Join the new world

First I want to apologize with the timing of this, since one of my articles is still in the media and I generally try to avoid that occurring. This article will attempt to do two things, the first being my run for congress this month, the second being what I expect to see from my group, the Liberty Advancement Party. It has been several months since I have been in congress, mostly serving as an advisor or executive player since, so I figured it was time for me to return to this often overlooked institution in our country. Years of decline in this game have made issues less prevalent, less discussed, less debated. Congress was once a forum for proposing ideas or suggestions to the executive, contributing more strongly to our foreign policy direction, and providing oversight of our country’s management. Now we see debates solely over taxes, which while in our congress’ purview, is not the only issue we should be considering.

Lately we have seen a lax effort in our domestic initiatives. This has taken a backburner to more pressing issues: the war with TWO and our war with the PTO. However, both are now over. Our agreement with Poland and Spain was reached, and we have pushed the PTO to near-death, meaning we are regaining territories as well as ourselves. Now is the time we push for stabilization and restoration, and that can only be done by strengthening our internal institutions. The Departments of Education and Interior are often overlooked in terms of importance to our country, and our parties are dedicated to educating new players both for their own benefit and for our country’s benefit. I say its time congress stepped in to demand progress, or better, make progress.

We leave so much up to the executive when we could be creating initiatives ourselves to encourage cooperation and growth. Ensuring programs have sustainability, funding, awareness, and clients should be our goal, and we can propose new initiatives to not only retain players, but recruit them. This game “is awful and admins be damned”, but there is some reason the rest of us hang around, and we need to make sure there is a game for us to continue and a game for new players to thrive in. If you want to blame taxes that’s fine, but going back and forth over a controversial issue overshadows the importance of other factors and considerations that must be dealt with.

I want to touch on the other issues as well. For taxes, we need to strike a balance between funding a necessary government military and alleviating the burden on private MUs. For immigration, we need to ensure proper procedures are followed and enforced. For foreign policy, we need to remain committed to our friends and allies, and provide support to our alliance in any way we can while it stands. We’re congress, and we can be useful. Our in-game contributions are valuable, so we should seek to replicate that in the social sphere of the game.




So what do I want in return from my party?

I want LAP to be something new. It’s amazing that a week ago I hadn’t considered leaving the Federalist Party. I was content where I was in the game and I enjoyed the relaxation. I was then approached by irule777 to be a part of this new initiative, an unnamed project to start a new Top 5 party to not only take the place of AFA but to rise and become an integral part of this country. National service has always been my drive in this game, so I accepted and have been making contributions. But how do you build a party from scratch and push it towards success? Aside from the numbers, the media, and the handouts, you need a cause, and that’s what I think the Liberty Advancement Party has.

I want LAP to have a vision. We talked about what issues we wanted to address, and considering our different backgrounds, we wanted a composite cause that would speak to what America needed right now. We found that a theme of restoration, tied with ongoing issues and the current climate of the US, is just what we needed for our party and for our country. I want LAP to stay focused upon this goal now and in the future. I want our party to demonstrate our values in its management and in its congressional representation. For ages we have had parties hold images rather than policies. We have seen the start of this though: WTP pursuing openness and participation, Feds pushing for fiscal concerns, AMP leadership maintaining the importance of a national military. LAP joins these parties in pushing for stability and building.

I want LAP to become a part of the process of reshaping this country and the way it runs. We spent months demanding war with TWO and then spent months climbing out of the war. I get it, the domestic is boring to a lot of people who just want to click Fight or talk to representatives from other countries. Our treaty gives us three guaranteed months of peace, and three guaranteed months of domestic focus. We shouldn’t waste the time we have, and need to start turning inward now and steadying our hand abroad. LAP is committed, and we need to make the other parties also commit. I want us to be the new kid on the block with a big impression. I want us to be more than gun grabs and answering questions. I want other parties to envy us, and desire to be us. I don’t want us to be loved, I want us to be respected (although love is a good bonus).

I want LAP to play the game. As previously stated, military and foreign affairs are two aspects of four in this game. We fight, we negotiate, we legislate, and we socialize. I want LAP to have fun, to hit hard, to be serious, and to make friends. Too often we forget that this isn’t a real life; it should be what we want to make the world, not a replication of our actual stress and concerns. We must remember that roleplaying shouldn’t be causing us real turmoil, but we still need to play our roles faithfully. I want the members of LAP to embody this: a group that is coolheaded but in-depth.

And that is what I want from the Liberty Advancement Party. My party. I hope you enjoyed this as much as I enjoyed writing it. I hope I represent my party in congress and my party in the nation well, and I will keep my activity in this country no matter what.