[TB] Faded Glory?

Day 3,530, 18:27 Published in USA USA by Tyler Bubblar






I have a confession to make. eRepublik has become a part of me. I often find myself organizing and composing articles to publish in my head. It happens at the oddest of times. While I am working, when I can’t sleep, when I sit down to dinner, etc. Many of those articles do not make it here in game. The moment to publish passes or something else pops up in my life and then the article fades away. I have been intending to publish a commentary on my last CP run a week ago. Life and other things once again conspired to push back such a publication. Nevertheless the article has still been rattling around in my brain.

Yesterday something happened to shake it loose and maybe add a little to it. Feynmann the Federalist Party’s new Party President messaged me. He told me the Fun Zone was hosting a writing contest and asked me to participate. Now if the request was just that I probably would have still accepted the invitation and written what has already been rattling around in my head. However, Feynmann went a step further. He told me he has been studying the Federalist Party Forums, and we as a Party were once something fantastic. We were active, engaged, and dynamic. He also told me that he had scoured through my posts in the forums and my published articles of yesterday. He was very kind and complimentary of my history and participation in this game. Which was of course nice to hear.



However, the connection was inescapable. The Feds are not what we once were, the eUSA community as a whole is not what it once was. Which leads to me. I am also not as active and engaged as I once was. I have allowed myself to fade with everything else. I have had a very busy and tumultuous year to say the least, and that has contributed in no small part to my fading. To be blunt I have also become content and rested on my laurels. When I came back to this game four years ago I had no real ambitions initially. Our community here was a lot of fun and I just enjoyed being a part of it. In a short time that enjoyment motivated me to contribute to it. I recognized that a lot of time and effort by a diverse group went into making the community of the eUSA so engaging, and I wanted to help. Eventually that desire to help lead me to taking opportunities for leadership at the Party and MU level. The rest is history and I will not bore you with the recounting of my personal exploits in eRepublik.

Fast forward to now and the original purpose of this article as it originally began rattling in my head. I lost the Fed Primary for CP to Derphoof by 2 votes. Derp is a tough out in the Feds as he was a Fed for a very long time and is still absolutely beloved there. However, I lost that primary for a very good reason. I did not deserve to win. I had not been involved in any meaningful capacity in anything eRepublik related since February. My Party put Country ahead of Party and went with Derphoof because he was the choice. He is active involved, and the incumbent who’s done a solid job. My Party firmly showed me that a last minute run just was not sufficient to earn its support. A sentiment I understand and accept.

That is not to say that I do not still believe I could do the job of Country President and do it well. I look at our current internal state, and it alarms me somewhat. We seem to be experiencing more infighting than we have in a very long time and it is tough to really pinpoint a specific tangible why. Once upon a time we argued endlessly on taxes. Well taxes right now are at rock bottom and we still run a massive surplus. Not that long ago there was constant back and forth over the funding of USAF as a public MU. USAF is now a privately sustained entity no longer a line on the budget. We bickered incessantly over the Defensive Dictatorship. The Dictatorship is no longer in place. It was rendered too expensive to be useful. The issues of respect and inclusion have long been with us, and I suspect will continue to be for a very long time.



That is one reason I decided to run for CP last month. It could be arrogance or hubris on my part, but I believe I have consistently done well including every major group in our community and after a few hard lessons learned in 2013 I strive to treat others with respect even if I do not agree with them. In my view a recreation of the Seat at the Table approach would go a very long way towards healing the schisms we are currently experiencing here in our community. I believe this because I have seen it. I know this approach works from successful implementation.

In recent days articles have been published praising the Black Sheep. I echo their sentiments. BSP has always played by the rules while trying to advocate for change of said rules. They have often been shown a great deal of derision, disrespect, and disregard. I have worked with, like, and respect more than a few of them on an individual and collective basis. However, SFP is also worthy of praise in its own way. I did not agree with the unsanctioned revolutions, unsanctioned citizenship grants, and a few other things that some of their membership has done. However, I have admired their activity. They seem to have suffered under the same malaise that so many of us are also languishing under, but for a very long time no one out shouted, out published, or out messaged them. Their outreach to their membership was second to none. I know this because so many of their core membership were former Feds who left after a very bitter disagreement with myself and others. They took the methods they learned while in the Feds and turbocharged it. They had so much energy and zeal. Two things that we very much need as a community right now.

I have said this many times there is no silver bullet no panacea that will fix everything that ails us. However consistent and sincere efforts to respect and include one another will go a very long way. I would like to thank Feynmann for his kind words inviting me to participate in the writing contest. I would also like to thank him even more for his gentle and likely unintentional reminder that I was once so much more than I have allowed myself to become. I have accomplished a lot that I am proud of in this game. That does not however give me a free pass to point to old achievements. I can and will be better for my Party and my Country. As always I thank you for taking the time to read. Until next time.