Political reveille in the eNL

Day 1,787, 15:48 • Published in Netherlands Netherlands • by Zeeuwsmeisje


What a delight to see the recent political reveille in the eNetherlands. And I for one hope, these new political impulses will really bring some new activity to our community. Personally, I am a little too much of a realist to believe in far left ideologies (prove me wrong, Mikebane!) nor the old verse of ‘less bureaucracy’... Giving old and experienced players free hand, assuming they would be capable persons, as is the ideal of Notie112, has made us lose millions in the past (as was pointed out in the recent article by our Minister of Finance , long but good read if you haven’t read it yet). In those days, arrogance, animosity and party politics did our country no good, apart from the fact it made us feel offended from time to time and thus more involved.

The main reason why we see little to no opposition at this very moment is because there is so little to fight over since we have no one-party-government anymore to frustrate the rest, there is no budget - making any debate on spendings pretty much marginal - and we have no resources to free ourselves. And I guess most players have noticed this government is really focused on task and not on political gain on a personal or party level.

Just speaking for myself, I never felt and still do not feel the need to make my party the biggest in the eNetherlands. But I am proud to be part of the Geuzen Partij Nederland and of this government led by a GPN CP. I believe GPN has always been and still is looking out for the common player. This used to be an issue, in the days that I described earlier. When the politcal scene was dominated by few long time players that did not accept any criticism from ‘noobs’. By now, all parties have come to see that we need any and every player in the game - helped by ingame changes such as the introduction of divisions. But even now, it still is an issue.

Since I joined GPN, we never agressively hunted for new players, but we have fought to give new players a chance in political positions. The past governments van Spijck have been open to all players, completely regardless of their political background. The core of this government is built from members of GPN, DemNL and TPP, and we are open to ideas from all other parties as well - for the good of eNL..Many new players were given State Secretary positions, we have been putting time and effort in many informative articles explaining game mechanics to new players.

When we started in the first government van Spijck, we really wanted to make a difference in transparancy. We installed a Ministry of Information, to make sure government information would be published on a regular basis. But as we all know, RL can be a bitch and it is hard enough to find people to take on the job and perform as we imagined it when we started. We are aware and I think we are open to criticism, probably more than any government before.

Boring maybe, if you enjoy strong-headed politicians bickering and quarreling, but imo we should all be focusing on putting the eNetherlands back on the map to bring back the real fun. One thing we simply cannot achieve overnight. We have to lay low for a while, and yes, we understand this is costing us. New players leave before we get to know them. That’s the irony at the moment: we need an enemy for new players to stay involved, but we simply cannot offer them an enemy we can take. Unless we are looking at internal political enemies, of course. I do not hope however we will end up once more in a situation where people start attacking other people instead of their ideas.

So far, the established parties have not really picked up the challenge handed to us by the latest change in the political module (except for some individuals like ElGorro and Joshua Morriseau, applauded). Since we can no longer be chosen for Congress individually, citizens vote for a party and what it stands for. So, what do we stand for and more important: how are we being different from other parties? Let this new found political spirit inspire all other parties too, leading to position taking focused on viable solutions - based on real understanding of game mechanics, awareness of current events and balances in the eWorld.

As Minister of Coaching I would love to hear the ideas of all parties on how to involve new players and get them as soon as possible to a level where they can follow and judge debates and the consequences of ideas. This is where our real profit lies, if this new political reveille kicks in.

Zeeuwsmeisje