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Candidature, more like MANditature, amirites? o/

Okay, that was pretty bad. I apologize for inflicting that on you...so lets just jump right into it...


I'm pretty sure the mandidature line would work on her...

Opening Thoughts:

eRepublik is a numbers game. To be stronger, you need people. This applies economically, militarily, or...believe it or not...socially. Numbers are what make this country strong, and people are what make it fun. This concept wraps around itself and becomes self perpetuating. People create a strong nation, and generally have fun both in attacking nations and socializing with eachother...Fun attracts more people, making us stronger...You get the point.

As such, my emphasis as CP, should I win, will be largely centered around these aspects. Military superiority, recruitment, and fun.

Interior:

This is probably my strongest suite, as I have previous experience as both the Secretary of Citizens Affairs and as Co-Director of the USA Welcoming Committee for nearly a year now.

I feel like this month has been absolutely great for the Interior Department, and hope to continue many of the ideas and programs we have begun this month. Ive absolutely loved working with Herr Vootsman, and he deserves a ton of credit for the great work hes done this month. While our accomplishments may not be flashy, like an immediate baby boom, we have revived many dying programs in existence, and put a bit of an emphasis on making sure they don't die again. Small things like updating all of the newbie guides on the eUS forums and making sure MoW and FU are providing adequate service does exponentially more for helping newbies than another fancy program name or a baby boom attempt without the infrastructure to support it.

Fortunately, I am proud to say that the infrastructure is there to support it, and as such I will be putting a renewed emphasis on both the REACH program and in attempting alternative baby boom methods. The thing is, very few things will spark baby booms, and all of them are unreliable. As such, we should be constantly innovating and attempting to find new methods of attracting players.

This also applies to all aspects of the interior department (and the rest of the government). We should constantly be innovating and looking for feedback and retention statistics, and using these tools to maximize our return on investment in resources devoted to Interior work. One of my favorite endeavors currently in the works related to this is mass PMing all level 12 citizens to see how their first days in the eWorld. New players know best what helped them, what didn't, and what could be done to help them more.

Speaking of helping new players, this is one of the single more important things the eUS government can do. The first days in eRepublik are challenging, and a misstep can ruin your eLife for the forseeable future. We must continue to guide our new players as they are our future. Things such as the minimum wage can do wonders for helping a new player, both in providing financial resource and in avoiding high quality jobs that are not good for them in their starting days.


I believe in helpin the new guys, and have proved it time and time again

Technology relates to this goal more than most people realize. The ability to find reliable statistics and target programs for specific demographics is a very powerful tool to be used in retention. As such, I have and will continue to support the efforts of our tech department to explore the reaches of what can be done with the API feed.

Continuing on the line of thought regarding ensuring effectiveness, I do NOT believe in holding on to programs that do not prove their value. One painful example of this is the Spartan Program I created last month. The goal was to provide an incentive to be actively reading media while ranking and and getting comfortable with using IRC, where a majority of eRepublik happens. The result was 8 participants. While I really loved the idea of the program, we should not irrationally hold on to ideas that do not prove their worth.

As a last note, I believe that having a strong media is a key aspect of retention. Many players choose to not leave the game and visit the forums or IRC (as did I when originally playing the game). The eRepublik community that they see can be found solely within the media module. At the moment, our media is pretty dead besides big events occurring such as major battles. I have written multiple times in the past in an attempt to both encourage and to help people engage in the media module, and even had some fun exploring a different type of writing to spark things, but more needs to be done. Ideas such as reviving the Flufferton Foundation and the White House Press Corps are definitely in the works,

Foreign Affairs:

I will be following the decision to not join a formal alliance. However, this brings to mind the complex question that is relations with EDEN...

EDEN...It's kinda like that one girl who you're pretty awesome friends with, then one night you have too much Long Island Iced Tea and sleep with her. Next thing you know you decide to give the relationship a shot because...hey...you already did it. In reality, later on you realize that you're totally not meant to be in a committed relationship with eachother. You decide to go with friends with benefits, and at first its kinda awkward, but eventually its pretty awesome.

We're just getting past the awkward stage and we're better for it.

The relationship between EDEN and the US needs to be based on communication, mutual respect, and brotherhood...not conflicting obligation or financial binds.


This picture seems fitting

With this emphasis on respect and communication in mind, I am creating the position of special ambassador to EDEN. While we will maintain our emphasis on bilateral foreign policy in regards to actual treaties and formal arrangements, communication is necessary with EDEN as they are still a major military power who we coordinate with nearly daily. This emphasizes the importance I put in maintaining an open mutually respectful relationship with EDEN, while not making it an institutional aspect of our government to be forced upon later presidents. This role will fall under the Department of State, equivalent to a deputy secretary.

This subject also brings forward the question of the future of the Brolliance. I do not support expansion, nor do I support formalization or excessive structure building. The brolliance was built on the special relationship of a few nations, and is not just another alliance to allow to become bloated and implode under its own weight.

While discussion of alliances is up, I suppose I should also talk about Phoenix. As President, it would be my responsibility to partake in discussion with foreign dignitaries, which I will do regardless of allegiance. Communication is nearly always a good thing, and theres little to be lost by partaking in discussion. The expression of power waxes and wanes within an alliance. If individual members of Phoenix no longer feel their interests are being served I will be willing to discuss our mutual points of interest, be it neutrality of a full side swap. However, in a case of conflicting interests, I will not under any circumstances betray those allies that have stood by us in our times of need.

Going back to the importance of communication, I also feel that our ambassadors are not being used for their full potential. We have a whole horde of Americans stationed in countries around the world, but very little of what they do reaches the American Public. I hope to change this to an extent. I feel that having an understanding of our allies culture and current events will do wonders for building relations not between the states and governments that normally react, but between the people! As such, another creation of my cabinet will be the Secretary of Cultural Affairs, whos sole purpose it will be to both bring Allies culture and current events to america, as well as share american culture and current event with allies nations via daily articles.

Economics:

I am a huge proponent of free trade, and have been so since my first days in the eUS. I only joined as an economics student interested in seeing the economics module - with no intentions of really playing (thus the silly name). Suddenly, I found myself embroiled in the old debate of Free Trade vs Protectionism, fighting alongside One Eye to lower tariffs, and the addiction set in.

As I mentioned a previous article, I remain a huge proponent of international trade. Besides the old "Stuff > Gold" meme, the benefits of a highly international market are numerous. We have the lowest consumer prices (which helps newbies), we have the most flexible and resilient markets in the world, and should we be invaded the licenses would be in place to continue providing goods to the American people to wage a war, even as we lose regions and the companies inside. Another important aspect of free trade that few people recognize is the foreign affairs effect that it has. By tying our economies together, our fate becomes intertwined with that of our close allies, creating an even stronger bond than those that existed.


Yeah, these are her voting clothes. You should probably show up at the ballot box on the 5th

But one aspect of this whole deal has not been kept. The eUS needs to put more effort into pushing allies towards adapting free market ideologies. This will help share the benefit of economic growth as well as provide economic unity. This will also be a boon for knowledgeable business owners both stateside and abroad. I have begun this process this month through a series of discussions with our Cana-bros up north regarding potential license subsidies and a CA😨USD peg, but there is more to be done, and I am ready to deploy the resources to make it happen.

To repeat something I mentioned in a previous article, one goal of mine should I win the presidency in June, is to create a subsection of the State Department devoted entirely to encouraging nations to both lower trade restrictions (ie: tariffs) and promote trade friendly policies (or reduce non tariff barriers if you will), such as currency to currency pegs, government sponsored export license swaps, or currency peg alignment. This new department would be headed by a Secretary of Economic Affairs (chosen by myself and equivalent to a deputy secretary of state) who would be able to choose his/her own assistants with my approval. I hope to provide more details on this front in my soon to come Candidature.

Odds and Ends:

Karnataka- I have already written two articles on the matter, here and here, but I suppose I can clarify on this a bit since it is a big ticket item, since its recently been discussed that we should interfere aggressively to maintain Karnataka for economic reasons. I feel this is irresponsible and will only result in us without the region and without a valued friend. Holding Karnataka against indian consent will be impossible, a lesson we should learn as a result of Hungaries attempt to hold Hello Kitty. Its also on the top of all Phoenix hit lists in terms of what regions they would like to conquer. While I support the use of offensive PTOs against enemies, I am shocked and disappointed that Americans would suggest using them again our allies. To go into any more detail than that would likely result in an entire new article...and fortunately negotiations are going great so hopefully this isnt even a factor on the 5th 😁

JCS + Executive Relations- Its no secret that there were tensions between the JCS and the President this month. This needs to stop. I respect the JCS' specialty and authority with regards to internal military affairs and strategy. I also respect the authority of the Executive branch to conduct foreign affairs as the democratically elected representative of the people of this country, and military force usage is a major aspect of foreign affairs. With this in mind, I feel it is important for the president to be involved in discussion of military strategy, but its not his job to nitpick details and should rarely have to intervene unless there is reason to believe that a strategic detail is interfering with the overall plan.


I believe in our Military

Communication is a huge part of this problem, as is mistrust. As such, I am taking my decision in picking a Secretary of Defense very seriously. While this position has been historically ignored, I feel that this upcoming month it can play a huge role in promoting communications and trust between these two branches of government.

Closing

I'm told I have a tendency to write TL😉R articles, and I would like to publicly admit here and now that I have created a monster of an article this time around. Thanks for reading it if you made it this far.

And a special thank you to my campaign crew...you know who you areuncon is an american hero It is overwhelming seeing how much support I have gotten so far.

As a couple of last reminders, there will be two debates tomorrow (June 2nd) on IRC held by TAMA and SEES/FEDS and at 17:00 and 19:00 server (respectively). I would also encourage anyone that wants to hang out or help my campaign to come hang out with us in #chocforpresident

Love,
Chocolate McSkittles