[THC] Congress moves to abolish the military again

Day 1,872, 05:25 • Published in United Kingdom United Kingdom • by Ullok

Any new citizen could in the near future find themselves lead by the tanks into one of the eUK's various parties after petitions raised in this article have been voted on by congress, and pending petition 3:

"Official Government articles are to stop referring to MU 580 [aka The Legion] as the official UK Military Unit.

1. It raises that MU above all others be they party affiliated or free.
2. Executive and/or Congress have no [direct] management of that MU.
3. Commander (great player etc...) is an eForeigner.
4. It's base is abroad which means in contrast to other MUs it pays no taxes to the treasury.

Example of Gov advertising a privately owned group - http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-mod-days-1864-1865-al-madinah-2183065/1/20"

Has found the backing it needed and passed through congress successfully, so it is now up to the CP (whoever that turns out to be after tomorrows election) and MoD to accept the result or not.

However I do not believe it should be so as the only statement which has a sliver of a point is 1. Whilst the official MU stamp could be seen to raise The Legion above other MUs, it’s the country, not the Legion that benefits from its status:

1) It's better to have an official MU than not. Proper orders and organisation are vital if we are to mount any sort of coherent defence/attack, and whilst most MUs are affiliated so should not be considered for the role the staying power of the Legion shows it will still be around in 6 months, and is well organised and funded. New players need this.
2) The position was recognised by the CP at the time, and whilst Carlini may no longer be the MoD, he knows the job and there is an agreement to follow their direction.
3) It's not a hostile nation’s cs (which he had whilst MoD and MoF if I recall correctly) and means more tanks can be produced by the commune and used by the MU as directed by the MoD.
4) The MU is British, only the commune is run from Poland. The Legion being official MU costs the UK nothing as it supplies itself with weapons, food and moving costs, as for no taxes paid, any tax income is outweighed by the extra damage the country would loose from the reduction in production.

In time thinking will no doubt turn again to reviving the military but the eUK disbanded the British Expedition Force (the last government run military) because after months of trying to get it right, it was considered just too expensive to run, and was just being propped up by noble private citizens. The Legion works and has done for over a year.

The solution is not to get rid of an official MU but endorse more.

I’m not saying that any and all units should be immediately given “Official MU” status, but more national MUs would be a good thing. The whole "them vs us" mentality that various incarnations of the military tried to engineer would organically grow from this and make people more active, increasing community and retention. There'd have to be some criteria an MU would have to meet in order to be accepted as one:
1) Must be an eUK MU,
2) Hold no allegiances to any political party as a unit and provide no support during elections,
3) Have existed in-game in its current incarnation for more than 2 months, have a proven command and sustainable supply structure,
4) Not be in/directly lead by threats to the eUK (iNCi for example, commune can be run out of a hostile nation for bonuses if friendly cs doesn't offer same),
5) Agree to follow MoD orders/direction, but show some initiative if orders are not given,
6) Members/leadership must be willing to act as suppliers during pivotal battles/campaigns.

Alternatively, if it is the phrasing that people find offensive then change it to a “Government recommended” list, which abide by all criteria apart from 5 and 6, but that leads to wasted damage. Party MUs would still need to be left out as the government (or an MU) has no business telling people how to vote.

Either way any apolitical MU should be able to be one, provided they meet the criteria.

TL😉R: We need an official MU, don't abolish it.