[Forward Bloc] - Are we People of the City?

Day 1,888, 23:08 • Published in India India • by ArawnLives


Politics is an invention of the Greek city state - in fact, it literally means 'people of the city' or Polis. At the time when the nation was a small, urbanized area of land - these people were understood to have primary allegiance not to themselves, but to the people of the city. As in reality and in this game, our politics have let us down. Our political party, Forward Bloc - created as a successor to DPI - represented a less vitriolic, middle ground between the two larger parties and was a middle path, a way to prosperity and peace. I have been gone from this game for a while now, but the party seems lost - with scarcely an understanding as to where the heck it went to.

This game gives each and every one of us the opportunity to be politicians - to become a part of something bigger, to fulfil that part of human desire that wants us to find our place in a bigger idea and to be valued and important and to make real change happen. This is known as the longing to belong.



But let's look to the future, now. I don't quite know who is in charge, but all that is irrelevant. An idea is more powerful than the people who express it. The idea behind Forward Bloc is still alive - that the people be given more of a say in things, that transparency be brought back. In the past, members of this party like Exibot, Alector, and to a limited extent myself, have attempted (and at least in the case of the first two, largely succeeded) in the devolution of power to make the game inclusive. The influence of this can be seen in Xordin's excellent term thus far, with regular updates.



At a time of a mini BabyBoom, the best way to hold onto the incoming players is to remind them of how important they are - and to co-opt them into the community as quickly as possible, in bonds of mutual dependency and strength that is also known as 'teamwork'.



It is with this in mind that I urge all existing FB members to keep the faith. If there are interested members, or other players who want to be a part of something new and exciting - an endeavour to make this e-Nation different and equitable, please PM me.

But more than that - regardless of which party you are in, regardless of where you stand on whatever issue, regardless of whether or not someone is screaming bloody murder at you in the comments or in IRC, always remember -