A Rebuff and an Endorsement
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by haugenmatt
I’ve had my qualms about going all out and endorsing just one candidate. In my honest opinion, both Calibur and Derek Apollyon are more than capable of running this country. If that had been my fear I would have made a statement long ago. No, I didn’t want to make a statement because not only are they both my friends, but I have been thinking about leaving the Oz political scene for a while (not the country, mind you!). I didn’t think it would be fitting to go out and endorse someone I wasn’t fully willing to see through his term. However, Andreas Connolly’s article has me in a good position to solicit a response and a rebuff.
Here are some things I have noted about both candidates:
-Derek:
~~Does NOT support government boycotts (so stop trying to play that as a trump card).
~~Does NOT intend to dominate the economy. We here at the ADSP follow a strict LIBERTARIAN policy. You are free to do whatever you want, Derek and the rest of us here at the ADSP just want you to do it responsibly. It would be silly to think or say that we will make you do anything. It’s a game and if your company can say “Screw the government”, follow your own irresponsible practices, and still survive, then more power to you. We aren’t trying to rule your eLives, just improve them.
~~Developed the Medicare system under Centrelink. If you didn’t know this has been instrumental in putting eAus up in the top 10 highest GDP nations! Socialist policies at work.
~~Has devoted countless hours to this nation. A lot of the stuff he does is behind-the-scenes – working with Cabinet ministers and the Prime minister to fix out kinks which we may never consciously know about.
-Calibur:
~~Does NOT believe in a purely Capitalist society!
~~Does NOT plan to destroy Medicare, but indeed to increase it!
~~Has been instrumental in helping to better our image abroad and has been busy making us some new friends! Together with Tantis, they have drafted up some very impressive proposals in the Cabinet section which I hope will be voted on/released soon.
~~Has also devoted countless hours to this nation. Calibur is often seen as the voice of the opposition, so to say.
I can say good things about both candidates all day, but what it really comes down to is how you want your country run in the coming month. Connolly, in his article, brought up a valid point: this game is based on the fundamentals of Capitalism. Yes, admittedly, it’s true. However, if you look beyond the mechanics, to the heart of the game, to the reason your Senators and Cabinet Ministers and PM are spending hours on the forum, you will see the success in this game comes not within the game mechanics, but within those who are able to expand on what they are given. I think you will agree with me when I say: the ADSP with Derek bring the most to the table here! Socialist policies have gotten us this far, who’s to say we are in the wrong now?
Yet, something Derek said to me the other day rang true. He said to me: “Change has to come from the outside.” I whole-heartedly agree, which is why I do not plan on running for Senate again next term, so that I can possibly work as an outside, criticizing force, if you will, on the Senate. However, I also want you to see in Derek what I see. Change. Do not think of him as T2: Return of Cottus Arci, because he simply is not Cottus. Derek is the face of the new ADSP – an ADSP post-PM Cottus, free of communism, full of freedom.
One last comment of Andreas Connolly’s I wish to address: “…a full-blooded Socialist is pledging support for the Capitalist candidate.” Connolly, if you will recall, real-life sentiments have rarely translated to this game. zaney fashioned himself as a lefty in real-life, but also claimed to being extremely right in eRepublik. It matters not what your real-life sentiments are, all you need to see is that eSocialism works and is alive and well in eAus.
Open your eyes and vote Derek Apollyon for Prime Minister, March 5, 2009.
haugenmatt.
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The blocker 😛
Just for my friends at AP News Agency.
Well written, haugenmmatt. Voted.
I would like to say, however, that what I meant by mentioning my real life feelings is that they -can- translate into the game, as evidenced by the presence of Socialist ideals at all in here. Because there are those of you interested in implementing Socialist ideas and policies, my point was that in a game built for Capitalism, with no 'wiggle-room' left, so to speak, for other economic systems, it seems illogical to me that we'd work with the market in any other way.
I will never argue that we cannot do a great deal -outside- the game's mechanics. However, with the Senate and government itself, the game leaves a lot to interpretation. We have no way, on the other hand, to implement new economic ideas, as they would conflict with systems already in place. Much as Communism really doesn't work in the real world, or hasn't yet, it also is not well suited to the eRepublik world.
I respect DA a great deal (I worked under for a few weeks, I ought to 😛), but saying that he is the right candidate because he's a good 'change' for the government strikes me as almost silly. Calibur comes from the moderate-right end of the political spectrum, and would, in fact, mean a great deal of change over Cottus Arci. And yes, while Socialism has been implemented to a minor degree in our eCountry already, I'd readily argue that if we just abandoned the needless pursuit of such ideas, we could grow much faster, and indeed, using the game mechanics the way they were -meant- to be used, we could do a great deal more than we would by limiting ourselves.
It is, as always, up to the voters; as Haugenmatt, and apparently Derek Apollyon himself said, however, "Change has to come from the outside." The ANP is a capitalistic group from a long distance outside the ADSP's ranks. If you're after change that will bring good, positive results for eAustralia, look no further.
Votes 😛
In point of fact , you are in error . When the call for the boycotts was first announced by the Prime Minister , the first reply was by Derek Apollyon stating " 100 % support " of the boycott . My memory is very clear on this issue . Don't try to confuse people by rewriting history .
Senator Bilbarus
No, Bilbarus, you are indeed 100% correct. He did say that, but was he supporting the boycotts or was he supporting Cottus? I think it was the latter, because when I spoke to him later that night he said he agreed with me against them. I think we should all support the man we voted in. It is ok to disagree with policies, but we must support him.
I see what you mean, and I'm not trying to re-write history. I'm trying to write it...
no. 6!
lol
I agree with Cottus. I like the guy....but i stand for what i believe in. if i ever disagreed with a policy i voted against it. if he was against the boycott than he should have said so. being a yes man is not change.
I say..
Good point calibur.
Haug, I don't think Derek personally liked the idea of the boycotts, but I do believe he followed the party line, and that included the line of his PM. As I said to Derek one day regarding the issue, it wasn't that he fully and whole heartedly supported it, it was that his voice wasn't one of the ones standing up to denounce it. That is the point.
While he may not have actually really supported it, he didn't allow himself to denounce it.
So in other words your suggesting that Derek was being a yes man.
Let me ask you this. If this is the case, how are people supposed to known whether Derek's being truthful when he expresses a point of view. How are we meant to know whether any policy position is actually his or whether it's just something that'll flutter in the wind. How can anybody hold confidence in any of it?
Of course we don't actually know Derek's position or whether he now doesn't support the failed proposal because this isn't from him, rather it's essentially a political campaign message to secure votes for the ADSP candidate (not that that should be needed).