Final thoughts on Talossan (partisan) politics.
May 22, 2018 16:50:16 GMT -6
Sir C. M. Siervicül, Sir Alexandreu Davinescu, and 1 more like this
Post by Glüc da Dhi on May 22, 2018 16:50:16 GMT -6
It is not illegal as far as I know, but I do not believe it is proper for the SoS to also be a member of a political party. Therefore I have with regret resigned my membership of the MRPT.
As Secretary of State I will have opinions about the direction of Talossa, and I will continue sharing these opinions. If I did not allow myself to do that, frankly it would not make Talossa more fun for me. I will, however, try to refrain from making comments about which parties/party leaders/governments/senatorial candidates I support or do not support as there is a thin line between publicly supporting a party/candidate and essentially campaigning for that party/candidate. I might still engage in political analysis or making predictions, but not while elections are ongoing. I have been a MRPT for roughly 3/4th of my Talossan life. I do still think it is the party with the best ideas, the best people and the best attitude towards politics. That is not likely to suddenly change tomorrow, though if it does I will keep it to myself.
Before I accept the position though, I want to post a few comments about Talossan politics. When reunision happened it was a breath of fresh air. Challenging the entrenched establishment after many years of Talossan politics being less interesting and less open to new ideas was in my view absolutely necessary, even if included challenging it in ways that were more agressive than would be my nature. Additionally, there were concerns, which I know were shared some members of the RUMP about the concerns and interests reviensadeirs not being taken serious by the ruling majority and not being included in government or feeling like they were not being taken serious and thus losing interests. So I was very happy when we broke the RUMP majority to enter an age of coalition politics starting with the MRPT/ZRT/REP coalition. Looking back I think we've achieved quite a lot, but at the same time a lot has not gone so well. Activity is in decline, various Talossans that played an important role have disappeared or become less active. The current opposition has especially been hit hard in that respect. At the same time, Talossa has often been bitterly divided. I do not mind adversarial politics, but too often conflict has become than political argument and turned into nasty personal conflict, partly driven by a sectarian us vs them mentality (Freedems vs RUMP, republicans vs monarchists, etc). People on opposing sides rarely seem to talk to each other off witt, whereas party and coalition chats are often echo chambers where dislike of the others is being strengthened. In multiple cabinets that I have been part of opposition politicians were repeatedly spoken of in derogatory terms. I know this happens in various parties on both sides as well. In discussions people too often use bullying tactics or immediately question each other's motives rather than listening to the points being made. Sometimes it almost appears if certain Talossans would rather see all prominent Talossans on the other side of the argument leave, despite the contributions people are making to the country, or at the very least give up their argument rather than let two opposing views on an idea coexist. People on both sides have treated each other unfairly, though it should be said that treating those in power unfairly is one thing, but those in power, the current government unfairly treating those without it is another. I was certainly more comfortable using adversarial tactics when in opposition than when in government.
Of course far many, probably most, discussions are not like this and it's great to see Talossans cooperating on various issues, but I do feel like this divide keeps sticking in the back of people's minds.
Anyway, whether people left because of the discussions or because they were busy or for whatever reason, we are now in a situation where most politicians of the opposition are inactive. This presents us with a great problem. Aside from the general lack of inactivity, it means that many voters who are ideologically more conservative are not really being represented. It also means that the sitting coalition is not being challenged and worse, that voters do not really have an alternative. The MRPT cannot govern on its own, nor can the FreeDems (personally I much prefer coalitions over majority party governments anyway), and there is no real alternative. The situation risk becoming just as stuck as before the coalition era, with the MRPT and FreeDems being forced into a coalition and no alternative emerging. In my view a RUMP revival would therefore be very welcome, though I believe it will always be weighted down by the large number of votes they get compared to active members. Alternatively, maybe some of the new citizens around could form a new party. If people are around who do not feel at home with any of the existing parties that could certainly be an option, though my advice would always be to first try to get multiple members before participating in elections. One man parties are not really all that helpful. Of course if none of this happens and one of the current coalition parties were to get a majority, I would much prefer it to be the MRPT.
On a more actual issue btw, I have been trying to get in touch with His Majesty about some issues related to the webhosting, but have not gotten any response. If this is another sign of the King losing interest, we might have a major problem.
Regardless of what happens though, I hope action will be taken to do more to involve those who do not feel represented by this government in Talossa, and especially from the side of the government to listen to their concerns and interest. I also think it would be good if Talossan politicians would not be so quick to get personally offended when criticised, but also used fewer personal attacks when criticising. Lastly, we should appreciate how much time and effort many of us, regardless of our political believes have put into building this weird nation and this fantastic community of people. We've done great things in the past, we can do them again in the future.
As much as I will miss being in the MRPT and being a Senator, I will not miss getting involved some of the arguing that's been going on lately. Doing politics in Talossa was a lot of fun, but also exhausting. That said, there are still a number of great people left in all political parties. Hopefully they will soon also get help from a new generation of Talossans who might do some things better than we did.
That was it for now. After this I'll shut up (about Talossan party politics anyway)
Long live the King!
Love live Talossa!
As Secretary of State I will have opinions about the direction of Talossa, and I will continue sharing these opinions. If I did not allow myself to do that, frankly it would not make Talossa more fun for me. I will, however, try to refrain from making comments about which parties/party leaders/governments/senatorial candidates I support or do not support as there is a thin line between publicly supporting a party/candidate and essentially campaigning for that party/candidate. I might still engage in political analysis or making predictions, but not while elections are ongoing. I have been a MRPT for roughly 3/4th of my Talossan life. I do still think it is the party with the best ideas, the best people and the best attitude towards politics. That is not likely to suddenly change tomorrow, though if it does I will keep it to myself.
Before I accept the position though, I want to post a few comments about Talossan politics. When reunision happened it was a breath of fresh air. Challenging the entrenched establishment after many years of Talossan politics being less interesting and less open to new ideas was in my view absolutely necessary, even if included challenging it in ways that were more agressive than would be my nature. Additionally, there were concerns, which I know were shared some members of the RUMP about the concerns and interests reviensadeirs not being taken serious by the ruling majority and not being included in government or feeling like they were not being taken serious and thus losing interests. So I was very happy when we broke the RUMP majority to enter an age of coalition politics starting with the MRPT/ZRT/REP coalition. Looking back I think we've achieved quite a lot, but at the same time a lot has not gone so well. Activity is in decline, various Talossans that played an important role have disappeared or become less active. The current opposition has especially been hit hard in that respect. At the same time, Talossa has often been bitterly divided. I do not mind adversarial politics, but too often conflict has become than political argument and turned into nasty personal conflict, partly driven by a sectarian us vs them mentality (Freedems vs RUMP, republicans vs monarchists, etc). People on opposing sides rarely seem to talk to each other off witt, whereas party and coalition chats are often echo chambers where dislike of the others is being strengthened. In multiple cabinets that I have been part of opposition politicians were repeatedly spoken of in derogatory terms. I know this happens in various parties on both sides as well. In discussions people too often use bullying tactics or immediately question each other's motives rather than listening to the points being made. Sometimes it almost appears if certain Talossans would rather see all prominent Talossans on the other side of the argument leave, despite the contributions people are making to the country, or at the very least give up their argument rather than let two opposing views on an idea coexist. People on both sides have treated each other unfairly, though it should be said that treating those in power unfairly is one thing, but those in power, the current government unfairly treating those without it is another. I was certainly more comfortable using adversarial tactics when in opposition than when in government.
Of course far many, probably most, discussions are not like this and it's great to see Talossans cooperating on various issues, but I do feel like this divide keeps sticking in the back of people's minds.
Anyway, whether people left because of the discussions or because they were busy or for whatever reason, we are now in a situation where most politicians of the opposition are inactive. This presents us with a great problem. Aside from the general lack of inactivity, it means that many voters who are ideologically more conservative are not really being represented. It also means that the sitting coalition is not being challenged and worse, that voters do not really have an alternative. The MRPT cannot govern on its own, nor can the FreeDems (personally I much prefer coalitions over majority party governments anyway), and there is no real alternative. The situation risk becoming just as stuck as before the coalition era, with the MRPT and FreeDems being forced into a coalition and no alternative emerging. In my view a RUMP revival would therefore be very welcome, though I believe it will always be weighted down by the large number of votes they get compared to active members. Alternatively, maybe some of the new citizens around could form a new party. If people are around who do not feel at home with any of the existing parties that could certainly be an option, though my advice would always be to first try to get multiple members before participating in elections. One man parties are not really all that helpful. Of course if none of this happens and one of the current coalition parties were to get a majority, I would much prefer it to be the MRPT.
On a more actual issue btw, I have been trying to get in touch with His Majesty about some issues related to the webhosting, but have not gotten any response. If this is another sign of the King losing interest, we might have a major problem.
Regardless of what happens though, I hope action will be taken to do more to involve those who do not feel represented by this government in Talossa, and especially from the side of the government to listen to their concerns and interest. I also think it would be good if Talossan politicians would not be so quick to get personally offended when criticised, but also used fewer personal attacks when criticising. Lastly, we should appreciate how much time and effort many of us, regardless of our political believes have put into building this weird nation and this fantastic community of people. We've done great things in the past, we can do them again in the future.
As much as I will miss being in the MRPT and being a Senator, I will not miss getting involved some of the arguing that's been going on lately. Doing politics in Talossa was a lot of fun, but also exhausting. That said, there are still a number of great people left in all political parties. Hopefully they will soon also get help from a new generation of Talossans who might do some things better than we did.
That was it for now. After this I'll shut up (about Talossan party politics anyway)
Long live the King!
Love live Talossa!
