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This is a re-post from a thread about The Righteous Nation Philosophy on the internal Japan forum.

The Righteous Nation Philosophy can be read here

As I sit here at a construction site in Kyushu, sipping my morning coffee as the sun rises from behind Mt. Aso, my mind wanders away from the work ahead of us today as we continue to rebuild this region. I find my thoughts lingering, again and again, on the fifth precept of The Righteous Nation philosophy. It speaks about respect for foreign cultures, acknowledges the absence, in this universe of ours, of one correct way of being.

In recent days the Japanese people have been accused, by one another, of self-righteousness. I have not understood what this term was supposed to be mean as it applies to our current situation. Surely those who criticize the President's recent actions are concerned most of all with our own safety. To me this smacked of self-interest, not self-righteousness.

And yet here in this document is the word self-righteousness, attached to a tenet that preaches the wisdom of diversity. This game world is based upon invasion and armies. Death is voluntary. Resurrection is possible. Good and evil are notions that bounce back and forth based on nothing more than who is doing the writing. To some of you, wickedness might mean imperialism, it might mean conquering other nations. To me, the only wickedness I recognize in this world are acts of stupidity and greed that pretend to be something else. We used to have lots of this in Japan. These days, we have much less.

Perhaps it is enough that we have The Righteous Nation philosophy in our national libraries, so all citizens can refer to it. That alone makes us different than most countries. Just the possibility that we will apply such thoughtfulness to our decisions. To say that we must follow it is to pretend that there is One True Way. The document itself justifies not following the document. This is not a shortcoming. It is an intelligence that has applied since the very beginning of the world, manifested profoundly in the events and debates of recent days.

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This is a re-post from a thread started on TFC's internal forum

When people ask us what Tequila Fitness Club stands for, the usual answer is something like, "we are a group of free thinkers." But unless TFC members have no contact with one another and never discuss politics, then it is impossible for the description to end there. Inevitably we will influence one another, and gradually, TFC will stand for something more specific than being a group of free thinkers. Each generation of TFC begins with members coming from different backgrounds, with different ideas for how Japan's government should work, and over time the membership drifts closer together and reaches a sort of political consensus.

I wonder if this has started to happen with us, the current generation. In the past few weeks I have seen many of my colleagues making posts that indicate a certain old school point of view for how Japan should be run. For example, TFC was the most outspoken party against the leasing of Kyushu to the United States. And more recently, TFC members have pushed to have all the South Korean regions liberated back to eSK. And it is not only words: TFC members fought heavily in the defense of Kyushu (for the record I fought 16 times for 989 damage myself), and fought red in several recent Resistance Wars, sometimes even achieving Battle Hero status.

The basic argument in defense of these actions is that the most important principles in Japan are: neutrality, anti-imperialism, and national security. I would argue that when you look at the past history of eJapanese governments, that these are the very same principles that eJapanese citizens and ex-governments from several months/years ago embraced , which is why I described them as an "old school" point of view.

Then there are other TFC members, such as myself, who are more open-minded to the idea of eJapan changing into a different type of country. For example, I voted to give Dokomo permission to lease Kyushu, feeling that it would make our blackmail attempt - and our overall reputation for carrying through on threats - stronger. I did not want to have to loan out Kyushu, but I saw no point in making the threat if we weren't willing to carry it out. Japan shouldn't be a weak country if it doesn't have to be.

I also fought green in the recent RW's, since I am of the opinion that holding a region such as Gyeongsangbuk-do is important for Japan in the future. Gyeongsangbuk-do is connected to the native Japanese region of Chugoku, so by allowing eSK or Russia to take control of it, we would have them that much closer to our national borders. Also, Gyeongsangbuk-do, like all eSK regions, could have resource value in the upcoming economic module. Finally, by holding such regions, our congressional elections would be structured to make it harder for rogue players to win a seat, by limiting the number of wildcard seats.

So yes, holding Gyeongsangbuk-do is a small act of imperialism. To that I say: big f'ing deal. This is a game where national strength matters a lot, and I feel our government is right to do things that increase our national strength. So when we voted to approve MPPs with Spain and Poland a few days ago, sure, it made us appear less neutral, but it also made us stronger and more secure. Poland and Spain - and the USA - are up and coming nations, in case you haven't noticed. They are three of the fastest growing countries, and are all in the top 4 overall for national population.

I have tried to present both sides of the issue here. I have respect for both sides of the issue, and I know that many of my colleagues feel differently than I do. I am making this post so that we can debate these issues. Let the rest of your party know where you stand and why. Japan is at an interesting point politically, and the Congress elections are right around the corner. The Tequila Fitness Club needs to become a stronger voice in this country, and we need to push this country forward, in the right direction. Our party has not gained new members in the past month as quickly as we did in the past. Let's show our newest citizens that TFC is a place not only where diversity of opinion is allowed, but also a place where rigorous debate occurs.