Dictators Part 2 - Opinionated Ilene's Opinions

Day 2,670, 00:57 • Published in Australia Canada • by Ilene Dover

This is Part 2 of a a 2-part series concerning dictators. Part 1, which was a factual statement of how you both contract and rid yourself of dictators, is here. Some of the ideas I have are perhaps not quite mainstream eAustralian ideas. Certainly, nobody from the government has attempted to filter/censor me. Yet. Besides, a helthy debate is what we all need to get things going. If you disagree, agree or are ambivalent toward my ideas, please let me know in the comments. A healthy and robust media scene is what we all need to keep on keeping on these days.


If you made it through the wall o' text in Part 1, I apologise because you're going to have to do it again. I can be verbose when I care about something, which is a fancy way of saying you can't shut me up. Given I can type faster than I can think, well, you can imagine the sceanrios...

Also, fair warning. Democracy and governance is something I am pasisonate about. Rude words may follow. Kiddies should look away.


You might be wondering, after the last article, who gives a shit? Why should I care which rich wanker decides how much tax I have to pay? Well, you're partly on the right track. To help you give a shit, you need to understand that the President/Dictator (lets just call that unholy combo the player-in-charge) has a lot of responsibilities. It isn't just a fancy trophy in your profile and a stack of gold for building factories with. The player-in-charge decides, at their own discretion, a whole bunch of things - mostly at war. Who and when and where we attack. If we withdraw without a battle. The signing of MPPs (Mutual Protection Pacts), which influence who helps us out in exchange for us helping them. I'm sure there are a bunch of other in-game duties, but they're the important bits. There is one last important bit. Organisations. A legacy from older versions, organisations are places where countries put money so it is quarantined for a certain use. The JDS is a good example. A dictator gets access to ever single organisation he/she can name. And, all the money in there. Just like all the money in the Treasurer's vault.


Attacking and retreating are massively important. If you successfully defend a region, your enemies can't have another crack for a day or three. Then we can counter-attack. That sort of shit is called strategic initiative, and I'm sure a host of other players can tell you more about it (me, I just like the sound of my own voice...). Likewise, withdrawing a contest we can't win makes people conserve their energy and guns for the important battle.


You might be thinking, the President could be a total dickhead and just do stupid shit. Well, they can. And do. Frequently, in fact (no disrespect, Callum, you broke the mold when you came along). But the Senators (Congress, offically...) can get rid of a dumb-arse President through a vote called Impeachment. You can't get rid of Senators, but there's normally so many of the bastards that getting rid of one won't change squat.


Part of the problem with our current dicktaker (sorry...) is, in my ever-so-humble opinion, that he/she is not Australian. The miserable git is/was Polish. And all his mates. How did this happen? Because he found an old and unused military unit, assumed control and had a big pile of money in the bank. How he won the battle was, if I'm honest, an exercise in planning and preparation. Good timing Xanthus. You're still a dickhead, but respect where it is due. The dicktaker also emptied our treasuries (the offical one plus all the organisations). A few hundred thousand dollars and a few hundred gold gone to some self-important wanker.


The issue could be entirely resolved by only allowing citizens of a country to launch a coup d'etat. But that is another issue entirely. We are back to Ye Olde Dark Ages where small countries have to bend over and touch their toes when a big countries come swaggering around. Before citizenship was introduced...


In the time since we have been taken over by ugly Pole Dancers, a number of other countries have inflicted dictatorship upon themsleves. Even the Kiwis, who you could easily dismiss as "those crazy Kiwis again", except for the fact that a lot of big-arse countries like Peru are going at it too. In these self-inflicted dictatorships, a trusted member of "the governing elite", for lack of a better term is nominated as Supreme Dicktaker, sorry, Dictator. They act on instructions from the (still) elected Congress and President. Everything is good, and streamlined.


Except, it's not. You're reliant on your DickTaker remaining active (i.e. not killed in a car accident) and following their word. There is no recourse other than revolution if they turn into an actual dictator, and refuse to do anything they're told (or their 14 year old gets access to their account...). So, why the fuck would anyone trust a player to such a degree? Partly because we do already. The job of running an eCountry is too much for one player, even for a minnow like Australia. There are minsters and deputies etc. that don't really change with changing Presidents. You have to assume they will take instructions from the President, even if they were a Presidential candidate themselves. You also gain a measure of protection. In the event of some serious shit going down, like, say Serbia v Argentina, you can bet your house to my $0.05 coin that their opponents will start a coup d'etat. The risk is low ($200k is not much for a country), and the rewards are high (you win the war). If you already have a dictatorship in place, first you must evict the dictator for a President. Then you must wait 3 days to evict the President. 3 days is a long time in the eWorld...


Finally, I had a series of links that have informed my opinion over the past week. It seems most have gone to wherever old newspapers go (the recycling plant?). The only one left is Where the Americans wax lyrical about democracy. The comments are where it gets interesting, you can see some people bring too much of themselves and their culture to what is, effectively, a game: Crazy Yanks with guns...