Join the new world

Speaking as one new born to the eRepublik, an Anglo-Saxon IRL, born eCzech in this life. I find myself struggling to see the ideology, and a coherent political and economic agenda amid the fractional and uncoordinated appeals and policy statements.

These are my early observations, and I would like to make clear that my comments are on policy - I do not wish to enter the fray of personality politics and allegations that has been at the core of debates of late.

Coherent economic agenda
Whilst I see some admirable attempts at establishing strategic direction from Czech Right Union (support for small businesses is admirable, far-right rhetoric is unnecessary and in my view unfortunate) – we are still a long way of establishing a national economic recovery plan. Spirited citizens make appeals, here, there, everywhere about individual initiatives – however there is nothing to tie this together. To build a strong and united economy, we need to articulate a coherent vision and ensure responsibility for oversight is made – where there are gaps in the economy, we can consider government incentives to support investment in these areas.

Coherent political agenda
Whilst I support the leftist social inclusion agenda, I also recognise that this is far more important IRL then in e-Republik. I support full-employment – which seems not now to be a problem in eCzech. I also support social safety nets, but I don’t see any citizens getting into economic difficulties. Perhaps we may wish to establish a wellness fund that can give interest-free loans of wellness gifts to citizens in trouble. The CRU agenda of business first – seems an appropriate one for now – though subject to some regulation and articulation of economic vision as stated above – we are not a laissez faire state (as can be seen by some of the astronomical import tariffs). But I suggest we need to think more about our foreign policy and get some common principles to underline it. We could also have an education policy – perhaps some training sessions for citizens on how to maximise their role on eRepublik, or to teach them the answers to the work and training activities.

So what next?
Again, I want to duck the allegations of being a naïve upstart. I don’t pretend to hold the answers, but I would like to offer up some ideas and a methodolgy.
1. We need a national consultation to seek to develop a cross-party consensus on a National Economic and Social Development Plan. This should include a national vision statement, and a Medium-Term macro Economic Framework.
2. This consultation exercise should be done over time and all active citizens should be given an opportunity to comment. The consultation work is too much for one person and so should be divided up.
3. Once in place, we may need a bureaucracy in place to manage our economic development (ensure plan is implemented, provide guidance, set up a business advisory council, set up foreign relations consultative committee, monitor and enforce political agreements, monitor impact of economic agreements and taxation and make advice on policy). I’m not sure how this can be done, perhaps we need to set up a company, but ensure that the employees do more than just answer quiz questions – actually fulfil a role?
4. Political candidates will be required to either state in election their commitment to the plan, or to state clearly how they intend to change it. There should be a mechanism for review and revision.

I would be grateful for your views on this – is my analysis weak? Do I not give enough credit to what is already in place? If you agree with some of what I say, how do we take this discussion further?

Yours humbly as a responsible eCzech citizen,

FK.