Nation of Nerdfightopolis - Project - debate and discuss

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

So I don't know how many of you have heard of the website nationstates.net, but it's basically an on-line game where you get to create your own nation and define its policies and systems by responding to various questions. I figured it might be an interesting experiment if we tried to create a nation using our own forum community as the voters. So I've created the nation of Nerdfightopolis (I would have used Nerdfighteria, but someone has already taken that name) and now we've got some questions.

These first ones are the initial questions that are used to set up the game, but I figured I'd ask you guys to vote on what you think, and then I'd answer accordingly, and this thread would be used as where we'd bring up the discussions they give. They'll basically propose an issue with a set of options, and then people here vote on them, and I'll choose the option with the most votes.

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Okay, we've got ourselves a nation - See it here

Now every day, there are going to be issues and decisions to vote on, each with multiple choice options. I'll keep updating this page, so the most current one is available. Here's the latest issue:

Issue A:As Nerdfightopolis continues to grow, so too does its government. The number of politicians needed to administrate and legislate the country is rapidly surpassing the Houses of Parliament's capacity with ministers often requiring periscopes to see the House Speaker. Some are suggesting a new building be built in another city - a city which would then be designated as the capital city of Nerdfightopolis.

Option 1: "I would like to make a humble recommendation for my own proud jurisdiction," says Lars Hendrikson, mayor of one of Nerdfightopolis's major cities. "It would be an honour for our city to be host to the seat of power! If it will seal the deal, you can change the name if you like..."

 

Option 2: "Hah! Capital city indeed!" shouts Billy-Bob Steele, a fervent anarchist, spilling leaflets all over the floor. "What's wrong with being free as the wind? Do you really think one city could possibly represent a whole country? Its people? I've had enough of the man trying to screw us down all the time! Say NO to a national capital!"

Option 3: "I can accept and even approve of having a capital city," says George W. Bush, a military strategist. "But we'd be putting all our eggs in one basket if we choose somewhere too vulnerable! Believe me, capitals always get the brunt of the enemy attack because of their political and economic importance. We should put aside a few billion nonpennys and build our capital city underground. They'll never bomb us there!"

Option 4: "I've got an idea," says theme park tycoon, Lindsay Tew. "My company will happily sponsor the new establishment and cover all costs - as long as it's made to our specifications. We've already got plans drawn up to put a roller coaster straight through the House of Commons! A cafe, some kiosks for ice cream... maybe even a water slide or two in the lobby! It'll be one part legislative seat of government, one part family-fun theme park! Tourists will flock from around the globe!"

Option 5: "What's wrong with the old building?" asks Megan Silk, a noted disestablishmentarian. "We don't need some kind of fancy capital city just to make the bigwig ministers feel important! If there's no room, then fire politicians until there IS room. Have you never heard of doing more with less?"

Option 6: Dismiss this issue

Issue B: The conservative Northern-based parents group of "Housewives and Convicts for a Safer Nerdfightopolis" has put forward a memorandum to ban skateboarding in public.

Option 1:"Skateboarding is a menace to pedestrians and road users," says activist Violet O. "Not to mention the astronomical number of skateboarding-related injuries - hundreds of children flood the emergency rooms of Nerdfightopolis as a result of skateboarding every year, which is costly to the taxpayers. Keep our streets safe and save a little cash at the same time. Hell, you could make even more money by ticketing those who violate this law."

 

Option 2: "Ticketing children for getting out of the house and exercising?" asks Agnes Obama, a school teacher, in disbelief. "That's outrageous! It's true that skateboarding can be dangerous but so is walking down the stairs! You want to ban that too?! What we should do is pass laws requiring safety equipment for skaters - if we allocate a little bit of the tax payers' money to the cause, we can build a skate park that will keep our children safe and away from others on the road too."

 

Option 3: "Yo, dude, I've got a better idea," says George W. Hanover while executing a complicated 360° spin over your head. "What if skateboarding was the only way to get around? Wouldn't that be cool? Skateboarding is cheap, healthy, and fun! Everyone should do it! You could improve, like, the quality of life for everyone by banning vehicles and making skateboarding the only legal way to travel. People'd love you for it, man. Well, apart from the guys who make cars and the like, I guess."

 

Option 4: Dismiss this issue

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

The Republic of Nerdfightopolis is a fledgling, safe nation, remarkable for its burgeoning Puppy sized elephant population. Its compassionate, intelligent population of 5 million are fiercely patriotic and enjoy great social equality; they tend to view other, more capitalist countries as somewhat immoral and corrupt.

The large, socially-minded government is mainly concerned with Social Welfare, although Education and Healthcare are on the agenda. The average income tax rate is 31%, but much higher for the wealthy. A very small private sector is dominated by the Pizza Delivery industry.

Crime is well under control. Nerdfightopolis's national animal is the Puppy sized elephant, and its currency is the nonpenny.

http://www.nationstates.net/nation=nerdfightopolis

Also, just a side note, the Pizza industry thing was not my selection! The nonpenny and the Puppy sized elephants were my idea, but the Pizza thing was all generated by the website! Wowzer

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

Okay, so what happens now is that the website will generate "Issues" one per day. This means that it will give a problem facing the government of Nerdfightopolis, and will present several options.

Currently, there are four possible issues. I'm going to get one on here, to get the ball rolling.

So, the first issue: Compulsory voting:

Option 1 "Compulsory voting makes about as much sense as having the death penalty for attempted suicide," says civil rights activist Billy Christensen. "You can't force people to be free! You can only give them the choice. Besides, if all those derelicts who can't be bothered to get off their butts once every few years voted, who would they elect? I shudder to think."

Option 2 "It's not contradictory at all," argues political commentator Akira Janssen. "The fact is, if not everyone votes, the outcome isn't truly representative. Some groups--like elderly gun nuts--vote more often than others. That's why we always end up with such terrible politicians."

Option 3 "This raises an interesting issue," says Ali Patel, your brother. "And that is: why do we need elections, anyway? Seems to me it would be much simpler if you just decided what was right, and did it. Wouldn't that save everyone a lot of time?"

Cast your vote!

[Raef]

Option 2.

Also, it's probably faster to just put em all up at once, unless some of the issues are ridiculously long ones with five or more options.

[Tòmachan ~blogs admin ~]

Option two.

[Jaime Elizabeth]

Option 2.

[Farahkilledthecookie]

Option 2

[Ode [Forums Ningmaster]]

Option 1.

[Jackson Gandour]

Option 1

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

Sorry Jamie, that part of the project has passed, but you can vote on the current issue:

So, the first issue: Compulsory voting:

Option 1 "Compulsory voting makes about as much sense as having the death penalty for attempted suicide," says civil rights activist Billy Christensen. "You can't force people to be free! You can only give them the choice. Besides, if all those derelicts who can't be bothered to get off their butts once every few years voted, who would they elect? I shudder to think."

Option 2 "It's not contradictory at all," argues political commentator Akira Janssen. "The fact is, if not everyone votes, the outcome isn't truly representative. Some groups--like elderly gun nuts--vote more often than others. That's why we always end up with such terrible politicians."

Option 3 "This raises an interesting issue," says Ali Patel, your brother. "And that is: why do we need elections, anyway? Seems to me it would be much simpler if you just decided what was right, and did it. Wouldn't that save everyone a lot of time?"

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

I'm voting for option 2 myself

So with a count of five to two, option 2 wins.

Now lets see the next issue:

Unfair Tax Burden

A recent poll has revealed high levels of dissatisfaction among the populace about tax rates.

Option 1: Do you know how much of my year's work goes to the government?" demanded angry worker Calvin Lopez. "Too much! Government spending has gotten way out of control. It needs big cuts in welfare, health, and education. But leave those subsidies to business alone. We need them to create jobs."

Option 2: "It's not the AMOUNT of tax, it's where the burden falls," says student activist Johann Cruz. "And at the moment, far too much of the burden is falling on the poor. People on high incomes still have more money than people on low incomes. I don't think I need to say anything more than that."

Option 3: "I don't object to the amount of tax, I object to where it's being spent," says social reformer Jacob Malik. "I'd like to see everyone have a choice as to where their nonpennys go every time they fill out a tax return. Everyone would feel a lot better about opening their wallets if they had a say as to where the money went. I think you'd see a lot more public money going to education and a lot less to business"

Thoughts?

My vote goes to Option 3

[Jackson Gandour]

Option 2, I don't trust people

[Vertigo_One [Ops Mod]]

Let's have some discussion on this one. Is economic democracy a good idea? I would argue that while complete economic democracy is impossible, I think that the public should have some degree of direct control over where their taxes go, above and beyond merely voting for representatives. It's like the Athenian surplus issue. They did know what to do with it, when they were trusted.