Join the new world

[NOTE: The campaign for the abolition of superalliances and the restoration of balance to the world will resume in our next article. Consider this a love letter of sorts, not just to my dear and lovely Rainy Sunday, but to a lot of citizens who have come up to me over my time here and longed for something more out of the eRepublik experience than scandal on high and wars and rumors of wars.]

Sometimes, when you look at someone’s avatar, you’ll notice he’s put symbols in the corners and sides, often it’s rank insignia, or a hero medal symbol, something of pride to show off his accomplishments, right there on the avatar, for all to see. I did the same a few days ago, and I’m surprised and a little disheartened that my closer friends did not pick up on it and ask me, hey, Arjay, I see you’ve done something to your ASU mascot avatar, what’s with that blue-green thingee you’ve put in the corner?

That is the avatar for Rainy Sunday, my confidante, my friend, my partner in crime, and if fortunate, someday, my eRepublik wife.

I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, loyal readers, but over this paper’s last few articles, interest has skyrocketed. Subscriptions have more than doubled in just a week, going from about 125 to, as of right now, 258, and when I could previously expect a good article to get 50 or 60 votes, we had one the other day get 420 votes and up to #6 in the International News! Part of the credit goes to my abilities, part goes to the small but growing and devout legions who read this, part of it goes to hitting on an undercurrent of frustration and giving that tension a chance to be released.

The real difference maker, however, has been the work of my Rainy Sunday, her knack for finding a story before it becomes common knowledge has proven invaluable, and between her nose for news and my commentary, business at the Grain of Sand is booming.

Part of the reason for me writing this is in gratitude to her, not just for assisting me in making this paper a success, but for making life at eRepublik much richer and more rewarding. We intend to explore the breadth of this world together, and if there’s something we’re interested in and cannot find it, we’ll build it ourselves.

There has got to be more to eRepublik than being on one side of the fence or the other on the basic question, is PEACE destroying the world? Since my arrival here, that seems to be the singular issue, whether or not a country is part of a superalliance, what wars they’re waging and against whom, criticizing or defending them due to narrow partisan biases. War is AN aspect of eRepublik, it is not THE aspect, and if you have come here solely for the fun of destroying what others create, if your primary concern is whether or not your country is getting enough respect from its neighbors or payback for sins long since committed and forgotten by many, I think you’re selling yourself short, and that shortsightedness not only diminishes your experience, but your destructive nature diminishes the experiences of others. I have never called for the abolition of war, I certainly promote serenity and creation of culture, but I don’t completely discount the necessity of war, so long as there is a sense of balance. To everything, there is a season, a time to build up, a time to tear down, a time for war, and a time for peace. When every aspect of life at eRepublik becomes dedicated to feeding the war beast, balance is lost, and before the glutton sits in satiety, having devoured the world entire, it is incumbent on us dreamers to pull the plate away or die trying.

I think one of the reasons why this paper has always had a loyal following is because I write by the seat of my pants, and whether I’m criticizing the latest American president or power brokers in South America, I’ve tried to be honest and sincere, and maybe just a little off-center in my presentation. I maintain the prime directive of this paper’s mission statement, to be a constant source of irritation in the hope of creating something beautiful at the end of the day. To an extent, I think I’ve already succeeded. My vision of the world may not be yours, but that dissatisfaction of the status quo, that longing for a different form of expression, is something this paper seeks to attract, and I am moved by how well that sentiment has been received.

Write ecstatically and passionately.
Write from the soul.
Write fearlessly and with fury.
Write with flamboyance and without shame.
Write as if your very life depended on it.
Write lyrics, not prose.
Write of sunrises, not sunsets.
And always, always, always, write to seek a yes, never a no.

This newspaper is the literary manifestation of a dream, and it pleases me to no end that so many dream the same dream. We will continue to push for honor to be the greatest point of merit a citizen can attain, not wealth or warmongering or fleeting political power. Whatever you pursue, pursue with dignity and valor, and to seek a yes, never a no.

I love you, Rainy.

~Arjay.