Why I don't join a Political Party
Tiacha
Recently, I've been really upset with politics around E-Repubik lately. I suppose that's no different than how I feel in real life. I'm discouraged by the current American election. I'm an undecided voter, living in Ohio, who doesn't know whether she'll vote for Obama or McCain. I'm a blue-dog, Reagan Democrat, who's fiscally and socially in the middle. I exemplify the average Ohio citizen both in the E-Republik world and in real life. And you know what, I feel exactly the same about politics on E-Republik.
For a while, I was a member of the USWP. I was invited to join the party and was excited that they'd take the time to send me a PM to join their party. And this point, I thought they'd also want me to help in the party. That was where I was wrong. After I joined, I was completely ignored. I felt alienated. Then, I started hearing rumors of corruption within the party, so I knew it was time to go.
Since then, I've received many invitations to join other parties. I think they figure, why does a citizen with 5+ skill points in a skill not have a political party? I'll tell you why! Once you join a party, they ignore you! They're only looking for the votes! They're not interested in reaching out to citizens to actively get them involved in a party! You want to know why? They don't want others going above their ambitions. God forbid you have an actual challenge for a party presidency! Oh my, there's someone with actual ideas running against me for Congress! And the bad thing is, its so hard to get enough gold to start up your own company, or get a Q3 or Q4 house unless you suck up to party leaders (or spend your own real money on Gold).
In short, you know why average citizens like me don't stick around? Cause they can't get anywhere unless they kiss ass. They start out with jobs for less than a dollar a day. And even when they get skills over 5, they earn less than 15 dollars a day! And then, because the Gold exchange rate is so insane and inflated, they can't save up enough Gold to buy their own political party, to make a difference because the system is set up against them! So, forget political parties! I'm sick of them! They've never done anything to help me, as they don't help the middle class. Its exactly like real life--- where the Washington insiders help the elite while ignoring the middle class citizen!
Comments
Preaching to the converted, my friend. Why do you think the turnup for the party elections is so low in eR? They\'d like you to believe that\'s because most accounts are either inactive or duplicates. Maybe. But I\'d bet a few Gold (which I don\'t have, btw) that\'s it\'s also because most of their members just don\'t care right back at them. The only real reason to belong to a party is for the meaningless social rank points.
However, I disagree about hardship of getting Gold being somehow related to low wages, or to parties not being supportive or their base. The answer to that is much more simple than it is in RL. eRepublik is a game, and the developers need income. Income from people buying Gold with real money is probably fastest.
This is one of the best articles I\'ve seen recently in erep media. I feel this way b/c you\'ve actually explained why you are distancing yourself from a party etc. Your perspective is relatively fair.
I must say that I think that you being in a political party and a political party helping you is a two way street necessarily. I do not know what your efforts were like trying to communicate with USWP so I cannot comment on that. But I do know that if you visit the IRC you become known person- that is a great way to get a sense of what other ereppers are thinking and doing. Also making your own posts in the forums and releasing articles and adding yourself to the conversation throughout our media by adding your own comments is another way to get more involved. Have you been asking your party members questions? Offering solutions? Volunteering etc? Being in a party is being in a community. If you just stay in your house you cannot blame your neighbors for not being good neighbors for example.
As for being able to buy a house this is a huge concern these days b/c we don\'t have many loan companies out there anymore. I would suggest you contact the current administration regarding that. Owning a company? I\'d say learn more about the game and please also realize that we just don\'t need every single player to own a company. But please don\'t bother to be angry with me for saying that: I\'m not suggesting that you can\'t or shouldn\'t own one.
P.S. I\'ve been playing since April 1st and it took me a few months to purchase a company.
Props on the article. I would really like to see a growing louder independent voice in eUSA. Sorry to hear your experience with USWP wasn\'t the greatest, but I respect your position. As Daphne already said, test out IRC. Best way to get active in the country and open yourself to the people who work the country. Also Best of luck in the future. Hope to hear more from you in the public. Air your grievances people.
kudos on article. it is rather true.
Few things:
What do you want from a political party? Pandering?
Who sent you invitations to join their party?
Also, try kicking, not kissing ass. Some people get ahead that way
WoOw... Sounds bad words... hahah