Join the new world

Over the last 6 weeks, I have been provided the honor of leading the United States Workers Party as its president. This development in my eRep life is extraordinarily ironic given the fact that six weeks prior to that I had pretty much decided to “hang it up” in regards to eRepublik as a whole, and had acted accordingly (not eating, not working, fighting without healing, etc for a couple of weeks). It was only because of the efforts of the USWP Executive Board, in particular scrabman and tdwester, that I decided to re-engage (you may choose to curse them, or thank them, for that at your leisure).

While there are many citizens that feel no sense of fidelity or loyalty to a given party in eRepublik, and choose instead to move from political party to political party for the sake of opportunity and expediency, I have always been a USWP member. Within the United States Workers Party there is a constancy in my relationships with other members, and prevailing objectives, which works well with my general “all or nothing” approach to eRepublik as a game. To clarify, I did not stay with the United States Workers Party all this time because it supported my political ambitions in eRepublik, I stayed with the United States Workers Party because my political goals were formed by my commitment to the United States Workers Party.

I am fairly certain that many of the members of the USWP Executive Board were probably slapping their foreheads and commiserating over their misfortune when I first came on the scene, a passionate political activist in amongst the cooler, more pragmatic and experienced members of the Executive Board. I heard a rumor that several members had to be sedated after I unapologetically characterized myself as a “rabid patriot”, singularly focused on eUS victory in eRepublik. My motivations are not unique, there are many eUS citizens that share the goal of eUS victory…Eugene Harlot, Leroy Combs and Moishe pursue that goal through military means; One Eye and Jewitt pursue that goal that goal through economic means; Inwegen, Harrison Richardson and Publius pursue that goal through diplomatic means; the United States Workers Party pursues that goal through political means; and, probably most relevant to this article, President Scrabman pursues that goal through every means.

When the question of President Scrabman running a third term first surfaced, it presented me with a couple of challenges personally. On one hand, I think kyle321n is an extraordinary individual that is uniquely qualified for the office of President of the eUnited States of America and received my overt support on the eUSforums and the media for that very reason. Therefore, I found myself torn between supporting kyle321n and supporting President Scrabman, both of whom have earned my genuine respect. Additionally, there is an element of pure selfishness on behalf of my goals for the United States Workers Party, that originally led me to want a break from having many of our most exceptional members and leaders so deeply engaged in the Executive branch, rather than be available to commit their full efforts to my priorities increasing the quality and size of the USWP Congressional delegation.

Then I remembered something that an experienced congressman told me following my first “state specific” idea in the congressional forums, very early in my eRep political career, basically along the lines of “While you are accountable to the voters of your state, you are here for the nation.” And so, while I am accountable to my party members, I am convinced that the best thing for the nation is to strongly encourage you to re-elect Scrabman as President of the eUnited States of America.

Once again, while in my role as Party President, I selfishly believe that the very best thing for the USWP would be for the current USWP members of the cabinet to refocus their efforts on growing our party and our delegation because I am personally convinced that we have the best members and the best solutions of any political party in the New World. However, the best thing for the nation is to re-elect President Scrabman and the members of his cabinet engaged and working for progress toward victory as long as possible.

One of the most ridiculous game mechanics is the miniature election cycles that promote a five or six day period every month being dedicated to campaigning while the “ship of state” idles, waiting to see who the commander will be for the few short weeks before the cycle begins again. The great benefit to the short election cycles is that we, as voters, are provided frequent opportunities to hold our elected officials to account for their actions, but the overriding negative is that when we, as a nation, have an extraordinary commander that is moving the country forward, the election cycles often serve only as momentum killers. It is time to forge ahead.

Through no fault of the eUnited States of America, ATLANTIS has crumbled. It is not time to be idle, it is time to forge ahead with Scrabman and Bastion!

The eUS continues to strengthen through wargames. It is not time to be idle, it is time to forge ahead with Scrabman and Bastion!

The eUS military continue to expand in numbers, in quality and in capability with the establishment of the US Air Force. It is not time to be idle, it is time to forge ahead with Scrabman and Bastion!

The Federal Budget and the Congressional Budget Office continue to be refined in both accuracy and procedural efficiency. It is not time to be idle, it is time to forge ahead with Scrabman and Bastion!

This is not about a political party banner, this is not about maintaining the status quo…this is about a very simple choice that we must all make on June 5th, 2009:

Do we pull off the highway and sit in idle while we change drivers hoping that we can make up the ground lost in the transition? Or do we forge ahead and see how much more ground can be covered?

Forge ahead America with your vote for Scrabman and Bastion on June 5th, 2009!

Ananias - Congressman for Florida
Proud Member of the United States Workers Party