[DRAFT]Of Thee We Sing

[NERVUN]

This has been buzzing around my head for a while and I finally wrote it down.

Name
Of thee we sing

Description
There’s been a minor uproar of late as it has come to light that some teachers have been punished for refusing to stand and sing the national anthem of @@NAME@@ during school ceremonies.

Validity
All nations with education

[option]"Look," claims high school history teacher @@RANDOMNAME@@ while writing large amounts of names and dates on a blackboard. "We all know the horrible things @@NAME@@ did in the past. Why should I be forced to show support for that?! It’s freedom of consciousness! I know kids look towards us as role models, but surely they should see us standing up for our rights."
[effect] students have been turning in writing assignments with themes of why @@NAME@@ is horrible
[stats] civil rights increases, stability decreases, happiness increases

[option]"I can’t believe what I’m hearing!" screams well known conservative commentator @@RANDOMNAME@@ on TV. "If kids aren’t taught the values of patriotism and respect for their country from their teachers, where are they going to learn it? I say these teachers shouldn’t just be punished; they should be forced to stand and sing! Er, of course that means we might need to hire a few more police officers."
[effect] teachers in @@NAME@@'s schools can be found enthusiastically singing the national anthem at gunpoint
[stats] stability increases, police increases, education decreases, taxes increase, civil rights decreases

[option]"You know," says your Minister of Patriotism and Propaganda @@RANDOMNAME@@ between belting out all 14 verses of the national anthem. "It’s not just the teachers who could use a little force. Did you know that most of our citizens don’t even know all the words? I think we should consider making singing, and knowing, the national anthem mandatory."
[effect] citizens of @@NAME@@ spend large parts of the day singing "nur nur nur" while trying to remember all the words to the national anthem in front of large men with black glasses and bad ties
[stats] civil rights decrease, stability increases, happiness decreases, police increase

Whatta guys think?

Edit: Current draft, added one option

Name
Of thee we sing

Description
There’s been a minor uproar of late as it has come to light that some teachers have been punished for refusing to stand and sing the national anthem of @@NAME@@ during school ceremonies.

Validity
All nations with education

Option 1:
[option]"Look," claims high school history teacher @@RANDOMNAME@@, while writing large amounts of names and dates on a blackboard. "We all know the horrible things @@NAME@@ did in the past. Why should I be forced to show support for that?! It’s freedom of consciousness! I know kids look toward us as role models, but surely they should see us standing up for our rights."
[effect] students have been turning in writing assignments with themes of why @@NAME@@ is horrible
[stats] civil rights increases, stability decreases, happiness increases

Option 2:
[option]"I can’t believe what I’m hearing!" screams well known conservative commentator @@RANDOMNAME@@, on TV. "If kids aren’t taught the values of patriotism and respect for their country from their teachers, where are they going to learn it? I say these teachers shouldn’t just be punished; they should be forced to stand and sing! Er, of course that means we might need to hire a few more police officers."
[effect] teachers in @@NAME@@'s schools can be found enthusiastically singing the national anthem or paying large fines
[stats] stability increases, police increases, education decreases, taxes increase, civil rights decreases

Option 3:
[option]"You know," says your Minister of Patriotism and Propaganda @@RANDOMNAME@@, in the midst of belting out all 14 verses of the national anthem. "It’s not just the teachers who could use a little force. Did you know that most of our citizens don’t even know all the words? I think we should consider making singing, and knowing, the national anthem mandatory."
[effect] citizens of @@NAME@@ spend large parts of the day singing "nur nur nur" while trying to remember all the words to the national anthem in front of large men with black glasses and bad ties
[stats] civil rights decrease, stability increases, happiness decreases, police increase

Option 4:
[option]"Ah", beautifully sings your Minister of the Arts and Humanities, @@RANDOMNAME@@, "But can they sing it well? It seems to me to be a great opportunity to hire a few more teachers. Voice teachers that is."
[effect] citizens of @@NAME@@ are internationally well known and respected for their beautiful singing voices
[stats] education increases

[Lowell Leber]

I like the issue, but the results are a little to skewed to a police state result for options two and three. Perhaps a fourth option, where those who do not display patriotism or succumb to "propaganda" become social pariahs?

[Sedgistan]

Options 2 and 3 seem a little similar, just with 3 being a more extreme version. It may be worth considering a more wacky option... something like improving the culture of the population by introducing mandatory singing lessons instead.

[Yuktova]

I like it. I will probably choose the 1st option. Good job, NERVUN! Love yours turly, Yuktova.

[Aescentia]

[OCD]

It's quite a neat idea - but there are a few stylistic and grammar problems in it.

Copyedited version:

Option 1:
[option]"Look," claims high school history teacher @@RANDOMNAME@@, while writing large amounts of names and dates on a blackboard. "We all know the horrible things @@NAME@@ did in the past. Why should I be forced to show support for that?! It’s freedom of consciousness! I know kids look toward us as role models, but surely they should see us standing up for our rights."
[effect] students have been turning in writing assignments with themes of why @@NAME@@ is horrible
[stats] civil rights increases, stability decreases, happiness increases

Option 2:
[option]"I can’t believe what I’m hearing!" screams well known conservative commentator @@RANDOMNAME@@, on TV. "If kids aren’t taught the values of patriotism and respect for their country from their teachers, where are they going to learn it? I say these teachers shouldn’t just be punished; they should be forced to stand and sing! Er, of course that means we might need to hire a few more police officers."
[effect] teachers in @@NAME@@'s schools can be found enthusiastically singing the national anthem at gunpoint
[stats] stability increases, police increases, education decreases, taxes increase, civil rights decreases

Option 3:
[option]"You know," says your Minister of Patriotism and Propaganda @@RANDOMNAME@@, in the midst of belting out all 14 verses of the national anthem. "It’s not just the teachers who could use a little force. Did you know that most of our citizens don’t even know all the words? I think we should consider making singing, and knowing, the national anthem mandatory."
[effect] citizens of @@NAME@@ spend large parts of the day singing "nur nur nur" while trying to remember all the words to the national anthem in front of large men with black glasses and bad ties
[stats] civil rights decrease, stability increases, happiness decreases, police increase

[/OCD]

[Frenequesta]

Question: is there actually a "stability" metric in NationStates?

[NERVUN]

Thanks for the suggestions, sorry about the silence, real life got in the way. I've slightly changed option two and added a bit of a silly option for 4, which may change again depending on something else.

[Aescentia]

A little more editing

Option 4:
[option]"Ah", sings your Minister of the Arts and Humanities, @@RANDOMNAME@@, in a beautiful voice. "But can they sing it well? It seems to me to be a great opportunity to hire a few more teachers. Voice teachers, that is."
[effect] citizens of @@NAME@@ are internationally well known and respected for their beautiful singing voices
[stats] education increases

The bit about 'beautifully sings' was technically grammatically correct, however, I felt it would be a bit more flowing if I moved the modifier to the last clause.

[Antariel]

If you want to have a bit of difference between 2 & 3, what about replacing one of them with:

[option] "I'm incensed!", bellows empassioned radical @@RANDOMNAME@@, waving a placard, "In this day and age, why should we have to sing a national anthem?? We should be able to express our appreciation for @@NAME@@ however we want! Freedom of expression is everything!"
[effect] Instead of a national anthem, many of the population now resort to interpretive dance or streaking.
[stats] civil rights increase, nudism increases

[Nation of Quebec]

Nice to see a resident mod try their hand at writing issues. I have a few comments on your draft which I hope you find helpful.

I don't believe that there is such as thing as a stability marker for stats. It would be interesting if there was such a thing, but I'd suggest removing all references to stability markers. There is also no specific marker for police. Replace that with either "law and order budget" or "spending/funding for law and order".

For option four, I'd say that most cultured ranking would likely increase as the nation is becoming more musically inclined.

[Dukopolious]

Big improvement. Nice Job Nervun