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http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> See the Opportunities section of this edition for info on how to help to develop this section of the Press. http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px">

Yay! We're baaaaaack!

Economic Celebrity Death Match

To kick things off, we present a handy round-up of key articles published recently in the eUSA regarding what citizen PigInZen rather dramatically refers to as "Economic Armageddon". While it's mostly a re-hash of the never-ending cycle of RL debates over tariffs and protectionism, nevertheless many of these articles are well-written and make for an interesting read.

And they've elicited a lively discussion in their comments sections that's worth pondering over.

Note to loyalist leftie readers:
Perhaps our redder-than-red leftie readers might find it odd that we'd start off our refreshed focus on "international news with a workers viewpoint" by reporting on an economic debate going on in the most capitalist of all countries? Well, pshaw, y'all. 🙂

First off, this is great Keynes vs. Hayek kinda stuff. So it's just darn fun to watch the debate. Get some popcorn.

Secondly, as the ever-quotable Pogo Possum once said, "We are confronted with insurmountable opportunities." In other words, so where do the e-socialist left, the anarchist community and the pro-civil-society liberals stand on these questions? Speak up! Your silence is deafening!

And thirdly, well, thirdly is the same advice your jaded and cynical editor offers to all excitable young marxist-leninists: before reorganizing the international economy, please show us that you have some experience running a taco stand. (Oh jeez, did I say that out loud? Am I gonna get banished now?) Whatever. Moving on..

Oh. Also, there's this:
http://blog.timesunion.com/comics/files/2008/10/pogo.gif" width="150" height="184">


So. Anyway. Here's the main contenders in the great Economic Armageddon debate so far...

** Mr. Clean himself, the gentle genie in a bottle, that maker of data and breaker of worlds, the Amazing PigInZen, having just returned from a sabbatical to that other world people call "real", kicked things off with Economic Armageddon or How the Hell Will We Ever Recover, which argues for increased protectionism in the form of higher tariffs.

** Successful American e-entrepreneur LifesaveM responded with Economic Paradigm Shift, going all rational on us and proposing a less draconian modification to import taxes, emphasizing that things can be tweaked and experimented with, so don't panic.

** Then Swedish beta giant, super-model and genius-level player Misho weighed in with an international perspective in Economic Armageddon, lets use it and Nuke 'em!, calling on EDEN to pay some attention to the second "E" in the name of the alliance and start coordinating economic policies for the benefit of all its member-nations. (Do I detect a Kantian project in the works? Hmmm...)

** And keeping with his penchant for taking the opposite side of every argument -- that's why we love ya, dude! -- the ever-present, yet ever-mysterious and possibly retiring Woxan, waxed on with Imports Are Obviously Killing Our Economy, which promotes the anti-tariff side of the argument. He promotes a "wait and see" attitude and predicts that a new market equilibrium will assert itself, so don't panic.

** As an important side-note to all of this: The USA's fabulous banker to the stars, AidenAstrup noted in the latest edition of The Financial Times that the e-US government has put the finishing touches on its Federal Reserve system. Now, as all of us soft-core anarcho-socialized types know, in real-life, the USA likes to pretend that "pure market forces" can do no wrong. But in fact, even Joe the Plumber (remember him?) is aware that the government intervenes heavily in the capitalist system through an alliance with big banks and corporations. The new in-game Federal Reserve is a similar set-up, with the eUS government funnelling money into t'Jelle and other large banks in order to safeguard its investments, earn a profit, and provide a tool for intervening in the economy.

Interesting stuff! And even more interesting to see it being hashed out in public.


Whirled News

Here's a few regularly-published, but perhaps lesser-known, papers that offer unique or interesting perspectives on world events.


Published mostly in English:

Malaysia: Chron. of Democracy Viva by Carr de Vaux often publishes political commentary and news focussing on the Southeast Asian and Pacific region. The most recent edition has an analysis of the 3 major national alliances: EDEN, Phoenix and Sol

Belgium: Manong Rizal's The Year of Progress provides news and insight from a strong and sensible advocate of prosperity through independence and neutrality.

Irelan😛 Boru's Kalashnikov provides a Labour Party and Republican oriented perspective on Irish events.

USA: Church Times, published by the radical eAnglican advocate, Samuel Seabury, offers a steady stream of non-traditional advice on how to engage with eRepublik in a conscientious and ethical manner.


Computer: Google Translator ON!

Russia: Voice Through the Wall often publishes "Radio Intercepts", typically listing links to battle orders and active battles around the world. (published mostly in Russian)

Serbia: Brigadir reports regularly and in great depth on developments within and the organization of the Serbian military. (published mostly in romanized Serbian)

Germany: Volksstimme or Voice of the People, provides news and information from the Communist Party of Germany, who with assistance from the CCCP have recently opened the doors of their new commune network. (published in German)




Super-Commune Update: Capitalists Lose Sleep as Socialist Giant Awakens

The development of the Super-Commune is one of the most intriguing and under-reported stories in eRepublik. Operating almost entirely beneath the radar, an economic giant has been growing by leaps and bounds in eRussia.

The Super-Commune network -- often referred to by its Russian acronym GOSPLAN (Gosudarstvennyi Komitet po Planirovaniyu / State Committee on Planning) -- belongs to no country. It is controlled by no government. And its goal is to rock the very foundations of the e-world's capitalist economy by providing the material basis for the emergence of a powerful alternative.


Getting There

One way to think about the current stage of the Super-Commune program is that it "fights fire with fire". Using all of the means available under the rules of the game, the masterminds of this experiment are effectively building up a "socialist cartel" in order to dominate the market. Rather than trying to convince governments to adopt people-friendly and emancipatory economic policies, and instead of "leading by example" in the form of small-scale prototypes, this approach envisions engaging the capitalist system head-on and in a large-scale way. That's why a number of its advocates refer to it simply as "economic warfare".

In short, the Super-Commune intends to drive the capitalists out of business by turning the market against them.


Here's some interesting notes about the Super-Commune experiment:

It's a long-term plan, not a quick miracle. But early indicators show that it appears to be moving in the intended direction.

The initial target is to dominate the Russian food industry via collectivization, then move on to other sectors.

The expectation is that by creating an unstoppable collective economy, the foundation will be laid for establishing a truly 'Soviet' and internationalist power base: one where the workers of the world really are in command. This will provide the basis for extending meaningful, material solidarity (money, food, materials, guns, etc.) to social-revolutionary networks in various locations. Winning political power would be a plus, but not a requirement, for success.

As Johnobrow Dadds of the Peoples Communist Party (UK) has put it: "The world revolution will begin in Russia."

Presently it includes 15 quality-1 Russian food companies, employing a total of about 160 workers.

At this point in time, the network includes both minimum-wage 'commune' companies, staffed mainly by dedicated internationalist volunteers, and 'Soviet infrastructure hub' companies that employ workers at market wages.

Has deployed two 'food dumps' so far, putting about 30,000 units of food onto the Russian market at 'crash' prices.


While there are still many rivers to cross, some interesting lessons have been learned so far. They include:

It is possible to recruit and retain a core of "shock troops" who will make the necessary sacrifices to jump-start the effort. The efforts of volunteers from the Socialist Freedom Party (USA), in particular, have been outstanding. But a big "Hero of Labor" salute goes out to all of those from Germany, Russia, Ireland, the UK, Turkey, the US and elsewhere who've made the commune companies work by volunteering to work at minimum wage and by helping to organize the work units.

Leaders will step forward; technologists and economists will be intrigued. Along with long-time plan supporters like Maksim Chuikov and Osmany Ramon, who continue to provide steady leadership, outstanding individuals have stepped up their game in support of this effort. For example:

* Comrad3 from the USA produced a beautiful multi-lingual forum with associated data collectors;
* Kemal Ergenekon from Turkey injected a learned and profound understanding of real-life economics into strategies for strengthening the plan;
* Apolaise from Turkey and Russia made a major monetary contribution that allowed the network to expand considerably;
* Thought Criminal from the UK, who has rightly said "We are Milton Friedman's worst nightmare!", helped to guide the network's expansion into the co-operative sector.


Likely challenges to be face😛

* Dealing with the impact of V2 changes to the economic module and adapting the super-commune to them.
* Maintaining the interest of the "shock troops" and preventing burn-out.
* Making a real breakthrough on multi-lingual communications, so that the effort will not be constrained by "English-only" or other language barriers.
* Preparing for the inevitable counter-attacks once the program begins to show significant results.


Players of the Worl😛 Emancipate Yourselves From Mental Slavery! Join the Super-Commune today!


The following sections attempt to summarize some of the more vexing challenges posed by historical attempts at creating alternative economic systems in eRepublik. Please feel free to post comments and links regarding your own in-game experiences, as well as any corrections or amendments.

Communes work, but for what purpose?

So far, there've been successful, unsuccessful and semi-successful grassroots attempts at building up communal, collective and co-operative economic entities. These experiments have gone on in various e-countries, using a variety of methods. And for an equally varied number of purposes. Some of them've had the explicit goal of undercutting the capitalist mode of exploitation. Others, more the character of mutual-aid societies offering specific benefits to their members.

The grassroots mutual-aid communes, in particular, have demonstrated effects in a very pragmatic sense. Which explains why this model has been taken up by a number of military organizations. As a consequence, the mutual-aid type of commune structure, in and of itself, has become almost totally divorced from explicitly alternative economic agendas.

Some astute critics of these types of organizations have observed, nonetheless, that even avowedly non-revolutionary and government-backed communes tend to undercut and skew market forces to the disadvantage of business owners. That may well be the case, and it's worth keeping in mind. But it can also be observed that people-centric, grassroots communes that do have a political goal to disestablish reflexive economic conditions have not, to date, been successful in toppling them.

Various attempts at implementing a people-centered social-economic policy from the top down -- for example, by concentrating leftist players into a specific (usually small) country to give the Socialist or Communist Party a majority in parliament -- have largely failed. In some cases, such attempts have failed dramatically, creating a popular backlash against such political takeover adventures launched from the left. More sensible advocates of this type of approach tend to suggest that the leftists must first demonstrate some successes -- in a material sense, that is, getting more goodies into more player's hands -- before attempting to win political leadership. But even on that score, with the exception perhaps of e-Italy, little progress has yet been observed by going straight for socialism via an electoral strategy.


The real enemy is neither capitalism nor socialism; it is barbarism

Those who support a leftist-inspired economic alternative are familiar enough with the type of barbarism imposed by a purely capitalist model, so let's not bother repeating why "e-socialism" is an attractive idea for many players.

Perhaps more interesting for readers of this paper are some of the arguments that go on amongst leftists...

An interesting argument by some leftwing advocates of communal systems is that e-socialist economics should never be confused with state-ownership. Reflecting RL debates on the same topic, this point-of-view argues that a narrow understanding of e-state-socialism simply opens the door to e-state-capitalism, where a political oligarchy can easily take advantage of state powers to run the show for its own benefit, making itself into a new ruling class.

Y'know: "Here comes the new boss, same as the old boss. We won't get fooled again!"

But unwilling to then cede the entire debate to the club of Free-market Mouseketeers, they go on to offer the view that citizen-level, direct and cosmopolitanized democratic participation -- in other words, a univeralized sense of the rights of citizens -- must be preserved and further built up in order to counter-act the (perhaps necessary) poison of (perhaps temporary) state ownership and other forms of centralized economic power.

In short, this argument goes, just because a state owns certain economic organizations -- even if it owns a lot of them -- doesn't automatically mean that state is deploying a civil-social policy that will prevent exploitation and promote human emancipation. And even when a state is controlled by parties of the people, state ownership in and of itself still provides no "magic pixie dust" to protect the state from attack and competition from external enemies and opponents, nor from internal corruption. That requires people power in the form of state power and, even more importantly, people power in the form of non-state and supra-state institutions and traditions.

La lucha continua, no terminara facilmente.




Brothers and Sisters: to Your e-Bicycles!



Socialist Freedom Press: World News With a Workers Viewpoint

The Socialist Freedom Press is back on-line. Our focus will now primarily be on International News. Our mission: to cover news stories from around the world that are of interest to the progressive and social-revolutionary e-communities. Our schedule: publish weekly.

SFP members or supporters: radical journalists are needed to cover various desks. Multi-lingual skills are a plus, but not a requirement. Please contact Osmany Ramon or Phoenix Quinn ASAP if you want to help to make SFPress a premier source for international news.

One desk is filled so far:

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> South and Central America: Alex Lorre.



Socialist Freedom Party Organizational Decree

By nomination of comrade-brother-president Benton Mayweather and without dissent from the membership, the following organizational changes to the SFP Steering Committee will take place immediately:

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Director of Young Socialists: Jack Cross
http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Director of Recruitment: Lucion McElwain
Jack and Lucion both have some awesome ideas for these departments and the whole Party welcomes them!

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Director of Public Relations: Phoenix Quinn (reinstated)
Oh well, nobody else wanted to do it, so we're stuck with this guy again.


A call has also gone out for volunteers to fill the following 2 positions:
* Director for Elections
* Representative to the Internationale

Please contact PP Benton Mayweather if you are interested.



http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/perro_rojo_100x100.jpg" height="100" width="100" />Party News

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> CivilAnarchy is running for Congress. His platform, Congressional Anarchy: Renaissance, is chock-full of support for innovative ideas including...
** Empowering parties and companies to help with new player training and retention
** Supporting zero-skill job hubs
** Stabilizing the markets
** Plus a fun and interesting new proposal to start recognizing eRep holidays

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Official cantankerous old windbag of the SFP, Phoenix Quinn, sparking off from an on-going discussion in the SFP Forum, published a piece called Embrace the Change! that encourages discussion on possible impacts of upcoming changes to the game's economic module.

Also of some interest: in a recent article titled Organized Chaos Revisited, the Umbrella Research Party has proposed the formation of a Small Party Union. SFP... any takers?


======================================


http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Join the Socialist Freedom Party...and ride the wave of freedom!
Check out the SFP Forum or the SFP chat on irc.rizon.net at #socialistfreedomparty ( Mibbit link; Chatzilla: irc://irc.rizon.net/socialistfreedomparty )

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Not yet level 7? Need some help getting started?... Contact the Young Socialists: friendly folks dedicated to assisting and mentoring newer players.

http://ikopal.com/nomoslabs/images/red-star-small.jpg" width="25px" height="24px"> Bored with the same-old, same-old? Help build up the Super-Commune. Contact Comrad3 for more info.