On Taxes and Such
Israel Stevens
On Taxes and Such
Orik wants to talk about what we’ve done in the past. Yeah, sure. That’s fine with me. As I’ve gotten further away from the game, it’s seemed a lot more silly to me. But whatever. And from a roleplaying perspective, it makes sense. So let’s take a trip down memory lane.
President - Twice
Chief of Staff - Six months for four different Presidents (Tenshibo, Frost, Vanek, Oblige)
Secretary of State - Twice (Cerb, Inwegen)
Secretary of Media - Five months for three Presidents (Auctoritas, Oblige, Artela)
AMP President - 10 times
Man. I had fun doing a lot of those jobs. Chief of Staff is the best. All the perks of being President, but you don’t have to actually deal with the public. Secretary of State was cool. Meet loads of people. But a lot of lame people want to talk to you too. Media is the toughest job in the cabinet. Hands down. It is almost always the hardest spot to fill. The amount of work you’re responsible for on a weekly basis… shudders
And these are just the major positions. They don’t begin to talk about actual accomplishments. Creating Interior programs, forming new branches of the USAF, co-writing our last major peace treaty (sup Derphoof). And that’s just the tip of the iceberg.
I’m not one to beat my own drum. I mean, I am, but not like this. Listing jobs is a nice ego boost, but it doesn’t mean anything. Lots of people have been President. Lots have been Chief of Staff, or Secretary of State.
I only write about this, to point out that I’ve done all this stuff before. It’s nothing new. And you can’t tell me that the game is harder than it was in 2012. There’s just no way. Different challenges, sure. But nothing more complicated.
I haven’t yet talked about taxes. And that’s a hot button issue. So let’s really light up the comment section for this article.
I’m fine with the tax rate.
It’s whatever. It’s pixelated money. Yeah, it’s pretty high. And yeah, it’s probably doing some damage. But it’s anecdotal damage. And unfortunately, due to the state of the game (dying, remember?), you can’t say that it is killing things anymore than the admins are.
But the thing is, those funds are what provide for our defense. When we can easily drop millions of dollars on a war, that changes the tide. And it allows us to keep all of our regions. Without those taxes, we don’t have full bonuses. There’s just no way. We would be unable to defend ourselves. Maybe we wouldn’t be wiped, but we would be at least occupied. Neighbors would pick off a few resources for themselves.
What stops Spain from taking Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi and Arkansas, and getting themselves a Rubber region?
Our massive reserve.
The taxes that we pay into, allow us to have full resources, and not be under threat from foreign powers. They keep us safe. And they keep us profitable, and producing at a high level.
They are unfortunately, necessary.
There is a more major concern for me with the taxes however. It goes like this.
A year ago, an 18% work tax was unconscionable. But now it’s a reality. MAX TAXES were a joke. But we had those too.
We have to keep raising taxes, to keep our reserve high. How far away are we from permanently having max taxes? A year? Six months?
I’m not trying to fear monger or anything. Because again, like hello… pixelated money. But it is something that I think about, and I wonder how much longer our system is sustainable. And if there is even another way to do things, that doesn’t rely on a handful of players donating money, and becoming our defacto leaders.
It’s not something that I have any concrete ideas about how to solve either, except for the usual hail marys: hope the admins make a change or hope we get a baby boom. Only one of those things would be good anyways. Admin never gets it right.
Lastly, a lot seems to have been made about my semi-retirement.
But if I can publish as many articles in my semi-retirement, as our ‘fully involved’ President can, then I think that puts that issue to bed. I’m not as out of touch as others would have you believe, or maybe even I would have you believe. I’m well aware of our position in the world, the taxation issue, and the ‘problems’ that we have with USAF.
If I’m already at Presidential level while being ‘semi-retired,’ just imagine what it’s going to be like when I’m fully involved.
Comments
Will you be advising your cabinet to adopt avatars of characters from The Wire?
oh my god. this is the greatest idea.
I would do it
Media is indeed a pain in the ass
also I like the content.
Good luck o/
It's funny that you talk about pixelated money, but not about pixelated regions, what's the difference between one or another? The argument about us being terribly occupied if we have not max taxes was more consistent, tbh.
That's a good point. I guess I've just seen people get much more worked up over their money, then our regions.
We just lost a few last month. People didn't seem to mind much.
Probably they knew the invasion was not gonna happen and was just a matter of short term that those regions were back.
"Yeah, it’s pretty high. And yeah, it’s probably doing some damage. But it’s anecdotal damage. And unfortunately, due to the state of the game (dying, remember?), you can’t say that it is killing things anymore than the admins are."
I don't believe the argument was ever that the eUSA's high tax rate was killing the game but rather that it was causing players to seek citizenship in other nations. Recently published data shows that several eUSA citizens did in fact leave the nation and several of those confirmed they left because of the WT.
You didn't do this but I've seen the comment several times in other articles that Serbia earns such and such amount with their low tax rate because of this and that. The eUSA has to have a high tax rate to compete with eSerbia.
You know what? This country isn't eSerbia, ePoland or any other eNation. So stop trying to be them. Attempting to "be another nation" is hurting the eUSA IMO. The eUSA's policies have caused a divide in our country. How about we work on reasonable compromises to bring our citizens back together as a team? Everyone will never agree on everything but there are lots of reasonable people and if each side of the divide gives a little, that gap won't seem so wide any longer.
Based on my one term in eCongress and the vitriol spewed in the eUSA forums, I have serious doubts about compromises being made but I can hope. I can say that of the 525 voters in the last eUSA elections, no fewer than 50 are seriously considering obtaining different citizenship over taxes, hostility and the contempt they are subjected to.
Is it worth retaining 10% or more of the existing active eUSA population by merely working towards reasonable compromises? This is a question I can only offer an opinion on and leave each member of congress to determine for themselves.
pixelated money, pixelated regions and pixelated dust; worshiping or wishing a game to death, I wonder how many are guilty
$25 pixelated money sent your way. Don't spend it all in one pixelated place.
duuuuuuude. thank you
What I got from this is that eRepublik is just a game, one that is dying and no longer worth playing; yet the author and his compadres who no longer care enough to actually take part in game are doing everything they can to retain power.
Also got that if Israel Stevens is elected Dictator that 25% taxes are not far behind....
You should learn to read then.
CP: 6
VP: 4
Mo😨 20??
MoF: 6ish
MoFA: 6ish
I agree with the general sentiment of not letting crybaby noobs dictate tax policy, but come on "Maybe we wouldn’t be wiped, but we would be at least occupied. Neighbors would pick off a few resources for themselves." is absolutely a complete total impossible scenario.
I'd like to see you fully involved again btw xoxo
This was great.