[DoEE] Politics - why bother?

Day 2,718, 05:52 • Published in Australia Canada • by Ilene Dover



We're heading into that time of year again. Yep, every Aussie's favourite time of year, election day... Already we've seen a few candidates put their hand up to run the country.


Despite what you might think about politics in the real world, voting in eAustralia is important. It puts people into positions, where they can make decisions that fundamentally effect your game.


To help you understand what voting means, this article is going to try and explain what the various branches of government are. And their roles in making life hard for the common men and women of this eCountry.







Firstly, the Queen of Australia. Or the Country President (CP), depending on your perspective. 😉



The CP election is next week. So, why should you care enough to plough through all those awful presentations? Good question...


Firstly, the President has nominal control of all the organisations that our country owns. That's things like our Department of Defence. These organisations sometimes have huge cash reserves. Most have newspapers with large followings and official looking letterhead. You can spread a lot of dirt and wrong information around with them, and make it look official to boot.


Secondly, President nominees normally tell you their cabinet. That means who they want to take on roles like the Minister of Finance (who controls most of our country's organisations, and advises on tax rates etc), the Minister of Education (who spouts their mouth off in a newspaper all the time) and so on. So, pay attention to that part! Otherwise I might be out of a job (not that I'd mind losing an unpaid job - so much more time for funny articles).


Thirdly, only the President can propose a few of our laws. The most important of these are Mutual Protection Pacts, which also cost us a fair amount of money ($10,000 apiece), so are not something you want to get wrong.


And finally, if and when we fight a war under our own flag, the President is the Commander-in-Chief. It is they who decide which region to attack, and when. Getting the timing wrong, for a small nation like ours, can be disastrous.


When you're evaluating your options for the next Queen of Australia, bear all of this in mind. And yes, choosing between candidates here can be just as tedious as in the real world.



If you're still with me, there's hope for you yet! Congress elections were held last week. We call them the Senate elections, because Congress is for baboons...


How many Senators are elected depends on how many regions we have. With all the states of Australia, there are 40 shouting squabbling Senators.


All the Senators belong to a party. Your vote will go to a party (who hopefully published some policies they want to carry out). At the end of the day, all the votes are tallied and seats awarded on a percentage. For example, if the ADP gets 30% of the vote in an election for 40 seats, they'll wind up with 12 seats. Yeah, I know, maths... 😕


What the hell do Senators do? Excellent question...


Senators ultimately propose and vote on laws. Things like what the tax rate should be. Whether we actually want the MPP that the President is proposing.


And, most importantly, they can kick the President out (impeach them) if they're a troll, a tool, a cheater or whatever. Impeachment isn't normally done. The whole process is quite traumatic...this is my personal photograph from the last impeachment vote:




So, again, why should you care? Because it is your country! Decisions will be made in your name! If you don't express yourself in election day, some smarmy politician is going to put words in your mouth...


And pretend you wanted 10% taxes for your own good. Or some other gibberish that you violently disagree with.