Campaign - Myroria for Delegate, I-S for Vice Delegate

[Salty]

You could have any historical figures, Taijitu citizens, or any other player in the realm of NS in your cabinet. Who would be where?

[Zimmerwald]

Wouldn't it be weird if I voted for you? [I assume this is a token of "I agree with you and I will vote for you if you continue to please me", but correct me if I'm wrong.]

It was a commentary on how different our political positions ostensibly are, and yet you've proposed at least one program I agree with (the placing of #taijitu under the supervision of the government).  It was not a general endorsement, nor is it an endorsement of your running mate's wrong-headed (from my point of view) views on government or his attacks on the personal integrity of the Justices.

[Myroria]

I apologize for the misunderstanding.

Gnoled Ttam - Let me get back to you on that after I think for a bit.

[Sovereign Dixie]

 I have known both of you for a long time, and count both of you as friends. I wholeheartedly support this campaign not on that basis however, and really not on the basis of your platform, though I definitely am in favour of the underlying ideals and goals.

 Being a leader is about more than answering questions, it's about more than policy and making intelligent sounding speeches, it's about the character of those involved and the way their mind works. The only other cadidates I'd give two shits about as Delegate would be TGR and Korinn but my reasons for not giving them my primary vote will remain only my own. You guys have what It takes, I feel. You both have balls and you're not afraid to shake things up, and that's what we need right now. You have my support and my best wishes friends. May you taste victory!

[Myroria]

Gnoled Ttam:

MoF - Ronald Reagan, he brought down communism. Wiping out an entire economic theory gets you some cred.

MoD - Chuck Norris. Do I need a reason?

MoIA - WelshCorgi, he did it just fine for months back in Lex.

MoEA - Napoleon.

MoC - Florence Nightinggale. I could imagine she'd be a nice lady.

[Tacolicious]

MoD - Chuck Norris. Do I need a reason?

Exactly how tough is Chuck Norris?

[Myroria]

He's tougher than tough. He's the toughest man ever to walk this Earth. They tried to put him on Mount Rushmore, but, as they say, "The granite wasn't hard enough for his beard".

[Osamafune]

It'd be nice to have an active delegate around here... I never remember seeing pod, sd, or flem around much at all. It makes me wonder why the hell they decided to run in the first place...

But anyway, here we go.

My:

Are you saying you want to eliminate the senate? If no, wouldn't that be what allowing everyone to vote would do?

What's so hard about remembering to vote?

Wouldn't treating Taijitu as just a community only quicken NS's decline? Perhaps that's part of the problem right there?

Would you care to amuse me by stating your position on raiding/defending, even though I think I have a fairly good guess of what your stance is?


I-S:
Please explain how you would... "fix" the Senate to keep Taijitu from being an oligarchy, assuming you believe it can be "fixed."

How will you or My change anything becoming delegate and vice delegate? If few individuals in the senate controls everything as you say, what's keeping them from shooting down anything you two try to do like they did when you were a senator?

[Prydania]

Now it's all well and good to say that Tai and everything else here is useless, but you could have also tried finding a use for it as MoF. Be it in making new games instead of just continuing the lottery your predecessor thought up, in making new services which require Tai (specialty title tags, new pay use emoticons, etc etc). You've gone on the assumption that because it's useless now it's useless forever and as such you've done nothing to try and improve it.

Soly's lotto would have been continued, regardless of who took over the MoF. So the lotto was his contribution to the Bank and MoF. The visual representations of the tai are mine. Again, this is all a game. My "useless" pictures of tai are just as useless or real as this election or the Senate.
Speciality member titles? We already get free member titles plus a marker for our status within the region. So...
1) where would these special member titles go, as the area reserved for things like that is already crowded?
2) what would they say? "Haha, I have more tai then you?" "Hey, look what I bought?" Come on.

new pay use emoticons?
Good idea, but in reality it would wreck havoc on the way the way the forum functions.

Again, you're not all that and a bag of chips. You aren't the first guy to think up this stuff.
Fact is, even within a virtual society like Taijitu, money will soon become worthless. We don't need to buy food, water, electricity, pay rent, etc.... By being completely virtual money's worthlessness soon becomes a reality.
I would question if tai, the MoF, and a Bank are even necessary.
Yet I was given the position of MoF, so I did the best I could. I continued the lotto, which at least did something with the currency, and I decided to use my skills in various computer arts programs to give the tai a visual representation, so at least people would become a little bit familiar with the currency.

In answer to your question of:

In fact, I'm carious as to why anyone would join NS without at least planning on taking part in some RP. Do you even have a NS nation? If not, why the heck are you here?

Yes I do have a NS nation, it's linked in my signature.

And I do take part in some form of RP. I guess I just do it a little too well for some to see.

Your arrogance knows no limits does it?
"I guess I just do it a little too well for some to see"? Get over yourself.
You're using a separate account for RP. No worries, that stuff isn't frowned upon here, I've got one two, I control the DSA as well as I-S.
I've opened up and shared, it's your turn.

Please explain how you would... "fix" the Senate to keep Taijitu from being an oligarchy, assuming you believe it can be "fixed."

By giving the Delegate the power to veto any piece of Senate legislation, which the Senate can overturn with a 65%+ vote. This would force compromise between both branches of government, eliminating the possibility of any one branch dominating Taijituan politics.

How will you or My change anything becoming delegate and vice delegate? If few individuals in the senate controls everything as you say, what's keeping them from shooting down anything you two try to do like they did when you were a senator?

By appealing to those Senators not included in the clique that runs the Senate, as well as those citizens that currently have no say in the Senate. By building support from the ground up the leaders in the Senate would at least be forced to compromise.

[Allama]

Thank you for clarifying your position on the MoC from your original post, Myro.  It allayed a few of my concerns on that point. 

You want proof of support?

I find your campaigning for the rights of Citizens to be highly admirable and I simply wanted to let you know that before I started grilling you.

And it can be assumed all that vote for me either agree with me or find me the lesser of evils.

For the record, I simply wanted you to know I think you honestly believe you'd be doing the right thing with all of this and I find that quality admirable; I apologize if I mistakenly seemed to be adding my tacit support to your platform, of which I mostly disapprove.  This being said, I ask that you do not use my words as support in the future.  No worries, of course; the intent of my statement was, in hindsight, very unclear.

No one's rights were violated.
Citizens take an oath of allegiance to Taijitu. They are therefore required to serve in the military if the region's interests demand it.

I strongly believe Citizens owe nothing of the sort to the government of Taijitu, not in their Oath of Citizenship nor in their consciences.  NationStates is a game, as you are so sure to remind us, and no one should be forced to play in a manner they do not desire.

Also, your highly confrontational attitude during this campaign is quite... unfortunate.  If you feel someone is being rude to you, the best recourse is not to retaliate with insults and anger.  I respect Myro in this election, no matter how much we disagree on, but you are behaving in a way that is very nearly shocking.  In this thread and the Press Conference you have consistently responded to debate points (whether couched in pleasant language or not) in a very defensive, self-righteous, and accusatory manner.

Please note that I am not attempting to engender negativity between us; I simply felt the need to express my opinion.

[Prydania]

No one's rights were violated.
Citizens take an oath of allegiance to Taijitu. They are therefore required to serve in the military if the region's interests demand it.

I strongly believe Citizens owe nothing of the sort to the government of Taijitu, not in their Oath of Citizenship nor in their consciences.  NationStates is a game, as you are so sure to remind us, and no one should be forced to play in a manner they do not desire.

Also, your highly confrontational attitude during this campaign is quite... unfortunate.  If you feel someone is being rude to you, the best recourse is not to retaliate with insults and anger.  I respect Myro in this election, no matter how much we disagree on, but you are behaving in a way that is very nearly shocking.  In this thread and the Press Conference you have consistently responded to debate points (whether couched in pleasant language or not) in a very defensive, self-righteous, and accusatory manner.

Please note that I am not attempting to engender negativity between us; I simply felt the need to express my opinion.

You're right, it is a game. And if everyone here took that truth to heart more often, then in reality the RR affair was wrong.
Yet if were all going to delude ourselves into thinking Taijitu is really a beacon of enlightenment and freedom, as Taco seems to, then you have to look at things quite differently.
If that's the case, then citizens have every obligation to act in any way that they can to save or help the region. If that's the case then the RR affair was legal.

You can't take this game overly serious, calling people who suggest change tyrants and enemies of freedom, and then fall back and say "it's just a game!" when it isn't going the way you want it to go.

If you wish to snub out negative behaviour, perhaps you should look to Taco who started all of this.
The whole "it's all just a game" thing started when he criticized my work with the tai, calling my visual representations useless. My point was, in this world of Taijitu, they're just as useless or real as the Senate, its decisions or this election.

Furthermore, all of this negativity began with Taco, who's aim wasn't to bring about intelligent discussion of my ticket's platform, but rather to humiliate me, mocking our platform even before I could defend it.
Have I been harsh regarding Taco? Yes, but I do not apologize for it.
If you want to return all of this to a state of pleasantness, please look at your friend before you come to me.

[Myroria]

Yes. I was responding to Taco when he said "Name some people who agree with your goal of allowing everyone to vote", paraphrased. I never said all those people had my support. But nevertheless, I realize what you mean now.

Are you saying you want to eliminate the senate? If no, wouldn't that be what allowing everyone to vote would do?

The Senate would not be eliminated; I would still think that the Senate should be the single body that brings things up for a vote. But I think that said issues should allow everyone to vote on. In addition, the Senate would remain the only body that could move for a delegate's impeachment; otherwise anyone who doesn't like the delegate could start a messy court case.

What's so hard about remembering to vote?

There's nothing hard about it; I don't think joining the Senate is hard. It's just that:

1. If the Senate remained as strong as it is now, it needs to be liberalized. Two weeks of answering questions like "Do you like black-and-white cookies" and "Name the capital of Burkina Faso" are useless.

2. It's the principle of having to join an organization to vote. The CPT in general believes that one shouldn't be forced to do anything - there are differences to this rule, of course. I-S believes the citizens could be used against their will to invade a region since they took an oath of allegience, and I believe exactly the opposite. But, for this case, the CPT unanimously supports - to the best of my knowledge - more citizen's rights to vote.

3.

Wouldn't treating Taijitu as just a community only quicken NS's decline? Perhaps that's part of the problem right there?

Taijitu shouldn't be JUST a community. My stance is, however, that the community is more important than a number in NS. I never plan to disassociate Taijitu with NationStates, that happened with the Lex, and look at them now. But, how many people we have in our region shouldn't take a front seat to citizen's rights.

4.

Would you care to amuse me by stating your position on raiding/defending, even though I think I have a fairly good guess of what your stance is?

I consider myself adamantly anti-raider. I think it is stealing one's region. However, I also find the vast majority of defenders to be imperial, who just plant themselves in a region instead of freeing it. I will not, however, have my pro-defender views take over my politics. I don't plan to turn the military into a defensive force, nor do I plan to have defenders run the government. In fact, I have several raiders lined up for my hypothetical cabinet.

[Osamafune]

Quote from: Osamafune
Please explain how you would... "fix" the Senate to keep Taijitu from being an oligarchy, assuming you believe it can be "fixed."

By giving the Delegate the power to veto any piece of Senate legislation, which the Senate can overturn with a 65%+ vote. This would force compromise between both branches of government, eliminating the possibility of any one branch dominating Taijituan politics.

I fully agree, the executive should have some sort of check on the ledislature. What you said sounds good to me...

But  have to ask...

Why are you being so confrontational? Taco's attitude shouldn't provoke you to act in this confrontational way.

You failed to stand beside your beliefs and your position when you quit the Senate. Why should we believe you won't do it again?

Quote
What's so hard about remembering to vote?

There's nothing hard about it; I don't think joining the Senate is hard. It's just that:

1. If the Senate remained as strong as it is now, it needs to be liberalized. Two weeks of answering questions like "Do you like black-and-white cookies" and "Name the capital of Burkina Faso" are useless.

2. It's the principle of having to join an organization to vote. The CPT in general believes that one shouldn't be forced to do anything - there are differences to this rule, of course. I-S believes the citizens could be used against their will to invade a region since they took an oath of allegience, and I believe exactly the opposite. But, for this case, the CPT unanimously supports - to the best of my knowledge - more citizen's rights to vote.

Anyone can join the senate. If you want to vote, you can join the senate. Voting is easy, just log on occasionally, check the forum, and vote. Sure there's a ton of retarded questions that I wish people would just stop asking like Algerian's "Soly? Yes or no?" question, but there's a lot of meaningful ones in there too.

Anyway, I don't know why you want to change to law to try and add a something that's already there. Anyone who wants to vote on or propose a bill already can.

[Zimmerwald]

Funny, I never thought of you as an anti-Raider/Defender-by-default.  This is interesting.

*note, this is a noncommittal comment designed to conceal my own biases.*

[Prydania]

Quote from: Osamafune
Please explain how you would... "fix" the Senate to keep Taijitu from being an oligarchy, assuming you believe it can be "fixed."

By giving the Delegate the power to veto any piece of Senate legislation, which the Senate can overturn with a 65%+ vote. This would force compromise between both branches of government, eliminating the possibility of any one branch dominating Taijituan politics.

I fully agree, the executive should have some sort of check on the ledislature. What you said sounds good to me...

Good to know there's some sanity out there.

But  have to ask...

Understandable.

Why are you being so confrontational? Taco's attitude shouldn't provoke you to act in this confrontational way.

Taco's attitude is that of an arrogance and a superiority complex. He thinks his way of looking at the world is the only legit view, and all others are either brainwashed or idiots. I have a general dislike for people so full of themselves, people who think they're that high and mighty. Having dealt with Taco before, this election only fuelled my dislike for him. He didn't make it any better by attempting to humiliate and degrade me rather then honestly discuss the issues at hand.

You failed to stand beside your beliefs and your position when you quit the Senate. Why should we believe you won't do it again?

Simple, popular will. This is the first ticket that's expressed a desire to introduce a true system of responsible government, a true system of checks and balances. So it would seem that should this ticket be elected, that these points would constitute the will of the electorate.
That's more then enough leverage to force the will of the senate, who claims to be the true arm of popular will.

Also, when your a minority in the Senate, the dog pile piles on rather quickly. So why should I have stayed, making long passionate posts? Why, when the majority would disregard them without finishing them?
As VD I would be in a better position to uphold my platform.