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The recent successes of returning President-to-be Rolo have caught a lot of attention in an otherwise abandonned media module. Canadians have been itching for something worth caring about for weeks. And for some, a lot longer than that. Seems they're about to get it.

Kazuo's term as president will be remembered as mediocre. A month where Canada (not just Kazuo) invested itself in a mediocre war with an enemy we have fought countless times, to help a nearby ally desperately in need - not that they're the only ones. Hi Germany. Social and "roleplay" issues of varying degrees were debated, and while the battle nearly cost Kazuo his seat three times, Canadian opinion was divided enough that he completed his term in full. Considerably disheartened and reclusive, but intact nonetheless.

Heralded by some as a prime example of why "roleplay" simply cannot be our focus, it was roleplayers who were among Kazuo's greatest detractors. Roleplayers quibbled over the "honour" in defending Ireland when 2 major international alliances ridiculed us for doing so. Roleplayers insisted that minor, hardly used titles doled out by Congress shouldn't be taken away by the president whenever he feels like it. And it was roleplayers who were willing to put an armada of guns in the hands of Canadians - so long as you did exactly what they said, especially in elections.

Perhaps my favourite part with that band of roleplayers is their insistance that they, of course, do not roleplay. Right.



The debate over Rolo's legitimacy as a leader is a lengthy one, and I encourage you to take a peek at some other articles to see what people are saying about it. One word that comes up a lot - in the media and the offsite Forums & IRC - is Democracy. You know, that fun illusory concept of "let the people decide". It has, after all, been suggested by Jacobi himself that the people are fed up with our elitist political hissy fits, and have turned to Rolo in protest.

This is an interesting concept, but I take issue with the notion that Canada is a Democracy. I don't think we are. I don't think we ever have been. The cycle of the eRepublik month goes something like this:

- On the 15th, Canadians choose their Party Presidents (PPs). They're the ones who represent the face of a party, an idea. This is about as close to "democracy" as we get in Canada, since anybody can run for PP free of charge, and you can vote for any candidate you'd like in any party that you want. From here, things get a little less Athenian.

- On the 25th, Canadians choose their Congress. Anybody can run for Congress, and just like the PP-ship you can vote for anybody anywhere inside the nation. You would think, then, that this is pretty democratic. Not really. Those Party Presidents we just elected? They're given the power to choose which candidates can run where. Not a terribly powerful tool, but they can already block someone from even appearing on the ballot if they do it right. Beyond just keeping a select few off the ballot, PPs have the power (not that they all use it) to determine who on the ballot wins. Strategic Votes determine the vast majority of Congress seats, as do seemingly harmless PP decisions like "run in this region." The voters carry a lot of weight on the 25th, but in a number of regions that weight is silenced, often by the PP and their closest allies. Don't believe me? Run in the NWT.

- So anyway, we have our Congress. Probably a few democratically-made decisions, but definitely a minority. We then come to the 5th - where we are today. Up to 5 people get put on the ballot to be candidates for Country President (CP). It's an illustrious title that gets you about as much love as a nasty case of plague. Anyway, whoever the lucky 5 are, it's probably the least democratic of the elections we have. Once again those sneaky PPs (who are these people?) carry the power of veto. They decide, in turn, who's going to be on the ballot. They can decide for any reason, or just nominate Alfagrem for kicks. Doesn't really matter. Canadians of course get to choose between broccoli and cauliflower, and if the unpopular guy wins it's heralded as 'giving the finger to the elites'. I find that odd, if only because all 5 of the candidates for this month have been in Congress at least twice, and I'm pretty sure all of them have been on the ballot before. So maybe we're giving the finger to some of the elites. Or the elite elite. You know, those really posh ones. Like hating just France, and not all of Europe.



Democracy is a brilliant concept. Some groups in this game build democracy into their decision-making process. Others shoot for communism (sort of) by trying to spread the wealth as far as they can. But by and large, Canada itself and the mechanics of eRepublik are not democratic. And even when we democratically choose our representatives, they're hand-picked for us by somebody most Canadians probably don't know. The icing on this proverbial cake? Canadian and eRepublik law both give us the right to completely ignore the decisions of the electorate. Don't like a CP? It's okay, they can't access the forums. Don't like a Congressman? We can ban them too, and that doesn't even take a trial.

Perhaps the greatest kicker is that Congress, already pseudo-democratic, can Impeach the would be voice-of-the-people. I really hope I don't have to point out how party lines and whips work.



Bleak? I guess it could be. The point is this:

We are playing a game. An online game, where most of us do not know each other and probably never will. There are ingame pseudo-choice mechanics and metagame extensions that we've built for ourselves; and every one of them - even our dear "democracy" - can be ridiculed as a pointless illusion. But that's fine. It's not real. Sweden's not really invading. Jacobi isn't really a God (okay, he might be). The society we are a part of is one we create for ourselves, and one where the amount of fun you have is identical to the amount of fun you allow yourself to have.

I have no idea if Rolo will be a good CP. I don't know if "roleplaying" will kill us in the end or if whining about it instead of talking to Terra will get us first. But I do know that, along the way, I enjoy this game. And I'll keep enjoying it, no matter how bleak or hopeful things seem. Because I'm a nutter, and I trick myself into having fun. It's what I do.

That's all for now.
~Sperry