Flemingovia's Campaign thread

[Flemingovia]

I am one of the longest-standing and most active members of Taijitu, and one of the first to join the region other than from the Lexicon. I have already got experience as delegate, but this is the first time I have stood for election here, rather than inheriting another’s mandate. So here is why I am standing, and what I am standing for:


Growth.

I have been hugely alarmed over the past three months at the downturn of Taijitu’s fortunes. Our population is approaching a third of its height; recruitment has stalled; forum activity is down; irc activity is down. Some of this is down to the general downturn in Nationstates. But some of it is particular to Taijitu.

As delegate I cannot promise to reverse the slide. Nobody can, because changing this landscape will be a team effort. I can promise to do everything I can to encourage change and growth.

I already have some ideas:

• Creating special delegate awards in the form of special flags, images and avatars to reward forum activity, recruitment etc.
• Seeking to work with Elu  and Limi to open up Toaster to more recruiters, and get the recruiting queue down again (including giving some time myself to recruiting. I have been as slack as anyone else).
• Making sure that nations won to the region are also won to the community, encouraging newcomers to visit the forum and irc and generally to get involved.

Integration.

I have been worried about how fractures  seem to be appearing in Taijitu’s community. Personal animosities and agendas seem to be coming to the fore. Some of this appears to be a certain tension between older nations who expect (and perhaps deserve) respect and a new generation of Taijituans who want want (and perhaps deserve) a place at the table.

I cannot change attitudes, and I cannot stop people, sometimes, acting like asshats. What I can promise is that, if elected, I would be the delegate of ALL Taijituans, not just those who vote for me, and not just one faction in the region. I will try to be fair, and take all factors and opinions into account before acting as delegate.

I originally joined Taijitu to build bridges between old enemies. I hope that I have done that in the past, and that same spirit would be a feature of my delegacy.

Neutrality

This will be the most controversial part of my platform. Taijitu was founded on Neutrality, respect and courage. And those principles have served us well for a year or more. However, Nationstates is changing. Conflict is going to increase, and future activity in the game will be largely focussed on that military conflict.

In the past we could say that we were both raider and defender. But in practice that has led to an inactive military that has lacked focus. As things stand, we are in danger of being sidelined in Nationstates.

I believe the time has come to decide a path, and pursue it. As your delegate I will open up a debate as to what that path should be. As a candidate for delegate, I want to say clearly that I would be arguing that we should move in a defender direction. It is an argument I am prepared to engage in, and prepared to win or lose. If I lose the argument, I will not block the direction of the region in any way.

Even if we do not pick and ideology to follow, there will still be major conflicts during the next delegate term. I have already been party to the discussions that have led to this political climate. I believe I am well placed to lead Taijitu through these conflicts.

The Chinese have a blessing/curse “May you live in interesting times.” I believe the next delegate will live in interesting times, and that this will be a key period for Taijitu. Will we decline into mediocrity, or regain our position as one of the largest and most active regions in Nationstates? Will we be an irrelevance on the world stage, or will we be a world power? What will we stand for in the coming upheaval?

I am asking for your support in the coming election, and will answer your questions as honestly as I can. Whoever you decide to vote for, use your vote well.

Long Live Taijitu. Long may she prosper.

Question away!

[PoD Gunner]

Good luck with your campaign. I have a few questions:

1) I agree with your statement in the third point of your speech: time has come for us to choose a path and do our best to follow it meticulously and with talent. Will you be able to head an invader region, should the public debate you talk about decide it? The last time that an audacious although questionable decision has drawn all eyes on Taijitu, you have chosen to be ashamed of the region instead of embracing the path that the action in cause might have opened. Will you be proud of it now?

2) You speak about integration and you identify a generations conflict. Again, I concur. My question is: have you done anything in your former term as delegate to influence those patterns in a positive way? If you haven't, can you identify some course of action or strategy that would manage to accomplish that?

3)

Making sure that nations won to the region are also won to the community, encouraging newcomers to visit the forum and irc and generally to get involved.

Please detail for us how you are planning to do that.

Thank you and again, good luck.

[Flemingovia]

Good questions. I will answer them as honestly as I can.

1. I have thought long and hard about this, and I see no reason why people across the spectrum cannot be involved in the region, even if we choose militarily to follow a particular path. If (God forbid) the region decided to have a pure raider military, then I feel I could remain delegate of the region. However, for reasons of personal integrity I will not myself engage in that aspect of the regions life. I have to say that, in all honesty, no - I probably would not be proud of the actions of a Taijitu invader army. But I would respect the decision of the community to go down that path.

2. I did not identify integration as an issue during my last term, so I did not take conscious steps to counter the problem. In my coming term I would make it a priority to listen to all, and be fair to all. That does not mean that I would sit on the fence. It just means that I would not knee-jerk dismiss or oppose anyone.

I would also be looking to give new blood an opportunity to serve the region when I made ministerial appointments etc. I feel that in the current climate some of our ministers have not been as active as I would like. I would rather have as a minister an active newcomer than an original settler who was acting as a placeholder.

3. I would use the obvious tactics: Posting on the WFE and RMB, and talking to nations. I would also sponsor occasional fun events on the forum to entice newcomers to visit. But ultimately this is a responsibility of us all. New people need to feel welcomed and affirmed. If they do not, they will not stay, whatever the delegate does.

[B9 perspective]

Apart from appointing Ministers that you hope/ would like to believe/ will be active in the forum and NS participation, as well as an inspiration to newly arriving nations; can you describe how as Delegate you might perceive the particular roles of the various Ministers? What would you like for their responsibilities to encompass, and in what ways might Ministerial activity/ attention be increased? What would be your criteria as a Delegate be for dismissing or replacing a Minister?
If you were to offer a brief discourse on what leadership entails as distinguished from governing, what qualities do you believe lend themselves to greater inspiration and diplomacy?
How might your membership in the Taijitu apathy party reflect any eventual leadership style of your own?
What is your opinion on McCarthyism?

[Of Crazed]

I agree with your stance on the military.  I feel neutrals means we do what the hell we want and in essence remove ourselves from the raider/defender problems.  Not what seems to be happening, not wanting to break neutrality.

My question is where do think we start?  I think warzones is a good place to start, but where do we go from there.

Do you think there would be a conflict between you and the army if say they did start to raid, and you would not support them?  As a regional leader I hope you would at least protect the region/army's name in public, even if behind closed walls you disagree. (Just want a general comment on this)

[Gulliver]

Another endorsement regarding neutrality and all that. As OC says, neutrality was never meant, as I see it, to mean that we do nothing, simply that we ought to have the freedom to do as we please without placing ourselves in the thrall of either the Raiders or the Defenders. The present use of the term to mean inaction is a terrible corruption.

[Flemingovia]

Thank you for your patience over my birthday period.

To answer your issues:

I Would not "hope" ministers would be active. I would insist upon it. People who want to be minister should see it as a job, not an honour. If a minister is inactive, I would warn them about it. If they did not shape up, I would replace them. Simple.

Leadership is about inspiration as much as it is about effort. The best leaders in NS have not been those who have worked hardest, but those who inspired most.

The Apathy party was, in case anyone did not notice, a subtle attempt to spur people into activity. Also it was just something that amused me.

in theory neutral means "we do what we want when we want." In practice it has largely meant that we do nothing. I would prefer that we chose a military course, and pursued it. Personally, I would prefer that it was defender. I think at the moment in NS that gives us the most opportunity for prominence and imaginative game play.

If I was delegate and the region chose to pursue a raider path, I would see no problem with that. I have been delegate of Tiajitu before, and most people in the wider NS world consider Taijitu to be a de facto raider region anyway. While I would not actively support a raider army, as delegate I would not oppose it either.

Anyone who knows me well will know that more than anything I believe in regional self determination (that is actually WHY I oppose raiding). I would accept the decision of the region on a course for the military, and it would pursue that course with my blessing, if not my support.

We are entering into a period of vast conflict in NS, which will shape the game for the coming months. Where we "start" depends on which path we choose. I do not see the warzones as being anything more than a diversion and a training ground. The real battles will be fought in the feeders and in the founderless regions.