The Great Debate: Dictatorship

Day 2,824, 08:42 • Published in USA USA • by ResouIa

Hello everyone, I just wanted to say thank you for all the input on my last Great Debate article, unfortunately a grand total of ZERO pro-USAF players wanted to take part in the debate so I couldn't actually hold one. This time around I'm changing up the format based on the feedback I received, and I hope you all enjoy the read.

#1. What is your opinion on the Dictator Module?

Blande: The Dictator module is a poor addition to the game. It was a poor attempt by Plato to increase the amount of meaningful wars. It has had a very negative effect on the community, but since when has Plato cared about anything other than their pockets.

Yui MHCP001: Anything new to the game is refreshing, so I welcomed the dictator module with open arms. It was quite nice seeing all the "drama" that spawned out of it. It actually brought me back into the game a bit.

#2. Would you say the defensive dictatorship is a cost-effective way of protecting eUSA from threats? If against, where would the cost factor be better spent? If for, why is the money better spent here, than in other forms of defense?

MrCarey: Is it cost effective? Sure, I guess in the long run it would save money because there'd be less battles needed to defend ourselves.

Ghost of Tom Joad: 5 CWs were already started. I'm sure it's not saving money.

#3. Is the defensive dictatorship necessary, in your opinion, to defend our nation as long as the dictator module exists? Why?

Blande: As long as the dictator module is in play, the smart money is on having a defensive dictator. To those who bring ideology to the game, i'm sorry but this is not real life. In a game, you play the hand you are dealt, not the hand you wish you were dealt. We are here to "win", and you do so by playing smart. Keep real life ideologies away from game play.

Roper: Nope, if a enemy wants us down then they will not be discouraged by that dictator module. Dictator module does nothing to stop that and only succeeds in retaining power to a few. In fact, it hurts our nation more than anything else right now. I've witnessed people interested in eRep and eUSA, who then refuse to join the game and play for our nation solely due to the fact that we have a dictator. It also hurts morale and shines light on the lack of good leaders running this nation.

#4.A dictator holds all of the powers of CP and Congress while in office. Do you think it is possible that a defensive dictator would abuse this power? Is it worth the risk that they might?

eShades: An eUS dictator going rogue is a scary thought, and one I've worried about. While we were in Spain, the Spanish dictator got a little power-hungry -- I don't know if people know that. He had lost the July CP elections and he wasn't happy about it. To show his feelings, he decided to propose a bunch of random, hurtful laws (high taxes, high min. wage). Greed is a powerful influencer; with all that power at a single person's fingertips, who knows what might get him/her to turn rogue? It doesn't help that the eUS Congress doesn't have a clear method on removing a dictator, either. "Impeaching" a dictator was discussed in Congress, but nothing was ratified.

Yui MHCP001: Oh of course, they completely have the power, but I do believe it is worth the risk. The powerhouses of the eUSA would use all their power to make sure that no one is elected who s in the realm of possibility of abusing it


#5. Do you think eUSA could survive without the defensive dictatorship? If No: Why not; If Yes: How?

BeachBunny: Survive or Spend money without the need to. I do feel we would be able to survive a coup attempt but the amount of money to spend to repel such an attack would be needlessly spent. A Defensive Dictatorship gives us the ability to not spend our Reserves on something that is avoidable by giving us a 10 day window to prepare as well as know the exact time to reinstall the Defensive Dictatorship which would delay it even more.

MrCarey: Absolutely. I feel we have enough coordination to survive and thrive without it. Everyone talks about us being attacked while we're sleeping, yet everyone likes to forget we do have Euro citizens in eUSA who are awake while the rest of us are sleeping. We would still have plenty of warning if it ever came down to needing it.

#6. Any final thoughts you'd like to share about the Defensive dictatorship?

BeachBunny: While as an American I hate it so much. But this is a game of mechanics. yes it has room for role playing and those type of play styles for sure. But mechanics will always reign as the #1 focus. They are the key to the game itself. Now the people are what truly make this game worth playing. As a Defensive Shield as i would call it there is nothing better.

eShades: Having a defensive dictatorship makes sense if you don't think you can do enough damage to fight off MTO attacks. There was an attempt made to MTO Croatia a little over a week ago. It was definitely a hard-fought battle early on, but Croatia ran away with it. We have more than enough money to destroy any military coup attempts, but enough people in Congress believe that it's more fiscally responsible to maintain a defensive dictatorship so that we don't need to worry spending to prevent MTOs all together -- and at the same time, if eUSA does get a revolution attempt, we still have time to prepare. Revolutions can be easy to win, of course, as determination is commonly seen to be around +10x for the liberator; in that case, we need to spend at least 200k to reinstall the dictator. It's a ridiculously controversial topic, but I'm glad we can talk about it civilly.

Writing articles like these to bring the debates out of the dusty shelves of the eUSA forums and into the spotlight in the media was part of my platform for Party President of TBSP. If you are a member of TBSP I'd like to also announce now that I will be running for Party President again on the 15th and am keeping to my previous platform. We've come a long way in the past few months, and have only been making progresses without setback, I hope to continue that with a second term as Party President and I thank you all for reading this article. See you in the comments, and see you at the polls!