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Young Turks, or; Population vs Society

Some background listening
(I’m a huge Rod fan, not to be confused with a fan of huge Rods)
(Ok, not huge but he has a few good tracks)

Recently a small controversy has arisen over a relatively large group of eTurkish citizens wanting to migrate (or migrating to) the eUK. I see it as a great thing!



My initial reaction when I skim read this article was “F yeh!”. I then logged onto the forums to see some discussion and began considering some of the concerns that people had raised over so many active people coming to the eUK at once.

Before I go on, let’s take a brief look at some facts; the active player base of the eUK has been gradually dropping (this problem of course isn’t exclusive to the eUK) and for months and months we have been seeking a large active community. Perhaps this wasn’t what we had in mind, but surely a boost in the population is only beneficial?

To assess the impact this population boost could have, we need to consider the difference between an enlarged population and an enlarged society.

An enlarged population is great, more damage, more workers and thus productivity etc. However that is merely a statistic on a web page. What I mean by an enlarged society is that as well as having a boosted population, we also see a new wave of players on our forums, in our IRC and contributing to our unique community. An enriched community is great for any eCountry, it gives people a reason to play and have fun. For lack of a better term, the more the merrier.

An enlarged society is always a good thing, and the most direct way for the eUK to achieve an enlarged ‘society’ would be to get a babyboom, or find a large player-base who would indulge themselves in our vibrant community, and contribute to the society that exists on the forums and IRC. We are however is a very cosmopolitan country, and a players real life nationality rarely comes into consideration. For example, we have seen good chums of mine such as GLaDOS, a US national in real life sit a handful of terms as prime minister, and Hollandaise players have a knack for administrating our forums.


The eUK is a multi-cultural place

~Edit: I've been given an estimate courtesy fo Orchel that around 70% can speak English, which In my opinion is great.

What you may consider the obvious barrier to a good level of social merging between the established player base and our new subjects is the language barrier. I personally cannot say how much of an issue this is; I have no concept of how well the Inci speak English. Although, I do not see it as an issue.

Consider 3 scenarios. Firstly, imagine that the majority of our new players do speak English. In this case, social cohesion and social interaction would be easy, and they would quickly become well known members of our community. Secondly, imagine that around half speak the lingo. It is likely still we would see a great deal of interaction and social merging. After all, not even half of the eUK’ers are part of the community if they are two clickers, so we would see some form of representation or hierarchy mimicking what every country has - (simply put) those on the forums and those not.

The third scenario, and one that people seem to worry about, is that the language barrier will prevent a great deal of mixing, and we will see a second society emerge in the eUK. This society could threaten the dominance of the established society, and ‘politically take over’. This became a concern in eNew Zealand where a rift occurred between the Serbian Kiwi’s and the non Serbian Kiwi’s. Obviously the circumstances that led to that were very different, and are entirely avoidable here in the eUK.

Depici states in his article that they don’t want to PTO, run for CP or anything of the sort. What they do however want is some form of representation in the form of congressmen. To me, this poses no real problem, two or three congressmen can’t do any major harm. Somewhat ironically however, they also hold little influence.



The solutions to me are simple and numerous. An initial idea was to allow them to run candidates in one region, via the current parties. This would allow them to have their own mini elections without interference from the UK, in order for them to elect representatives to the House of Commons. Alternatively, they could appoint their own representatives who could then be elected by enforced float voting on election day in predesignated regions by a small group of Inci voters and/or eUK’er votes.

However before such arrangements are made, we should point out that a handful of Congressmen only really give you some legislative power. Perhaps what would be more appropriate and in my opinion the route we should choose to pursue is to have 2-3 appointed members from our new subjects and allow them to act as a liaison with the government. They can voice any concerns or advice straight to the government rather than in the house of commons where it may go unheard.

The matter of citizenship is also raised, not only is it impossible to give thousands of players citizenship at once, it is obviously pretty risky. Any country would be concerned over such a large scale migration. If it is absolute that Congressmen need be elected, I would advise setting a cap on the number of the Inci that are granted citizenship in order to vote for their Representatives. It needn’t be ludicrously short, I would however say no higher than 50% of the electorate to be safe.

If we float in chosen representatives ourselves (as idea b.), it may be the case that we need only grant the chosen few citizenship in the first place. It is worth pointing out that no-one has specifically said that all of the Inci want or expect citizenship. If the third plan I have pithced here, of appointing a liaison to the government is used it is arguable that none of the Inci would need citizenship! They could even then retain a sense of identity (if they so wish) and can continue to contribute to society. After all, what difference does a small flag on your profile really make?

To put it bluntly, if they have honest intentions, they should be fine with a capped number of people with citizenship or simply selecting a small group of people who will discuss issues directly with the Prime Minister - this method would be even more effective considering the limited power of congress.

(It is worth noting that the public have a pretty good say via the sponsorship system, so issues with or advice over legislative issues can easily be raised in the Public Discussion forum.)



To summarise this tl;dr article in a few points:

- a boost in pop and society is a good thing!
- people may be worried that the eUK’s community may become a back bench power
- As the Inci seem to only to want a small say in government affairs, they could appoint several speakers to raise any concerns with the government, without the need of citizenship.

I aim to embrace our new players, as should everyone else. It does have to acknowledged that some people may have concerns or even worries over what could happen in the future, or the diminishing of the eUK’s political sovereignty. However these issues can be worked around by coming to a compromise either on:

-the way in which the Inci discuss issues with the government - in a liaising method or by direct representation in congress (In my opinion the least influential of these options).
-How many Inci players (if any at all) need eUK citizenship.

What we do need to keep in mind is the population boost is a great thing, the eUK government just needs a few reassurances and the Inci need a few representatives. It is a simple problem with a simple solution.

~

Thanks for reading.
HM, Mr Woldy .
OBE, KCVS, MC, DIFA.
Formerly CP, SG.




In the next issue!
The importance of being Domestic