Would You Walk Away?

Day 2,609, 07:54 • Published in USA India • by eRoughRider
*Note* This is the first article of my new paper, "Speaking Softly". This may not be what you are accustomed to, but hopefully you'll enjoy it. If you have any questions, constructive criticism, or want to have an educated discussion, feel free to comment or pm me.

I invite you to read "The Ones Who Walk Away From Omelas" (pdf from San Diego State University) by Ursula K. Le Guin. I'm sure a good number of you have already read it, but for those of you who haven't, it's a very good read and will serve as the foundation for the rest of the article. I will insert a short plot summary for you non-reading folk.

"In this story we are introduced to a perfect town. So perfect that is hard to explain in words and are enouraged to indulge in whatever grand fantasies we need to in order to help us realize how grand it is. Everyone is happy, healthy, the weather is perfect, music is great, and life is great. We then find out that there is a catch."


If you are intrigued, I recommend you read the full text. If not, continue reading the summary.


"In order for this town of thousands to continue to be perfect in all aspects, one life must be tormented and treated with the utmost cruelty. In this instance it is a young individual around the age of six who is kicked, fed a single meal of of meal and grease, kept in a dark, moist, stinky room in a locked basement. No one is allowed to say anything nice to the child and is never to be set free, but to remain like this for life. All of this to kept the scholars smart, the music brilliant, the weather perfect, everyone joyous, craftsmen skilled, and the children healthy. At about the age of ten, children are shown the damned child, many go home crying but know there is nothing they can do for the child. Others however never go home but leave the Utopia of Omelas."


I hope you enjoyed this short story (I promise the actual text is better than the summary), but you may be asking how this pertains to eRepublik. There are many themes and morals that can be extracted from this piece.

Ask yourself, "Would I walk away from Omulus? Would I really allow my moral compass to guide me away from perfection?"



If you are like most people, and you claimed that you would leave Omulus , I applaud you.

It is possible that there are some of you who are willing to silence your conscience and live in paradise.

There are even less of you who would decide to stay, but not out of greed.

When your organization faces a conundrum (it can be Omulus' morality, a scandal in your eRep party or MU, or even the slow degradation of eRep by the admins), you have 3 modes of action. You can either stay and do nothing, altogether just leave the organization, or stay and make a difference.

Those who walked away from Omulus knew of the extreme injustice that existed, but refused to do anything about it.



It may not always be easy to initiate change in whichever group you are a part of, particularly when it is widely accepted, but even the greatest of revolutions began with 1 lone dissenting voice.

Now ask yourself, Would I walk away from Omulus?

Very Respectfully,
RoughRider