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Hello America,

Today I write to you not as a former President or as a current Secretary of the Treasury. I also don’t write to you as a long-term congressman, nor as AMP’s PAC director despite the upcoming congressional elections (GO AMP!). I write to you as a person who has been playing eRepublik for nearly 5 years, and has been a member of various parties as well as been involved in leading numerous parties. And before anyone jumps down my throat, this is not a party superiority article. I am not intending to claim that any one party is better than any other. I am merely going to reflect upon my extensive experience in various eUS political parties, and conversations I have had with numerous other people.



There is a quality lacking in our current political party system. This quality has been lacking for the entire time I have been playing eRepublik. A few parties have attempted to integrate this quality into their operation, yet, all have failed. This quality is an actual, realistic, and specific party platform.

Many parties have put together platforms in the past. However, most of them can be boiled down to the same things;

“We pledge to always help people.”
“Country > Party > Self.”
“We will strive to support America and its interests!”


What many of those statements remind me of.

These statements are extremely general, and not really a stance that needs stating. Instead, a platform should be reasons why your party should be supported over a different party. In real life this would include statements such as;

“We are in favor of banning abortions.”
“We will pursue a balanced budget, cutting military spending if necessary.”
“We think it is fiscally prudent to cut taxes on the wealthy in order to provide jobs for others.”
“We think it is important to regulate pollution in order to maintain the environment.”


Real issues!

All of these statements share the fact that they can have arguments made both for or against them. These statements can be disputed, amended, and can become a point of contention. These statements can both attract and repel votes, members, and support towards or away from a party. Additionally, they are realistic. They’re not claiming something that no one in their right mind would disagree with, nor are they claiming that the party will do something that isn’t reasonably possible.

This is what eUS’s political parties are currently lacking. A true party platform.



I have spoken with numerous other folks frustrated and losing interest in our current political system. Currently, the only things that differ between the different parties are the people within them, and their associated communities. However, none of the parties have a published stance in favor of a specific political goal or a stance towards a specific issue.


They all look too similar!

One recent conversation I had with someone who has become so disinterested that he has lapsed into mere 2-clicking and the occasional IRC visit revolved around plans to build a party that breaks this mold and actually stands for something. A few ideas we had that I would like to see LAP consider taking a stance on;

1) Do you believe in a fiscally conservative budget that prioritizes saving money for the reserves? Or would you rather spend a bit more money in order to receive more damage on the battlefield or fund social programs?

2) Where do you stand on the Work Tax? Should it be just high enough to cover our budgeted expenditures? Or should it be high enough to allow us to save a little extra?

3) Should we start wars for the sake of starting a war, and keeping our citizens appeased/entertained? Or should we reserve our war-making for when our national security actually depends on it?

4) Should we attempt to become allies with a greater quantity of nations? Or should we instead focus on making better, stronger relationships with just a few allies?

5) Should we focus on teaching newbs how to do things for themselves? Or should we just send them free stuff?



The important thing here is that whatever LAP (or any other party interested in becoming a party that actually stands for something) decides, they put their money where their mouth is. They should be actively campaigning on these stances. They should have their congressmen push these ideas in congress, and defend their goals with well-reasoned arguments. They should also attempt to endorse & support PotUS candidates that are compatible with the party’s goals.



This is what I think would be most beneficial for LAP to adopt. It would be beneficial both for the party, as well as for the country. This party would be able to point to an article/forum thread/statement somewhere when someone asks them why they should join or vote for LAP. This should be what makes LAP different.

So, LAP;