Re:Vision
Day 2,905, 20:07
•
Published in USA 
•
by
•
by Aeriadne
L’Histoire n’est qu’une fable convenue.
Of Fables and Foreign Affairs
There's been a term that's cropped up that's very dangerous. It started with Jude I believe, though feel free to correct me in the comments. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. With its coining, it has spread like wildfire, and it has become one of the hot button topics in this heated election: the Wild Owl Doctrine. Others have used it in their writing, and it's seen a lot of forum time, with Jude slinging it around along with many of his other slogans.
This article isn't to endorse a candidate, or discuss the virtues of stability over stagnation. I'm staying apolitical, because what needs to be corrected is history, and our view of it. This term, this coined phrase, isn't dangerous because of it's implications.
It is dangerous because it is revisionism.
Education is the bane of ignorance. So please, grab a seat, and travel back with me to an age before our full bonuses and Pacifica. It was a time of desperation, and a time of a radical change that has caused this country to become a dominant power in the years since.
Let's go back to the last six months of 2013...
July-September: The Invasion of North America
Take a good look as this next image, cus in the latter part of 2013's summer, we were wiped.
Picture
For four weeks, we struggled under the combined assault of Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. For four days we were totally wiped, the longest we've ever gone like that. The fight to liberate our cores was bloody and hard fought, and the war against TWO carried well on into the beginning of September.
You see, we'd made a lot of enemies. The fallacy is that our country in-game is as strong as our country out of game, and that our bossy and not-give-a-crap disposition can just translate over. We paid the price for that with the TWO invasion, and it was a lesson that took its toll on our community.
The July Country President election saw a turnout of nearly 2000 voters. When the September CP election came, that voter turnout was down to 1288, nearly a full 700 voters lost in the between months. What former regions we had gained were lost, what stability and peace we had had was shattered. We elected Josh Frost to clean it all up, and with Artela's help he did. Peace came, and after several months of awfulness and being wiped, we breathed a collective sigh of relief.
October-December: The Five-Way Race and Azazelian Diplomacy
There came an issue at the end of Josh Frost's October term, chiefly that for the last four months former CPs had been in office. People often complain these days about the turnover rate of CPs, but it was nothing like back then. The argument that new blood should be in office came to a head with the Five-Way CP Race of November 2013.
The nomination process was frenzied; Tyler Bubblar barely lost out on getting on the ticket. With myself, dmjohnston, John Largo, Wild Owl, and NewAzazel all running as first time candidates, it was quite the show. This was the last time any true IRC/radio debate was necessary, and it was a quite the time. When election day came, it turned out Naz came out with the winning Fed bloc and was subsequently crowned CP.
What came to pass in his term was something I myself called Azazelian diplomacy. As Secretary of State for Naz, I had the unique opportunity of enacting this new vision for Emericka and witnessing firsthand our transformation. Gone was the idea that the eUnited States was as strong as the United States; Naz understood this disconnect, and it dominated his initial policy. Neutrality, non-interventionism, and caution were the key words to this change. We essentially became North American Switzerland, only with better chocolate.
Come at me you yodeling yahoos.
From his first days in office to his last, in our new dealings with countries such as Taiwan and others, Naz reinforced the idea that we needed to take a step back and recognize the virtues of our own stability as well as the stability of people we were honored to call allies. In the months after Naz's departure from the CP chair, Wild Owl spearheaded and refined this first doctrine of Azazelian diplomacy further. Given the raw material of his predecessor, he transformed it into a finely honed weapon which has allowed the eUnited States to remain one of the most successful and stable countries in the game for the last two years. Others have contributed their fare share as well, but none did so better than the owl.
What It Means For Today
You may have noticed that Naz actually wrote today, and while he didn't specifically cover the topic I mentioned, he alluded to several aspects of it. It's worth a read as well, but specifically the portion I wish to draw attention to this is this:
This is why the newly introduced concept of the Wild Owl Doctrine by Jude is so dangerous. Not only does it trivialize the achievements of the past to transform our country into something workable, it uses our previous foreign policy approach as a mud-sling. Even today we see those who are unknowing of our past strife adopting the rhetoric of ignorance in order to engage in a once-a-month spectacle. And I get it: spectacle is important. But to diminish that work, the work so many of us have put into making this country secure, is a slap in the face.
Our foreign policy tract is not trivial. Change should be brought with careful thought and long term planning in mind. That is how we reversed our fortunes after the wipe. That is how we will continue to grow and cooperate as a community.
It's been an interesting election, and I hope tomorrow will produce more. What we need, in this hour, is to see specifics, to see where this next month will take us. We must remember and never forget that the way we became great again was through patience and careful thought. We need a future, and as Gnil once put it to me, a vision.
Reasoning over rhetoric my friends. Let's see some planning.
Of Fables and Foreign Affairs
There's been a term that's cropped up that's very dangerous. It started with Jude I believe, though feel free to correct me in the comments. My eyesight isn't what it used to be. With its coining, it has spread like wildfire, and it has become one of the hot button topics in this heated election: the Wild Owl Doctrine. Others have used it in their writing, and it's seen a lot of forum time, with Jude slinging it around along with many of his other slogans.
This article isn't to endorse a candidate, or discuss the virtues of stability over stagnation. I'm staying apolitical, because what needs to be corrected is history, and our view of it. This term, this coined phrase, isn't dangerous because of it's implications.
It is dangerous because it is revisionism.
Education is the bane of ignorance. So please, grab a seat, and travel back with me to an age before our full bonuses and Pacifica. It was a time of desperation, and a time of a radical change that has caused this country to become a dominant power in the years since.
Let's go back to the last six months of 2013...
July-September: The Invasion of North America
Take a good look as this next image, cus in the latter part of 2013's summer, we were wiped.
Picture
😛the United State of New York, circa July 2013.
For four weeks, we struggled under the combined assault of Hungary, Montenegro, Poland, Serbia, Taiwan, Thailand, and the United Kingdom. For four days we were totally wiped, the longest we've ever gone like that. The fight to liberate our cores was bloody and hard fought, and the war against TWO carried well on into the beginning of September.
You see, we'd made a lot of enemies. The fallacy is that our country in-game is as strong as our country out of game, and that our bossy and not-give-a-crap disposition can just translate over. We paid the price for that with the TWO invasion, and it was a lesson that took its toll on our community.
The July Country President election saw a turnout of nearly 2000 voters. When the September CP election came, that voter turnout was down to 1288, nearly a full 700 voters lost in the between months. What former regions we had gained were lost, what stability and peace we had had was shattered. We elected Josh Frost to clean it all up, and with Artela's help he did. Peace came, and after several months of awfulness and being wiped, we breathed a collective sigh of relief.
October-December: The Five-Way Race and Azazelian Diplomacy
There came an issue at the end of Josh Frost's October term, chiefly that for the last four months former CPs had been in office. People often complain these days about the turnover rate of CPs, but it was nothing like back then. The argument that new blood should be in office came to a head with the Five-Way CP Race of November 2013.
The nomination process was frenzied; Tyler Bubblar barely lost out on getting on the ticket. With myself, dmjohnston, John Largo, Wild Owl, and NewAzazel all running as first time candidates, it was quite the show. This was the last time any true IRC/radio debate was necessary, and it was a quite the time. When election day came, it turned out Naz came out with the winning Fed bloc and was subsequently crowned CP.
What came to pass in his term was something I myself called Azazelian diplomacy. As Secretary of State for Naz, I had the unique opportunity of enacting this new vision for Emericka and witnessing firsthand our transformation. Gone was the idea that the eUnited States was as strong as the United States; Naz understood this disconnect, and it dominated his initial policy. Neutrality, non-interventionism, and caution were the key words to this change. We essentially became North American Switzerland, only with better chocolate.
Come at me you yodeling yahoos.
From his first days in office to his last, in our new dealings with countries such as Taiwan and others, Naz reinforced the idea that we needed to take a step back and recognize the virtues of our own stability as well as the stability of people we were honored to call allies. In the months after Naz's departure from the CP chair, Wild Owl spearheaded and refined this first doctrine of Azazelian diplomacy further. Given the raw material of his predecessor, he transformed it into a finely honed weapon which has allowed the eUnited States to remain one of the most successful and stable countries in the game for the last two years. Others have contributed their fare share as well, but none did so better than the owl.
What It Means For Today
You may have noticed that Naz actually wrote today, and while he didn't specifically cover the topic I mentioned, he alluded to several aspects of it. It's worth a read as well, but specifically the portion I wish to draw attention to this is this:
"He also desires a removal of
the Wild Owl Doctrine but still doesn't fully explain what that means.
Are we dropping MPPs? Are we adding MPPs? Are certain hostilities going to be created?
He mentioned nations we would talk to in a question thread,
but I didn't really see a dramatic change."
the Wild Owl Doctrine but still doesn't fully explain what that means.
Are we dropping MPPs? Are we adding MPPs? Are certain hostilities going to be created?
He mentioned nations we would talk to in a question thread,
but I didn't really see a dramatic change."
This is why the newly introduced concept of the Wild Owl Doctrine by Jude is so dangerous. Not only does it trivialize the achievements of the past to transform our country into something workable, it uses our previous foreign policy approach as a mud-sling. Even today we see those who are unknowing of our past strife adopting the rhetoric of ignorance in order to engage in a once-a-month spectacle. And I get it: spectacle is important. But to diminish that work, the work so many of us have put into making this country secure, is a slap in the face.
Our foreign policy tract is not trivial. Change should be brought with careful thought and long term planning in mind. That is how we reversed our fortunes after the wipe. That is how we will continue to grow and cooperate as a community.
It's been an interesting election, and I hope tomorrow will produce more. What we need, in this hour, is to see specifics, to see where this next month will take us. We must remember and never forget that the way we became great again was through patience and careful thought. We need a future, and as Gnil once put it to me, a vision.
Reasoning over rhetoric my friends. Let's see some planning.
Facebook
Twitter
Discord
Comments
Happy belated Halloween. Susan's still dressed up.
Read it, commented, voted, and endorsed. Well worth it.
Voted, Endorsed and Commenting.
Editing Note: FYROM wasn't a part of the invasion since they were in CoT, and also wiped to my knowledge.
Historical Note: A lot of people forget (and I don't talk about it) that I was Artela's SoS and CoT MC when the CoT-TWO war started, and I was one of the first people jumping for war with Serbia when the Free Area scandal occurred. I actually used my position to approve the war and make it CoT sanctioned, thus dragging the rest of the alliance into it. Despite the early successes, we got thrashed pretty hard and it was one of the major reasons I cooled down later on and hated the idea of doing anything that could be provocative. My foreign policy was shaped by fear as much as logic.
Coulda sworn Macedonia was part of that invasion, but eh. I'll defer to you. Grazie.
And yeah, the fearfulness was real. It still is in many ways, but we've grown and come a long ways from there.
Oops, you know what the problem was? Misread Montenegro as Macedonia. My apologies to the people of FYROM.
Historia est magistra vitae.
I love history.
Thanks for writing this.
Thanks for the shout.
'You cannot post a blank comment'
3deep5me
United States of New York....is an AWESOME name
_______________
I appreciate the history lesson, as I (and many others) were simply not around to see it.
It would be amazing to have a full history of the entire age of the eUS (the wiki page doesn't really count), but no one would ever have the time to do such a thing.
'My foreign policy was shaped by fear as much as logic.'
Creating a Foreign Policy based on the fear of moving is exactly what the eUSA has right now, the Azazelian diplomacy has become the Wild Owl Doctrine. A doctrine that has America hiding behind the Defensive Dictator Shield afraid to frigging move, so we slap Spain around because it's safe and we stand on North Korea because it's safe; with some vague promise of some misadventure out west...please.
As I said on the SFP forums, yes, you're right. It's a shield. And shields can be used in combat. We can change our approach to the DD and be more aggressive while still keeping it. Just because you want to fight doesn't mean you toss off your armor.
Now your're talking....
Strength & Honor
Very interesting article!
Voted + sub + endorsed
[removed]
I... what?
Great article Aramec.
You support young blood though, so I must support Jude Connors. Wild Owl has seen his plan play out, let's try another, which supports our old allies.