War, Taxes, Congress, Americans and the Game
Day 454, 16:20
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Published in USA 
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by
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by Joe DaSmoe
Good Evening America,
So I'm sitting here reading up on the latest events. There is lot of heated debating taking place lately on, ...well, everything. Here is the way I look at things.
As you know, Congress is currently considering a proposal for an across the board tax. 20-25%income tax and 1-5% VAT(sales tax). When I see that from a RL viewpoint its shocking, from the game side its about right.Wtf! you might ask, well here's why.
A lot of citizens find this game and play it as a RL simulation. I don't necessarily see it that way. My recent VP nod has granted me an inside view of this game. True, a lot of my arguments echo from my experience in the real world, but my friends this game is nothing like RL. So a lot of my beliefs don't apply here. As a conservative, I hate high taxes. As a eRepublik citizen, I get it. This isn't a RL simulation, it's a game, geared around one thing. War. That's basically all there is to do here. Eat, Work, War, bitch in the Forums, rinse, repeat.
America sits here as a nation divided, our enemies fight as one. Yeah, these taxes are high, but we need the money. If we don't have adequate funds, our military suffers, our country is weaker. Great strides have been taken in making the Military more efficient. America is on track.
Indonesia, is on a warpath.
As much as players here may want to peacefully co-exist, it's not reality here. Take a look around the globe. Many countries are Imperialistic. I laugh at the propaganda that PEACE spews in our media. They call us imperialists, war mongers. The United States doesn't control any regions outside her borders, Indonesia controls most of the southern hemisphere. Lmao.
So how do you want it America? Low taxes, less military/defense or High taxes, strong military/defense. This is a game. Without military might we will eventually fade to black. For the four months ole' Joe has been around, we have done nothing but sit on the sidelines. Our enemies fight, grow stronger. America, argues about what to do. Around and around we go.
My point is this. We better start figuring out wtf we are going to be in the game. Do you want to sit around and watch other nations win the GAME, or we going to get off our asses and get some? As it stands right now we are comparatively weak to many nations. I say its time we strengthen ourselves. If we don't, we will just continue to be out-shined, and eventually over ran.
That being said, I'm going to hold my RL nose, and use my in GAME words to say I support higher taxes. United we stand, Divided we fall.
That's all I got,
Joe DaSmoe,
Vice President of (E!)Usa.
So I'm sitting here reading up on the latest events. There is lot of heated debating taking place lately on, ...well, everything. Here is the way I look at things.
As you know, Congress is currently considering a proposal for an across the board tax. 20-25%income tax and 1-5% VAT(sales tax). When I see that from a RL viewpoint its shocking, from the game side its about right.Wtf! you might ask, well here's why.
A lot of citizens find this game and play it as a RL simulation. I don't necessarily see it that way. My recent VP nod has granted me an inside view of this game. True, a lot of my arguments echo from my experience in the real world, but my friends this game is nothing like RL. So a lot of my beliefs don't apply here. As a conservative, I hate high taxes. As a eRepublik citizen, I get it. This isn't a RL simulation, it's a game, geared around one thing. War. That's basically all there is to do here. Eat, Work, War, bitch in the Forums, rinse, repeat.
America sits here as a nation divided, our enemies fight as one. Yeah, these taxes are high, but we need the money. If we don't have adequate funds, our military suffers, our country is weaker. Great strides have been taken in making the Military more efficient. America is on track.
Indonesia, is on a warpath.
As much as players here may want to peacefully co-exist, it's not reality here. Take a look around the globe. Many countries are Imperialistic. I laugh at the propaganda that PEACE spews in our media. They call us imperialists, war mongers. The United States doesn't control any regions outside her borders, Indonesia controls most of the southern hemisphere. Lmao.
So how do you want it America? Low taxes, less military/defense or High taxes, strong military/defense. This is a game. Without military might we will eventually fade to black. For the four months ole' Joe has been around, we have done nothing but sit on the sidelines. Our enemies fight, grow stronger. America, argues about what to do. Around and around we go.
My point is this. We better start figuring out wtf we are going to be in the game. Do you want to sit around and watch other nations win the GAME, or we going to get off our asses and get some? As it stands right now we are comparatively weak to many nations. I say its time we strengthen ourselves. If we don't, we will just continue to be out-shined, and eventually over ran.
That being said, I'm going to hold my RL nose, and use my in GAME words to say I support higher taxes. United we stand, Divided we fall.
That's all I got,
Joe DaSmoe,
Vice President of (E!)Usa.
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Comments
Did someone say The Game? (Pertamaxx)
Don't hate the player, hate the game 😉
And divided we shall be.
I can't believe, I am not first. At least my comment related to the article and made some kind of sense.
Great article!
Finally perspective --- it is a game!!! Too bad the game didn't use a made up map and fictional countries, if they had maybe more people would get "it".
good comment and i agree with the high taxes for a stronger military and nothing else.
I second this motion.
great article DaSmoe
couldnt agree more we need to fight
It should be noted that the new plan under consideration drastically reduces VAT rates.
Seriously!
All of your articles have 50 or more votes!!
How do you do it??!!
He is VP and has a lot of subscribers
I think there should be an exception with food. High taxes on food make it hard for the noobs to survive and keep them interested in the game. It's simple, higher pop = eUSA stronger.
"Eat, Work, War, bitch in the Forums, rinse, repeat."
Very nice 😛 especially bitching in the forums 🙂
look at this. Indo is on the warpath people.
http://www.erepublik.com/en/Indonesia/country-administration/1
See this as well
http://www.erepublik.com/en/article/-intermezzo-dear-uncle--736223/1/20
Raise taxes, lets start having COLONIES!!!! But honestly, we need to expand. Maybe take over all of N.America? It is named after us of course lol. IT SHOULD BE OURS!!!!
25% income tax is not so bad if you make $20 a day. If like me, you make $5 a day, it's a hard squeeze, especially since food prices seem to be rising.
If this tax increase passes, I'll probably be looking at moving to a country where I can make it on a low salary while increasing my experience level.
Maybe when I can afford to live in eTaxAmerica, I'll move back. Does anybody know how things are in eCanada or eUK?
You are right Joe, its a game and its all about war.
Canada has low VAT and low Income but high import. UK has 10% VAT and 10% Income and high import taxes.
Well said, I would like for us to liberate most of the overrun countries someday.
@Jon Barack
There is current congress discusion on this. Many including myself, think 20% is a better number, that why I wrote 20-25%
If you make 5 bucks a day that's 1 dollar to taxes. Did you also notice Congress is actually lowering the sales tax to 1%? More specifically, 1% across the board 5% on weapons.
with indos' mmps is ww3 coming? sweeeet 🙂
Just did a little quick research: Canada-- 1-10% income tax (average is around 5😵, 5-7% VAT. Ireland-- 1-5% income tax, 5% VAT on food, 10-15% VAT on other items. UK-- 10% income tax, 10% VAT. Of the three, Ireland has the lowest overall taxes, the UK the highest-- but still lower than the US under the new tax plan.
I don't know what'll happen to the rest of the US economy if the 25% tax plan is introduced, but I'd bet money the moving ticket business will BOOM.
We cannot afford high import! Why? Remember when a Q1 gift hovered around $4 a pop? That was when we basically had locked out foreign competition. Even though it was during a time when the dollar was tanking, that was pure INSANITY. There is a balance that has to be struck, and the current tax proposal says nothing about import because it is something that needs more careful consideration and planning.
Joe, this was an excellent article. I am thinking about writing one myself in my post-op downtime over the next couple of days... Kudos to you Mr. Vice President.
AMAZING article, and totally agreed, you're doing a wonderful job as VP
Get well Medy!
excellent point, at the very least we can stand as a beacon for freedom fighters every where, maybe even become a nation that stands up for the little guy and takes on the imperialists!
Thanks for getting USA active!
Thank you Joe DaSmoe!
Thank you for getting USA more active against Peace, more active as a nation.
I've been MoD for eSweden since june-2008 so yeah, been around you could say. I have waited for the day when USA should start playing the GAME eRepublik. I guess the Raw Material situation actually made it worse cause you can basically sit on your ass with a country who has no risk to be politically Taken Over and no need to fight for Raw Materials.
Basically boring as hell because when you have tried to be a congressman for a couple of months, managed a couple of companies and written a couple of articles there's not much more to do in this game.
Other than conduct some good ol war, Internet community stylish wars. This is where the real fun starts to kick in. All the "if we do this and they do that they we can.. if not.." Human interaction, tactics, fun. International contacts, diplomatic skills..
What do we produce in this game and what can it be used for?
Hospitals, Defense Systems, Weapons, Iron has one and only one purpose - War. They are worthless otherwise. Moving tickets, Oil, Gifts, Diamonds - without war these are seldom used also.
I would love to see more of you in Atlantis and I really hope you guys aren't thinking about leaving the Alliance for some Pacifica or something.
Best regards
Misho
Ah, the call to action! Voted. Excellent article, Joe.
Thank you Misho, America will stand with it's allies.
Joe,
You are doing a great job as Sam's Press Secretary. We run of the mill citizens do appreciate hearing from our elected officials. I also appreciate the debate that you stir up here and on the forum.
I also agree with you whole-heartedly - Get well Medy.
I have to disagree with you that taxes and military strength are an either/or proposition. We can both build our military strength and reduce our taxes (as promised) by adjusting our time frame.
We caught a huge break when Admin (hallowed be his name) imposed a global cease fire to rewrite the war module just after our Treasury was looted. The protection from outside attack and the temporary tax rate increase allowed us to substantially rebuild and emerge from our window of vulnerability.
The government owes the citizens the promise that was made when the emergency, temporary tax increase was enacted. Jewitt (I believe) published a claim that the Treasury would be replenished in about ten days.
We can continue buying essentials (hospitals and weapons) and accumulating reserve accounts (Fed/Ft. Know and QMG) and renewing essential MPPs, but the pace of spending must be slowed to fit the revenue available. The choice between taxes and spending is either/or only if you ignore time. I would much rather see government change the pace of spending than increase taxes so that the spending can continue to gush.
The tax rates that are currently being debated are confiscatory to those citizens who are not as well off as you and me, Joe.
Hurling, Im am not well off for one.
Second if you haven't noticed Indo wants to wipe us out. We have to arm our soldiers. That's all Im saying. we better wake up before they march on us. America can't afford to sit on the sidelines. We need active military operations (like India) to strengthen ourselves.
America and its allies need to whoop Indo's ass one good time. I don't know about you, but I think the majority of Americans are sick of losing.
We have to reach a solution.
So true
Ironically, the Usa is divided due to its freedoms.
And no, im not pro-peace or a commie
LMAO
The eUK is just fine 😉
tl;dr.
Just kidding joe. Nice article, although I don't agree with the tax plan it's an interesting method.
Appaling... appaling appaling appaling..
I am considering moving to another country
I have to say Joe, I'm a little disappointed. Lower VAT tax basically lets the wealthy players and companies keep more of their money while the higher income tax punishes the average worker who needs that money to live. If all you have is your job then the income tax is what takes most of your money. If you own a company then you don't care about income tax because you make most of your money through your company and only have to worry about paying VAT. This tax plan is nothing short of tailored to big business.
As far as needing more money to defend America I see one major problem with your thinking. America is still in control of all it's regions. If we've defended ourselves so far with the money that the old tax policy was bringing in then why change it? Why should the American people have to pay higher taxes when we're defending ourselves just fine?
If you want the money for something else then that's fine, I'll be glad to hear what it is. But this arguement that the money is desperately needed for the military that I keep hearing is a load of crap. The Congress knows it too, they're just trying to pass a policy that benefits the companies they own and this is their way of drapeing themselves in the flag.
@Neil
As usual, I respect your opinion. However money is not only needed for defense(Hosp. and DS), its needed for raising our citizens ranks. Congress has debated for weeks on defense spending. The general notion is we should should purchase a Q5 monthly. Taxes are needed to fund our military, all 3 branches. The NG is large and lacks sufficient funding. If America does not actively participate in wars like India v Indo, we miss out on the chance to build out collective strength. Which is important. Our enemies constantly work to build their strength.
If we had sufficient funds, we could supply guns to way more people, and increase Americans strength. Our enemies fund their militaries enormously, their might grows. Why should we just watch them grow more powerful? As it stands now, Indo is considerably more powerful. Should we just sit here and watch them dominate the globe?
I realized my writing of this article could gather negative opinions. I'm fine with that. This wouldn't be America if we didn't debate stuff like this. The fact is, most of the world looks at eRepublik as a global strategy game, America looks at it as a political simulation. Read the comment from Misho, a foreign diplomat.
how about high imports?
@Joe: I realize that the military does need more funding than most would guess. As I look back on my first comment I have rethought the comment about the money's use. My main problem is the way that the government wants to get the money. You can't deny that the tax system being proposed favors the rich and businesses. Surely there has to be a way to raise the money without the middle class and lower class taking the brunt of the punishment. It isn't a personal issue with you Joe, it's an issue of Congress acting in a way that is best for Congress and not thinking of everyone else. I may write an article with a proposal of my own when I get back to the states.
Lets do it
You've got to be kidding me.
If you want land, stop these stupid STUPID 'war games' with other nations and empires that are 2 or 3 times stronger than us and attack people we can defeat like Mexico to the South.
We have plenty of room for expansion, and our already treasury has plenty of money that they spend on these war games. Look at Japan! They have hardly any tax at all, but they've already expanded to South Korea. We have ten thousand players and we've expanded nowhere!
If people start seeing us expand and grow stronger, we'll attract some of the better players and grow stronger ourselves. Things like this will only make people leave.
well put.
There is no 'winning' the game. There is losing it, but until every space is occupied by one nation, there is no winner (and nor will there ever be since people will inevitably rise to the challenge of overthrowing any hegonomy).
Screw Congress and their 25%... just like in RL. If you want a 'wargame', go play Civ or an RTS.
@Jon
Noobs receive 5 gold when they reach level six. If we are fighting they get there much quicker. It doesnt't take that long to make more money either.
Find a good employer work daily, fight, etc. It gets much better in a matter of days.
@Joe
I realize than noobs get gold when the reach level 6. My issue is, how do they get to level 6 if they can't afford food, can't afford to train, and their wellness is below 40, so they can't fight?
Finding a good employer is hard at lower levels. I just looked at exp level 0 offers. Now, the highest salary offered is minimum wage.
How someone could survive on that is beyond me.
They'll be eating every other day, and by the time they get enough job experience to get a better paying job, they will have wellness in the 20's or 30's and won't be able to fight.
I completely agree with you Joe, this is a game based around war. What keeps war from happening in real life? The prospect of death - which completely absent from this game.
Maybe if PEACE keeps calling us imperialists and war-mongers, we should show them what imperialists look like! They are already screaming as loud as they can, so it's not like anyone new will hear them.
This is a game??