Eastern Europe: Post occupy-What would Peacezone Theory do?

[The North Polish Union]

You mentioned Easter Europe's 1000-year history in RL, but not Poland-Lithuania? I am disappointed.

(Not really)

[Communist Eraser]

EASTERN EUROPE VOLUNTEER PAPER

Benevolent Father returns! Joyous homecoming for Novaya Stalina

Author: Communist Eraser

Greetings from Eastern Europe, vanguard of Libertarian Socialist Peacezone Theory!

Eastern Europe, or at least the volunteer penning the this article (as Peacezone theory challenges you to decide for yourself whether to trust the author's views), wishes to share with the world our joy at the return of Our Benevolent Father and Founder Novaya Stalina back to the region after Ceasing to Exist for forty days. Novaya Stalina, our Saviour of Freedom and Liberator from Oligarchy, is also revered as a Proto-Revolutionary of Peacezone Thought, whom without his stabilising influence and open-mindedness our region, the living example to the practical liberty offered by Peacezone Theory would not be possible.

News of his welcome was greeted with rapturous applause by some residents of the region. To quote one of our residents, Kraszkhyia

Ah the magnanimous leader's glorious return! Although I have only recently been a part of our glorious region, it is an honor and a privilege to see the return of one so illustrious.

Others were just bemused that the person behind many of the parody Stalin puppets has finally returned.

Novaya Stalina has not made any public statement since his return, though political observers note he has allowed administrative controls to the region, would could be taken as an implicit endorsement of current delegate Communist Eraser's plan to realise Peacezone Theory for Eastern Europe. This ends speculation whether Communist Eraser has been fully rehabilitated, after being sent for re-education after his first delegacy and whether he would be purged again taking it this time round.

Some question however whether Stalina homecoming is as rosy and well-received as portrayed, especially at the implications for Peacezone Theory. They point out the region flag was immediately reverted back to the original Stalinist flag, away from the matryoshka doll flag that was paraded last volunteer update. There is speculation that the current flag, combining Stalin and Putin was mainly attempt to appease Stalina, despite Communist Eraser claiming it is to better emphasise the diversity embraced in the region; From Stalin to Putin, from tsars to revolutionaries, to modern messy democracies, Eastern Europe welcomes all nations..

The extent to which Founders' can influence the 'theme' of the region under Peacezone Theory is still under debate: Some thoughts can be found here: viewtopic.php?p=15670864#p15670864

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Another update, though I think my next one should focus on promoting the activity that happening inside the region, instead of just lecturing on Peacezone Theory. I have been getting TGs about WA voting under Peacezone Theory though, so that probably also needs to be expanded.

You mentioned Easter Europe's 1000-year history in RL, but not Poland-Lithuania? I am disappointed.

(Not really)

Well we do have embassies with each other, send a puppet over and enlighten us a bit more about Polish history! I'm an Asian-Australian with just a passing interest in Eastern European things (and a Gameplayer first), so what I know about it is fairly basic.

[Communist Eraser]

It's not often a 'mere' 25 endorsement region like Eastern Europe has anything relevant to say to a sinker like Osiris, but Eastern Europe (or at least those who support Communist Eraser in Eastern Europe) wholeheartedly supports Osiris' move to adopt Peacezone Theory as part of its governing philosophy.

Even though they are reluctant use the term explicitly, Points two and three of the Guidelines for the Construction of a New Government is consistent with the guiding principle of Peacezone Theory; the freedom for any nation/player to play the game as they wish, without the judgement of any institutional influence of their region dictating what is the 'correct way'.

Understandably there will be many questions and surprises as Osiris charts this new path. Eastern Europe can not speak for Osiris, and each region naturally adapts Peacezone Theory to suit their own characteristics (a comparative analysis would be interesting, but I'm not writing one on a weekday), but I am always willing to provide any advice or contribution should they desire it.

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I was hoping to write my next update giving a look at what's actually happening -inside- Eastern Europe, which has been lacking in all these posts, but this happened and what can you do? I'm not going to miss an opportunity for a free bump.

[Kraszkhyia]

It's not often a 'mere' 25 endorsement region like Eastern Europe has anything relevant to say to a sinker like Osiris, but Eastern Europe (or at least those who support Communist Eraser in Eastern Europe) wholeheartedly supports Osiris' move to adopt Peacezone Theory as part of its governing philosophy.

Even though they are reluctant use the term explicitly, Points two and three of the Guidelines for the Construction of a New Government is consistent with the guiding principle of Peacezone Theory; the freedom for any nation/player to play the game as they wish, without the judgement of any institutional influence of their region dictating what is the 'correct way'.

Understandably there will be many questions and surprises as Osiris charts this new path. Eastern Europe can not speak for Osiris, and each region naturally adapts Peacezone Theory to suit their own characteristics (a comparative analysis would be interesting, but I'm not writing one on a weekday), but I am always willing to provide any advice or contribution should they desire it.

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I was hoping to write my next update giving a look at what's actually happening -inside- Eastern Europe, which has been lacking in all these posts, but this happened and what can you do? I'm not going to miss an opportunity for a free bump.

Excellent news brother-nation!

[Communist Eraser]

It is also quite disappointing yet hilarious seeing so many people trash the concept -now-, when you have a model living example right here for so long.

I have been completely transparent in how the whole thing is managed, in fact most of the thread are essays addressing the various issues I have encountered implementing this theory.

[Charax]

Which one have you enjoyed doing more (Codger): WZA or EE?

[Communist Eraser]

Which one have you enjoyed doing more (Codger): WZA or EE?

EE because it has principles to play for. WZA was fun, but besides it being a Warzone, simple RPs and badly organised raids on other Warzones...it's just about gathering endos and staying in as long as possible.

The structure in EE is simple enough and hardly the 'anarchy' or 'amusement park' insults people are saying about a certain another region - which runs an even more centralised interpretation of Peacezone Theory compared to Eastern Europe.

As delegate, my main role is protect the region against coups which would remove the Peacestate. Within the region, I use my powers to act as an enabler/button pusher, as if themselves were delegate. Corollary to this is that no one should desire to run delegate, since there is no effective difference. You don't have to be 'delegate' to be the most important and influential person in the region.

Everything is equally 'official' and everyone has carte blanche to do anything. The entire point is there will not be any overarching authority to dictate things, and instead the acceptance of any project will based on its actual results and recognition by other region members and the rest of NS. To the question of 'who should I, X foreign government recognise', the answer and goal is to think for yourselves instead of latching to whatever you've been told, decide for yourself which military is most effective, which foreign affairs department has people actually respected etc. It may be the case there are multiple - but realise that's ok - I rather have that than people not being happy what they are doing.

On multiplicity: I can't believe there are so many people who choose authority over freedom. Chaos! Anarchy! I rather have organisation than allow people to enjoy the game! Multiplicity is fine if it's eventually proven both groups running the thing is actually effective. I feel in certain areas though, people will eventually realise for themselves that only having one department is best, and that will be what happens. Just let it sort itself out.

[Communist Eraser]

Has Peacezone Theory run its course? Doomed without the contradictory paradox of a cult-like leader to guide them?

Discuss.

[Letoilenoir]

Yes

[Cerian Quilor]

Its boring, so yes.

[Evil Wolf]

Eastern Europe is an old and storied region, with an existence that could be traced as far back as 2003. It was once a successful roleplaying region, but fell into decline and forced to be a battlefield to be ravished between raiders and defenders.

Ah, good times, good times indeed.

[Communist Eraser]

Its boring, so yes.

Sometimes I think it's more the presentation. Everything I touch gets marketed as an eccentric alternative idea and calling it 'Peacezone Theory' certainly doesn't help.

Asta's attempt to bring it to Osiris http://s13.zetaboards.com/Osiris_NS/topic/7105656/1 (Where the words PT was never mentioned, and slightly more structured) was taken a lot more seriously, including lots of controversial drama.

Esternial's proposal in the otherwise-wrenching "Regional 'opt-out' for R/D? [Gameplay/Proposal]" thread viewtopic.php?p=17997853#p17997853 has similarities with Peacezone Theory, and is again being taken seriously.

Was it you who said I do things 'for the sake of it'? That is probably the difference, the others independently arrived to PT-like ideas as a possible solution to other problems, rather than doing it just because.

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Anyways, um so an update on Eastern Europe. I was inactive for almost 3 months. Nation kept alive because I had autologin on Communist Eraser and a couple of times I wanted to check out something and it logged in. Surprisingly I'm still delegate, Stalina was extremely helpful ejecting anyone who tried to take it off me in the period . Even more surprisingly is that I have 10 endos and the region has 13 WA nations I think. People are still active too. Basically the region is still viable, though we're still working out what to do with it.

[Communist Eraser]

EASTERN EUROPE VOLUNTEER PAPER

Boundless beautiful days in Eastern Europe!

Author: Communist Eraser

Greetings from Eastern Europe, our triumph for peace over subjugation!

Despite Comrade Ceraser's brief absence described in the few above posts Eastern Europe is still very much alive. The silver lining is the realisation that there is a core group of players in the region who'll always be around, and further proof of what was decried as a griefer's puppet dump actually has a real community. As of today we still have 15 WA nations and several more active, participating no WA ones.

Eastern Europe get hip with the times. Natty Joe > Uncle Joe

In further glorious happenings, our Benevolent Founder, Victor against imperialist running dogs, People's revolutionary hero who purged the reactionary old guard, Novaya Stalina has agreed to modernisation and moderation plan for Eastern Europe. This was most evident in our flag, which now proudly showcases cute and quizzical 'Natty Joe' Stalin. The many Stalin puppets had always been a reflection of the founder's peculiar sense of humour, and/or an ironic stomping against and even more tyrannical old ruling class (As in a guy with a Stalin flag is more free than live under the previous oligarchs) but after 2.5 years we are more than ready to move forward. The new flag emphasises our sense of humour and ability to poke fun at ourselves, players who don't take this game too seriously. It also makes our region more welcoming in recruitment, by not turning off a wide base which get past the straight face Stalin flag and see the nuanced joke within.

Solidarity Voting: In Eastern Europe, votes decide on you!.

Eastern Europe has been experimenting with Solidarity Voting, a policy to encourage all WA nations to vote the same way in order to maximise our regional power. Thanks to the new activity filters we now have an easy way to track how each nation voted in WA resolutions and identify for re-education those who exhibit counter-revolutionary behaviour. Those recorded to have voted against the people (against majority vote of the region) by the end of the voting period will be noted and publically subjected to struggle sessions.

Flavours of Eastern Europe - Say Batkivshchyna? Say Ampelmännchen? Say Matryoshka? Say Sochi?

It is an on going effort for Eastern Europe to show that it is more than the usual communist stereotypes. To this end, we have make attempts to highlight contemporary events or under-appreciated cultural heritage in Eastern Europe. The last couple of months saw the delegate Communist Eraser fly an Ukrainian flag with an image of the iconic Yulia Tymoshenko to highlight the issues in the region, which has flared up again recently. Esteemed member Czech Mate, himself a Ukrainian American found taking the emphasis off socialism/Russia in the region forward thinking and it also helped in attracting new nations, such as Yewropa (Ukrainian) and The Sofian Citadel, the latter enriching our understanding of Bulgaria.

Currently the delegate is hoisting a flag of a matryoshka doll - the traditional Russian set of dolls held within each other, while there is discussion on what to showcase next. Suggestions include the GDR (East Germany) and their unique set of "Ampelmännchen" traffic lights which has become a sensation or the most popular event hitting the news at the moment, the Sochi Winter Olympics.

[Communist Eraser]

I actually had a different update planned, but just now I had a REVELATION that ANSWERS a persistent problem that has nagged me since its formation. It intuitively seemed to fit, but we needed a reason. Today I have found it...

How does SOLIDARITY VOTING reconcile with PEACEZONE THEORY?

<Ceraser> ...and I've done it! I have reconciled Solidarity Voting with Peacezone Theory! Peacezone theory is about freedom, but your end goal is to achieve PEACE. How do we achieve peace? AGREEMENT!

Solidarity Voting, a program to encourage everyone to vote the same way is just a means bring Peace...

<Ceraser> It all makes sense. The delegate role in Peacezones. We used to think delegates shouldn't exist. Then we realised it's job is to allow everything to EQUALLY EXIST. We thought the delegate shouldn't vote at all. Then we thought it is supposed to vote the majority of individual nations in some sort of global class struggle. That was a grave cosmopolitan error, a blind insidious alley to (ed: tempt you to) neglect your region. 

<Ceraser> No! The goal is to bring about PEACE. Peace through SOLIDARITY. 

Thanks to the people in #osi for bearing with me while I spammed the chat with my epiphany.

More updates likely as I synthesise my thoughts.

[Communist Eraser]

The last post was made in a delirious state, this one will instead be made as a series of dot points

• The flag was changed to show our support to the Euromaidan protesters in Ukraine. This appears to be the consensus position of the region and our co-founders Novaya Stalina and Czechmate are also ethnically Ukrainian(-American).
  
• More was more debate about Crimean issue, especially the underlying issue of a region's right to secede, as well as the actual degree of support for Russia there. The region generally agrees that the execution and motives wasn't the best.

On to the NS related updates, since this is Gameplay.

• Eastern Europe region has adopted Solidarity Voting - A style of voting which aims to have all nation voting the same way. The form used in Eastern Europe is quite lax, nations are only encouraged to vote the same way as their fellow nations and praised when this occurs. There has not as yet been any singling out of non-compliant nations, and another future records will be done for informational purposes.

Some of the votes that were saved, unfortunately I forgot to save all of them. The ones in bold are where Eastern Europe has voted opposite the worldwide voting decision. The one after the divider are voting under Rotational Delegacy Voting as well

Commend Hobbesistan: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 0-11 (100% Against). Overall vote against
Fracking Protocol: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 6-3 (66% For). Overall vote against
Condemn The Dourian Embassy: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 6-3 (66% For). Overall vote against
Commend Abacathea: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 9-1 (90% For). Overall vote for
Repeal "Ethics in International Trade": Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 9-1 (90% For). Overall vote for
Cultural Site Preservation: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 8-2 (80% For). Overall vote against.
Commend Anime Daisuki: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 1-9 (90% Against). Should be 1-10 as one nation TGed afterwards that he was away and missed it. Overall vote against.
Liberate St Abbaddon: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 9-1 (90% For). Overall vote for.

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Repeal "On Abortion" Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 1-7 (87% Against). Overall vote against.
Commend Blackbird: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 1-7 (87% Against). Overall vote against.
Moratorium on Animal Testing: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 2-6 (75% Against). Overall vote against.
Condemn Cormac A Stark: Amongst Eastern Europe residents, voting is currently 6-1 (85% For). Overall vote against. Currently still at vote

• Eastern Europe has also very recently adopted Rotational Delegacy Voting. Under this system, nations/endorsers are randomly assigned to decide how they delegate should vote for the next proposal in queue. People are allowed to trade their assignment rights with other nations. We feel this is a superior, more socialist and greater democratic voting system compared to the 'majority voting' used by most regions.
  
  One benefit is that it enfranchised minorities and prevents 'tyranny by majority' as everyone gets a chance to be 'delegate' and decide where the sought after delegate votes go. It increases participation by allowing everyone else an opportunity to experience the vote lobbying game, since nation deciding the vote and target for lobbying is different each time. There is also increased participation from trading delegate assignment rights, because some nations might really want to decide a particular vote while the assignee might want a different one.

• An important vote in Eastern Europe, highlighted in brown, was 'Commend Anime Daisuki' which was later discarded for an technical illegality. This vote is personal to Eastern Europe because of an historical disagreement between the nominee and our founders. Eastern Europe is indivisible from our founder actions and without our founder there is no Eastern Europe you see today. The outcome of the vote in the region confirms the eternal bond between our founders to the region's residents and the righteousness of his actions. We are proud this self-evident truth has been ingrained in all current peoples in Eastern Europe and will be eternally passed down to all future generations that settle on our shores.
  
  As it is assured that there'll be re-vote on this issue in the near future, Eastern Europe looks forward for another chance to strengthen our region's solidarity once again.

[Communist Eraser]

Embassies and Foreign Relations: What would Peacezone Theory Do?

Eastern Europe recent occupation had provided an opportunity to revise and affirm Peacezone Theory and what it says in managing foreign policy. Ostensibly, our occupation was caused by the gameplay implication of some of our embassy choices. As it turns out Peacezone Theory had asked the question in an update I wrote 1.5 years ago.

Unveiling the curtain - Eastern Europe opens relations with the world

Eastern Europe will now send and accept all embassy request as long as there is one WA member who agrees.

Since our refounding, Eastern Europe has kept a isolationist foreign and embassy policy. Initially it was a simple desire to be left alone after all the struggles with foreign influencers ruining our region; later on while foreign relations were allowed, our interpretation of Peacezone Theory was that establishing in-game embassies was exercising a form of delegate institutional authority which was against our principles.

Following the WFE policy change which saw the option of providing powers to all as an acceptable response within Peacezone Theory, it was felt the same could also apply to embassy policy. All WA nations now has the right to authorise sending or accepting an embassy request, just like if they were the delegate. The only difference is the 'in game noted' delegate is pressing the buttons. The WA qualification is there because one has to be a WA member to be delegate, so even if everyone is a delegate, they still need to be a WA member first.

It is acknowledged there might be conflicts where Eastern Europe accepts an embassy because one member asks for it, even though others disagree. It is better however, that the region works together to sort out any differences arising from giving authority to all, rather than succumbing to giving some and denying others, whether based on "majority vote" or any other system.

The heart of the discussion for Peacezone Theorists is the method we should pursue to achieve the most freedom for our members.

Original Peacezone Theory was elegantly simple by stripping all powers from the delegate. By not accepting any embassy, there would be no institutional favouritism of ingame embassy links for one region over another. All members would have an equal opportunity to pursue their own informal relations, the legitimacy of it determined dynamically by the level of acknowledgement gained from your fellow region members. There will be no "Eastern Europe has relations with region XYZ, only member Joe of Eastern Europe and his supporters have relations with region XYZ"

The limitations of this however was highlighted in the paper I wrote 1.5 years ago. Traditional Peacezone Theory maximises individual freedom at the expense of denying the 'wealth' of institutional power of ingame embassy links to its members. My solution was to share institutional power to all members by recognising official ingame embassy status with any region as along as any single member wants it. As proclaimed then, everyone is equally delegate with the same access to powers as the delegate.

I had not appreciated then the implications this had for third parties beyond the immediate regions seeking relations with Eastern Europe. Original Peacezone Theory was certainly safer by removing any perception of any official links between regions. Under my modified system though, would third parties, imperialists or "independents" accept the unique a system of Peacezone Theory and the conclusion that it was deliberately designed so nothing is representative of the region, only of individual members?

While that's a truly independent (as in there's nothing like it) foreign policy (hah ), I doubt it as the doctrine of collective region responsibility might be too too entrenched in the game to acknowledging something different.

In Eastern Europe, there were also more practical problems of not publicising and adhering to Peacezone Theory properly. The region had regressed to a general, ad-hoc, vague consensus system that leaned slightly to the left and without clear delineation of responsibility. As it turned out, this exposes the region to gameplay risks.