Novus Populus

Day 1,882, 18:55 • Published in USA USA • by Gnilraps

Novus Populus
Day 1,882 of the New World
14 January, 2012
I have observed, during my time around here, a general philosophical leaning with respect to our government. This widely held philosophy is actually harmful to our getting anything accomplished as an eNation, and I wish to see eUSA become a beacon of new player retention and (new and) old player fun. So I write.

I should probably take the time to set up a fancy poll or something just to prove to you that the philosophy is, in fact, widely held. However I believe that once you read it here in black and white you will agree that, in general, this is how most people function in this game. Even those who say they believe otherwise are often actually behaving as if they believe this, leading us to ponder if they actually know what they believe or if they are just saying what sounds good while actually believing something different. But I’m not Mike Ontry, so no survey.
The Philosophy
The government of the eUSA is a function of social service.

Almost everyone whose newspaper and/or comments I read – at least the ones who are interested in commenting on what our government is and should be doing – has some idea about how we should be apportioning our tax revenue, or about what the majority of citizens think about our alliances, or about how the voting system is being manipulated and is therefore not reflective of the true will of the people. In each case (as in many others I have not mentioned), the underlying idea is that the role of the PoTUS and Congress is to manipulate the game mechanics they’ve been elected to maintain according to the majority will of the people.

These attitudes belie a conviction that the government serves the people, and that we as citizens “are the government”. Especially because we identify ourselves so closely with the term “Democracy”, the identification of the government with society is further ingrained.

Even the useful collective term "we" has enabled an ideological camouflage to be thrown over the reality of ePolitical life. For instance, if “we are the government”, then whatever our government does that impacts our eLife as citizens bears our endorsement by virtue of the fact that we have not left for another country. This is as absurd as it sounds, and is the extreme end of the argument. But it is implicit in the pervasive notion that the government of the eUSA is a function of social service.
An Example
If 70% of the voters elected to spend our government reserve on supplying weapons for eSerbia, does that make eUSA pro-eSerbia? No it does not. It makes eUSA 70% stupid. And no government ought ever be led by its most ignorant majority.
Lastly,
Because Plato controls the economy, and because the economic resources built into this game are functionally infinite, money and goods are NOT the resources our Government should be primarily interested in governing. Yes, these are the resources governed by the buttons eRepublik gives our government control over. But they are simply not interesting enough nor philosophically valuable enough to either defend or compete for.

There is only one resource worth fighting for in eRepublik. There is only one resource worth governing. There is only one resource which Plato has less control over than we do.

That resource?

Citizens.
The Alternative
I want to argue, however, that “we” are not the government; the government is not “us”. Nor ought the government be defined according to any representation of the majority. The urgency of this opinion is made poignantly clear by the recent proliferation of “citizens” whose will (which may indeed soon become the “majority”) is very clearly opposed to the greater good of the eUSA. Yes. I am speaking about the American Freedom Alliance.

The government of the eUSA is an ideal. In this game, the government of eUSA is the ideal of a mutual hatred of eSerbia and eHungary, and a mutual disdain for everything they stand for in the New World. The government of the eUSA is the ideal of loyalty to our sworn allies and swift, decisive strength deployed in military endeavors in support of them. The government of the eUSA is the ideal of a community gaming environment filled with such fun that new players look forward to logging in that second, third, and tenth time.

eRepublik will not create any of that for us. All they give us is buttons.

Viewing the government strictly from the viewpoint of the buttons it can click ingame makes us subservient to the harmful philosophy I’ve elucidated above. eRepublik has always given us buttons to click, but those buttons have never been the best reason to play this game. It is our narrow focus on those buttons and the power derived from them that has weakened us to the threat within our borders. It has also made the game so boring for new players that they rarely stick around long enough to matter.

We must create and recreate an eUSA community every day because that is what it means to be eAmerican. Our government exists to incite us to this greatness.

The Solution
Unless we invest ourselves in some serious role play, and unless we do so as a nation, we may very well surrender our nation to those who are most certainly role playing their way into a successful PTO.

SPQR has emerged recently as an ideal. It is an ideal based on the notion that intelligent strategic thinking trumps tax policy when pursuing player retention. SPQR is, by virtue of its nebulous lack of definition, the emerging ideal of an eUSA rising powerfully against its insidious attackers by virtue of raw population. SPQR is also, by virtue of its open doors to any citizen dedicated to the proper government of eUSA, the hope of an eUSA rising militarily in defense of herself and her allies over and against her international enemies, and doing so in numbers we have not seen in years.

SPQR is not an eReligion. Just like any emerging ideal, there will always be a subset of individuals who respond with religious fervor. SPQR is not too small to include her religious fanatics. But far beyond a religion, SPQR is the glorious vision of an eUSA whose population stands atop the New World as its conquerors.

SPQR is Federalist.
SPQR is We The People.
SPQR is AMP.
SPQR is USWP.
SPQR is your MU, your forum, and your commune.
and yes, for some, SPQR is some Dio thing or another...
SPQR is everyman, hand in hand (but necessarily in a gay way, although there’s room for that too).

And as SPQR crystalizes into the Novus Populus of eUSA (and believe me, you are SPQR whether you know it or not as long as you stand united against the enemies of eUSA) I hope you will add your voice.

Welcome to the Nova Roma.

We are (all) SPQR.

SPQR IN OUR MINDS,
SPQR IN OUR HEARTS,
NOW AND FOREVER!

tl;dr
We are succumbing to a growing, future majority whose ideals are diametrically opposed to eUSA. SPQR is the representational ideal of eUSA at its best and has room for all kinds of people except those who are opposed to eUSA. SPQR, therefore, includes you.
You may now return to your regularly scheduled clicking