The Wisdom Of Krapis

Day 4,687, 04:47 • Published in USA USA • by George Barker

Here's Krapis in his most recent deluge of sophistry:

I am sure there will always be a few who utterly refuse to see the wisdom in the path we have now been treading for four months; a path on which I intend to keep us. I am making no bones about this: working with Asteria has been fun, successful, illuminating, and prosperous. For the foreseeable future, we should stand at the ready to fight on the side of Serbia, Romania, Italy, Bulgaria, Iran, Peru, and Portugal. [emphasis added]


The key is the bolded parts.


I'm going to do something Krapis never does: ask you what you think.

Do you feel "prosperous"? What is the form of this "prosperity?" We have max bonuses -- which we've had plenty of times in the past. Of course Krapis, who has been playing for six months, knows nothing of that. So to him, this is "prosperity."

"Illuminating"? What does that even mean? Do YOU, the citizen reading this, feel "illuminated" in any positive way by our subservience to Asteria? Maybe Krapis, as a noob, and serving his first terms, feels somehow "illuminated" looking on as other countries wield their power, but I doubt even that. He needed to throw some positive adjectives into his article to fluff our current status as an Asterian vassal, and "illuminating" came up on the random adjective generator.

"Successful." Where is the "success" in following behind Asteria and picking up their crumbs? Almost any country that wants to abandon scruple and bend over for them can get the same deal. There is no "success" without challenge, and we have no challenges at all. Sucking up to Serbia and Romania is laziness and cowardice, not success.


And finally, we have "fun." Are YOU having "fun?" Maybe Krapis, sometimes allowed to sit at the kiddie table and follow the orders of his Asterian betters, is having fun, feeling like some kind of brilliant statesman, but really this isn't about Krapis and his "fun" -- or it shouldn't be. He's supposed to serve US, not himself. For most of us, the players, it's just a bunch of mindless farming. The wars we fight are meaningless and unchallenging, and the damage we do is on behalf of the empires of others. We're an afterthought fighting meaningless wars. Krapis doesn't have a full grasp of what "fun" in this game can be -- how can he, after his extremely limited experience? Allow me to attempt to educate him, although, since one can tell from the condescending tone of his articles, Krapis knows everything and doesn't need education -- it's the rest of us who just can't appreciate the depth of his genius.

For many of us, Krapis, "fun" is fighting battles that mean something. Fun is taking risks and enjoying the benefits when the risks pay off, and figuring out how to overcome the challenges that come when the risks fail. Fun comes from standing with people who have stood with you in the past, even when -- especially when -- they are struggling, not from bending over and spreading wide for whoever has the biggest ... army ... that comes along. Fun comes from toughing out the hard times, which makes the good times that much more enjoyable, knowing they were earned, not granted as a reward for sycophancy. Fun comes from knowing you are regarded with respect, not sneered at as weak, foolish, and vacillating -- as everyone in this game, including our "allies" in Asteria, do (notice Krapis' term "for the foreseeable future" -- he, like everyone else, knows the next flip-flop is always blowing in the wind. Think other countries don't see that too? With "allies" like us....). It isn't that your wisdom is too vast for us to comprehend, or that we are simply anti-Serbian -- it's that we value loyalty and friendship, having some kind of honor -- even in this game it should count for something -- and above all, we choose challenges over sycophancy. You don't -- in fact, your articles demonstrate that you don't even understand the concepts. It's all about "wisdom" (and sometimes "prudence") -- and "wisdom" to you is knuckling under to whatever comes along. Groot, Asteria -- it doesn't matter. Somebody shows strength, and you're on your knees.


Now, I think I've demonstrated that the four "benefits" of being a lackey state are benefits to Krapis -- his own words show this. But are they benefits TO YOU?

Let's get back to the idea of "fun." Krapis is having fun imagining himself as some kind of erep savant, doing things other people couldn't and many people (who've played this game far longer than he has) can't even understand. Read just about any of his recent articles, and beyond the unctuous condescension, that is what shines through. I believe fun takes different forms to different people -- some enjoy farming, some like the economic model, some like collecting e-medals, and some, like Krapis, are perfectly content to be a lackey, as long as he gets to think of himself as the lackey at the top of the pile. I'm not -- unlike Krapis -- going to presume to know what fun is -- for you. But I'm pretty confident for most people fun ISN'T mindlessly following behind as powerful countries crush weak countries and then smugly congratulating ourselves for it, while clicking on the work/train/fight buttons, and waiting for tomorrow to do the same thing again. Fun ISN'T being part of a country with its finger (and something else) always in the air looking for the next bully to come along. I've been a part of eUS when it was wiped and had more "fun" than this mindless farming while Krapis sucks up to Asteria and churns out article after article congratulating us for having him, and his "wisdom" to guide us.


Here's my own idea of "fun." Fun comes from standing for something. Fun comes from fighting in battles where the outcome is in doubt -- where you might even be the underdog: a thought that, I'm sure, makes Krapis, who only wants to hide behind whoever has power, soil his panties. But unlike Krapis, I've been around this game long enough to remember a time when we had such battles, when a win or a loss had serious consequences, when people actually had something to care about besides screwing up which occupier controlled which of our regions. When people from countries who liked and respected us IRL AND in this game were our allies and actual friends. A lot of you who have taken the time to read this far do, too.

I'm going to conclude this part with a thought experiment: for many years, we had people from Croatia, Albania, and Turkey here as citizens. They helped us, participated in our politics in a positive way, and made the game more fun with their shouts and interactions. Can you imagine the same outcome if we granted citizenship to a bunch of Serbians? Is that what you want? It's what Krapis thinks would be a good idea. A simple rule ought to be if we wouldn't feel comfortable granting a country's citizens citizenship here, that country isn't a proper fit as an ally. Do business with them when necessary, but never fool ourselves into thinking they are allies. Of course, this rule is too simple for Krapis and his subtle genius.

It's becoming obvious Krapis, who won a bare plurality last time, plans on running again -- after all, no one has his sharp grasp on affairs, so who else is there? My suggestion for those of you who think as I do is to get a good candidate ready and push your political party to endorse them -- endorse anyone but Krapis. Longtime stalwarts of our community are quitting, a mentally unstable jerk is creating havoc and Krapis and the people who pull Krapis' strings are too weak to control him, and we are the lowest of the low as laughingstocks in this game. I, for one, have had enough of Krapis' idea of "fun" -- and far more than enough of his condescending articles telling us how lucky we are to have him and his "wisdom" to guide us.


Vote him out. Get rid of him. Stop letting him have fun playing the wise, all-knowing bigshot at your expense. Send a message to the small group of people who hang out on Discord and have reduced our country to a chaotic laughingstock that you've had enough and what you've had enough of ISN'T "fun."