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Greetings eIreland,

In the past couple of days, you would of been like me and saw an article which describes one eIreland CP candidate as a traitor. While I wont go into detail about the fact the author pops up every CP election to try and influence voters with half truths, it did make me think about the term traitor and how it differs in RL and in eRep life.



Whilst this article came about due to the eIrish elections, first I want to talk about Real Life 'Traitors'. Over the course of man kind, many people have been labeled a Traitor some rightly so, others only due to their allegiance being opposite to the main stream and others a more blurred.



Jacques Stosskopf, was French engineer who held the post of deputy director of naval construction at the German-held Lorient U-boat arsenal. During the war he helped the Germans build the mighty u-boat bases in French, ensuing they would not succumb to allied attack. Whilst doing this he was denounced as a traitor by the French people, who saw him as someone who helped the occupiers. He was later killed by the Nazi's when a French Resistance fighter was captured and under torture, told them the truth that Jacques was actually working for the Resistance and passing info onto the allies. Only after the war, his true role came out to the public and he was posthumously awarded the Legion of Honour which surprised many, as they thought he was a Nazi stooge.

Traitor or Not.



Mata Hari was a Dutch exotic dancer and courtesan. She was contacted during WW1 by the French Intelligence agency to spy for them when she went into Germany, where she would be paid 1 million Francs from the French. Whilst travelling to Germany, she was arrested by the British and questioned about her role. Finally when she got to meet the Germans, she apparently offered to sell French secrets to the Germans. In turn, the Germans who were not happy about her intelligence, sent a message (which they knew the French would break) saying that she was working for the Germans. This lead to her being arrested and trialed by the French. Many historians question the events at the trial and say she was used as a scape goat by the French for their failures in the war.

Traitor or Not.



Most of you would know the Edward Snowden story, about a intelligence agent who became disenfranchised with the US spy agencies and the way they harvested data on their own people, their allies as well as the invasive ways of gathering this evidence. Subsequently he is wanted under an arrest warrant for spying (he gave the info to the media to expose it) and has been branded a traitor by many, while others have championed him for his actions (a bit like Bradley Manning)

Traitor or Not.



Whilst the above quote is about Terrorism, it can easily be related to the word and idea of 'Traitor'. Between the examples above and the many in the history of the world, each act of treason could be seen as something different.

- From the angle your looking at ie. Someone from the Russian side during the cold war would see the actions of people like The Portland Spy Ring as being hero's to their cause, but the British saw them as Traitors. Just like the US would call Aleksandr Dmitrievich Ogorodnik a hero, but the Soviets would call him a traitor.

- From the point of morality, like Edward Snowden and Bradley Manning as well as a number of other 'whistle blowers'.

- To the quite upfront and easy to deduct, like Benedict Arnold.

But now it comes to eRep and how one could deduce someone being a Traitor.



In eRep, the lines are less blurred when it comes to being a Traitor or being accused of one. Whilst I have be branded one a few times, be it here in eIreland (when I manage to gain a region for eIreland for congress) as well as in eAustralia (apparently running a shadow government), those both times could easily be argued in both ways depending on which side of the fence you sit on. In eRep it can be quite clearer on who has committed treasonable actions.

Some people point to a players name to label them as a traitor, as seen with RTK's article where he accuses Ethel of being a traitor in eRep based on her players name and it's RL links, not that the two could be classed as being linked (after all a quick look at names in eIreland, and I will doubt thinking Moomoohead is actually a cows head walking around, Krakken is actually a mythological sea beast and thus spoke God is actually God etc etc).

However some acts are clear to see as traitorous, like selling your country out to another nation, selling CS which could lead to congress manipulation or actually actively fighting against your own nation to keep it wiped (for instance doing 1.4bil damage for MKD during a wipe).

It makes you wonder....