The Meritocratic Times, Issue #1

[frattastan]

Courtesy of Winnipeg.
Original source: http://merit.nosync.org/merit_times_no1.html / Est. 14 Aug 2004
As posted in the Naivetry Reference Library.

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The Meritocratic Times, Issue #1

Aedile and Editor: Sarda
Contributing Writers: Soigacas & Free4All

First off, I would like to thank all of the people that helped make all this possible. Primarily Soigacas for getting the highlight of our first ediction, secondarily Free4All for helping us conduct a no less interesting interview himself, and thirdly my source in the New Pacific Order for revealing some of the more intimate details of their plans.

There are of course others that helped make the News & Opinion Agency the viable entity it is today, and I hope they wont take offense at my lack of specific mentions.

Secondly, I want to ask everyone that can to contribute whatever they can. If you've felt the motivation to interview another nation you work with, we'll publish the result. If you'd like your opinions heard, we'll publish them. Please everyone keep this in mind, we're on the look out for anything of quality and substance... or just something that speaks to our hearts!

Thank you all again, and I hope you enjoy my first story here, and the two interviews we had the priviledge of procuring for our first issue:

NPO Considers Democratic Governor System

The Unlimited Delegacy having been secured in the Pacific, the NPO's remaining Senators set their sights on extensives reforms within their government, and among their priorities was a revamped and revitalized governor system.

Among early plans for the governor system were individualized boards, small sub-governments within each governor's province, and even a Governor's Council to be chaired by a new Senator. It has been brought to my attention through an anonymous source in the Senate, that a decision is being neared, and that decision will likely favor an unheard of system within the NPO government.

Right now, the Senate at large is leaning towards adopting a democratic governor system. In addition to a democratically elected Governor, the people's choice for the position will potentially appoint his own Provincial Cabinet, made up of local nations filling critical duties in the Pacific's region sized provinces. How ever this democracy will be applied, whether through provincially restricted votes or a Senate/Governor vote on who to accept for each position, it means a radical change in the direction of the NPO.

During the time of the NPO's government in the Pacific, there has never been an elected government, which has brought stability and the unfortunate malice of many other organizations to the Pacific. Perhaps this change in direction for the Pacific's localized government will promote higher activity, greater general support, or maybe the long-fought for stability of the Pacific will be sacrificed. Right now no one can say for certain what such a decision could entail, but we can all expect numerous and sweeping changesin the NPO in the days to come.

Interview with Max Barry


The following is an interview conducted by our own Soigacas with Max Barry. You can see his personal questions, along with numerous more contributed by myself and others. Please enjoy, and direct any comments here or specifically to Soigacas.

The Meritocratic Times has had the rare oppurtunity to speak with Max Barry; writer, Australian and creator of NationStates. In this exclusive interview, he talks about NS2, his shoe size and why Francos Spain stands out in his mind. The questions were all submitted by Meritocratic Senators.

Meritocratic Times: Why was the Meritocracy form of government not included in the original game? (Soigacas)

Max Barry: Because as I understand it a meritocracy doesn't map very well to a particular point on our three-axis freedom grid. Basically what I did was come up with the grid first and then think of labels for them. A meritocracy I guess is reasonably libertarian, but then depending on the particulars of how it's implemented, it could have a lot of freedom in some areas or be restrictive. For example, do you outlaw private funding of campaigns to ensure that political candidates compete on their merit and are not helped or hindered by how rich their backers happen to be? Or do you assume that people are wealthy because they are economically meritorious, and thus there should be no campaign finance restrictions? I think it would be difficult to pick a point and say, "Okay, if your country has this combination of political, economic, and personal freedom, it's a meritocracy."

There are quite a few government/society types like this that are pretty cool but don't fit into a particular slot on the freedom scale -- theocracy, matriarchy, technocracy, etc.

MT: How would you like to improve NS, in a way that is currently impossible?(Soigacas)

MB: Well, the most basic thing I would do if I was writing NS from scratch is to use a database, so we could do more powerful searching and nation analysis. People are always asking for obvious things like to be able to search for nations using wildcards or to change their nation name; because of the way I wrote the code, it's just not possible.

MT: Who would you vote for in the American elections?

MB: I would vote for Kerry, because Bush has done a lot of damage to America's reputation abroad and that two-party system doesn't allow you to seriously consider voting for anyone else. (The US needs an instant-runoff voting system, it really does.)

MT: What about the British ones?(Soigacas)

MB: I don't know enough about UK politics to comment on that one.

MT: What are your perceptions of the rise of independent government systems operating outside the systems of NS that remain viable merely because of general acceptance? (Sarda)

MB: If you're talking about the various brands of non-region alliances between nations, I think it's awesome. In fact, if I ever get NS2 up, that's the area I want to expand the most -- I want to provide a framework that allows players to develop their own international political systems that are as simple or as complicated as they like.

By the way, I don't think you should say these things work "merely" because of general acceptance -- that's the basis on which pretty much the entire world operates. Like banks; we all accept that we'll get our money back if we deposit it in one, and if people stop accepting that there's a run and the bank collapses. Or currencies; it's generally accepted that a US dollar is worth something, so it is. In some societies, particular behavior is generally accepted to be normal and in other societies it'll get you arrested. Even at the international level, diplomacy (the forming of agreements) is enormously important, because as dominant in military terms as (say) the US is, it couldn't survive an attack by a collection of other countries. So the most interesting part of a game like NS2 for me is allowing nations to make and break complex alliances in the pursuit of their goals. And letting the players decide what is "good" or acceptable and what isn't.

One idea I have for NS2, for example, is to have several different game worlds. And players have enough autonomy that some game worlds might develop a stable world order and others descend into chaos and anarchy. It would be fascinating to look at that and ask, "Okay, how come this world is peaceful and that one is fighting World War 8?"

MT: What are your thoughts on the fact that NS has extended the practice of national government into regional governments? Did you expect such an event to occur when first devising the NS system? (Sarda)

MB: Well, I didn't expect much when devising NS -- I certainly didn't expect it to become anywhere near as popular as it has. I love the way people have taken the game and used it as a foundation to build more complex political structures on top of it (the Meritocracy is a prime example). It means the gameplay is far deeper and more involving than it would be otherwise.

MT: Shoe size? (Sarda)

MB: It's 11 in Australia, but I'm not sure how that translates. Sometimes 12. Once I bought a pair of sneakers that were size 14, but I think the manufacturer must have had some weird proprietary numbering scheme. I'm 6'2" so I have big feet.

MT: How do you feel about the evolution of the game? Wereyou surprised to find that it's become so popular? (Bumpy)

MB: Surprised, then thrilled, then horrified. Especially in the beginning, the growth was just out of control. The game was more or less doubling in size every few days, so I would work really hard to fix some terrible major bottleneck and the next day there'd be a brand new one. It was very stressful.

In a way it's also been a drag on development of the next game, because I'm still involved in the running of NS and it eats a fair bit of my time. So there are down sides to being this popular. But overall, it's incredibly cool to have this enormous community set up camp on my site and turn a creaky little nation sim game into something spectacular.

MT: Have any of the multitude of RPs in the thousands of regions of NS created any grist for the publishing mill (Bumpy)

MB: I've never been inspired to rip off an RP, no. But some of them are pretty amazing. It would be great to collect the best of them somewhere.

MT: Do you have any Nations in the game? (Obviously the Names need not be disclosed) (Bumpy)

MB: Yes.

MT: What 3 Region Crashing/Destroy incidents do you thinkwere the worst(did the most damage)? (Evans)

MB: I actually don't know, because I'm not involved in that side of things -- that's the job of our trusty moderators. I do remember some truly horrific region-crashing in the days before Region Control, though, because people would set up their region just the way they wanted it -- to RP a particular way -- and some idiot would land there and proceed to spam it into oblivion. This was basically just griefing, not invasions the way we think of them today. Invading has become more organized and, well, almost civilized compared to the early days.

MT: Out of all the nations throughout the history of the game is there a specific non-Mod nation that sticks out in your mind? If so, why?(Evans)

MB: There are plenty, for various reasons. Marathon, Francos Spain, Ballotonia, Loop, Grated Cheese... plenty of nations have exerted a particularly strong influence on the game or the community. Others, which I won't name, are memorable for being truly enormous pains in the butt.

MT: If you were not Max Barry and just a regular person with no real connection to the game is there any group or region that you would join and if so why? (Evans)

MB: Well, I do play the game to some extent. My nation tends to move around to where things look most interesting. But in truth I've always enjoyed making games more than playing them!

MT: Many thanks for giving this interview! Any last
thoughts? (Soigacas)

MB: Thanks; it's good to have the opportunity to speak to you guys. I'm so impressed by what you've done with your region. I keep looking at it for NS2 inspiration.


Interview with Free4All


The following is an interview I had the privilege of conducting with Free4All. In it, I try and explore more of his opinions of the game today and his actions in the game as it was in the past. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

Meritocratic Times (MT): Hello Free4All, thanks for helping us out!

Free4All (F4A): I thank you for your hospitality, the pleasure is mine.

MT: 1) How long have you been intimately involved with world regional governments?

F4A: As Ambassador I've had the pleasure and honor to represent Holland and/or Nederland for quite a long time. On June 6 2003 I began my representation of my home region(s) at The Meritocracy which also marked the start of our formal presence on the world stage. Prior inter-regional affairs had mostly been limited to casual and friendly contact with other Dutch-language regions. Soon after my arrival at The Meritocracy I observed a new organization lead by Thomasia, called the Allied Liberation League (A.L.L.), which sparked my curiosity. After some debate on the pro's and cons my region decided to join. After all this time, the A.L.L. is the only inter-regional alliance we've ever joined, and we remain as commited as ever to its founding principles.

MT: 2) When A.L.L. became active, what were your opinions of the other like minded organizations of the time? Invaders?

F4A: Like most regions, Holland (later: Nederland) started off quite oblivious to the dangers invaders posed towards our happy little region. When our view of inter-regional affairs extended itself beyond the serenity of the Dutch-language regions it dawned on us that there were threats out there to our sovereignty which had to be dealt with if we were to maintain the basic freedoms all nations in Holland and Nederland cherish deeply. Similarly we were appalled to observe how the independence of nations in other regions was being violated by imperial-minded invaders.

At first, we did not act against invaders out of fear that we might become a target ourselves, and we were happy to have gained allies by joining the A.L.L. However, when we witnessed invaders from Blue Moon initiating a state of total chaos in the peaceful Dutch-language region Pallas Athene we knew that standing by idly simply meant that one day these violent nations would come to visit our shores, and having allies to help one out doesn't protect one from the horrors of war themselves. It is then my region decided that we needed to make a more active stand against invaders, and so we became active defenders. In that time the ADN was a group of not-so-active regions combined under a non-democratic leadership. The SCDT was something we regarded more as an imperial organization than one aimed at actual defense for the benefit of sovereignty for others. The RRA, well, back in those days they had just been founded and simply were invaders. Thanks to the efforts of Lord Tom the ACC at that time was making an attempt at being a defensive organization, though we did remain very cautious about them.

MT: 3) What is your current technical involvement with A.L.L., and in your position what responsibilities are you charged with?

F4A: The A.L.L. is an alliance of equals, and as Voting Representative I am merely representing Nederland towards our allies within the A.L.L.

I also have the honor of being Vice-Chairman of the A.L.L. In the A.L.L. the Vice-Chairman has two responsibilities: arrange for elections to happen when needed, and taking over from the Chairman in case of an emergency. That's all. The only real power the Chairman has is the ability to pull any decision from a committee and placing it for the entire membership to vote upon. This hasn't happened yet, nor is it supposed to happen often. The A.L.L. is supposed to function as an alliance of like-minded regions, and representatives are supposed to focus on cooperation to get things done they agree should be done. There are very few arguments within A.L.L., as there's no internal politicking to argue about. There is no official leader who has power over others. Nobody has the personal authority to enter A.L.L. into agreements with other alliances, nor is any person capable of ordering another region to do something. At most we can remind an ally of an obligation agreed to per the charter, of which there is only one: mutual defense. Helping out a fellow A.L.L. member under siege or occupation is mandatory. The A.L.L. is thus an alliance which generaly doesn't tell members what to do, but instead provides them with a venue in which they can get defensive efforts done.

As co-Admin of the forum I perform simple tasks to maintain the forum and changing user permissions when required.

MT: 4) How do you envision A.L.L.'s interaction with other regions and organizations a year from now?

F4A: Right now the only other organization the A.L.L. has a formal interaction with is the ADN. Through general membership consensus the A.L.L. agreed to recognize the shared ideals between ADN and A.L.L. by titling the ADN as an allied organization, despite the drastically different nature of both organizations (the ADN being a membership Republic, not an alliance). Several of A.L.L.'s member regions are also a member of the ADN, so cooperation is virtually seamless. A year from now I hope cooperation is still as good. I do not expect any other organizations or regions to become titled as allied with the A.L.L. Regions may join as members, while there isn't any organization I know of which could become a partner in operations close enough to warrant a similar titling as the ADN. I do not expect the A.L.L. to ever sign a formal treaty, as the A.L.L. doesn't have any political goals to provide a reason for doing so.

MT: 5) As a matter of public interest, what is your opinion of the new NPO government? Where do you see the NPO a year from now?

F4A: Personally, I see no major difference between the current and the previous NPO government. Unlimited has a proven record of dishonesty, versus Francos Spain having a record of ruthlessness. I expect the oppression of the nations in The Pacific by the NPO to continue for as long as they can do so. Next year I expect the NPO to reside in The East Pacific, they will have either taken over from 1 Infinite Loop or have ousted him by force and/or treachery, and they will have lost their control over The Pacific.

Note: the A.L.L. has no formal opinion on the NPO.

MT: 6) What is your opinion of the ADN as it is today, and how would you describe the ADN's growth from its comparatively humble beginnings to today? Where do you see the ADN a year from now?

F4A: When I first observed the ADN, it was a mostly dormant organization combining mostly tiny regions. The improvements since then have been both in terms of quality and quantity. The ADN today in no way resembles the organization it was so long ago.

For a while the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Nederland was seriously considering applying for membership in the ADN. Uncertainty on exactly what regional and national sovereignty would have been rescinded by doing so, as well as concerns regarding certain parts of the constitution of the ADN (like the term duration and powers of elected officers) eventually lead the Minister to decide against initiating a vote within Nederland on whether to apply for ADN membership.

A year from now I expect the ADN to be by far the dominant political entity within NationStates.

MT: 7) Shoe size?

F4A: Classified, sorry