[Special Report on the World Space Administration and the Actions of Bitely]A long time ago, in a galaxy far away (or July 18th, in the General Assembly), there came to pass a really dreadful resolution known as the
World Space Administration. This resolution was bad for all the regular reasons: Overly broad mandates, a hair away from a committee-only violation, and premature submission to the delegates for approval. These are all understandable mistakes, provided the author is accommodating, reasonable, and willing to learn.
The nation of Bitely was few of these things, if any. The author didn't even post the draft for review in the forums, pretty much Rule #0 when deciding to author a proposal. As you'll see, some Good Samaritan took the liberty of posting his proposal after Bitely had gone and submitted it. The majority of the posts in that 10-page thread are exclamations of horror at the draft, mild sarcasm about the skill of GA authors, and speculations about space travel and civilization.
In the meantime, Bitely took the liberty to send a telegram to
every single World Assembly nation in the game. That's about $20 worth of stamps, which you could have spent on
this 18x14 inch wall print of a baloney sandwich. Here's the text of the TG:
Spoiler
Greetings fellow WA Members!
I'm asking you to vote yes on the GA proposal currently at vote:
World Space Administration it is well create an administration to further research development and explorationof the cosmos.
Thank you for your support.
No, I didn't copy incorrectly, that's the full text. Arguably, the baloney sandwich and Bitely's mass telegram are equally wise things to spend $20 on. On the back of this incredibly strong argument, World Space Administration narrowly passed. For many in the General Assembly, this is the culmination of their worst fear: A terrible resolution that would surely cripple economies passes because of an equally-terrible telegram campaign. GA regulars have long ago accepted the fact that barely anyone actually reads the resolutions past the title (and many simply vote along the lines of their regional delegate or the current standing of the vote), but this fiasco of democracy has shown them the extent to which this "lemming" effect can be exploited to pass bad resolutions. Naturally, many prominent voices in the GA were outraged. Free samples:
Spoiler
Separatist Peoples wrote:
OOC: thank you, Bitely. Thank you for reducing a game I enjoy by proving successfully to the rest of the summer wannabes that playing the lemmings is more valuable as a tactic than the entire point of this part of the game.
The GA was designed to give players the opportunity to draft and debate legislation cooperatively before submitting it to the wider masses. You've now proven to 20,000 WA members that a core part of this game is totally meaningless. You've actively degraded the game you've participated in. This is not a victory by any means. This is a clear signal that the sort of dedication and time veteran players put into the GA is meaningless when compared to throwing cash at a problem.
It's a small wonder that we, the veteran players of the GA, retreat during summer and give up on passing anything valuable when lousy shit like your resolution makes it to vote without the opportunity for collaboration. For some, it's easier to just clean up the mess in the autumn when you go back to school. But for the few that don't, all I can say is well done. Well done, you've shit all over the point of this game.
Sobaira wrote:
OOC: As someone who's relatively new to actually doing things beyond answering issues, finding myself in agreement with SP here, Bitely. When I wanted a simulation game of politics to play with other people, I didn't mean I wanted one where politics didn't matter but cash did. That's a bit too real, and frankly disheartening. This resolution was bad. At best it hurts everyone it wants to help and at worst it hurts everyone in the WA in general. It's poorly thought out and executed, but that apparently doesn't matter. If it can't be quickly repealed then I'm probably going to just go back to only doing issues, because if this is something that somehow stays on the books then I don't see the point in even playing this part of the game.
Fortunately, I have faith in our ability to get rid of it. Let's just hope it's in a timely manner.
Caracasus wrote:
No way! This thing passed? Urgh - that's kinda depressing really, considering it was basically bought. I guess money can even corrupt fictional politics.
Tano wrote:
'Tis always nice to see fresh blood among the atrophying masses of the GAligarchy. Bitely has a fresh avant-garde style that I look forward to seeing more of.
This particular comment evoked some rage of its own!
Barely 2 weeks later, it was repealed by an unprecedented margin - over 10,000 votes FOR the repeal. But we kind of expected that, didn't we? The insta-repeal was seen as a relief to many, a reassurance that they still held some control over their precious General Assembly. But as things returned to normal, a storm was brewing in the Security Council. Implications about the importance of Condemnations, the difference between the two types of medals given, and who deserves what are still being debated as you read this, surely.
A draft proposal to condemn Bitely is currently on it's 4th draft at the time of this writing. You can find the
full text here. Routine drafting and bickering ensued, until this tidbit of wisdom from The LBP Union:
This is incredibly childish. A guy passes proposals that the World Assembly VOTES INTO POWER and then now you decide to try and Condemn him? I think we should be talking about a REPEAL not a Condemnation. Strongly opposed. And let's not forget the 4c violation...
This is infringing on political freedom and actually is borderline bullying. The descriptions of this proposal are almost outright slanderous, just describing the nominee's proposals as "awful" without any bit of constructive criticism. We should be helping people like this formulate their ideas better by ENCOURAGING them to use this forum to post drafts, not Condemning them and telling them they have no chance at all.
There ended up being no rule violation, but the point remains - Can we blame Bitely for exploiting a lemming effect we all knew existed - while he was
innocently ignorant of it? But, at the same time, Bitely has an obligation to abide by specific practices and rules when using the World Assembly. This is the center of the debate: Who is to blame for this? Bitely, a new player who accidentally used every illegitimate tool at his disposal to get his draft passed, or the huddled masses of the WA, who we know are about as free-thinking as a pubic hair.
There's another layer to this
onion conundrum that I touched on earlier. The draft thread for Condemn Bitely is an incredibly interesting read, and I could write a lengthy analysis on many of the arguments within it. However, I'm going to leave you with just a few quotes that I think capture the essence of the debate. I hope they stir your interest in this topic, and I'm eager to see what Wintreath has to say about all of this. These are important questions that could rock the Security Council if they aren't resolved. Thank you for reading, and I hope we can all learn something from the World Space Administration.
-PB
-Thane of WA Affairs
