Do we have democracy in eBelgium?

Day 1,202, 00:19 • Published in Belgium USA • by MaryamQ

Dear eBelgium,

Please sit down and have a cookie. I think it is time we had a little talk.



First, I want to congratulate ThomasRed on yet another election as CP, which seems assured at this hour. Even his worst enemy, and I am certainly not any kind of enemy to him, must acknowledge that he must have done something right to be elected so many times to lead his country. It is a remarkable achievement to which very few may aspire.

But this brings me to the subject I want to discuss with you. This campaign raised some issues that, while I really cannot agree with the way they were stated, nevertheless had a degree of validity. Before we go further, I want to make it clear that what I am about to say does not represent anyone's views but my own, but I believe many of you may find some things you agree with.

One really tender point in our community, one that has been raised multiple times in recent months, is the belief that everything is controlled by a single party, Belgium for Belgians. Don't suppose that I think Belgium for Belgians or its members are bad. I do not. I have worked closely with many of them almost since the beginning of my political career, and sincerely like and respect the active members. However, it seems to me it is legitimate to point out that no candidate for CP has been elected for many months without their endorsement.



In the real world today, we see people in the streets, determined to overthrow leaders who have had a stranglehold on their government for a very long time. In eBelgium, we seem to have a similar movement, though on a smaller scale, against Belgium for Belgians. To be sure, in the past they have been willing to support candidates from other parties at times, including Thore Thoreson from what was then Free Belgium, Theneka from the Belgian Communist Party, and Sammy Tanghe and me from Res Belgica. Largely thanks to their support, all of these candidates won. On the other hand, no minority party candidate has won without their support. The problem is, this puts all of the decisions about who will lead our country in the hands of a few active citizens in one party. Although these people are usually good, dedicated members of our community, this is not a healthy situation, and it is not really democracy.

Belgium for Belgians, partly because it is one of the oldest parties in our country has more members than any other single party, which tends to attract new players and 2-clickers, but it does not have a majority of our population, and more importantly, it does not have a majority of those who are active in our community. A high percentage of its members appear to vote for whoever is endorsed by the party regardless of personalities or issues. To be fair, this is not a pattern limited to the game community. My own RL ex-mother-in-law, who is not highly educated but is certainly not stupid, has been known to ask her son (my ex) who to vote for, and I have known others who openly stated they were going to vote for whatever candidate was running for the XYZ Party, even when they didn't know who that was. I might add this thoroughly annoyed my mother who, being a legal resident alien, could not vote but was nevertheless informed about issues. To be honest, I also have sometimes voted solely on the basis of party in local elections.



So, if I admit people really do make uninformed votes for members of their own parties, why do I see this as a problem in game? Unfortunately, just as in real life, the results may not really reflect the will of the majority. In today's election, for instance, at the present time, although ThomasRed clearly has a decisive lead, he does not have a majority, but only a plurality, meaning the majority of voters preferred someone else. When you factor into this that a large percentage of the present 54 votes making up this plurality are not active on the forum or IRC, and that it is likely that many of these are party line voters and/or voted for a name they recognized without any thought about issues, it becomes legitimate to question whether this or any election really reflects the will of the community.

When this election day is over and all the votes are counted and confirmed, we will have a very competent and experienced President, one who has promised to work with other parties and one we should feel confident will not lead us into trouble, but we will not have one with majority support. Knowing this, what do we want to do about it? Are we happy with the situation as it is, or do we want it to change? If we want it to change, how do we want it to change? Ultimately, the decision about who leads you should be yours. Are you ready to take it into your own hands?

You are now free to talk amongst yourselves.