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[DRAFT] No Laughing Matters

A place to spoil daily issues for those who haven't had them yet, snigger at typos, and discuss ideas for new ones.
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Candlewhisper Archive
Senior Issues Editor
 
Posts: 23650
Founded: Aug 28, 2015
Anarchy

[DRAFT] No Laughing Matters

Postby Candlewhisper Archive » Sat May 15, 2021 5:33 am

Because real life is messed up. 7 years old, but still in place:

https://www.businessinsider.com/china-j ... ?r=US&IR=T

SECOND:

TITLE:
No Laughing Matters

VALIDITY:
free speech very restricted but not completely

DESCRIPTION:
A stand-up comedian known for her strong anti-authority streak has made a routine about your brother, using a series of bad puns to mock his authoritarian politics.

OPTION 1
"If you let comedians get away with disrespect, then next thing they'll be mocking you as well," complains Stan Dupp-Strait, your Minister of Propriety. "Public performances that encourage dissent and questioning of state authority should be illegal, and the ones who misspoke must be made to offer formal retractions, on pain of death."
OUTCOME:
stand-up comics use their most sarcastic voices when they declare that @@LEADER@@ definitely ISN'T an autocratic windbag who will be first against the wall when the revolution comes

OPTION 2
"The problem is that these subversives will use snide jokes and clever wordplay to insult us without us knowing it," adds your brother, who the comedian had described as the 'wind beneath your wings' while pinching her nose and pulling a face. "If people want to say rude things, they ought to be saying it to our face, so we can arrest them there and then instead of ten hours later when we work out the joke. Ban puns and wordplay. That's what they do in Daguo, you know."
OUTCOME:
it obviously takes one politician to screw in a lightbulb

OPTION 3
"There's more than one way to skin a cat," says your literal-minded Minister of Solutions, cleaning a potato peeler in your sink. "But that aside, I also think there's a different solution to this comedian problem. Let her say what she wants, but maybe subsidise pro-government performers with generous stipends and state-sponsored performances. Those who use their comedy nationalistically and aim their mockery outwards should be seen as national treasures, and rewarded commensurately. Hmm. Do you have any lemon juice and baking soda? This stain is hard to shift."
OUTCOME:
the chicken crossed the road because the government told him to

OPTION 4
"I think you're strong, @@LEADER@@, a pillar of resilience," wheedles Chris Plys, your Minister of Limited Reform, flatteringly. "An upright erect column, a pillock.. ahem... a pillar of the community. You and your family can take a joke, because you're so secure in your power and authority. You know that those who mock do so because they respect you. Like if I were to jokingly say that your'e a useless waste of skin, that'd be a way of saying I respect your unmovable and unflappable quality of being able to laugh such a comment off. You should continue to show that great quality. Everyone will respect you more for it."
OUTCOME:
phonetically-speaking jeering is almost the same as cheering


FIRST:
TITLE:
No Laughing Matters

VALIDITY:
free speech very restricted but not completely

DESCRIPTION:
A stand-up comedian known for her strong anti-authority streak has made a routine about your brother, using series of bad puns to mock his authoritarian politics.

OPTION 1
"If you let comedians get away with disrespect, then next thing they'll be mocking you as well," complains Stan Dupp-Strait, your Minister of Propriety. "Public performances that encourage dissent and questioning of state authority should be illegal, and the ones who misspoke must be made to offer formal retractions, on pain of death."
OUTCOME:
stand-up comics use their most sarcastic voices when they declare that @@LEADER@@ definitely ISN'T an autocratic windbag who will be first against the wall the revolution comes

OPTION 2
"The problem is that these subversives will use snide jokes and clever wordplay to insult us without us knowing it," adds your brother, who the comedian had described as the 'wind beneath your wings' while pinching her nose and pulling a face. "If people want to say rude things, they ought to be saying it to our face, so we can arrest them there and then instead of ten hours later when we work out the joke. Ban puns and wordplay. That's what they do in Daguo, you know."
OUTCOME:
it obviously takes one politician to screw in a lightbulb

OPTION 3
"There's more than one way to skin a cat," says your literal-minded Minister of Solutions, cleaning a potato peeler in your sink. "But that aside, I also think there's a different solution to this comedian problem. Let her say what she wants, but maybe subsidise pro-government performers with generous stipends and state-sponsored performances. Those who use their comedy nationalistically and aim their mockery outwards should be seen as national treasures, and rewarded commensurately. Hmm. Do you have any lemon juice and baking soda? This stain is hard to shift."
OUTCOME:
the chicken crossed the road because the government told him to

OPTION 4
"I think you're strong, @@LEADER@@, a pillar of resilience," wheedles Chris Plys, your Minister of Just Words, flatteringly. "An upright erect column, a pillock.. ahem... a pillar of the community. You and your family can take a joke, because you're so secure in your power and authority. You know that those who mock do so because they respect you. Like if I were to jokingly say that your'e a useless waste of skin, that'd be a way of saying I respect your unmovable and unflappable quality of being able to laugh such a comment off. You should continue to show that great quality. Everyone will respect you more for it."
OUTCOME:
phonetically-speaking jeering is almost the same cheering
Last edited by Candlewhisper Archive on Sun Jun 27, 2021 11:45 am, edited 2 times in total.
editors like linguistic ambiguity more than most people

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Baggieland
Issues Editor
 
Posts: 4344
Founded: May 27, 2013
Father Knows Best State

Postby Baggieland » Mon May 17, 2021 3:29 am

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:using series of bad puns to mock his authoritarian politics.

Using a series of...

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:definitely ISN'T an autocratic windbag who will be first against the wall the revolution comes

When the revolution comes.

Candlewhisper Archive wrote:phonetically-speaking jeering is almost the same cheering

The same as cheering.

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Daarwyrth
Minister
 
Posts: 2416
Founded: Jul 05, 2016
Ex-Nation

Postby Daarwyrth » Mon May 17, 2021 1:08 pm

Finally, an issue draft that addresses @@LEADER@@'s sociopathic brother xD

I do wonder whether the core of this issue isn't a little similar to other issues on the question of comedy, and whether comedians can mock the "authority", even though the brother isn't technically the authorities. I guess it could be argued that the brother angle is what distinguishes this issue draft from the other issues with a similar topic (like #845). I do really like that angle, tho :P
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Australian rePublic
Postmaster of the Fleet
 
Posts: 27179
Founded: Mar 18, 2013
Left-Leaning College State

Postby Australian rePublic » Sat May 29, 2021 3:19 am

This is gonna be a nitpick, but the effect for option 3 should read "the chicken crossed the road because the government told her to". Chickens are girls. The boys are called "roosters"
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Trotterdam
Postmaster-General
 
Posts: 10541
Founded: Jan 12, 2012
Left-Leaning College State

Postby Trotterdam » Sat May 29, 2021 6:30 am

Australian rePublic wrote:This is gonna be a nitpick, but the effect for option 3 should read "the chicken crossed the road because the government told her to". Chickens are girls. The boys are called "roosters"
No, hens are female. "Chicken" is a gender-neutral term that includes both roosters and hens.

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Australian rePublic
Postmaster of the Fleet
 
Posts: 27179
Founded: Mar 18, 2013
Left-Leaning College State

Postby Australian rePublic » Sat May 29, 2021 10:49 pm

Trotterdam wrote:
Australian rePublic wrote:This is gonna be a nitpick, but the effect for option 3 should read "the chicken crossed the road because the government told her to". Chickens are girls. The boys are called "roosters"
No, hens are female. "Chicken" is a gender-neutral term that includes both roosters and hens.

Interesting
Hard-Core Centrist. Clowns to the left of me, jokers to the right.
All in-character posts are fictional and have no actual connection to any real governments
You don't appreciate the good police officers until you've lived amongst the dregs of society and/or had them as customers
From Greek ancestry Orthodox Christian
Issues and WA Proposals Written By Me |Issue Ideas You Can Steal
I want to commission infrastructure in Australia in real life, if you can help me, please telegram me. I am dead serious

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The Free Joy State
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Posts: 16402
Founded: Jan 05, 2014
Ex-Nation

Postby The Free Joy State » Sun May 30, 2021 4:16 am

Nice draft, but I can't help but feel that the "Minister for Limited Reform" is the wrong voice for option four. They're openly insulting @@LEADER@@ and the reform isn't that minor for a dictatorship.

How about "The Minister of Grand Reforms" -- which good mean 'awe-inspiring', 'major' or 'excellent'; and suggests how the character is suggesting the changes would be very good while actually suggesting @@LEADER@@ give critics free-pass to insult them?
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Candlewhisper Archive
Senior Issues Editor
 
Posts: 23650
Founded: Aug 28, 2015
Anarchy

Postby Candlewhisper Archive » Sun Jun 27, 2021 11:46 am

Second Draft hopefully addresses raised concerns.

Seems to me a dictatorship might have a Minister in charge of words being sufficiently righteous and correct.
editors like linguistic ambiguity more than most people


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