Taijitu
Forum Meta => Election Records => Archive => Elections => Topic started by: Allama on January 21, 2008, 05:27:21 PM
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Let me begin by saying that I was reluctant to run for Delegate, as some of you have surely noticed. While I enjoy helping the region and running small things here and there, I prefer to remain in the background as far as administrative duties are concerned; power simply is not something I desire or usually enjoy. The reason for this is mainly that I have been afraid to take on the level of responsibility that being a Delegate entails; I feared failure, to put it simply. I care about Taijitu and did not consider myself knowledgeable or available enough to take the reins, worried that I would do something wrong and hurt the region. It was brought to my attention, however, that a Delegate who was not afraid of making a mistake obviously did not have enough passion about the region or were overly confident in their own abilities (to the point or arrogance, one might even suggest).
I now believe that my reluctance can be an advantage; I will not hesitate to seek the advice/expertise of those who have done the job before me as I have no illusions about my lack of experience, nor shall I be afraid to make my own decisions. I will attempt with all of my heart to look at the delegacy with fresh eyes and to do my absolute best for Taijitu. I believe we have had wonderful Delegates here and I hope to join their ranks as naught but a humble successor.
On to my "platform", such as it is. I will try to keep brevity and clarity in mind during my oncoming ramblings.
NationStates is, undeniably, in the midst of a serious decline. We need to be active in the game or people will just keep leaving, no matter how vibrant our forum community could potentially become. Because of this, I would like to rejuvenate the military here in Taijitu. Army activity has never been something that I enjoy personally, but many players come here for specifically that reason and find it to be one of the only engaging aspects of NS gameplay. An inactive military will kill this region.
This is important to me for many reasons, chief among which is that it is one of the only things a new member can join right off the bat. If we don't get new members involved right away, they will lose interest. Period. The military may not be for all new members, though, so I hope to rejuvenate some other aspects of the community that have been lacking as of late. For one thing, I hope to organize things like a regional festival with games, contests, etc. to get people interested again and to show that we can be serious AND have a good time!
As far as raiding/defending goes, I do not wish to change Taijitu's neutral stance. I would rather continue this way (but in a much more lively context) than alienate players who only enjoy certain types of action.
Activity is a serious issue, that much we've already covered, but it's not just new members CTE'ing or signing into the forum once and never coming back; it's also older, more experienced and involved members failing to take a real interest in the region. If I am to be Delegate, I will keep a firm hand with my cabinet to ensure that Ministries function smoothly and without large, unexplained delays in what should be simple processes. With all due respect to everyone here and with appreciation for all of the work everyone has done, I will not tolerate Ministers ignoring their jobs and will replace anyone who does so without a reasonable excuse. Before I appoint anyone I will be sure to ask them if they are both willing and able to keep on top of things, and will hold them to their promise once sworn in. Not only that, but I pledge to be active here in both an official and fun capacity, even if I have a busy day at work and it means spending 100% of my break time on the forum/NS.
Another significant problem we now face is that of conflict and animosity within the region, which I now see that Flem has addressed in his campaign (and has done so marvelously, I add). Similar to his feeling on the matter, I assure you that I will be the representative of all nations in Taijitu, not only those who I have a personal relationship with, who have been here forever, who are new and might leave if I don't favor them, etc. All that I do will be with a spirit of fair-mindedness and an open, caring heart. Will I ever make a mistake as Delegate? I hope not and would seek to think my words and actions through more thoroughly than ever before when acting in an official capacity, but it is certainly not out of the realm of possibility; it's happened before and will happen again, as they say.
I feel I should highlight both my strengths and my weaknesses, in order to keep an open and honest campaign. As I have said, I have no experience as far as Delegate operations go and would essentially be learning as I went, as my Ministerial duties have not come into contact with much of the Delegate's role. I have just about no personal contacts in other regions and would thus have to rely only on formal diplomatic relations to communicate with our allies. Also, as most of you know, I am not able to be online on weekends and would thus be limited as to how quickly I could respond to an emergency during what is often a very busy time in NS; during those times I would rely on my VD to keep things in line until my return.
If I think of anything else to say (which I almost undoubtedly will), I will post it here at a later time. Feel free to ask me anything you like; I am an open book and will attempt to answer both fully and candidly. My fantastic Vice Delegate running-mate, Korinn, is more than free to express his thoughts and stands here as I do not expect him to entirely agree with me on everything I say; that would just be boring, wouldn't it? ^_^ I appreciate differing opinions as well as affirmations of my own.
I would like to wish the very best of luck to my fellow candidates; I don't think of you as opponents at all, but rather as fellow Taijituans who wish to see the region improve and prosper. Cheers and the best of times and tidings to whoever becomes our new Delegate! :drunks:
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Does the fact that you're running mean I have to actually vote?
Are rumours true that Bara will be running as your Vice candidate?
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Yes and maybe; I could always dump Kor at the last second and go for broke. ^_-
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Yes and maybe; I could always dump Kor at the last second and go for broke. ^_-
:'( :P
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Adopting a premise that 'power' can be divided into two catagories; Power to......and Power over.......how might you apply those ideas to an eventual style of governing in Taijitu?
You state that you would have to rely on formal diplomatic relations with allies...are Taijitu's diplomatic relations exclusive to Military allies? ( perhaps you weren't referring to militaristic allies). If so, how does Taijitu's neutrality effect or limit external affairs?
What would you like to see (if anything) happening on Taijitu's Embassy Row?
As Delegate might you award Bara with a spam king crown?
What are your opinions regarding diplomacy both internally in Taijitu and externally? What approaches to other nations do you think encourage it? Is the respect for older resident nations any more desirable than towards newer nations?
Apart from appointing hopefully active Ministers, or dismissing ole ineffectual ones, are there other ways you think administrative tasks could be improved in Taijitu?
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just popped in to check up.
and now my message commences as such:
Al my darling female wifey, i am oh so pleased to see you take such steps. may your campaign go well, more out of concern for the region as i believe they would be denying greatness in denying you this responsibility. good luck to you the one woman who gives me hope that i may find someone worth it.
-neil-
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I'd like to answer a few of these.
You state that you would have to rely on formal diplomatic relations with allies...are Taijitu's diplomatic relations exclusive to Military allies? ( perhaps you weren't referring to militaristic allies). If so, how does Taijitu's neutrality effect or limit external affairs?
Taijitu has no military allies. Our neutrality has in the past effected our relations with other regions. Equilism dropped their embassy here because of it.
What would you like to see (if anything) happening on Taijitu's Embassy Row?
As Minister of External Affairs for 2 and a half terms I can answer this. Alot of the inactivity was due to other regions having low activity. Another part was ambassadors going inactive. I will admit I am partially to blame. I went inactive for a bit and writing the Regional Update became stressful. I should have given my spot to someone who could do the job. The position meant alot to me. I helped pull it out of being inactive. It upset me when I wasn't able to keep it active. I do really hope something happens with it. I think Al' and I can pick a Minister that'll do a great job.
Thank you.
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Neil - Your post made me smile! ;D Thanks, sweetie; your support is heartening.
Kor's responses to these were great, so I'll just get the rest and touch on some thoughts I had about the ones he already covered.
Adopting a premise that 'power' can be divided into two catagories; Power to......and Power over.......how might you apply those ideas to an eventual style of governing in Taijitu?
For the purposes of this answer, I am going to assume "power to" means "power wielded for the benefit of" or "power wielded to represent" and that "power over" means simply that; "power wielded to control".
My style of governance would use "power to" almost exclusively, especially in regards to the wishes and well-being of our members. "Power to" would certainly apply to my dealings with other branches of government, as I strongly believe in an independent Legislature and Judiciary. Though the Delegate may appoint Justices (who must, of course, be confirmed by the Senate), he should never wield power or influence over them. I see very little danger of this in the area of the Senate, however, as the Delegate has very little potential to abuse influence in that area.
The only time when I see myself using "power over" is to keep the executive branch in line and efficient.
You state that you would have to rely on formal diplomatic relations with allies...are Taijitu's diplomatic relations exclusive to Military allies? ( perhaps you weren't referring to militaristic allies). If so, how does Taijitu's neutrality effect or limit external affairs?
I do believe we have plenty of embassies exchanged with regions we don't practice with militarily, so no. Our neutrality limits our relations with some regions that refuse to associate with anyone who does not adhere to their particular invader/defender agenda. One example of this is Equilism, as Kor mentioned, who severed diplomatic ties with us after we engaged in a raid.
It does, however, have the advantage of failing to strike allies off the list that are either raider or defender, but do not mind neutral parties (so long as they do not adhere strictly to the opposing side's agenda). It also allows us to recruit members who would like to be a part of one type of military action or the other, but would shy away if we only did the one they didn't like.
What would you like to see (if anything) happening on Taijitu's Embassy Row?
The Ministry of External Afairs is one area in which I would like to see considerably more activity. I would like to have the MoEA issue at least monthly updates and would consider attempting bi-weekly ones, though that might not be entirely practical. Instead of this, perhaps we would just send out occasional "this important/fun/whatever thing happened" between-full-updates blurb, just to keep things interesting.
As Delegate might you award Bara with a spam king crown?
Absolutely; that boy deserves it! ^_^
What are your opinions regarding diplomacy both internally in Taijitu and externally? What approaches to other nations do you think encourage it? Is the respect for older resident nations any more desirable than towards newer nations?
I'm not sure what you mean by "appraoches", but if my interpretation is correct, I seek to approach diplomatic situations with firm but humble words. I think this encourages further diplomatic relations between regions, nations, members, etc., as it demonstrates both confidence, respect, and humanity.
As to the third question, my answer is no. Respect should be shown towards all people/members/whatever, regardless of their amount of time/effort spent in a region. This goes both ways, of course; I encourage new members to be respectful and polite with older members but also expect older members to do the same towards their newer brethren. Respect should be second nature to all reasonable people, though we all make mistakes in this area and should own up to them when that happens (myself most definitely included).
Apart from appointing hopefully active Ministers, or dismissing ole ineffectual ones, are there other ways you think administrative tasks could be improved in Taijitu?
I want to foster increased communication between admins, cabinet members, VDel, and Delegate. There should be regular IRC meetings comprised of all of the aforementioned as well as smaller groups to discuss particular tasks. Not everyone can get on IRC, of course, and certainly not at the same time, so frequent PM communication should be implemented and I would seek permission from everyone to send logs of meetings to those not able to attend.
Additional rhetoric that I forgot to ramble about last time:
I would heartily like to avoid some of the problems that came up during Taijitu's first (and thus far only) Supreme Court case. It took an extraordinary length of time to hammer down who would take on what responsibilities during the trial, and one step I would like to take to prevent another such occurrence is to appoint more Justices. I would not try to pack the Court just for the sake of doing so, of course; I would seek to appoint competent, reliable individuals so that we would be more likely to have the requisite 3 Justices available at all times.
Speaking of appointments, the thought has been floating around my brain that double-appointees are something to be avoided. I think I will try not to appoint any Justices that are also on my Cabinet, for example, if only to get more people involved.
Lastly, I promise to make myself available to people at all levels of Taijitu's society. Examples follow: If a new member wants help with the game or just wants to chat, I will happily be there for them no matter how "basic" their questions and will never brush them off as beneath my notice. If an established member wants to discuss their ideas for the government, even if they hold no positions and have zero official authority, I will listen and weigh their thoughts/concerns with the same sincerity as those of my own VDel or Cabinet.
Thanks for reading! More questions are welcome! :wb:
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Will you make me a real MoA or will my underground revolution have to stay underground. (Awesomekateers unite!)
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Twitchy Bara has said that you are his spam queen...if he accepted his nomination and won this delegate election, and he gave YOU a crown, would you marry him so we can all live happily ever after?
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I was nominated?
O_o
i really got to get out more
Posted on: January 23, 2008, 08:26:15 AM
and i accept the nomination...
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Will you make me a real MoA or will my underground revolution have to stay underground. (Awesomekateers unite!)
I will absolutely make the Minister of Awesome an official Cabinet position, and you will be my very first appointee. It is important to have someone around to advise me on matters of both excellency and, of course, awesomeness.
Twitchy Bara has said that you are his spam queen...if he accepted his nomination and won this delegate election, and he gave YOU a crown, would you marry him so we can all live happily ever after?
Why not? One can never marry too many men. Polyandry for the proverbial win!
I was nominated?
O_o
i really got to get out more
Honey, missing threads on a forum probably means you get out more often than the rest of us. I'd be proud of it, were I you. ^_-
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yey...i got a spam Queen...yey...
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Will you vainly try to stop the juggernaut that is the NationStates Apocalypse?
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Twitchy Bara has said that you are his spam queen...if he accepted his nomination and won this delegate election, and he gave YOU a crown, would you marry him so we can all live happily ever after?
Why not? One can never marry too many men. Polyandry for the proverbial win!
He's like 14.......................................
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13. not yet 14.
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That makes it even worse....................
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Will you vainly try to stop the juggernaut that is the NationStates Apocalypse?
If by "apocalypse" you mean "huge, raging party" and by "vainly" you mean "with make-overs", then yes... yes, I will. ;D
In all seriousness, now, I'll try my damnedest to keep our region alive and afloat, and to stimulate excitement in NationStates itself. I want this game to survive and will keep trying to make that happen for as long as such remains possible. Some say it's a vain attempt; I've heard many people predicting the doom of NS and of particular regions. I don't, however, believe that it is a foregone conclusion that we fold. I'll admit it will be extremely difficult to keep everything going given the way they look now, but I refuse to give up. A dreadful stubborn streak is lodged somewhere in my brain that won't let me abandon something I care about.
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You do know the guy is probably not going to do it, right?
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You do know the guy is probably not going to do it, right?
No, we realize that guy is an idiot and we're just having some fun with it.
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i see
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I'll address this to both Korinn and Allama:
Considering the current number of NS nations is 1/10th of what it was at its highest point, do you think the 69,000+ who are left are capable of sustaining the game? How might Taijitu be a leader in activities to keep things going?
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Jd, dudette, it's Al' and Kor.
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Interesting.
Nice speech, nice ideas.
I was kind of torn between Sovereign Dixie and your campaign, in the end I decided he had his chance and that you deserve yours.
You have my vote, please may it be vindicated.
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Jd, dudette, it's Al' and Kor.
Dude, no disrespect meant. Just asking a question.
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I'll address this to both Korinn and Allama:
Considering the current number of NS nations is 1/10th of what it was at its highest point, do you think the 69,000+ who are left are capable of sustaining the game? How might Taijitu be a leader in activities to keep things going?
I think the end is inevitable, but the remaining nations could atleast make it fun until it dies off completely. Although doubtful, maybe with enough work it could become popular again. I think if Taijitu can get it's military up and running we could keep that aspect going. I think we need more inter-regional stuff too. Fun stuff like art and poetry contests. Stuff like that. Anything to make more people get involved.
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ya got me.
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You have my vote, please may it be vindicated.
Is vindicated your word of the day? :P
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mines "Hi"
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You have my vote, please may it be vindicated.
Is vindicated your word of the day? :P
Heh, quite possibly.
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I'll address this to both Korinn and Allama:
Considering the current number of NS nations is 1/10th of what it was at its highest point, do you think the 69,000+ who are left are capable of sustaining the game? How might Taijitu be a leader in activities to keep things going?
I think the end is inevitable, but the remaining nations could atleast make it fun until it dies off completely. Although doubtful, maybe with enough work it could become popular again. I think if Taijitu can get it's military up and running we could keep that aspect going. I think we need more inter-regional stuff too. Fun stuff like art and poetry contests. Stuff like that. Anything to make more people get involved.
I was promised make-overs. And quite possibly inflatable jumpy castles.
*sits quietly and patiently*
Thanks for the response.
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First, good luck with your campaign, I'm happy to see you two running together.
What will your main priority be in case you win these elections?
Would you like to change something in Taijitu's policy towards the feederite regions in NS and if so what?
IMO Taijitu has been plagued lately also due to the fact that some have chosen the path of void criticism and blind enmity in order to make a name for themselves. For some, respect is just a word with no meaning. Do you agree and if so, will you tolerate such developments to continue?
and, last but not least:
What will be the official color of the government's clothes be, considering Korinn is known to be pink?
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and can i have free gummy worms?
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Hey, what would your cabinet be if you were elected?
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mahogany
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I'll address this to both Korinn and Allama:
Considering the current number of NS nations is 1/10th of what it was at its highest point, do you think the 69,000+ who are left are capable of sustaining the game? How might Taijitu be a leader in activities to keep things going?
I think the end is inevitable, but the remaining nations could atleast make it fun until it dies off completely. Although doubtful, maybe with enough work it could become popular again. I think if Taijitu can get it's military up and running we could keep that aspect going. I think we need more inter-regional stuff too. Fun stuff like art and poetry contests. Stuff like that. Anything to make more people get involved.
Kor made some wonderful points so, once again, I will simply add my thoughts to his: I think the decline of NS is inevitable, but that its death is not. If enough dedicated players remain, we may just salvage the entire game and continue to survive for years to come. Even if, God forbid, nationstates.net is shut down, I think some of those to whom this game has come to mean a lot would attempt to recreate the game elsewhere, move to another game, or (at the very least) keep up the off-site forums to keep their beloved communities alive.
Taijitu is, I believe, in a good position to kick up some fun and inspire other regions to do the same. One of the things I want to do is use our Embassies in other regions to get a little more inter-regional communication going, just like Kor said. We could really make a difference if we actually put some work and effort into it.
Also, as promised:
/me J Delight with make-up and hair dye.
Interesting.
Nice speech, nice ideas.
I was kind of torn between Sovereign Dixie and your campaign, in the end I decided he had his chance and that you deserve yours.
You have my vote, please may it be vindicated.
Thanks very much, Matt! That means a lot. :) SD is a great candidate, though, and was a wonderful Delegate, so I hope nobody lets me encourage them to not vote for him if that's what you decide.
First, good luck with your campaign, I'm happy to see you two running together.
What will your main priority be in case you win these elections?
Would you like to change something in Taijitu's policy towards the feederite regions in NS and if so what?
IMO Taijitu has been plagued lately also due to the fact that some have chosen the path of void criticism and blind enmity in order to make a name for themselves. For some, respect is just a word with no meaning. Do you agree and if so, will you tolerate such developments to continue?
and, last but not least:
What will be the official color of the government's clothes be, considering Korinn is known to be pink?
My main priority would be to revitalize the region; we cannot continue to (a) lose nations and (b) lose interest/activity in both NS and the forum if we are to survive, plain and simple. I think I've mentioned a few ways in which I'd like to do that, but feel free to ask about anything in particular you'd like to know. ^_^
What I would change as far as our relations with feeders is quite similar to what I'd like to change for our relations with other regions, though a bit more closely; I want to increase inter-regional communication, further both diplomatic and social ties, and open ourselves up a bit to military cooperation. One of the ways to rejuvenate our army is, in the views of many, to start playing with the big kids.
I don't agree that respect is a word with no meaning, absolutely not. I feel very strongly that people should show respect towards one another whenever possible, including those with whom they share very little in the way of opinions or positive feelings. As far as "tolerating" that sort of behavior goes, I support people's right to be rude and annoying under free speech but only until it crossed the line into harassment or some other such crime, at which point I would support legal action. I would, however, prefer that everyone just grow up and resolve their personal problems privately; constant suing and forum restrictions and blah blah blah etc. would be as much of a plague on our region as lack of respect.
As of now, I encourage everyone to try to be civil at the very least, especially towards people you don't like or those with whom you have a history of disagreements.
Oh, and the official color of Taijitu's government-issue uniforms will be purple, to be a fair, gender-neutral mix of feminine pink and masculine blue. ;) Enjoy!
and can i have free gummy worms?
Not only will every Citizen of Taijitu have 24-hour access to cost-free gummy/gummi worms, I will personally bake a batch of cookies for the break room every week. Polls will be set up to decide what kind on each Wednesday to end Thursday, and cookies shall be offered on Fridays. \o/
Hey, what would your cabinet be if you were elected?
To be honest, I have not decided 100% who I'll appoint and would rather not say until I know if those I am considering would be willing to do serve the region with me. ^_^ A good question, though!
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Excellent answers.
I would, however, prefer that everyone just grow up and resolve their personal problems privately; constant suing and forum restrictions and blah blah blah etc. would be as much of a plague on our region as lack of respect.
I'd rather have that too, but I doubt it will happen on its own. One derives from the other. I doubt that it is wise for you to ignore certain facts that still bear the seeds of chaos within.
Good luck with the rest of the campaign.
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and will you tell emp to stop trying to make me sell my soul to him?
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I would, however, prefer that everyone just grow up and resolve their personal problems privately; constant suing and forum restrictions and blah blah blah etc. would be as much of a plague on our region as lack of respect.
I'd rather have that too, but I doubt it will happen on its own. One derives from the other. I doubt that it is wise for you to ignore certain facts that still bear the seeds of chaos within.
Good luck with the rest of the campaign.
Don't worry, dear, I don't plan to do any ignoring; hope of private reconciliation is my desire, not my plan of action. I will actively encourage such a thing and offer to help members resolve their disputes if they want an impartial arbiter, but if that doesn't work or those involved reject informal problem-solving, I will not allow my optimism to stand in the way of the what is necessary to promote peace within Taijitu.
Thank you for your well wishes. :)
and will you tell emp to stop trying to make me sell my soul to him?
But... that's amusing. >:D
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and will you tell emp to stop trying to make me sell my soul to him?
But... that's amusing. >:D
O_O
im scared now....
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and will you tell emp to stop trying to make me sell my soul to him?
But... that's amusing. >:D
O_O
im scared now....
Run boy run!
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*sprints away*
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What do you think of the recent purge/mass ejections by Ivan? Good or bad for the game? As a player, what do you think of him and what he has done?
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I can't speak for Al', but for me personally I didn't know Ivan well. I think he was obviously a great player who had a huge impact on not just The Pacific and how it is run, but on NS as a whole. As to the Purge I think it was a fantastic idea. What a way to end an illustrious NS career. I don't see how much bad it could cause. Most of the people he ejected never did anything there. If anything it might spark those people to actually play the game. To Ivan say bravo. It cleaned up The Pacific and made him go out with a bang. Hail Ivan! :drunks:
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*Sprints back*
i think thats a joke
*soul gets eaten by Al*
yesssss.....
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Also, as promised:
/me J Delight with make-up and hair dye.
Well, I'll be danged. A politician who keeps her promises.
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Congrats. ^___^