Join the new world

Gather closer 'round the camp fire, girls and boys. Here's a couple of famous -- or infamous -- North American characters you should know about...


Maȟpíya Lúta (Red Cloud) was a leader of the Oglala Lakota, also referred to as the Teton Sioux, from 1868 to 1909. His forces defeated the US Army in "Red Cloud's War", fought in what is now Montana and Wyoming.

After the Treaty of Fort Laramie, the white settlers agreed to retreat from Lakota land. Red Cloud refused to sign any agreements until all federal encampments were removed. Once the treaty went into effect, gold was discovered in the Black Hills and the US Government did nothing to prevent wholesale violations of the treaty.

Though their efforts were betrayed by government agents and also by some collaborators, Red Cloud and Sitting Bull opposed all attempts at selling Lakota land. Widely known as one of the last to reach an accomodation with the genocidal white settler state, Maȟpíya Lúta is remembered as one of the fiercest defenders of American Indian sovereignty and dignity.

He was the most photographed native leader of the 19th century.

JFK wanted to name one of the Freedom-class ballistic missle submarines after him. But the Pentagon nixed the idea, arguing that it might promote communism.




Goyaałé Athabaskan, called Geronimo in Spanish and English, was a prominent military and spritual leader of the Bedonkohe Apache. From 1850 to 1886 he often joined with other Chiricahua Apache bands to attack European settlers encroaching on Apache lands in Chihuahua, Sonora, New Mexico and Arizona.

For years after his capture in 1886, the famous Prisoner of War was paraded in various ways and he was able to make a little scratch by doing so. In 1905, when this photo was taken, the "Indian Office" had delivered the famous prisoner to President-Elect Roosevelt so he could be exhibited as part of the inaugural celebrations. Afterwards he petitioned the Rough Rider to release all Apache fighters still being held prisoner, issue an amnesty, and let them return to their land. Roosevelt refused, saying "you were not good Indians".

Goyaałé was controversial figure even among the Apache, mainly due to his refusal to compromise with the Mexicans and the Americans.




In the spirit of and in remembrance of Red Cloud and Geronimo, I'd like to take a turn at leading the Revolutionary Committee of the Socialist Freedom Party.



The revolutionary and proletarian forces gathered around the various far-left flags in eRepublik have faced setbacks, challenges and problems over the years. And have had some successes as well.

In the course of all these things, the SFP has endured.

Our spirit is unbroken. Our fighters are strong. And it looks like this happy little band of freedom-socialist anarcho-syndicalist e-warriors will never give up their struggle for a Better New World. Get used to it!



Now, it is my contention that this is a good time -- without losing sight of ongoing work in the economic, political and military spheres -- for turning more of our attention towards art, culture, science and education.

You might try thinking of this approach in terms used by Brave Buffalo, an Oglala Lakota spiritual leader from the early 20th century, who once said...

"If men would seek what is best to do in order to make themselves worthy of that which they are so attracted, they might have dreams which would purify their lives.

"Let a man decide upon his favorite animal and make a study of it, learning its innocent ways. Let him learn to understand its sounds and motions. The animals want to communicate with man."



Let us understand the sounds and motions of our fellow players. Let's seek to engage all of them in a joyful and liberating undertaking that breaks through the reified constraints of the default game model. Let us be more than consumers of cheap rewards. Whether they have a credit card or not, whatever their rank, whatever flag or alliance they click for, let us rise up and sing and swim together.

By the way, here's my favorite animal...


LOL.



Should I get elected, the following group of revolutionaries have agreed to be the 4 appointed voting members of the RC, which is our horizontally-egalitarian way of saying "the Party Cabinet"...


Bear Cavalry Comandante and SFP Hard-core Comrade Shiloh13.
Ursa Fi 'til you die bro. Rock on.

Outgoing 2-term RC Chair Flashback1.
We need to continue and expand his excellent outreach to Party members and friends.

Maple-flavo(u)red far-left fire brand PimpDollaz.
Who always keeps it real.

Buen camarada y pensador radical Leon Gutierrez.
Who's worked previously to kickstart the art part of this game, and pretty much gets me on this point.


Building on the anarcho-syndicalist inclusive spirit of the SFP Constitution, I also intend to nominate 6 folks to stand for elected (or perhaps, acclaimed) voting members of the RC. This will include both RC veterans and some newer folks who've been active in the Party but not so much in the center ring lately.




Things I want to work on include:


- Experimenting with ways to spark interest and participation in media, communications, education and perhaps the science of the game (if not exactly the mechanics). Things I intend to work on myself include...

* A strong media presence, perhaps with a story-telling theme.

* An epic poem or song cycle featuring all the members of the SFP (and maybe the Bear Cavalry too, and perhaps a few other characters)

* Sharing some home-made music

* Doing some kinds of network analysis on the membership, showing how the party members are linked into the rest of eRepublik, what clusters exist, and so on

* Do some network analysis on far-left parties e-globally


- Cleaning up the Party Constitution.

* The bits on internal polling for PP and RC seats is slightly confusing, probably overly complex, and seldom paid any attention to. So I intend to offer amendments to clarify and simplify that part.

* Add something about recommendations for identifying Congress Delegates

* Post something like an attachment or footnote that provides a simple 1, 2, 3 kind of calendar / timeline / checklist for when things should happen.


- As well as continuing existing initiatives and taking care of business.

* Making sure nominations, internal polls and so on happen on schedule and according to Constitutional procedures as much as possible.

* Following up on work initiated by Flashback1 on member outreach, collective goal-setting and effective use of the SFP Org account



- Who knows? I might even log into that USForum thing-ee-whatsit deal once in a while!




OK. That's it for today turtle-friends. Be well and keep swimming.

And remember to take a ride on the Revolutionary-Freedom bus!
VOTE FOR RF WILLIAMS for PREZ of the SFP!!




Thanks for checking out this edition of "Radio Free Dixie"! Please share your own wildly impossibilist theories of life, e-life and everything in the convenient comment section below.