Nothing to Get Hung About? [DRAFT]

[Milograd]

I decided to try my hand at an issue again. I'm very new to drafting issues, so I definitely would appreciate feedback.

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[title] Nothing to Get Hung About?

[description] The suicide of an extremely popular singer from @@NAME@@ has upset a large portion of your nation's citizens, whom are now demanding that something be done by the government to prevent or discourage suicide.
[validity] Not valid for nations that have criminalized suicide

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@RANDOMNAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."
[effect] the nation's vacationers are being found dead abroad.
[stats] Law & Order increases, Taxes increase

[option]"People who try to kill themselves shouldn't be punished for being ill," states your Minister of Health, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Being suicidal is often a sign of mental illness or depression, and I'll be damned if our government stoops to punishing the sick for their symptoms. Criminalizing suicide would only worsen the plight of suicidal people, and we would save a lot of lives by educating our people about suicide and extending a helping hand to suicidal people who need our support."
[effect] the nation's suicide hotlines have been overwhelmed.
[stats] Healthcare increases, Education increases, Taxes increase

[option]"Suicide is a sin and I agree that it needs to be criminalized," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, a renowned and infamous cult leader, "but we need to punish the sinners with death! The Lord created us in his image and suicidal heretics spit on his fine image. If you're not grateful for the life the Lord gave you, regardless of whether or not you succeed in ending it, I believe that you don't deserve it!"
[effect] suicidal citizens of @@NAME@@ are reporting themselves to the police for "attempting" suicide.
[stats] Religion & Spirituality increases, Law & Order increases, Taxes increase

[Undivulged Principles]

Civil freedoms will decrease on the first and third options(I guess since suicide is a form of political protest political freedoms would also decrease). Taxes would increase with all three choices.

[Panageadom]

I believe you mean civil rights would fall: the "right to life" must entail a right to dispose of that right (as all rights do): otherwise we simply have a state-mandated obligation to life, which is a very different thing...

[Sanctaria]

Focus on the text and stuff, guys, we'll do the rest when it comes to stats.

The author need only give us an idea of what he's trying to do, not get the stats down to a t.

[Lopehi]

Is the title a nod to Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles?

"Nothing is real,
Nothing to get hung about,
Strawberry Fields Forever"

[Panageadom]

I believe you mean civil rights would fall: the "right to life" must entail a right to dispose of that right (as all rights do): otherwise we simply have a state-mandated obligation to life, which is a very different thing...

Ah, the ramblings I have at one in the morning...

Is the title a nod to Strawberry Fields Forever by the Beatles?

"Nothing is real,
Nothing to get hung about,
Strawberry Fields Forever"

I thought it was a somewhat simpler nod to hanging yourself.

[Milograd]

I updated the OP to account for tax increases.

I'd like to hear more suggestions about the content as opposed to the stats right now, but I appreciate the feedback that I have received thus far. Thanks.

[Benjamin Mark]

Milo, this option should read

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@RANDOMNAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."


Instead it reads

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@NAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."

please change it.

[Milograd]

Milo, this option should read

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@RANDOMNAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."


Instead it reads

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@NAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."

please change it.

Oops, I didn't mean to do that, lol. Fix'd!

[Luna Amore]

My two major concerns are:
1. potential overlap with Issue #62: Oh, The Angst!
2. the issue focusing almost entirely on making suicide illegal, which is a bizarre concept. If you succeed, the law can't touch you.

[Milograd]

My two major concerns are:
1. potential overlap with Issue #62: Oh, The Angst!
2. the issue focusing almost entirely on making suicide illegal, which is a bizarre concept. If you succeed, the law can't touch you.

Thank you for taking the time to review this.

Depression isn't the only reason for suicides out there. I can see how there would be an overlap between the issues, and there probably is some to an extent, but it comes with the territory, and Issue #62 deals solely with depression.

Furthermore, I agree that it's a bizarre concept; I only tried it because I noticed that it was on the ideas list in the stickies and it seemed like a fun thing to try to write an issue about, lol.

[Luna Amore]

My two major concerns are:
1. potential overlap with Issue #62: Oh, The Angst!
2. the issue focusing almost entirely on making suicide illegal, which is a bizarre concept. If you succeed, the law can't touch you.

Thank you for taking the time to review this. :)

Depression isn't the only reason for suicides out there. I can see how there would be an overlap between the issues, and there probably is some to an extent, but it comes with the territory, and Issue #62 deals solely with depression.

Furthermore, I agree that it's a bizarre concept; I only tried it because I noticed that it was on the ideas list in the stickies and it seemed like a fun thing to try to write an issue about, lol.

I think there's room for more than one issue on the subject. I'm just not sure about the current approach or options. I think there's more room for offbeat options.

Also, where's the suicide booth option? The game desperately needs one. :p

[Sanctaria]

My two major concerns are:
1. potential overlap with Issue #62: Oh, The Angst!
2. the issue focusing almost entirely on making suicide illegal, which is a bizarre concept. If you succeed, the law can't touch you.

1. I think the issues are different enough in their approach and content to make them different enough.
2. Suicide being illegal is actually a reality in some jurisdictions. In Ireland it was only decriminalised in 1993.

[Milograd]

Thank you for taking the time to review this.

Depression isn't the only reason for suicides out there. I can see how there would be an overlap between the issues, and there probably is some to an extent, but it comes with the territory, and Issue #62 deals solely with depression.

Furthermore, I agree that it's a bizarre concept; I only tried it because I noticed that it was on the ideas list in the stickies and it seemed like a fun thing to try to write an issue about, lol.

I think there's room for more than one issue on the subject. I'm just not sure about the current approach or options. I think there's more room for offbeat options.

Also, where's the suicide booth option? The game desperately needs one.

I thought about including some offbeat options, but I hesitated to go much farther than I did in the third option because I don't believe that it is appropriate for this topic. I'll try my hand at one if you think it would be worthwhile to do so. I'm still pretty new to issue writing, so admittedly I'm still trying to figure out what works and what doesn't here, lol.

[Luna Amore]

My two major concerns are:
1. potential overlap with Issue #62: Oh, The Angst!
2. the issue focusing almost entirely on making suicide illegal, which is a bizarre concept. If you succeed, the law can't touch you.

1. I think the issues are different enough in their approach and content to make them different enough.
2. Suicide being illegal is actually a reality in some jurisdictions. In Ireland it was only decriminalised in 1993.

- Yeah, the issues are different enough, I was looking more at the descriptions being similar.
- Oh, I know it's illegal in some places. I feel like the motivation is different though. "Make it illegal so everyone knows it's wrong" doesn't sound like a good argument.

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I'd suggest a different description and see what options that causes.
For example: an increasing amount of suicide-by-train would lead to options from
- the rail companies demanding compensation for lost profits
- medical community
- suicide booths
- a wacky option to make train stations more cheerful (No, seriously)

I feel like this issue has a lot of potential if you're willing to take another route with the description.

[Milograd]

1. I think the issues are different enough in their approach and content to make them different enough.
2. Suicide being illegal is actually a reality in some jurisdictions. In Ireland it was only decriminalised in 1993.

- Yeah, the issues are different enough, I was looking more at the descriptions being similar.
- Oh, I know it's illegal in some places. I feel like the motivation is different though. "Make it illegal so everyone knows it's wrong" doesn't sound like a good argument.

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I'd suggest a different description and see what options that causes.
For example: an increasing amount of suicide-by-train would lead to options from
- the rail companies demanding compensation for lost profits
- medical community
- suicide booths
- a wacky option to make train stations more cheerful (No, seriously)

I feel like this issue has a lot of potential if you're willing to take another route with the description.

I don't think that it's the greatest of arguments either, but apparently it happens to be one of the arguments that have been used historically. It's a weird issue overall; I only chose it because it was on the suggestions list.

Also, I really like your suggestion but I'm not sure how I would phrase its description.

[Sanctaria]

- Yeah, the issues are different enough, I was looking more at the descriptions being similar.
- Oh, I know it's illegal in some places. I feel like the motivation is different though. "Make it illegal so everyone knows it's wrong" doesn't sound like a good argument.

---

I'd suggest a different description and see what options that causes.
For example: an increasing amount of suicide-by-train would lead to options from
- the rail companies demanding compensation for lost profits
- medical community
- suicide booths
- a wacky option to make train stations more cheerful (No, seriously)

I feel like this issue has a lot of potential if you're willing to take another route with the description.

I don't think that it's the greatest of arguments either, but apparently it happens to be one of the arguments that have been used historically. It's a weird issue overall; I only chose it because it was on the suggestions list.

Also, I really like your suggestion but I'm not sure how I would phrase its description.

One possible description could be because suicide is legal and becoming increasingly common at train stations, a recent gruesome suicide-by-train has left more people complaining about the impact on their travel times rather than on the poor mental state of some citizens. So not only do you have the options that Luna suggested, you can also work how compassionate the public are, funding of health services, make it illegal so the police do something to actually stop these people etc.

Just a suggestion.

[Kesshite]

I think this issue is lacking a sort of social dawinistic option. Someone suggesting that people who die are obviously mentally unfit and it's better that they remove themselves from the genepool. Maybe add in that we should cut funding for public mental health services and encourage people to kill themselves if they can't handle regular stress.

Edit: And shouldn't it be 'nothing to get hung up about?'

[Sanctaria]

encourage people to kill themselves if they can't handle regular stress.

I know this is just a game and all, and some issues say worse, but kids do receive these issues and I'm not sure this is something we should be saying, even in a satirical context. Especially as players game-side can be any age.

[Milograd]

Gah, I took a shot at it.

[title] Going Off The Rails

[description] Suicide-by-train incidents in your nations' train stations are becoming increasingly common, and commuters and the country's rail companies alike are irritated by the effects that this has had on their financial success.
[validity] Not valid for nations that have criminalized suicide or don't have railroads. Railroads aren't completely nationalized.

[option]"We need to be compensated for the monetary losses that these suicides have caused us," states the CEO of your nation's largest rail company. "These human incidents are inconvenient for us, as handling them requires a lot of time and effort—time is, of course, money—and it isn't fair that these people get away with disrupting our business. Their families should be required to compensate us on their behalf. It's only fair."
[effect] funerals for people whom committed suicide are becoming increasingly frugal.
[stats] Civil Rights decrease, Economy increases, Door-to-door Insurance Sales increase

[option]"People who try to kill themselves shouldn't be punished for being ill, and nor should their families," states your Minister of Health, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "Being suicidal is often a sign of mental illness or depression, and I'll be damned if our government stoops to punishing the families of sick people for having sick relatives. We ought to focus on suicide prevention rather than hounding these families for money, and we would save a lot of lives by educating our people about suicide and extending a helping hand to suicidal people who need our support."
[effect] the nation's suicide hotlines have been overwhelmed.
[stats] Healthcare increases, Education increases, Taxes increase

[option]"I have places to go and things to do," an angry businessman says in an interview with @@CAPITAL@@ News, which is playing on your office's television. "These lunatics keep forcing train delays, and that means that I can't get to work on time. My boss is pissed. Since we haven't criminalized suicide, can we at least make it so suicides occur in more convenient places? If we had suicide booths, I could get to work on time and suicides wouldn't disrupt the daily lives of workers like me."
[effect] the city streets of @@NAME@@ are dotted with suicide boothes, which are often misidentified as porta loos.
[stats] Taxes increase

[option]"I'm getting tired of seeing yellow tape every time I go to take the train in the morning. The atmosphere of the train stations are getting grimmer by the day," says your maid, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "I think that you could hit two birds with one stone here if you made the rail companies do some redecorating. Suicidal people would be far less likely to take the terrible leap if the train stations had mirrors everywhere, bright green crossing warnings, pleasant music playing, and motivational posters and psychedelic paint jobs all over their walls. Oh, and maybe some coffee shops in the station too! Everyone loves coffee."
[effect] the nation's train stations are widely considered to be the ugliest stations in @@REGION@@.
[stats] Economy decreases, Automobile Manufacturing increases

[Panageadom]

encourage people to kill themselves if they can't handle regular stress.

I know this is just a game and all, and some issues say worse, but kids do receive these issues and I'm not sure this is something we should be saying, even in a satirical context. Especially as players game-side can be any age.

Agree with this and all, but is there not still a special validity tag for "classroom" regions, discounting some of the more risque issues?

[Sanctaria]

I know this is just a game and all, and some issues say worse, but kids do receive these issues and I'm not sure this is something we should be saying, even in a satirical context. Especially as players game-side can be any age.

Agree with this and all, but is there not still a special validity tag for "classroom" regions, discounting some of the more risque issues?

There is, but I never intended my commentary to be anything other than my opinion. If I were editing this I'd just be hesitant to include an option like that knowing the oft fragile mindset of depressed teenagers.

[Milograd]

I know this is just a game and all, and some issues say worse, but kids do receive these issues and I'm not sure this is something we should be saying, even in a satirical context. Especially as players game-side can be any age.

Agree with this and all, but is there not still a special validity tag for "classroom" regions, discounting some of the more risque issues?

I don't know about that, but classroom regions aren't the only regions that contain kids.

What do you all think of my attempt at Luna's suggestion?

[Unibot III]

Since, I agree with Luna, the third option is a common (although presented essentrically) sentiment, but this first option is pretty illogical:

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@RANDOMNAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."
[effect] the nation's vacationers are being found dead abroad.
[stats] Law & Order increases, Taxes increase

Instead of this option, I would look at some of the (zany) schemes used by the Japanese government to curb suicide. In Aokigahara, for example, there's signs littering the forest telling people to "think of their family" etc. These signs may cause even deeper shame to the individuals involved.

Perhaps an option to put signs up around high-suicide rate areas, like bridges, could be have more of a clear rationale, but of course have an inevitable backlash too.

[Sanctaria]

Since, I agree with Luna, the third option is a common (although presented essentrically) sentiment, but this first option is pretty illogical:

[option]"Criminalizing suicide would discourage people from taking their life in the first place," argues your long-time friend, @@RANDOMNAME@@, while flipping through the pages of the @@CAPITAL@@ Times' obituaries. "Additionally, people put a terrible burden on their peers when they try to take their own lives. That's criminal! If suicide were illegal, it would be obvious to every citizen of @@NAME@@ that it's wrong to try to kill yourself."
[effect] the nation's vacationers are being found dead abroad.
[stats] Law & Order increases, Taxes increase

Instead of this option, I would look at some of the (zany) schemes used by the Japanese government to curb suicide. In Aokigahara, for example, there's signs littering the forest telling people to "think of their family" etc. These signs may cause even deeper shame to the individuals involved.

Perhaps an option to put signs up around high-suicide rate areas, like bridges, could be have more of a clear rationale, but of course have an inevitable backlash.

Removing the criminalising suicide option would defeat the point of this issue, which is to introduce a criminalise suicide issue into the batch.