Play Nice in the Sandbox

Day 941, 09:13 • Published in Canada Canada • by Sperry

The Internet. A largely unexplored and sweeping jungle network. The natural habitat to thousands of birds, animals, and of course, children:


You should be used to this by now. In the narrow clearings of the eRepublik forest, Canadian politicians and military men vie for power while economists collect gnats from their neighbour's backs. Indeed, trying to expand their domain, these natural Canadian creatures hunt in packs as they approach the pridelands of the Lion King.

Deep in the heart of the jungle, a sloth bear returns from his lengthy slumber only to find a small mancub meddling in his affairs. The great bear is not pleased, and is poised to strike. But, young as he is, the mancub knows of man's red fire, and there is a standoff.

The war for the sandbox has begun.

It all seems just a bit silly, doesn't it? Probably because it is.

The latest tizzy over the toy digger centers around Canada's University - what it is, what it was, what it ought to be. For those of you who don't know, AngryMobMan (AMM) has been in charge of the university for quite a long time now. With his absence the university fell into decay.

JB Furglar arrived on the scene with AMM absent and ailing (spoiler: he's okay), apparently requested personally by our lovely Prime Minister. JB's educational resume is impressive. He boasts many terms in Congresses and in Cabinets and has worked directly with educational reforms before. He is, by all accounts, good at what he does.

AMM's track record is equally impressive - he has been in congress several times, worked at length with the university to provide an organizational structure, and just recently celebrated his 400th day here in eCanada.

Now that AMM has returned, however, JB's plans for "sweeping and immediate reform" have been interrupted. Both of them have the same general goal - Improve Canadian education and return the university to a functional level. So what's with the feud?

JB insists that the current system is out of date, overly complicated, and just plain needs to go. "The fact that [AMM has] come back has changed nothing at all," he says. AMM replies that JB, though he has good intention, has no authority to act. The university is AMM's and Canada's, not Dade's and the government's.

Rather than sit down together and have a nice chat, the pair have been butting heads for the past 2 days. Progress with the university system has understandably stopped.


A Lesson for Canadians:

If you want to make positive changes in this country (and I believe most of us do), you have to play together. You have to share. And you have to ask permission before you touch something that isn't yours.

I love that JB and AMM are so committed to what they do. I think they're both very driven and will accomplish many things while they are in Canada. But that's not going to happen until they can stop, breathe, and realize that having turf wars on the forums will not help anybody.

There are lots of people in this sandbox. We all want to play with the digger. Please, be nice, and hand me the little green scoop.