(Archived) Viva La Revolution: The Irish Radical Party Explained!

Day 599, 06:20 • Published in Ireland Australia • by Severin Organization
[Archived. Authored by Severin]

I hope this will dispel any confusion surrounding the Irish Radical Party. Furthermore this is in the interest in keeping the momentum going. The party is only about two days old but already is growing fast (viva la revolution!). These are some of the questions that will be answered in the article: What is the IRP? What makes it different to other parties here? What does it stand for? This be another one of those lengthly 'Severin Says' articles and I will try my best to be as clear as possible. I encourage you to read the entire article. This is only the second article in the series so bear with me (more questions will be answered in the next one).

Friend or Foe? What is the Irish Radical Party?
I can imagine the name, the logo (which is only temporary) and the anarchist ideology might be slightly misleading. We are radical in sense we reject the status quo and have no intention of compromising our beliefs in the interest of gaining votes and keeping the general public opinion happy (we plan to influence public opinion not pander to it!). We are anarchist because we reject the established 'norm' in eIreland and plan to minimize the influence the State has over of lives of people here (the eIrish State is not a circus!). We are centrist economically because we believe it would be naïve to try and implement one ideology in full here and it would make a lot more rational sense to instead analyze what can be done with what the game mechanics allows us to do (in short, we are not defining ourselves by a real life ideology just for the sake of it...). The fist in the logo represents our defiance to the status quo and gives our party a revolutionary spirit (afterall we are small party crusading into eIrish politics).

I know they are some now going, so what is the status quo? Rather than be vague I will explain what the status quo is here: same party divide (and all the 'gang' arguments that ensue), same promises at election time, same demands from the public (war games, hospitals, 'fun' etc) and essentially exactly the same administration settup simply ensuring the status quo prevails. There is a resistance to change and it would appear some people seem to prefer their own self vested political ambitions (however futile considering this is a game) over the interests of this country. Who needs change after all when you can get titles here for doing the minimum amonth of work. Like I said in my previous article talking about change is easy, implementing it is the tricky part (the part that actually requires the added effort).

Let me give a few examples of the 'key' characters in the status quo here:

The President who promises the world (most of which aren't even new promises) and changes nothing (like I said before the role of the President should never be taken lightly and it is very limiting).
The Party President who nominates himself despite a better candidate being available or the third party who supports the lesser of two evils because alone he or she has no hope.
The Party that claims to be different or superior to other parties but in reality there is no difference at all.
The party 'gang' that blindly support their party and its leaders in the absence of any rational debate.
The Minister who gives the illusion of hard work (oh their jobs are so complicated lol) and despite initial enthusiasm spends the rest of term doing practically nothing.
The 'Micky Mouse' Minister who perhaps would like to do something but wasn't giving a better title or instead just sits there.
The Congressman who gets elected simply by name recognition and does absolutely nothing (but a few clicks here and there) for the term (I got 14 votes last month when I was inactive simply because I was called Severin).
The citizen who reads an article by an esteemed citizen and then copies it till the point its all over the media (I think the whole we want more war and NI fiasco were the greatest examples of this).
The silent citizen who fails to voice their opinion here because he or she doesn't see the point in it (afterall nothing changes and its just a game...)or fear the cynic's reaction.
The Cynic who spends most their time in eRepublik doing nothing but criticize and doesn't suggest anything relevant (tis easier to raise a flag than offer a helping hand...)

Let me give of you an example of what we'd like to see:

The President who goes to the trouble of coming up with new ideas, picks up the 'right' people' and breaks his (or her) back for the entire term ensuring they are implemented (less glory and more work!).
The Party President who puts forward the most capable candidate and the third parties that come together to pose a threat to mainstream parties (the mainstream parties should be definite right and left by the way, not poor imitations of real life populist parties...).
The Party that actually stands by and creates core beliefs (don't just claim to be different!) while also cooperating with other parties (we all want the same thing...). Aka real political competition rather than the we are the 'cool' club and you are 'evil' club.
No party 'gang' Members should have their own independent opinions and should scrutinize individually not as a pack.
The Minister who actually does what he or she is appointed to do and gets swiftly fired for incompetence (I emphasis the importance of swift). We have had some great ministers in the past, imagine an entire cabinet full of them.
No 'Micky Mouse' Ministers Instead people giving the opportunity to help ministries without having to be 'ordained' onto the cabinet. The jobs aren't that complicated (like I said before it isn't rocket science...) Surely people could learn from thorough updates.
The Congressman who gets elected on merit and accountability (there are some of course but many give up because eventually they are either shot down or ignored). To filter out the 'rotting apples' we would of course need more politically charged citizens.
The citizen who forms an independent opinion and doesn't simply buy into whatever their colleagues/the media feeds them (I'm aware of the irony here lol).
The silent citizen who makes their voice heard and who believe they can make a difference (corny I know but it is actually true).
The Cynic who is friendly and offers constructive criticism while doing something about it (someone like me aha).

I'm aware some of my statements are blunt and now you (the gripped reader) are probably thinking now you have pointed out what the status quo is how are you going to change it? For anything to change public awareness is crucial and thus a crusade is necessary (please laugh at my hints of comic relief). It will take time and effort (a combined effort, this is a social network afterall) however change is possible! The Irish Radical Party is here to entertain and enlighten you, change the party system and eventually change eIreland (that will be the final crusade). We will eat the status quo for breakfast!

What Makes The IRP so Different, so Radical?
We are a small party (who have nothing to lose), our members want real change and ideas/opinions will be pooled. This is party who's never ending goal is to improve eIreland and make the game more fun for all. Never will the party just sit back and just accept things the way they are. eIreland's potential gain shall always come before any futile political ambitions (ie party progress or title hunters).

Nobody shall be confined to a 'party line' and I hope we can promote rational and logical debate on a multitude of issues. We will try to inform members on both sides of arguments and will try to spawn independent minded citizens (no mobs of members chanting the same thing). Members will be free to scrutinize anything they want (even the IRP itself ). We do however expect people to be polite (afterall who has the right to impair another person's enjoyment of the game). Scrutiny is a key element of democracy and should be encouraged in all political systems (we don't need 'yes men' here).

In order to be successful here I feel you need the right people behind you. They are a lot of talented politicians in eIreland across the party spectrum. Rather than dispute with other parties we should share intellect and eIreland's active talent should work together (and be assigned to the appropriate positions). As this is a new party it has no stigma or previous rifts with other parties. We have no inherent 'enemies' and believe cooperation is the only way forward (and is in the interest of eIreland). At the moment our administration is grossly politically motivated (and they never even had any political motivations to begin with...).

We are quite a small party and naturally we can emphasis the importance of the individual. I always said the IUP will never become a party where its members are just another member however in reality it was virtually impossible to ensure. Members will be listened to, infact some of stuff written in this article are inspired from pms with members. Here you can become involved as little or as much as you like. There is no hierarchy or packs of 'glory hunters'. Anybody can take an active role in the party's leadership and if you join at this early stage you'll get the unique opportunity to shape the party's foundation. We will strive for as much vocal members as possible to save a few from steering the ship alone and to gather as much ideas as humanly possible.

If you choose to get involved I can guarantee you will be taken very seriously and if you need help you will be assisted (of course within reason lol). I understand it is not enough to simply ask people to get active and involved and we will try to ensure a social network (and moderates) who will delight, inform entertain you. In short, we will do our best to grip your attention so that entertainment is maximized.

We plan to be completely open and transparent! There will be no shady behind the doors dealings, no secret 'lairs' (for want of a better word). I want to bring the party as close as possible to the citizens of eIreland and thus will be announcing absolutely everything here (to save people the trouble of going through forums, IRC etc). Every decision will be made public. Infact, the public will be openly invited to our forums (I'm not afraid of spies lol) and our ideas will be publicized (no matter how shocking). Of course there will also be a channel for our members to relax among themselves (everybody needs a rest from scrutiny at some point).

That was sorta the nice 'fluffy' part of the series next will be what we stand for and what are our goals are (this is where it gets really radical so brace yourself lol). We want to be the instrument of fundamental, elaborate and revolutionary changes in eIreland. Like I mentioned above, members won't be confined to any party line but this is what the party will strive for as a whole:

Expect radical changes to the military (IDF redesign, a real rapid reaction force with everybody kept on a need to know basis and a tyrant running the show), a new direction in foreign policy (no more we'll just sit back and see what happens attitude), innovations to our economy (expect less government interference, not more!), real accountability and transparency from our politicians (not just promises of it!), a more efficient and smaller bureaucracy (there is no need to bring half the country into the administration and making up roles just for the sake of it...), real entertainment (in the interest of maximizing activity) no more lotteries and quizzes (as much as they are really fun)and most importantly a campaign to bring more citizens to our shores (more active citizens are imperative to our plans, wait to see what we have in store there). Of course all will be outlined in due time, this is just to get your mouths watering.

If you were intrigued by what we had to say thus far, sign up here. I look forward to seeing you onboard!

That's all folks!
Severin, your jolly Party President.