[TC][#17] A Maxwellian Interpretation of the SFP Constitution Vol. 1

Day 4,442, 23:45 • Published in USA USA • by Max Tse Tung


MUSIC


A Maxwellian Interpretation of the SFP Constitution Vol. 1


Before I begin I would like to clearly state my intentions and goal in writing this piece. I have read some previous writings from our parties history. Tales, critiques, and praxis from long dead eSocialist and eAnarchist revolutionaries of the party and have left feeling inspired to try to contribute to that long history of SFP works.



Revolutionaries like Robert Bayer, and his landmark article: ‘“Have You Read Your Constitution, America?”’ In which he lobbed scathing remarks at the foundations of the eUS legal code and proposed radical new amendments to it.



Revolutionaries like Osmany Ramon, who published ‘“Will the Real Pizza the Hut Please Stand Up”’, This piece is on why it is imperative that the party work against the forces of Right Wing reaction, explaining some of the discrimination faced in their time. In the section titled “October Surprise!” Osmany argues that holding out-of-game primaries is anti-democractic and encourages unbelievable apathy in the voters toward the party, and from party leaders toward the voters.



These guys not only wrote great articles, but they all had a hand in altering the history of the party in their own way. Because in the SFP we have a long history of challenging and objecting to the status quo in both the party and the government at large.



We were the people that tried to bring down eUS forum by leaving it -effectively taking our congress seats from the government by force-



We were the people who began the December Revolution, of which many great figures of the party suffered blacklisting from government functions for years, only being relieved just a couple years ago.



So please do not be alarmed at my analysis and potential critiques of our parties most orthodox text, The SFP Constitution



I accept and respect the utility, philosophy, and historical momentum of our founding documents and have actively worked to protect them in the past by fighting against the forces of reaction and coercion that have attempted to take over our party in the time that I have been here.



However, I have played a major part in building the needed support for changing them from time to time because I believe in representing the thoughts and ideas of the present, and experimenting with new procedure when it is practical. We do not need to be dogmatic in our adherence to a text -it doesn’t matter what text it is- and if you have to you are being coerced and none of our members are really free.



It is absolutely crucial that we allow leeway on adherence to the constitution when necessary and I will be arguing here that even the constitution in current form seems to suggest that as well as the unrigorous adherence to it by the party at large:





First of all, at the very end of the constitution, there is this section here which is in large part my inspiration for writing this interpretation and also in Part IV Amendment and Interpretation there is the following line:

The Constitution of the SFP is a guide to activity and an insurance policy against waggishness and foul play. It is not intended to be a detailed guide to every aspect of play and it should not be modified willy-nilly.

SCHOOLS of INTERPRETATION
"An unweeded garden goes to seed." -- Bill S.
There is a place for interpretations of the Constitution, for legal opinions, for silly opinions, for scholarly exegeses, deconstructions, elaborations and arguments. Even better are good jokes, stand-up routines, awesome memes, and clever and creative readings dealing with how to put it into practice. Epic song cycles, inspirational street murals, and creative flash-mob dance routines depicting the spirit of the Constitution as applied to the concrete conditions of eRepublik at a particularly instructive historical juncture are also rather delightful.
None of that requires modifying the Constitution. Creating a rich tradition in e-literature of such schools of interpretations is, on the other hand, a consummation devoutly to be wished.



Clearly, there is meant to be a diversity of opinion on this document.



Secondly, not everyone who runs for the chairmanship adheres to section 6.c of the constitution yet we still consider them eligible.



C. In order to qualify for participation in the internal party primary for PP, candidates for Chair of the RC must announce their selections for voting RC members (their "cabinet") as part of their campaign. The four in-game Party-level cabinet members appointed by the in-game Party President are the Chair's four appointed voting members of the RC.




Later in section 6 it goes on to listing things that the leaders of the party should be doing with some of their time, not all of us are fulfilling those duties.



6. Revolutionary leaders should be spending most of their time doing stuff, like managing and running programs or taking individual actions to do things like:
Build up the members' strength training
Provision houses inexpensively
Pool resources in order to supply members with food and weapons
Train members in how to conduct international diplomacy
Prepare members for serving in Congress
Teach new players the fundamentals of the game
Creating a lively and entertaining press
Promote other left-wing parties nationally and internationally
Bringing a sense of art, song and poetry into the game
Teach and learn the intricacies of game mechanics
Investigate and experiment with economic alternatives
Exposing multi's and other dishonest game play
Bring people together in new and interesting ways



In section 7 the duties of the chairman are clearly defined. b, and d have not been kept up with.



The Chair of the RC and the most active members of the Revolutionary Committee should make it their duty to see to it that, minimally, the Party is engaged in the following areas:
A: Congressional elections.
B: Press presence.
C: Membership solidarity, training, material support.
D : International communications and friendship.
In particular, the RC should see to it that 1 or 2 members are representing the Socialist Freedom Party at the e-Internationale or similar groupings of left-wing parties internationally.



In Part 3: Voting and Nominations at RC Noms it clearly states we are to conduct a poll of the membership on the 13th to elect 6 RC members -either I missed the memo or that’s not occuring-



Two internal primary polls of the General Membership is concluded by the 13th of each month for:
The Chair of RC and his/her slate of voting RC members, which is the same as their 4-person "cabinet" of Party-level roles. This is basically a "popularity contest" regarding the upcoming in-game Party President election.
Six additional voting members of the Revolutionary Committee. This is a binding poll, with no in-game equivalent.



Later it goes on to say that Revolutionary Leaders should be publishing manifestos, and have discussion, and debates posted by our writers. This is not held to either.



Discussion, debate, campaigning, manifestos and so forth for the revolutionary leadership should be shared and published. The two RC polls open on the 10th and close on the 14th:





As you can tell there are parts of our great constitution that are considered impractical by the membership and others that are probably just being forgotten about. But clearly it is easy for me to suggest that we don’t even hold to it in practice.



Now in theory and on principle, I support this document but it is good to remember the problems we have had in implementing it and what the document itself says about how rigorously it must be adhered to.




End of Volume 1




~This is an ongoing eRepublik political and legal treatise and as such can be amended and suggestions may be offered~




~SFP Councilor Max Planck