Political Ideology in eRepublik
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by YuriResurrected
The following is an issue that I have found troubling since I started playing this game. As you all probably know, in order to run for public office in this game, you have to belong to a given Political Party. These Political Parties are categorized by the amount of economic freedom (i.e left to right) and social freedom (i.e. totalitarian to anarchist) they claim to promote. While these are very real concepts in modern politics, it is important to ask whether they actually have any meaning in the virtual game that we know as eRepublik? I mean if we have Parties named like the Conservative Party of Canada and the Communist Party of Canada, it begs the question of how similar can these virtual parties be to their real-world counterparts.
After examining the Country Administration panel of eCanada, it becomes clear that social issues are a non-existent part of the game. All of the laws that either Congress members or the President are able to propose can be subdivided into either the economic (i.e. tax rates, minimum wage), foreign policy (i.e. natural enemy, declarations of war) or housekeeping (welcome message, Presidential impeachment) categories.
As for the matter of economic orientation, it also becomes clear that the classic debate in the field of political economy; being between a large "tax and spend" government versus a small "laissez-faire" one is simply not applicable to the situation in eRepublik, or at least not in eCanada. Government spending here has been largely limited to funding Military Units, paying rent to occupying powers and distributing supplies (food and weapons) to citizens in times of need; all of which are generally agreed upon by eCanadian policymakers to be essential. Due to this generally consistent level of spending, eCanada has not faced any major changes in terms of taxation within the recent past. With regards to minimum wage, it remains at a measly rate of 1 CAD per day and it seems to be a can of worms that no Political Party has wants to open
In essence, the political orientations of Political Parties in eRepublik are not accurate or compatible with the game mechanics. For me, it is puzzling to wonder as to why anyone would try to export their real-world political viewpoints into an internet game which is very much divorced from reality.
I'm interested in knowing what you guys think about this issue, so please feel free to leave feedback.
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~hyuu~
You can find role-playable legislations and debates on our forums here: https://ecanada.cc/forums/ specifically in the Legislative Branch that is dominated by congress. Occasionally there are articles that pop up regarding politics.
Regarding minimum wage, it's a non-binding price floor (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Price_floor).
There are two types of employees: those that work from the market, and those that work in communes or more commonly referred to in eCan as slave pits.
Those that work from the market are those that basically take the highest wage offered on the Job market. Why else wouldn't you take a higher wage, when you produce the same amount and can have a higher salary?
As for communes, most of them have offers slightly above minimum wage so that it is easier to find the offer. In addition, if the minimum wage IS raised to be a binding price floor, such as 20 CAD, communes would be moved to another country to avoid additional expenses if they have not been exported already.
Hence, the minimum wage debate is firmly concluded.
I have no problem with eCanada's policy on minimum wage, I just observed that no party; including the "Communist" Party of Canada treated it like a major issue.
I'm 'divorced from reality' in most aspects of my life... it's why I play.
LOL.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/the-death-of-ideology-2358865/1/20 😃
Great minds think alike.
Every point you bring up is true. You fail to miss what this game is about. Admin proclaims this a "social strategy game". While there are many "social" opportunities here they have very little to do with the game itself. As for strategy there is the way the CP and Congress direct the start of wars and such, also the way they respond when attacked. The attack strategy and defense strategy have mostly been figured out long ago so there really is not much to do here but mash the big red fight button.
In short, leave your preconceived notions about real world politics, diplomacy and social engineering at the door.
I now realize this is the case, but evidently some other players don't. I think it's unfortunate that Admin allows players to even think on those terms by allowing them to categorize Parties by real-world social and economic orientations.
I just look for the 'fun' in the game. The only reason I play is because of on-line friends I've made. Most are in my MU. We play because it give us something to do while we enjoy interacting together. I suppose it is a bit of Facebook for me since I don't use any other social media.
I consider ANY such contrivance such as party orientation as just a bit of fun. Some may take it dead serious but some are deeply into RP'ing. I care for neither. (Says the man with Darth Vader playing the office manager as an avatar.)
I offer my two hard & fast rules for playing here:
1. RL>eRep
2. Find whatever's fun here and do it.
I don't think it's a feature that's had much meaning for a while if ever. Various elements of foreign policy ought to be a major characteristics defining a party, maybe even primary.