First Observations
![USA](http://www.erepublik.net/images/flags_png/S/USA.png)
Lieutenant Scheisskopf
As a newcomer to the game, I know I do not have experience with the New World's history and therefore am largely conjecturing on the present state of our country with a fairly limited frame of reference. But what I have noticed, so far, are three major issues that need to be addressed, discussed, and if possible, resolved in order to reassert the United States as the undisputed premier country in the New World.
1. eUS politics appear to be driven too much by self-interest and party affiliation. Compared with how the political systems and elections seem to play out in other countries, the eUS political scene is very factionalized in such a way that discourages cooperation and inclusion. It is perfectly fine to disagree with the decisions made by our leadership (from what I understand, Scrabman has made a few questionable judgments), but it is unacceptable to ignore our nation's call when she needs us. To appear divided against the enemy means we all lose.
2. Too many businesses are running out of supplies and not allowing the people to work. Whether this requires more responsible business managers, or less stringent taxes on materials and importation is something I have not yet determined. The eUS is almost 33% larger than the next largest country (Indonesia and Hungary take turns as second-largest), and although much of our size is likely due to inactive players, we should use our numbers to generate a robust economy that is capable of producing competitively and for supporting our workforce. Many of our industries also seem too preoccupied with making expensive goods and not on focusing on affordable products, but that may be a topic I save for another day.
3. The priorities of the American military appear to be out of order. With insurgencies preoccupying Indonesia's time, and war across Europe, this is a great opportunity to build our defenses and strengthen our soldiers independently of international conflict. Rather than, in earlier months, looking for a fight, we should assure that we are safe and prepared to meet all challenges.
Thanks for reading this first article. More will follow.
Comments
Finally, a newcomer that is starting to see the things that I see. I think the mismanagement of the military is my worst beef, like running war games when there are plenty of opportunities to fight for our allies in the world. It's good to see that the newbie eyes are not blind to this stuff.
You say the military is mismanaged, and offer war games as an example. I disagree. I don't think the military is mismanaged at all. Our military is always ready to help our allies. When no actual battles are available, wargames help the military gain strength and remain at peak wellness. When there is a real battle, we don't fight in the war games. At those times the wargames are more for the private non-military citizen so they can get the experience they'll need to help defend the homeland if needed. The war games also help newcomers gain rank quickly, which can only benefit the country as a whole. A strong citizenry operarting at peak wellness makes us more productive.
I agree with Maelyn
I also agree with Maelyn in that the war games have value, in that they do exactly what I am stressing-- that we must have a strong national defense. Aggressive foreign policy geared at reckless expansion is not necessary and less than ideal, as is (and I may take some heat for this later) joining in alliances of little strategic benefit to us.
On the military issue, I have two ideas, but please keep my inexperience with eRepublik in mind. The first is that we establish some incentive-based program to encourage citizens training in the military on their own. Similar to the pay raises a business owner may give diligent employees, we could allocate some funding to reward soldiers who take the time to train consistently.
Related to the first idea is that we concentrate more diligent soldiers and soldiers-in-training in states which offer higher quality hospitals. Doing this will assure that soldiers who want to gain experience quickly can maximize the quality and quantity of their fights, and will also allow our best soldiers to return to the battlefield several times in an outing.
huh