Sisyphus Realized
Muglack
As I sit here contemplating the last few weeks of eCanada's past I'm quickly reminded of the toils and tribulations of Sisyphus.
In Greek mythology Sisyphus was a King whose deceitfulness earned the ire of the Gods and as a result was punished to push a boulder up a hill. Normally this wouldn't be impossible to overcome, but in addition to his deceitful ways Sisyphus was also guilty of incredible hubris. He saw no reason to adhere to the truth and thought himself so cunning that he could deceive the Gods themselves. As punishment for this hubris Zeus enchanted the boulder so that whenever Sisyphus approached the top of the hill, he would lose control of the stone, and it would roll back to the bottom of the slope.
The end result was that no matter how hard Sisyphus toiled and struggled to push the boulder to the apex of the hill, and no matter how much sweat, blood and effort was given to finish the task laid upon his past crimes would inevitable haunt him and result in his failure.
The parallels to our current situation are frightening.
eCanada is Sisyphus reborn. We were guilty of great hubris. We thought ourselves above the punishment of the Gods and sought to prove our dominance over the eUK only to have those mightier than ourselves cast us into Hades.
Slowly we toiled refusing to accept our fate. We fought, screamed and howled against an unrelenting tide as it rolled across our nation and swallowed region after region.
When the inevitable nature of our situation became clear we changed tactics. Instead of trying to stop the onslaught we sat back and watched it ravage us. We hoped that by showing our bellies instead of our teeth those who sought to punish us would confuse our laying in wait for submission and they would either forget about us, or be drawn away by a different foe. As expected by some our enemies saw through this ploy, and only tightened their grip.
With the smokescreen of our faked contrition easily dissipated by those who now kept us under thumb a new strategy was implemented. All of the built up rage, anger, and hate which we built up during the previous phase of our systematic conquest was unleashed in an attempt to build momentum and in one Herculean display of strength that we could force our boulder to the top of the hill and rid ourselves of those by whom we are now controlled.
Once again in our hubris we underestimated our opponents. They knew what some of us apparently didn't. The hill is much taller than it looks.
Then we were summoned on high. Whether our actions amused our overlords, or made them pity us I don't know, but whatever their motives they offered us an advantage. For a fraction of what we just spent to push the boulder up the hill only to have them slap it back down they would build for us a ledge. In fact that truth of the matter is that over half the cost of the ledge could have been almost immediately recuperated with the gold resulting from a Congressional election.
Did we as a nation consider this offer, and think through the advantages and disadvantages of accepting the offering? Of course not. Our dear friend hubris once again reared his ugly head. Instead of logically deciding what to do, or even politely declining, the members of this community who are supposed to represent us essentially spit in their face and while doing so pointed to our temporary success pushing the boulder up the hill telling them that there was more where that came from.
That was over a week ago. Since that time the boulder hasn't moved. Our backs have grown weaker, our strength has faded just a little more, and some members of our community have begun to lose hope. The people who are supposed to be organizing and motivating our population have gone silent, and when asked about progress or future plans we're not even given breadcrumbs.
If we continue down this path my friends the future is truly bleak.
Comments
Muglack has spoken.
Muglack.... Always the Critic, Never the Talent...
Monday.Morning.Quarterback.
Really? Never the talent? Is that what we're going with?
I think you might have been reading the wrong resume.
Yes Muglack, I've read your resume, The one that reads you always knew the best course of action on everything beforehand, and were always the man behind the scenes of any successes, but never said a peep at the time, then opportunistic as always, claim you always knew the best course of action of the failures, if only people had listened to you
Here's a question, When MDP was busy moving "Ever Forward" with Rylde as its CP Candidate in January, Where was your voice screaming from the rooftops that Rylde was the WRONG candidate, was a hothead, would get us wiped, and that was not in eCanada's best interests in "Moving us Forward"?
I know you think of yourself as Martin Sheens character in "The American President" - but I just don't see it, having been here and there for all of these years...
(Apparently you can't reply to a reply.)
I didn't yell from the rooftops because I didn't think Rylde was the wrong guy. I thought worst case scenario he'd piss someone off (which was inevitable) and we'd take a hit for a short period of time and then we'd rally like we normally do.
This game is incredibly fluid. Things are always changing, and eCanada has never been faced with an adversary that has decided to remove us from the game no matter the cost. It's simply something that has never happened to us.
I've also always been vocal about what I thought would be the best course of action. I've never been a Monday morning quarterback. Just because you aren't listening doesn't mean people aren't talking.
My track record speaks for itself. The last time you were CP your "plans" took us from 13 regions to 2. When your inevitable impeachment happened the ground work I laid and plans I set forth took us from 2 to 9 in the last 2 weeks of the month. Sperry won the next election and we were wiped in less than a week.
7 months ago when the talk of joining CoT started I was the loudest voice in support of it. I would of liked nothing better than to join while we had the chance. What did people do instead? They held referendums, dithered and argued that if we switched alliances we'd leave allies behind. What was the end result? While we spun our tires digging a hole that's almost too deep to get out of those same allies we didn't want to leave behind saw the truth of the situation and got out when the getting was good something we should of had the good sense to do as well.
I'm not always right, in fact sometimes I couldn't be more wrong. Convincing JB he shouldn't run for President and that you should when Project Mayhem was in full swing is clearly a choice that hurt this nation more than any other.
Now I pose the same question to you.
What have you done for this country?
You've drained our coffers. You've caused strife and alienated valued and respected players.
You've been a lightning rod for scandal and have undermined the very essence of our community.
Most recently you lost an election to a player who everyone knew was not only a multi, but who would be AFK for most of the month.
That's how much your actions and deeds are appreciated by eCanada. You quite literally lost an election to a burning effigy.
When I was CP and we were wiped by Sweden (Rylde) the groundwork was already laid when you took over AS WE WERE WIPED, and at 2 regions and on the way back as the Swedish front was cut off when the Impeachment took place. You rode the wave to 13 regions (While you were on Vacation?) and predictably and true to form have taken the credit ever since - Also, Please link me to your articles championing CoT as a great option and referendums were a bad idea, I can't seem to locate them...
I don't make the same claims you do Muglack, What I do say is that I have a history of actually getting things done, and first hand at that.., Good or Bad, you can't argue with my record of RESULTS, whereas in as much as your previous comment, you claim to have known or done better on at least 3 points, which begs the question, if you always know better, Why does no one listen to you - You're like the eCanada version of HOUSE, except the patient never survives
We didn't get to 13, we got to 9. You can't even get facts straight when I hand them to you and you write a response.
Your "Record of Results" is a drain of active contributing members, a fractured community, and an empty treasury.
Praise be unto you.
If you had real results, or had accomplished anything positive in your time here you wouldn't of lost to an AFK multi that only got booted from the job of CP because of ban.
It says a lot when even after knowing all the facts Congress still won't vote to impeach the equivalent of a puppet who's strings have been cut because the person in second place was you.
Hey Muglack - Weren't you the guy the LOST to me in the CP Election at the HEIGHT of my Unpopularity? And was the 3rd choice of many between me and Aeriala? - How does your hat hang on that?
Losing to you? I'm fine with it. Fram beat TFD so we both know elections don't always elect the right person.
Although to be fair, in a straight up election you're the only one that's lost to Aeriala. That probably says more than anything.
Well, at least I was the 3rd Choice behind Aeriala and Addy....
You'll also note that the month before I lost in a nail biter to Kaz LeBlanc. The next month you won the election and Rylde's campaign with Swedish backing wiped us.
After which you welcomed him back and with bought votes and Coalition support won him two CP medals. Then after him going AFK for half of his second term supported Wally who went AFK for the entirety of his.
"Well, at least I was the 3rd Choice behind Aeriala and Addy...."
I've only finished behind Aeriala once in an election and that was when I changed the name of the MDP to "Vote for Aeriala" after Tem "accidentally" got himself kicked from the ballot.
Yes, Tem's "Accident" - Smelled a lot like Rylde's "Accident" this month..., in being not really one....
Tem just didn't want to run and couldn't bring himself to just tell us, so he "made a mistake" and got booted.
Rylde got drunk and wanted to see if other parties were talking trash about him, and went party hopping to read shout feeds resulting in a ballot removal.
A negative effect caused by short sighted decision driven by pride, why that's almost a word that starts with H. Maybe someone should write an article? 😛
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~hyuu~
Well we had the option of joining CoT, but where was the voice for it?
Here is where it was: http://www.erepublik.com/en/citizen/profile/1502706
http://www.erepublik.com/en/party/the-canadian-progressive-front-2814/1
But no one listened for sentimental reasons of our "time-honored" allies. Where are these allies now? No where. Because they moved on, and we have not. We are stuck with the outcasts, our only alliances with two countries who are also completely wiped and will remain under the thumb of a foreign power, likely for a long time coming, much like ourselves. eCanada is a reject country, not willing to do what is necessary to matter at home and abroad.
Yes, Auk, I was aware of this. I'm looking for Muglacks articles - Where he champions the cause and convinces us in his unwavering style that CoT would be best option for us in both the short and long term.... you know, BEFORE the fact...
You won't find one Rolo, because Muglack never wrote one. He comes to us now as the 'great seer' who had forseen our fate and could have averted disaster, but it's not true. He's the one who nominated Rylde for the presidency, and Rylde is wholly responsible for Canada's almost year long period of international blunders, first making us lose our existing alliances, replacing them with countries who can hardly stand on their own let alone protect us, and then angering the beast and getting us wiped.
Shame, hardly any mention of it was in the Canadian congress forums.
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But Auk, All I remember is Muglack Saying
Rylde elected Summer = Good
Rylde re-elected Summer = Good
Coalition that got Rylde elected = Bad
MDP Ever Forward = Good
MDP Ever Forward Elected Rylde = Good
MDP Ever Forward renomination Rylde after Wipe = Good?
MDP Elected Rylde revision = after the fact Mistake/Bad?
MDP Ever Forward = Still Good
You gentlemen seem to have your facts confused.
Rylde elected Summer = Coalition which I didn't support. Rolo, you did.
Rylde re-elected Summer = Coalition support a second time. I still didn't support it.
In fact I was so against the Coalition that I wasn't a member of the MDP at all during this time. I was without a party.
I also didn't write articles to show my support for CoT. You're absolutely right. But I did talk to the CP on IRC and made tons of posts supporting and reason for moving to CoT on the forums. Just because I didn't write an article doesn't mean I wasn't vocal.
You supported Rylde for CP Muglack, I never stated you supported the Coalition - The Coalition was the Method used to elect Rylde as CP (Littleknownfact - MDP approached Norsefire) - Your support of Rylde as CP points out quite the hypocrisy on your part, given your stance on the Coalition, albeit after the fact, as usual...
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The only time I supported Rylde for CP was in January.
I was against the MDP supporting him in the latest election but was overruled by Leo and the rest of the Council.
Not a bad myth retold. I'm more partial to the story of Prometheus who stole Fire from the gods to give it to a lump of Clay, only to be forever punished by being chained to a rock where an Eagle would eat out his liver each day. Bonus: Pandora's jar and her curiosity that unleashed all the ills of world.
But yeah, pushing a rock is more apt for our current situation. Prometheus Bound is a better allegory on a larger timescale.
Someday we should retell the myth of Rylde in the form of a Greek tragedy. There's plenty of material to be mined in that vein, and the way events unfold with larger-than-life characters is quite fascinating. Can't begrudge Rylde for trying to be the Shepherd (may his political life RIP), though he didn't know how bleak a future his path would bring us.
Things kind of seem bad atm, but I believe we are still in a better position than in the USA, fighting a seemingly endless PTO. The Spanish horde will eventually move on, and we will be stronger for our perseverance.
or we'll all just quit.
Win-win
The butthurt in this article/comments is too delicious for me to stay silent. Keep it up Gents!
[Cone of silence re-engaged]
I did suggest the Spanish deal for congress was cheap compared to fighting RW's and that it also would of opened up the conversation between us ans Spain on a more positive footing. I only got one supportive comment for this position in congress.
I personally do not want to set precedent that we will buy back any region that is conquered for a "price" - Good deal in the short term, terrible position to put ourselves in the long term, cost/reputation wise...
Yeah, that was pretty much the reaction. My understanding though was nothing in the offer would of prevented us from RW'\ing to our hearts content and the only condition was we could not NE each other. Advantage us! We were not going to NE them anyway.
Hind sight is 20/20 though.
We'd be no better than Vote Buying/Vote Selling scum.... This time with regions...
yeah I hate those guys.
Handshakes aren't worth much in this game. But a punch in the face gets lots of attention.
Sounds like a good idea in theory, Exalted. Could be that this is just the wrong audience/game mechanics for such a thing to work out effectively. Opening dialog with Spain about what they want still makes sense even if 'treaties' don't have much legitimacy, since it might help defuse the situation a bit sooner.
Talks with Spain still happen. But the terms do not change. 22-25k cc a month for a single food region that does not border eUK. We have to fight against Canada in RWs, and if they feel we are trying to win the "treaty" is broken. They want to keep us wiped. That's why we were prio even while they lost Azores, even though Azores was there only path to us. We were prio even when the NE'd Portugal.
That's what happens when you spit in the face of the then CP or Spain and SC of Two.
At first glance I thought this was an article about Muglack realizing he has Syphilis...
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People can say all they wanted after the fact but players crave war and we had our moment and I'd do it again just because we had a few moments of glory and unity.
Nation needs a leader to rally around who has the time to put in to give us our best chance at freedom.