Join the new world

PQ as a young squirt, already working on being cantankerous.


Liner notes: This text is inspired by and to a large extent modeled after parts of a pamphlet, published in December 2010, called "Indignez Vous!". (More or less: "Get Mad!" or "Get Indignant!") It was written by Stephane Hessel, a 92-year-old Holocaust survivor and member of the French Resistance who participated in drafting the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.

Hessel's pamphlet calls on RL French citizens to recall the principles and values that inspired the anti-fascist Resistance and to carry out, on that basis, a peaceful insurrection.

I thought it provided an interesting template for a lot of my own feelings and observations about the state of the eUSA since the time of World War 3 and the Great Resistance that repelled the invaders. Based on that, I came up with following screed, which is both an homage to Hessel's pamphlet and a meditation on the state of the eUSA. This article is not a copy of Indignez Vous!, though it does borrow some of its structure and echoes a few of its phrases here and there.

Enjoy! And yeah, Get Indignant!



"Governments, by definition, have no conscience." -- Albert Camus




One of the tribes of the so-called Dhegiha group of the Sioux Nation are called the Omaha, which means 'those who go against the wind". This article is dedicated to the spirit of the Omaha in the eUSA.




Joanne Shenandoah: Prophecy Song


Pre-emptive apologia: This article is quite long by eRep standards. I thought about breaking it up in two or more articles, particularly when my friends suggested that might be a good idea. But that seemed to interrupt the flow of piece too much, so I am publishing it as one big ol' long crazy screed. Won't be the first time I've published an epic-length piece...

I did have some trepidation about publishing it at all because it is something of a "literary" excercise, I guess. Those who know me know that in my engagement with eRepublik I tend to be more about words than actions. So I guess I open myself up to some justifiable criticism for "saying, rather than doing". Fair enough. And... because I used Hessel's pamphlet as template, I suppose I could also be criticized for being less than 100% "original" in my writing. But I think that would be bit unfair. It's more like a rap song that borrows themes from other works in order to sculpt together a message.

And hey, if nothing else, it's peppered with impertinent and controversial opinions, as well as some heart-felt emotion. I think it's a good, entertaining read, if nothing else. So what the heck. Make a cup of coffee and read the whole thing anyway. If you're playing eRep, it's not like you have something else all that important to do, right? LOL!



Seeing Red



Some say we must be nearly at the end. That the e-world and the eUSA is on a terminal downward spiral into boredom.

Really, it can't be too far away, can it?

Then perhaps this is a good time to remember. To remember that, more than anything else, our nation's political engagement with the New World was informed by the invasion of the eUSA and its national salvation during WW3.

Or as I like to call it: the Great Resistance.


It was pretty awesome. Militia and military efforts were coordinated. Useful interchanges between parties were the norm. Many forms of organizations we take for granted today were born or galvanized during that time.

All of it originated from one point of struggle: to save the Union.

In doing so, the spirit arose of making the nation a better place. Those momentous times were embodied by three great USA tribal chiefs who recognized and seized the moment like no others: Eugene Harlot, Emerick and Josh Frost.

From the guerilla camps of the Bear Cavalry in the Summer of 2009, I was happy to see the councils of Resistance at work. There seemed to be a program in the works -- albeit somewhat lacking in specificity -- that proposed to liberate the eUSA according to those principles and values which repose deep in the beating heart of our e-nation's modern virtual democracy: bravery, creativity and justice.

And today, my braves, we have a great need to recall that spirit and to rejuvenate those principles and those values.






It is obvious that there is something to be proud of in this nation.



But that pride is not found in overwrought, pants-wetting paranoia about PTO's.

Not in a policy of promoting suspicion of all foreigners, nor of pandering to a generic knee-jerk disdain for our Mexican brothers and sisters. (As if there weren't 50 million or so Spanish-speaking citizens in the RL USA).

Not in retreats from efforts to build up retention and training programs.

Not in backing away from a desire to ensure that every e-American has a sustainable income and enough food.


And that noble pride suffers, frankly, from media articles concerned primarily with the rate of profit.


Yes, as inheritors of the true ideals of the Great Resistance War, we should refuse to allow such things.


Let's remember. In the summer of 2009 and immediately afterwards, the nation recovered from a series of dramatic atrocities. And an ambitious resurrection was undertaken by those who had participated in the Resistance...





Remember, remember.



We elected the Great Congress. Seal Team 6 was founded. Remember? The Jedi Council had been done away with and creative efforts were made to promote good candidates for elected office from all of the parties.

Not out of paranoia. But out of a desire to ensure that the best and the brightest would govern.

The bravery of Harlot and the cleverness of Emerick rescued the nation.

Josh Frost promoted a vision of an e-America that seemed to put it on a principled trajectory. One that stressed getting everybody involved, standing by your friends and defending the national integrity of smaller nations.

Many citizens really tried, in the fresh bloom of liberation, to build on that spirit. For example, people like Jude Connors and Max McFarland promoted the idea of expanding zero-skill job hubs to retain and train new citizens in their difficult first few weeks in the New World. Jude wanted the government to support the plan. Max saw it as a private philanthropic effort. But the spirit of both plans was generous and open and aimed at strengthening the tribe.

Writers like SamWystan, Jack Flufferton, LiveFreeOrDie, and a host of others promoted a lively press, full of dissent, the clash of ideas, and new thinking that aimed at keeping the yeast of democracy fresh and alive.

In many ways, the nation had a new beginning. There was promise in the air. A sense that this conglomeration of players -- with so many different points of view, gathered around so many different camp fires -- could, through their creativity and collaboration, bring something truly new into the New World.





The promise of the Great Resistance War was not kept.


Too soon, the dream began to fade.

To take on my favorite examples, instead of a an open debate on moving towards a rational economic system that puts the general interest of the players ahead of a dictatorship of professional interests, we witnessed the re-concentration of wealth and power into fewer and fewer hands and a small but loud hallelujah chorus of "experts" denouncing any attempt to promote alternatives.

Or. What started out as a way to encourage participation in Congress among the best candidates eventually turned into a CIA hit squad aimed at smacking down anyone suspected of political impurity.

Instead of grappling with how eRepublik rewards economic collaboration and social solidarity, and finding ways to sensibly socialize an economy to profit the nation as a whole...

...economic "leaders" constructed an under-capitalized banking and stock exchange system, based on the hollow promise of rewards (dividends) with no work, that eventually collapsed under the weight of its own debt.

In politics, creative and useful distinctions between the Top 5 parties were squelched. Parties not in the Top 5 were "officially" marginalized.

Opposing Pizza the Hut and a threat of Hungarian-backed PTO's become the foil for opposing democracy itself.

Eventually, an attempt was even made to side-line elections altogether. The argument for doing away with elections was promoted by partisans of the "meta-game", who made an overt call to "PTO" Russia. Ironically and hypocritically, this was precisely the behavior that the unelected, unofficial CIA Party opposed so vehemently at home.

Don't misunderstand me. Players are free to promote whatever schemes they please, whether I like them or not. It was generally not the case that game mechanics were mis-understood.

But where was the indignation at such bold hypocrisy? Well, there was Cold Hearted Snake. And... then Astra Kat G quit playing? What had happened to our vision?



Chaos is not enough.



Some tried to do things differently. And they did. But they didn't really succeed in changing much of any consequence, did they?

The S.E.E.S. -- Emerick's fun-loving legacy -- recognized there was a fundamental problem and attempted to stem the bleeding. But they did so, I am sad to say, in a spirit largely at odds with the best spirit of the Great Resistance.

Turning "elitism" into a principle, the S.E.E.S. and others began to openly promote an essentially fascist approach to the game. This "radical" approach was, in fact, precisely along the lines of the default "all against all" paradigm promoted by Plato/Admin. And exactly in line with dampening down the expansive spirit of the Great Resistance.

And so inevitably, that "revolution" turned on its head. When Max McFarland pushed the chaotic S.E.E.S. spirit to its logical conclusion by attempting to upset the balance between the major parties, the result was entirely predictable: the USWP -- with it zombie army of voters -- remained entrenched at the top of the heap, exactly where the AAP had once been.

At the end of the season of political chaos, nothing of real consequence had really changed except that S.E.E.S. sat where the Conservative Party had once been. One group of essentially conservative idealogues had replaced another. Zzzzzzzz...

Measured up against the boldness and spunk of the Great Resistance, it is not enough to foment a little chaos, or to put on a game-show style "revolution", or, for that matter, to simply fire criticisms at S.E.E.S. or at a vaguely construed "elitism".





A lively democratic republic needs a lively and independent-minded press.



This was evident during the time of the Great Resistance, and has shown its power from time to time since then, as bright sparks shoot across the media, only, typically, to fade away.

Real leaders understand this. They promote and encourage quality writing even when it doesn't necessarily agree with their point of view.

It was a hallmark of the Resistance period.

And it is a shame on our honor that SamWystan's voice was, effectively, shouted down.





Don't give up! Keep working on what works.



A beneficial effect of the invasion, the Great Resistance and its aftermath, was the realization that the eUSA is not especially unique or extraordinary in the New World. There is no guarantee that it cannot be overrun, or that its population will not diminish.

This realization led to a great deal of attention being paid to recruitment and retention programs, to the understanding that not only promoting a "baby boom", but also finding way to keep newer players engaged and interested, is a constant and ongoing necessity.

Of particular note was Civil Anarchy's run for the country Presidency using the imagery and tone of Revolution. He caught people's attention and shone a spotlight on ideas for keeping the game interesting and drawing in new players. He was castigated for being not experienced enough, but even that led to an intriguing and open debate about just how to train a new generation of chiefs.

His challenge to "the system" was respected because it was genuine and full of heart.

In fact, a great many good hard-working players have strived to build effective institutions that would keep the dream alive. Fionia worked for a long time to promote a university structure to instruct noobs and more experienced players alike. PigInZen led the construction of an Info Hub. A number of parties and some companies and organizations pursued similar efforts.

Such efforts were galvanized by the Great Resistance.

And work on such projects continues today, much to the credit of the players who support them. But the fervor is diminished. The society-builders get demoralized, drowned out by the noise of profiteering, fear-mongering, one-ups-manship and -- it must be said -- pointless over-reaching at colonization, a lietmotif of our national ballad that seems to overshadow all other songs.





Perhaps it comes back to a lack of follow-through on -- or even a refusal to countenance -- radical people-oriented economic reforms?

Sometimes I think there is a kind of deficit of imagination. For example, an unwillingness or inability to even consider funding nationalized institutions other than the military budget, or to consider radical expansions of the nation's social network.

Here's one crazy idea: why not pay students to attend training classes? Why not?

Such social investments are not unheard-of. And in other areas they are enormously popular. For instance, Colin Lantrip, to his credit, re-initiated the Resistance practice of arming the populace.

Or... why shouldn't the government try to promote more programs that provide free food, along with weapons, to its citizens, especially to the poorer ones?

In a number of places in the New World, political parties, militia-style organizations and -- from time to time -- some governments have worked on such distribution schemes. And yes, it probably works better on a decentralized scale. And yes, for that matter, it's no doubt less trouble to distribute cash rather than goods.

But the point is that this type of "tribal welfare" is enormously useful, not only in the practical sense of keeping players interested and engaged, but also in breaking down and building bridges between the entirely artificial social divide between the "official" military and and the "HQ" around the country President -- which is, after all, an out-of-game "meta" construct -- and the actual armed force and spiritual strength of a nation: its citzenry.





Is it really any wonder that new players, or those not inducted into the various rings of the "inner circles", become indignant? That they "disobey"?

Efforts towards meaningful and transformative reform that began under such dire circumstances, and were moving -- even if somewhat fitfully -- towards a sort of ideal "society as an e-republikan school", were halted too soon in the service of a "society of more money and rewards for the richest".

The healthy and revolutionary elements of the Great Resistance War were not developed enough.

Its spirit of creativity and critique, of real bravery -- of great justice -- was pushed to the corner and told to shut up.


It is the promise and the spirit of the Great Resistance that needs to be our cause today.



The Sign of Resistance is Indignation


Some well-meaning friends like to tell me that the e-State cannot bear the costs of these kinds of citizen-support measures.

But I ask you to consider how, today, do we manage the money to maintain and prolong our enormous array of alliances, conquests and battles? It is not just the mandate of game mechanics. The power of money become so grand, so insolent, so egotistical, that we have started to forget that it is our money.

The golems of Mammon reside in the highest spheres of our State, whispering into the ears of our chiefs, do they not? Isn't it obvious to everyone?

Look at how the "meta-game" banking system and its stock market sought to "privatize" that part of our common wealth not already been spent on the military budget. Instead of "making us rich", it sucked wealth out of the network.

Isn't it well-known that many of our highest-earning company owners only look out for their own profits, not for the general interest, not for the interest of their workers? Furthermore, the divide between the richest and poorest players has never been so critical -- and it is widening, thanks to Plato's anti-republikan economic reforms.


The core value of the Great Resistance, the one that underlies all of the others, the one that drives us towards a better, more perfect nation, is not blind obedience to the chiefs (even when the chiefs are good). It is indignation.


We survivors of the Invasion, we veterans of the Resistance, we partisans of the fighting forces of a free nation, we call on the next generation of braves to be alive, to rise up, to learn from and to transmit the heritage of the Great Resistance War and its ideals.

We say to you: find some balls and get indignant!



The social network of apparent privilege surrounding our responsible politicians, economists, businessmen, and their publicists will not simply decommission itself.

Nor will the the international dictatorship of the New World's frenetic and chaotic financial markets which, in turn, continually manufactures a menace to social e-development and e-democracy, simply wither away of its own accord.




I encourage all of you, each and every one of you, no matter what circles you move in, to take on the attitude of indignation.

It is precious.

When something revolts you in the way I was revolted by the occupation of the eUSA, let it make you a militant. Let it make you strong and engaged.

Sing your song. Don't let "history" happen to you. Write it.



The course of e-history is not abstract. It runs through you. Let it run towards justice, towards freedom, but not this freedom of the fox in the chicken coop.

Whatever Plato/Admin or the CIA/FEC says, your rights as a citizen are universal. No self-appointed, self-perpetuating bureaucracy -- even if (as many are) well-intentioned and hard-working -- can take them away. If you encounter someone who doesn't know how to be indignant, make it your task to help them conquer their fear.





Two Visions of History


When I try to understand what causes players to drift into e-fascism, or to just accept as inevitable "the way things are", then I am reminded that many of those players, especially many in the eUSA, have a terrible fear of the word "socialism" and that we often let ourselves be guided by our fears.

But the social network of eRepublik is nothing like, say, Cambodia in the 1970s. It is not even like Russia in 1917, nor China in 1948. There is no history of communist totalitarianism in the New World. Where "communism" has been tried in the New World (Portugal in Beta, Russia in V1), it was interesting and playful.

There is, literally, nothing to fear in "e-socialism", or whatever term you choose to use for radically improving and enhancing the nation's social network. There's nothing to lose. And there's some interesting experience to build on, including our nation's own fairly extensive experiences with social collaboration.


But I am not a fool and neither are most players. My experiences -- both in-game and in-real-life -- have given me a whole succession of things to be indignant about, but also things to fear. And we all carry our fears around with us.

The thing about fears is facing them head-on and not letting our minds play tricks on us. That rope laying in the corner may, in the dark, look like a snake. But it is still only a rope.


To put it on a more philosophical level: the thing to be mindful of when considering such matters as these is, I think, that ultimately, a man's responsibility -- whether in-game or in-life -- is his own. It belongs neither to an earthly power nor to any higher one.


Having said that, now let's see if we can't turn our attention away from our various obsessions with those overloaded and perhaps not-so-useful terms "capitalism" and "socialism". Let's try looking at using a different framework. Let's just consider for a moment instead the psychological effect of how we think about history.


When all is said and done, there are really two main schools of thought regarding perespectives on history...





On the one hand, there is the Hegelian view of a long history of mankind, or in our case of playerkind, that progresses towards liberty stage by stage. History of societies, we like to think, progresses until it arrives at a state of liberty.

In real life, many of us hold a democratic State -- which is to say a truly human-centered Republic -- as the ideal. Why should it be any different in eRepublik? Why should we have to "make do" with "the way things are"? Don't all societies evolve? Don't we want them to?

Whether the Hegelian view is absolutely true or not, there is a certain joy to be had in holding to such a view of history.


And there is another way to look at it. That progress is made by liberty, which is to say, through competition.

This is the way of "more is always better", the view that history is a kind of beneficially destructive windstorm. The New Angel embraces the tempest with open arms, as in Klee's famous painting. It is a view of history as an inevitable chain of catastrophe heaped upon catastrophe.

Again, whether it can be "proven" true or not, holding such a view tends to lead to depression on a psychological level.


Isn't it clear which view of history is more in line with the pursuit of happiness?





Indifference



It cannot be denied that good reasons to be indignant can seem to be, in these times, somewhat murky. The e-world itself is so unstable. It is not easy to distinguish amongst the various waves of events that engulf us.

It's a big e-world, with many interdependent facets, and -- as in real life -- we are interconnected like never before. Things are complicated.

But in this New World, I maintain certain things are still unsupportable.

Just look around you. Look hard. It is trendy to affect an attitude of indifference. People like to say, "After all, I am nothing in this world, so what does it matter?" I've said it myself. Many times.

But if we comport ourselves like that, we will lose one of the essential components of being human. In particular: the faculty of indignation and the engagement with the world that is the consequence of indignation.





Here are some things to care about in the New World.



One of the common-place nostrums about eRepublik and the eUSA's place within it, is that it is "all about war", or some variation on that argument. The Great Resistance showed that war is a tremendous catalyst.

But war is not the be-all and end-all of participation. It is not the only possible source of indignation.

Invasion was the fuel for the fire of the Great Resistance. But consider also...



The divide between e-rich and e-poor is growing, both within e-countries and between e-countries, both virtually and in its reflection of access to real-life cash. This is Plato's latest "innovation" in modeling the real world. What fun.

"Human rights", which we can translate as "player dignity", is under assault from all sides. A real sense of the universal rights of players is sadly lacking, drowning in a tsunami of uber-nationalism, "fun racism", and unchecked egoism. Playing at fascism leads to playing at genocide. A barrel of laughs.


Consider these universal principles...


Everyone has right to their nationality.

Everyone has a right to social security.

The right of each person to seek satisfaction of their economic, social and cultural needs is indispensable to their dignity and to the free development of their personality.


These principles are no less true in the New World than in the real world. They are the foundations of your dream of freedom, of your struggle for a better Union.


To the next generation of warriors, I say: look around you.

If you just look, you will find the basis for your indignation.

Give some heart to your citizen! Look for it and you will find it!