KPeD About Languages In Congress

Day 1,767, 22:27 • Published in Germany Germany • by Skalg von Tuari


Musik

Dear Comrades,

Congress is kinda boring. People don't talk about much, simply because there is not much to be argued about. Whether we need a NE, or tax changes, or MPPs, is usually a decision not based on opinions or party lines, but based a necessity. We do things, because there is simply no alternative to it. That explains at least partly, why something as simple as the language used by congress can cause such a big deal.

Let me get this right - language laws in congress always were discussed with a lot of emotion. On the one hand, we have the ones who say „ZIS IS GERMARK“ and want to stress German as the main language. On the other hand, we have the ones who say „TROLOLOL U MAD BRAH“ and want us to speak english, since we used to have a lot of non-German citizens and we wanted them to be able to participate. There were two different kinds of compromises. One of them was to make both languages official - but only state that people „should“ add an english summary. The outcome was simple - everyone wrote in German. In order to change this, the second compromise made both languages obligatory.

Now, being the nature of compromises, no one was happy with that. And that is part of the reason why this discussion is so big. When ministers started writing in english only, it angered those who were opposed to this law - the dual language law does state that „all official government bureaus have to (at least) provide a short summary in english[...]Furthermore, all german posts in the Congress Forum need to have at least an english summary.“ While some assumed that by both mentioning the government and the forum, this law would include ministers, the dominant reading of this law is that it does not.

This, again, led to some people stopping to follow the laws at all. The Chairman now is stricter about that, so this stopped again; the unhappiness, however, continues.

Let me talk about some of the main issues and the position of the KPeD.



Respect for Denmark

One of the main reasons the English as a secondary language was enforced was the Union with Denmark. A lot of people argue that this is Germany, and we should not talk in english; or that the German population is the majority in the Union; or that on the map, it is Germany, not Denmark; or that we are on the German forums.

This is meaningless.

In Erepublik, there is little to no difference between occupation and a Union. There is no such thing as game mechanics ensuring that both sides are equal; one nation will gain ressources, new citizens and power, while the other ceases to exist. The only thing that is different from an occupation is the framing. Framing means the way we regard each other and talk to each other. The only thing that can possibly include is the government; it should be for everyone, not mainly for one of those two groups. Therefore, english is not to be regarded as „not German“, but as the only way to communicate with Denmark and make Danish people feel like they are equal.

Because that is the main characteristic of a Union - not one group dominating, but two sides who are equal and decide to stay together. And it does not matter, which side is bigger - because in a Union, we usually define two equal groups whose largeness only matters when it comes to internal affairs, but not when it comes to their relations to one another. And we should not forget how important Danes are - they might not have our population, but they gave us 2/3rd of our current regions, ressources and a way to block a possible invader.

In order to guarantee equality, however, speaking English and German is not enough. German is still dominating, as english is „neutral“. That is the reason why I proposed a law (see below), that would enforce the use of english, but would give the option of adding either German or Danish. Not many people would choose Danish - but only by this would both languages, and hence both communities, be represented equally.

The law suggested by me:
§1 For the Duration of the Union of eGermany and eDenmark, all official government bureaus have to (at least) provide a short summary in english, if not a full translation. Furthermore, all posts in the Congress Forum may be german or danish, but they need to have at least an english summary.



Minister

However, we still have the matter of ministers not being forced to obey those rules. There have been suggestions to impeach the CP; to force the CP somehow to control them or let them go; to stop obeying the law as a congressmember.

None of those are effective.

The CP is way to valuable to be impeached because of something like that. You might not realise it in your anger - but what language we use will have no imminent effect on Germark. It will not damage our country or enganger us in any way.

Impeaching an active, competent CP will.

The same goes for active, competent ministers. Any CP has a very hard time to find people both capable and willing to do work. Why do you think slayer has been MoD for idontknowhowlongmaybeayear? Simply because no one else cba to do his job. Any CP who is not totally out of his mind will keep ministers, even if they don't obey a language law.

So what can you do? You can change laws to inlude ministers in them - and kick them out of the congress forum if they do not obey them. That us easy, simple, and actually makes sense.

Conclusion

We as the KPeD will support english as a primary language, in order to include the Danish community. We will, however, try to break the dominance of German in congress - in a Union, you have to at least mention Danish. And we will not take part in any actions directed against the government because of the language law, unless they are based on a general change in the GO/laws.



Thats it, sorry for the WoT and lack of translation!
Skalg von Tuari