox Party- D-

So if we established that DAL is the party of yesterday and CSD the party of the day before yesterday, the CPP is the party of three weeks ago. While the DAL comes from an age where people recognised that certain RL policies don't blend with eRep and the CSD comes from an age when this was not part of accepted thought, the CPP comes from an age even before that when parties were merely a group of friends that unite under a cool-sounding name. The CPP has been revived again and again only to continue proving how obsolete it is. It is another centrist party, but with the label 'libertarian' (obviously the one that sells the best out of the four) slapped onto it. As with the CSD and CNC, the CPP is a plaything of Jacobi's always standing at his heels like a good dog whenever he wants to run for another term.


Union Nationale- C

Is this the successor party of the separatist bloc? It claims to be committed to Canada as a whole. I see nothing wrong with a party advancing the rights of the Francophone minority; at this point though (even if real life prejudices still persist) they have been accommodated very well by the government so that their party is akin to a Women's Rights party in Sweden. Anyway, if you're a Francophone and wish to further your cause, then you can't go wrong with UN.


Canadian Empire Party- B-

Ignoring the less than noble history of the party, Octavian- the ever controversial far-right radical- has some validity in restarting this party for the revolutionary right. Although I disagree with just about every part of his platform, I commend him on taking the less mainstream path, even designating the party as far-right. We may or we may not see so me more from the CEP. Although it is hard to see them winning any real influence any time soon, they get bonus points for having cojones.


TAP and CHAOS

Both of these are more like communities than political parties, therefore, I think it quite possible to be a member while staying completely apolitical. TAP is held together by a charismatic, controversial and competent leader, Saltydog. CHAOS is a little inactive but (and you must excuse a little advertisement) we are looking to start a new community on our forums of people who wish to remain independent politically or else cause a little mayhem.

How this relates the election we just saw?


Well, it means that we merely saw an election controlled mostly by the undead. Honestly, this is not so unusual (the majority of voters in all elections are two-clickers). What makes this election unusual, is us getting a clear glimpse of whose two-clickers are better. The math has been done several times so I won't repeat it, but we all know how much more raw members DAL-CPF coalition had compared to the CPP-CSD coalition. Will this mean DAL will finally start focusing on recruiting ACTIVE members like I recommended? What will happen to the CSD, CPP and CNC after Jacobi retires? He seems to be the one reactionary demagogue that holds those failed parties together. Will it be the CPF that emerges as the most influential party? It certainly seems that way- they are in an excellent position following this election, being the only top 5 party not completely in ruins or tightly in Jacobi's clutches; in addition they are guaranteed DAL support for their presidential candidate next election....