Join the new world

The emphasis of the title should be First Impressions. Seeing as I've only been playing eRepublik for a month and some change, I don't have much historical reference. I'll be basing all of this solely off MY experience thus far. So, for that reason, please excuse any ignorance you may read.

In any society, fictitious or otherwise, populism should be a prominent element. It gives everyone an opportunity and keeps morale up. Competition is also necessary, but populism should also be relevant.

Firstly, it should be note😛 I don't have the slightest understanding of what Unity is or does to this point. I've tried using context clues to get some understanding, and nothing. Whenever it's written, it's always used in some cryptic wording.

It usually reads something along the lines of "Unity is our alternative to ensure a fair democracy". I've read dozens of articles that make reference to it, but none really explain it.

Regardless, populism in the eUSA. I have varying feelings on the subject, but overall I'd say it's prevalent enough. Some may say I'm a glass half empty type dude, and that may be true. But I try and be blunt, maybe it's just that the truth usually sucks.

So, I'll lead with the negatives. At the time that I'm writing this, there are 7,850 eAmerican citizens playing this game. There are 1,921 people belonging to a party ranked in the top 4, roughly a quarter of the eNation.

And I have to say, the majority of the more prominent voices I've heard from thus far belong to one of those top 4 parties. Paul Proteus recently won the national presidency. He's a fed.

All but one people who own a political title belong to one of these top 4 parties, outside of Kemal Ergenekon. He's the party president of the South Carolina Ulku Ocaklari.

86% of our congress belong to one of these top 4 parties. Another 12% belongs to the 5th ranked party, the American Military Party. Leaving 4% to be outside of this top 5 bracket.

However, I'm primarily focusing on the top 4. With about 25% of the national population, the top 4 virtually dominates our government.

These statistics however, leave the larger picture's story incomplete. In the last national presidential election, only 1,980 votes were cast. In the congressional elections, 2,195 votes.

Also, I'm ranked 3892nd in strength after only five weeks.

So, the counter argument can pretty easily be made that maybe the top 4-5 parties dominate our government because the majority of active citizens belong to one of them. I'm no one to speculate on that.

And even so, all these statistics are pretty telling, but what am I getting at? Do I have a point or complaint with all this?

Somewhat, yes. Again, it should be highlighte😛 I've only been here for roughly 5 weeks. I've seen two national presidential elections. However, I haven't seen a variety of candidates.

I don't know the logistics to how these candidates are chosen or if anyone can run, but just a small amount of people choose to. I can't say.

But I swear, I'm not a rebel without a cause. I am going to bring this all in, just stick with me a little more.

Despite my lack of experience, I have been paying attention to the last two presidential elections. And after this last one, I couldn't help but notice that the majority of the campaign articles had the same vibe to them.

Something along the rhetoric of "We have problems in the eUSA. I'm going to take steps to fix them. How am I going to do this? I'm going to make so-and-so a part of my cabinet. He/she is going to be whatever title. This person's talented."

Then it goes on to "If we all cooperate and work together, we can solve these problems". There usually isn't any actual plan. There is some variety though. Most, but not all articles usually include some reference to saving us from a political take over and how this person's evil.

Now, I was told to keep RL references to a minimum, but I can't help it in this spot. This is why I get so exasperated with RL politics. It all sounds pretty, but there's very little actual substance.

That's my problem with populism in eMurica. I feel our government is dominated by a group of people from a specific group of parties that all sound similar. Maybe I'll feel differently in a few months from now, this is just what I've witnessed thus far.

On to the positives though. Because they are very much alive in this game as well. Government programs and my military unit, The Activity, have been great in this regard.

They send me food and weapons to be able to participate in battle. While doing so, they must see my profile. I have relatively low strength, so I'm not going to contribute much.

However, I'm not discriminated against in that regard and whenever I ask for some information, someone helps me out. And knowledge is power too! -nerd-

Y'all have made this game very fun and interesting to me, so I gotta give credit when it's due. Thank you.

And, if anyone would like to shed some light in regards to what Unity is, please go ahead. Also, some history on the top 4-5 parties would be appreciated.

Btw, writing eAnything still feels very weird. I laugh a bit any time I write it... So, that's all. If you made it this far in my very long article, thanks for taking the time to read it. Have a good one.