View Topic

On your way through the backstage of a huge stadium to hold a speech, a can of smoke goes off and you are pulled aside and rushed out of the building. You are seated in a cramped car between two men in black. You drive off and they point a dirty sock with something inside at you:

So you wish to join the government, eh? We ask, you answer, and your answers better be good. Who are you working for? Who's funding your campaign? (Read: Please clarify your affiliations with other regions, namely in governance.)

The car pulls to the curb, you are taken in to a generic concrete building and seated in a small room with a desk. A lamp with bright Soviet era light bulb is directed at your face and you immediately start to sweat due to its heat.

Now riddle me this, silver tongue, and no jokes this time!  A starved homeless man steals a sweet roll from your grandmother, tripping her and causing her to break her hip. Who's side are you on? (Read: In your opinion, is it more important to seek out the consensus of the public and serve their interest regardless of your own, or stand by/rely on your own views?)

One of the interrogators push you in your chair causing it to give away. You are taken into a room with another chair, a bucket of water and a cloth. You are pushed to the floor with an ominous burst of laugh.

You think you're so great, but I bet you didn't even know we exist! We are everywhere, we control your bank, we price your insurance, we even wipe your windshield in the morning rush and charge you for that. You can't hide from us! (Read: In the light of recent events in the region, do you feel that changes are in order to protect the community in the future, or should life continue unchanged? Opting out from answering this is perfectly fine.)

Your hands are freed and you are told to scrub the chair. Men leave and you never see them again. You leave the building after an hour of silence, leaving behind a shiny chair. One week later you receive a telegram that only says: "We thank you for your co-operation." Nothing tasted right that afternoon.

other video

1. I'm the chancellor of New Hyperion. I've used my status in this region and New Hyperion to the benefit of both.

2. Ultimately, we are servants of the people, and as such, we should inevitably bow down to their will. BUT! I am still my own person, and I will stick to my guns when I disagree with something. My opinion might just sway people in a different direction, and it is important that democracy doesn't become a mob, merrily crushing dissenting voices on its way to the door. We should be united in our division, and accept that sometimes we're just not going to agree with each other. That doesn't have to be a bad thing. That's our natural state as humans.

3. Without specific reference to these events, I can only guess what you're referring to. I'd say what makes our region unique is our friendliness and openness, and I will oppose any attempt to make us more secure if such an attempt violates those unique qualities. After all, if you're referring to what I think you're referring to, we dealt with it swiftly and effectively, did we not? It was a severely unfortunate event, but it could have happened anywhere, no matter what security measures we had. That said, I'm open to making us more secure as long as it doesn't destroy what makes us unique.

1)- I've been in Wintreath from five minutes after the original founding of my NS nation, and I've never seen anything in the community that would make me reconsider my membership of this region or decide that another region would suit me better. I pretty much intend to be here for as long as Wintreath exists, activity lapses aside, and as such serve no role in any other region.

2)- I'm gonna have to echo Laurentus' statement on this one just a little bit. We ultimately serve those who voted us into power as their representatives, and it's important for us not to disrespect and abuse that trust. I like to think that I have my finger on the metaphorical pulse of the region - certainly not all of the region, but enough that I feel confident in saying I'd be aware of the fickle nature of public opinion (haha). In regards to how my own wishes would come across in how I represent our citizenry? Only so far as I think it necessary to protect the regional interest above the interest of its citizenry.

That isn't to say, however, that I won't put forward my own ideas and agendas for consideration - I have a lot of areas I'd hope to be working with in what might be the last full term of the Underhusen, and I'm not afraid to push on issues that I feel are important. For the most part, I believe the interests I'd be pushing for would often if not always match up with the desires of the people.

Effectively, competent leadership comes down to understanding and sympathising with the concerns of those you serve without compromising the ideals which got you elected in the first place.

3)- I'm only tangentially aware of the events you're referring to but I think the matter was rectified with all due haste and the region itself carries on as if not stronger than before. Wintreath is a special place not only because of the efforts we go to in the legislature, nor the efforts Mootles (great as they are) goes to in making our forum as beautiful as possible. What makes us special is our community and the people who make it up; a more varied and wild bunch of reprobates you couldn't find anywhere else. We're something different from many other regions I've known of, and that difference sets us apart.

I understand the concerns raised in reference to recent events, but in my opinion there are already ideas in the works for preventing this sort of - and here I stress - rare occurrence. With the impending formation of our new Open Storting, I've already put forward the suggestion of a unified code of conduct to be tied in with its estabishment, and I've plans in the works for a minor overhaul of the Code of Criminal Laws Act to ensure that, whilst not restricting our members any further, should prevent anything like this happening again. If all goes well, our citizenry will barely notice any change.

Hell, as things are, it won't be long before our citizens are legislating on these matters themselves. For all that I'm willing to represent the wishes and desires of my fellow Wintreans, I don't think it should be forgotten that we've plans to move to an Open Storting system once it's codified, voted on and ratified. My primary concern, therefore, will almost undoubtedly be ensuring that the transition and establishment of our new system of governance is a smooth one that clicks into place with minimal fuss, allowing true representation of the people and accountability to your fellow friends, citizens and region members.

So you wish to join the government, eh? We ask, you answer, and your answers better be good. Who are you working for? Who's funding your campaign? (Read: Please clarify your affiliations with other regions, namely in governance.)

Warzone Sandbox - Governor/WA Delegate
I may also hold Citizenship in the RIA, Spiritus, and the GRA but I have let some nations CtE so I may no longer be a citizen of those regions. All my other positions are also ambassador positions

Now riddle me this, silver tongue, and no jokes this time!  A starved homeless man steals a sweet roll from your grandmother, tripping her and causing her to break her hip. Who's side are you on? (Read: In your opinion, is it more important to seek out the consensus of the public and serve their interest regardless of your own, or stand by/rely on your own views?)

Personally I think a bit of both for this position.

You think you're so great, but I bet you didn't even know we exist! We are everywhere, we control your bank, we price your insurance, we even wipe your windshield in the morning rush and charge you for that. You can't hide from us! (Read: In the light of recent events in the region, do you feel that changes are in order to protect the community in the future, or should life continue unchanged? Opting out from answering this is perfectly fine.)

I personally have mixed thoughts on this and I don't think I can accurately go into my thoughts at this time.

1.  What sort of time do you think I have?  Seriously, I have no other active nations and Wintreath is the only region I associate with.

2.  I'm not going to let any mangy cretin get away with my nan's sweetroll.  But I'm also not going to let the poor thing wallow in his hunger.  Show him where the shelter is, give him some cash so he can get his own damn sweetroll, or invite him for dinner that night.  I hope you understand where I'm going with your metaphor. 

The nature of representative democracy means the candidate whose views align the best with the majority (and sometimes the one with the flashiest ads) will have the greatest support.  So to specifically answer the question, doing one is usually doing the other.  I believe I have good ideas that will make Wintreath a better place, and I think some of my colleague's ideas won't be effective.  We settle these differences through conversation and compromise, and perhaps one of our views change or our plans are made better and more satisfying overall. 

I'm not one to back down from my views, especially if I don't see the merits in another argument, just because it's the popular sentiment to think the other way.  I'm not opposed to discussion, debate, and dialogue by any means.  I mean, my first involvement with Nationstates was in the World Assembly.  I use what I learned there to engage in meaningful, nonconfrontational discussion about issues (usually by doing exactly the opposite of what I observed).

3.  I believe we have an adequate system for handling the type of incident to which you're referring.  Adequate.  I posted in the Citizens' Platform and talked with Weiss a bit about how to improve it, but for the most part I don't see how the incident could have been handled any better.  To answer the question, I believe that minor changes that support the existing system would be welcome, but I don't advocate any sort of drastic action.