A.S.S.H.O.L.E: The Political Debacle
saltydog
Many of you will have been party to the brief existence of the Anti-Serious Society of Homeboys Objecting to Losers in Erepublik (A.S.S.H.O.L.E). On November 18th, 2009, the admins of eRep arbitrarily decided to curtail my political expression by forcibly changing the name of the A.S.S.H.O.L.E party to "Edited party name." What follows are the charges laid against me:
"You have not respected the 2nd eRepublik Citizen Law, concerning insults.
2. No citizen should oppress another citizen.
2.2 No insult, public accusation without proof, or indirect attack on a citizen is allowed.
---
Offensive party name"
Let me examine these charges as they have been laid.
"No citizen should oppress another citizen"
I agree fully. This is why I reformed the ACC into the A.S.S.H.O.L.E party, so as to give a voice to those who play this game realising that IT IS JUST A GAME! By forming such a party, I meant to actively play a meaningful part in eCanadian politics by having a political forum and body for those who felt alienated by the boringly stagnant mosquito-breeding pool that is our political scene.
Who would feel alienated? The kind of people that watch the flame wars that go on within our political elite between people who have forgotten that THIS IS THE INTERNET, and a GAME no less! The people who realise how stupid this is are the people that the A.S.S.H.O.L.E party represents. To arbitrarily redact the name of a party such as this is to excise its entire meaning - having a LAUGH about things.
"No insult, public accusation without proof, or indirect attack on a citizen is allowed."
I have not insulted any player.
I have not made any public accusations of any kind, let alone an accusation made without proof.
I have not indirectly, nor directly attacked any citizen.
I defy the admins of eRep to provide a single piece of evidence that shows contrary.
The only possible likeness to evidence is the portion of the Party name that defines the Party as "Objecting to Losers in Erepublik." However, this does not constitute any form of insult or attack. In order to be able to insult an individual or group within the game, "Losers in Erepublik" would have to constitute a readily identifiable individual or group. Given that the Party has made no public delineations of who is considered to be a "loser," the effect of "Losers in Erepublik" is null. To engage in insult, you have to have an identifiable party being denigrated; no such identities have been referenced by the Party or by myself.
More generally, let us consider the Party name in reference to the following elaboration on what constitutes an "insult," which can be found in the "Rules Addendum":
"Ironic content and propaganda will not be considered as an attempt to insult other citizens."
If you cannot sense the irony inherent in this very situation - where a party is created as a voice against the political correctness of those who bear such little sense of humour, and is then forcibly redacted by the very same powers; if you cannot witness the incongruity of wanting to work with but against those people and then being disallowed from doing so from the start... well, if you don't get it now, you probably never will.
"Offensive party name"
The laws which they have cited as allegedly being violated (2, 2.2) bear NO MENTION of party names. Moreover, as illustrated by the purposeful use of periods between the letters, A.S.S.H.O.L.E is an acronym for "Anti-Serious Society of Homeboys Objecting to Losers in Erepublik." There is no rule extant in the eRepublik cannon that bars "likenesses to offensive words." Until there is, A.S.S.H.O.L.E cannot constitute an "offensive party name," by virtue of it being an acronym and not a name. The reasoning behind using an acronym for the Party name was driven by the limitations of the eRepublik system itself - a paltry limit on characters in party names left no other choice but to resort to the use of an acronym for the Party. I would be happy to register the Party in its full name if the admins would actually allow a reasonable amount of characters.
This ends the analytical portion of this piece.
Why am I doing this?
It's a fair question. It's not to be immature, it's not to be offensive, nor crude, nor to simply push buttons. I formed the A.S.S.H.O.L.E party because I wanted people to step back and actually think about the fact that they are playing a game. I am playing a role in this game just like each and every one of us is. The whole point of role play games is to do what you probably couldn't do in RL - that's what makes them fun.
So why can't we be reasonable people and see the humour in this?
Why can't we choose to see the satire in it, instead of taking it for its surface appearance?
Why can't we just laugh at things, and realise that it does us no real harm to see a marginal party with a colourful name?
Perhaps we are best left with something said to me by our respected General Coda while chatting on IRC:
"Coda[CAN]: all politicians are assholes so I think you have captured your name effectively. Your the only truthful party, and I thank you for that."
Are we really so obtuse? I hope not.
Sincerely,
saltydog
Supreme Dear Leader of the Anti-Serious Society of Homeboys Objecting to Losers in Erepublik
P.S. What has become of the A.S.S.H.O.L.E Party? Check out the history of the creation of The Adult Party here.
Comments
~hyuu~
Don't worry, Saltydog. You'll always be an A.S.S.H.O.L.E. to us.
I'm with you 100%. This was needless, on the part of the admins, and shows a distinct lack of humour.
Isnt it convenient that, 15 minutes after publication of this article, Erepublik has "maintenance" issues for an hour - during daytime hours no less!
Heres a good tip for ya, if you're not willing to take this game seriously, why are you playing? If you don't like politics, business and the social aspect of this game, and ur not willing to "take it seriously", then I'm afraid ur outta luck cause thats really the only features in this game.
P.S. Renaming your party the "Black Panthers", is like someone else naming their party the "Klu Klux Klan" (sorry for any spelling errors). You're just asking for another edit by the admins.
"If you don't like politics, business and the social aspect of this game..."
When did I say that?
The Party forms an observation about the state of how our elites interact with one another. Just because I make an observation on the general negativity of those interactions doesn't constitute a blanket "I HATE THIS GAME!"
Octavian, there is a difference between simply playing the game and taking it to the level some people have taken it. The petty bickering, the personal attacks and even the so-called prestige that some people think they deserve is down-right childish. This party is simply a means of uniting those that realize that this is nothing more than a game and thus not a reason to lash out at others or throw a tantrum about.
We play the game because it is both fun and interesting while some play as if their life and reputation were on the line. I do not know if I have been clear enough but I'm hoping you grasp the difference between the so-called "serious" players and the rest of us.
As for taking it serious being a requirement in this game, I completely disagree. I firmly believe that in recognizing this as a game, we can set aside our overly-protected social hierarchy and have our egovernment run by progressive and realistic ideas. Will it give us more success, maybe, will it make for a more efficient egovt, definately.
@Jasonmtl
Good points though it is interesting as a person who studied sociology, to watch how ePolitics can quickly morph into real politics. Opinions, views, and cultural mores quickly settle into the game. In the end, whether an online game or real life, the people playing it are still human beings who, whether we like it or not, allow their real selves to be extended into the game environment. We can not help being what and who we are, even when we get the chance to hide behind a screen.
i support you saltydog <3 i love to have jokes 😃D
"The petty bickering, the personal attacks and even the so-called prestige that some people think they deserve is down-right childish."
Its called politics. Unless you like to live in fairytale land, its easy to see that in RL AND in this game, politics is not always clean. Politics is the strive for leadership, and striving to be a leader is hard. You must first of all prove that you are better then your opponent (otherwise wtf is the point of trying to succeed them?), and then set out a plan for the future. Thats where the dirty stuff happens, and you're just gonna have to get used to it.
And yes there IS an overly-protected social hierarchy in this game, but thats just how life works in general. You can't change that. No one is saying its a good thing that these people gain power by simply being at the top of the food chain, but although I support your struggle to allow anyone with good ideas to have equal chances, I know for a fact that its nearly impossible to achieve.
perhaps it is not what it spelled out that bothers the admin, but that it offends aforementioned "losers" 😉
dude, leave saltydog alone. His being a good citizen.
saltydog, that last quote by Coda should be enough to validate your petition.
I support ya saltydog. Octavian, I thought you wanted to be PM. Why aren't you trying to change the social hierarchy so everyone does have a chance?
@George Vaughn: I agree with what Saltydog and the others have stated in that concern. the closed off social hierarchy is a problem in eCanada.
What I did not agree with was when they made repeated statements about "taking the game seriously".
its a game. some poeple are able to play games as games and not 'serious' extensions of their lives.
i think this may be the direction the OP intended octavian.
True.. I may have overreacted a bit.. I apologize.
I welcome the debate, its good to get everything on the table
😛
I myself find the word Asshole rude. It makes your party seem unproffesional and even when it is unabreviated it is insulting. Im not suprised the admins changed it.
@duke lol the party was never meant to look professional, that's part of the point 😛
Than I have a confession to make later
lol, saltydog if CPF wasn't so much WIN I would join you.
Voted and Sub'd HARD
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_t13-0Joyc" target="_blank">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M_t13-0Jo[..]0Joyc
You knew it was controversial when you chose the name, congratulations, you have the momentary attention you wanted.
What will you do with it??
@Bill Brasky
I plan to shit on Kanye's face; free all child slaves; ruin the fabric of eCanadian society singlehandedly; and then retire to an eShack in the eWoods until the return of our lord and saviour, eJesus.
He's coming soon.
lol@duke.
this is the whole seriousness thing again. its a game....
do you guys wear a suit and tie to the grocery store or what? some people do things for fun, not just to be serious.
as for foul language. thats always been a curiosity of mine. i mean the f bomb is just 4 letters arranged a certain way. if you took insults from say the time of mr. christ and threw them at somebody now they'd look at you as if you were dim. they just are not insulting anymore. infact insults and foul language are only offensive because you have been trained to treat them that way.
being insulted is a personal submission to the other person. you are allowing them to use an artificial construct (language in this case) to control your emotional state.
my favorite example was when i was about 20. i used some foul language within earshot of a steroid monkey in a costco parkinglot. he was with his kids and was upset i swore infront of them (i believe it was something like thanks for moving over asshole as i drove by). he proceeded to threaten to beat me up, put me in the hospital etc. all the while throwing in swearwords constantly. eventually i managed to talk him out of it (thankfully) but it illistrates my point quite well (as well as another on hypocracy lol)
LOL voted and sub'd! I think Duke's feelings are hurt cuz he believes he's one of the people the party's name is directed at. Lighten up man!
I fully agree with you. This is a game, right? And so, the sole purpose of any game is... FUN!!! People should be free to choose how to have fun playing this game, playing the role they want to play, whatever it is, instead of being forcefully leaded into a single and rather Victorian-style way of playing this game.
Rule #1 of any game:
Play the way you wanna play: Admins shall not opress any citizen.
I think this is the equivalent of the Rhino Party in RL Canada
sad they had to disband though 🙁
thing is all of the people in eRep and in Real life are pussies about having the word "Asshole" seriously what the hell is their problem?
😉