The Economist ~ Cuba
Spite313
Dear friends,
In this article I just want to very briefly follow up on the issue of the four new countries by focusing on one country in particular- Cuba. Now we all knew from the first day Cuba would be likely added as one of the four new countries in the game, but many of us were perplexed as to why. With an almost total ban on internet use by the “ordinary” Cuban people (who aren’t tourists or very important to the regime) it seems like another “North Korea” situation where a country is added with very few native citizens.
Looking more closely at those who are campaigning for it being added, you realise they fall into two broad camps. The first are people who just want a fresh start- fair enough, many of us play for countries which are not our RL birth countries and that’s fine. The second group are mostly role players who want to be Che Guevara and join Cuba because of it’s counter culture appeal, or because they want to join a RL “communist” country.
Of the two reasons, the first one is the one I can empathise with most. However there are many countries like that around already- you can see how easily for example the Serbs settled in Thailand. There are half a dozen small nations out there you can go and have a fresh start. Hell, the eUK is famous for accepting oldfag immigrants from around the world and for being a multicultural and multi-ethnic society. You don’t need another country for that.
Virtually everyone else who has made articles or shouts on the subject seems to be doing it because of the communist connection. Again I object to the idea of swarming to a country based on some RL ideal which doesn’t even exist. Firstly, Cuba isn’t really a communist country IRL, and it’s “values” are statist not communist. Anyone who truly adheres to communist values has little of worth to find there. Secondly, RL aside, communism in eRep has been a dead concept since they did away with orgs. Now it’s just organised charity, which whilst admirable, is not communism.
Even the most die-hard pro-Cuba players out there have to acknowledge that their votes are coming from one of those two sources. But why write an article about it, you are almost certainly thinking. Why write an article at midnight when your brain is barely ticking over, I am asking myself. I think Cuba will inevitably be added, but we shouldn’t let it become a vehicle for failure. Something picked up by role players then tossed aside or PTO’d by those who follow.
From discussions I’ve had with several leading players, the very existence of Cuba is going to be perceived as a threat, especially since a lot of pro-Cuba people are inherently anti-American (despite being neither Cuban nor American themselves). In addition the external threat from PTO because of it’s proximity to the United States (and thus the danger of it being used as a proxy state to attack them) means that if Cuba is to survive unoccupied and unPTO’d it must manage to do what eNew Zealand managed all those years ago - become a truly independent state capable of setting it’s own foreign policy to the benefit of Cuba not to external powers.
Looking at it from an Asteria perspective I think it sounds like I’m saying it should be aligned with Sirius, but I’m really not. Young countries are always fragile, and they need space to grow and develop the organs of government which allow them to survive and foster a political tradition where things like theft and mismanagement don’t occur. For that you need stability and peace with your neighbours. I can assume Cuba will border the USA and Mexico, possibly Venezuela. It may have connections across the Atlantic too. But to survive it must have good relations with it’s neighbours, even if those relations don’t extend to actual alliances.
Over the next three to six months Cuba will need to go from a mishmash of people from all cultures with a dozen different languages to being a fully fledged state. The worst case scenarios are parties representing specific countries outside of Cuba, division over alliances, role playing groups who won’t compromise because their fantasy state can’t be built. These scenarios are not inevitable but they need more than hope, they need conscious state building. Parties formed round ideas and not round nations. Deliberate breaks from the past along with all MUs and other ties. A new state entirely based on “Cuba” not on Spain or Slovenia or wherever else citizens might come from.
Respect is something hard won in this game and I don’t expect everyone to trust each other immediately. I’m too tied up in the UK and it’s alliance to ever be considered a citizen of any other country, but if Cuba needs my help during it’s first months in the form of advice or support I’ll do what I can. With a good start and hard work, keeping cool heads, it can work. Rather than everyone going their own way alone, people needs to talk to one another and develop plans together. I see forums already exist, but only in Spanish. Communities are already segregating themselves from their fellow citizens. People need to rethink the whole situation based on one idea- there will be few if any native Cubans. Everyone will be an immigrant. Build a society which is based on that and you have a chance of success.
Iain
Comments
First.
>comment don't vote.
Couldn't miss the opportunity to take first, then started reading other articles in this newspaper, anyways, voted.
Cuba is coming !! http://tinyurl.com/oz4hq3w
eCuba Official FORUM: http://tinyurl.com/outdjsd
______________________
eCuba Official IRC: #eCuba
SHOUT !!
No.
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>comment don't vote.
Yeah and? Miau
And don't spam my articles if you're not going to vote them or contribute anything useful please.
I would not compare a vote to some serious contribution. I will vote your articles when they do not bore me. Meanwhile, you can enjoy my Miaus.
And if my Miaus bore you, which I am sure it is the case, at least I am not telling you to change how you play, something you just did. Keep on showing the world your values, wisdom and saganess my Lord!
MiauLOL
No, I just think if you don't want to contribute something useful, you are spamming and should kindly not comment on any future articles.
Something useful or a vote, huh? Whiskas will be all what you will kindly receive from my part regarding your articles if these bore me or just reflect obvious stuff.
Successfully transferred 1 item(s) to Iain Keers.
Miau!
Puerile halfwit
Excellent vocabulary, my Lord. Concise message: straight to the point. It has got everything a decent speaker would ever dream of. Oh, gentleman, you always surprise me.
Miau!
>Vote, dont comment
D'OH!
*CCF
Cuban Communist Forces*
>very briefly.
huehue
"Something picked up by role players then tossed aside or PTO’d by those who follow."
https://forum.erepublik.com/index.php?/topic/2681-propose-new-countries/?p=33931
"With a good start and hard work, keeping cool heads, it can work."
Oh you, 😃
As always, excellent analysis and a wise perspective.
I fear there is a certain grim inevitability regarding the future of any countries that may be added. Given the increasingly restrictive mechanics of the game where all roads lead to "swipe and fight," in all likelihood the countries will be stifled and wiped. It may take a few weeks, or months, but it will happen.
There is a need for some broader thinking around the mechanics. A nuanced complexity in-game that evolves the role of different types of government, and inspires the meta-game to new heights of interest. It's becoming too vanilla, too gimmicky, too......meh.
That said, fools like me come back, start again, and bother the reply to articles. People like you play for a hundred years, but I do suspect that the retention rate for new players is not the best it has ever been, and the addition of Cuba and Whereverland is not going to change that.
This will end up being a home for old players not new ones, that's why it needs to develop it's own "unique" identity before it can hope to survive- because it needs to attract new players from existing countries.
i'll comment and not vote
lol
I'm afraid this battle is over before it has begun.
i voted now
eCuba is mine.
I'll plant sugar there, build me a nice bech house, and plot eworld domination from its shores.
I'm still standing behind my opinion that adding new countries is rather a bad than a good thing right now, as the player base has been declining for ages.
https://forum.erepublik.com/index.php?/topic/2681-propose-new-countries/page-48#entry34941
Nice article, voted as usual.
~hyuu~
'eUK is famous for accepting oldfag immigrants from around the world and for being a multicultural and multi-ethnic society' \o/
"With an almost total ban on internet use by the “ordinary” Cuban people (who aren’t tourists or very important to the regime)"
Not exactly true. The embargo with USA means certain services are unavailable and the price of internet access is higher. The government also blocks certain websites but despite these factors much of the internet is useable by Cubans. A lot more is banned than you would see in other countries but it's not an "almost total ban".
Cuba as of Nov,2013:
2.5 million have access to internet around 23.3% of the population
avarage 0.84 Mbps Broadband download speed
http://www.ascecuba.org/publications/proceedings/volume23/pdfs/henken1.pdf
Only 5% have connections at home. Can you imagine playing in an internet cafe every day?
Yes I can imagine. I have seen this in Mexico several years ago. However I do not know it will work for Cuba.
23.3% of Cubans have a better download rate than me.
God damn it BT.
CSRF (Cuban Socialist Revolutionary Force) attack detected.
I only "d'accord" with your emotive part (including neighborhood). The political economy part, instead, generate me some disagrees.
Greetings.
Interesting article. I do hope Cuba will get a good community (although I fear it may be too difficult).
America is going to wipe the dirty commies out cuba.
Here is my long comment:
http://www.erepublik.com/es/article/the-real-cuba-2390148/1/20
I hope you read since you comment eager.
I suspect Cuba will have saltpeter...
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I fall into the category of regional draw. That is, I'm from the Caribbean and plan to join the first Caribbean nation that pops up. At this point, it seems as though it will be Cuba.
I care very little for politics and my style of play is two-clicking and writing fun articles. So I guess it doesn't bother me how they choose to run the country. It is interesting to see the process in motion on the forum. How they are electing 'elders', deciding between mono and bilingualism (Spanish if monolingual, Spanish and English if bilingual), setting up national funds, etc.
You are right though. eCubans -should- forget the US, Serbia, Spain, etc.and approach the country with a fresh slate. For now, it seems that on the surface they are willing to do so. The majority on the forum poll seems to be leaning towards neutrality, at least at the beginning. With the few who want to lean towards one alliance of the other being in a very small minority (of the voters anyway) and evenly split. 20 neutral, 2 Asteria, 2 Sirius at the time of this comment.
While I still cross my fingers for Jamaica (though unlikely now), Cuba is the next best thing. Caribbean Community, here I come!
All these discussions are in Spanish, so you can see I totally dismiss the legitimacy of that forum.
Ah well. 🙂
www.erepublik.com/tr/article/2391238/1/20
Vote for Georgia o7
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lives cuba! death fidel!
"Cuba isn’t really a communist country IRL."
Come again Keers?