Middle Barael Q&A (Forest + Anyone Else) (IC or OOC)

by **Middle Barael** » Sun Oct 18, 2020 5:56 pm

Hi there!

We’ve been seeing seeing many of these Q/A and AMA type threads across F7, so we decided to do one too! Many of you may have seen us across F7, NationStates, National and International Information, and even from time to time on General or International Incidents!

Anyway, you guys can ask any questions you may want to know about Middle Barael, but first I’ll give a bit of background info (spoilered of course).

Anyone canon answer, though I’m putting the Forest tag in the title to let my fellow Forestians know that I’m Forestian, and also for a Cultural Challenge I started in Forest.

Anyways, I hope you all enjoy, now ask away!

by **Middle Barael** » Sun Oct 18, 2020 5:58 pm

You can now post here below

by **Free Ravensburg** » Sun Oct 18, 2020 5:59 pm

What happened to Lower Barael

by **Middle Barael** » Sun Oct 18, 2020 6:05 pm

Free Ravensburg wrote:What happened to Lower Barael

Nothing

! There never was one.

IC:
The name came up for two main reasons.

Firstly, the people of Cothon (one of the two main countries that united to form Middle Barael back in 1947, the other being the State of Barael) did not want the name of the new, united nation to be Barael, as that was already the name of the State of Barael. They were adamant that it had to be changed somehow, but the people of Barael wanted “Barael” to be in the name, so they agreed that the name for the new, united country would be “____ Barael”.

As for what the “____” was, at first they thought of “New Barael”, but that was vetoed because it made people wonder where the Old Barael was, even though there never really was an Old Barael other than the State of Barael. Thus, they ended up choosing “Middle Barael”, as it reflected the Baraelan philosophy that “one should remember the past, create the future, but remain in the middle”.

OOC:
The name “Barael” was taken, and I didn’t like the name “New Barael” or “Old Barael” because of that same philosophy mentioned above, so I chose “Middle Barael”

Sorry if this was a bit confusing, Baraelim can be overly pedantic sometimes

by **Middle Barael** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 12:24 pm

/bump

by **Brettenwald** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:08 pm

What do you like most about NationStates?

by **Middle Barael** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 3:47 pm

Brettenwald wrote:What do you like most about NationStates?

I love most of it: the ability to run my own fictional country, the lore, the communities (both RMB and forums), even the politics and the memes

When I first joined NS I thought I’d only play it for the ability to run my own fictional country, to shape my own political ideology, but by now I’ve realized that it’s something more, than it is about the world at large and not just my own country, though of course my own country is great too!

by **Empirical Switzerland** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 4:35 pm

When was Middle Barael founded?

by **Middle Barael** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:13 pm

Empirical Switzerland wrote:When was Middle Barael founded?

We were formed in 1947, when the Republic of Cothon merged with the State of Barael. Later on, in 1957, the island nation of Garydos joined the union, though most Baraelim outside of Garydos and nearby islands do not consider this to be as big of an event in the history of Middle Barael. In 1967, twenty years after the original was written, Middle Barael received a new constitution, one that is still used today. This new constitution, among other things, reformed the political system to be a proportional representation system, with IRV voting and party lists, as well as increasing the power of the King (the King is not a monarch, it is a position democratically elected for 13 year terms, similar to a President) and reforming campaign finance laws and establishing anti-trust and anti-gerrymandering laws for politics. This 1967 constitution is still used today, even though many of the factors that caused it, such as the Neo-Heritage Movement and the Hippie Movement, as well as the autocratic rule of one of the PMs, do not exist anymore.

by **Brettenwald** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:41 pm

Middle Barael wrote:
Brettenwald wrote:What do you like most about NationStates?

I love most of it: the ability to run my own fictional country, the lore, the communities (both RMB and forums), even the politics and the memes

When I first joined NS I thought I’d only play it for the ability to run my own fictional country, to shape my own political ideology, but by now I’ve realized that it’s something more, than it is about the world at large and not just my own country, though of course my own country is great too!

Aside from the cliche answer of NSG, what is one thing you don't like about NationStates?

by **Middle Barael** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 7:46 pm

Brettenwald wrote:
Middle Barael wrote:I love most of it: the ability to run my own fictional country, the lore, the communities (both RMB and forums), even the politics and the memes

When I first joined NS I thought I’d only play it for the ability to run my own fictional country, to shape my own political ideology, but by now I’ve realized that it’s something more, than it is about the world at large and not just my own country, though of course my own country is great too!

Aside from the cliche answer of NSG, what is one thing you don't like about NationStates?

Hmmmm....

I guess the politics debates get annoying at times. (God I can’t believe I’m saying this, me the person who manages to bring politics into every conversation, even ones about Halloween and Among Us). I try to avoid General due to this, as I feel sometimes it devolves into just a bickering cesspool where people are not willing to compromise, and where nobody does the responsible thing and ends the conversation by agreeing to disagree.

Also, the entire card farming thing is really confusing and annoying IMO (sorry people who card farm, I still like you), and sometimes some of the NS Sports and Global Economics and Trade things can feel either irrelevant or micro-managing.

But for the most part, I love NS, and I can’t say that many bad things about it tbh

Edit: Now I’m curious; what is the cliché NS answer? Also why do you guys call it NSG and not just NS?

by **Brettenwald** » Mon Oct 19, 2020 8:09 pm

Middle Barael wrote:
Brettenwald wrote:Aside from the cliche answer of NSG, what is one thing you don't like about NationStates?

Hmmmm....

I guess the politics debates get annoying at times. (God I can’t believe I’m saying this, me the person who manages to bring politics into every conversation, even ones about Halloween and Among Us). I try to avoid General due to this, as I feel sometimes it devolves into just a bickering cesspool where people are not willing to compromise, and where nobody does the responsible thing and ends the conversation by agreeing to disagree.

Also, the entire card farming thing is really confusing and annoying IMO (sorry people who card farm, I still like you), and sometimes some of the NS Sports and Global Economics and Trade things can feel either irrelevant or micro-managing.

But for the most part, I love NS, and I can’t say that many bad things about it tbh

Edit: Now I’m curious; what is the cliché NS answer? Also why do you guys call it NSG and not just NS?

NSG was the cliche answer, it stands for NationStates General, aka just plain General, aka the place where well-constructed arguments go to die.

by **Middle Barael** » Tue Oct 20, 2020 4:47 pm

Brettenwald wrote:
Middle Barael wrote:Hmmmm....

I guess the politics debates get annoying at times. (God I can’t believe I’m saying this, me the person who manages to bring politics into every conversation, even ones about Halloween and Among Us). I try to avoid General due to this, as I feel sometimes it devolves into just a bickering cesspool where people are not willing to compromise, and where nobody does the responsible thing and ends the conversation by agreeing to disagree.

Also, the entire card farming thing is really confusing and annoying IMO (sorry people who card farm, I still like you), and sometimes some of the NS Sports and Global Economics and Trade things can feel either irrelevant or micro-managing.

But for the most part, I love NS, and I can’t say that many bad things about it tbh

Edit: Now I’m curious; what is the cliché NS answer? Also why do you guys call it NSG and not just NS?

NSG was the cliche answer, it stands for NationStates General, aka just plain General, aka the place where well-constructed arguments go to die.

Ah, ok, I understand.

When I made this thread, I didn’t expect that I’d be the one asking questions and that you’d have to answer me!

by **Mordka** » Wed Oct 21, 2020 2:50 am

Did you ally with the US or the USSR during the cold war or just remained neutral.

by **Middle Barael** » Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:34 pm

Mordka wrote:Did you ally with the US or the USSR during the cold war or just remained neutral.

We tried to remain relatively neutral and pacifist, trying to be nice to both sides, but trade-wise we were much more allied with America, though most of all we liked the EU and it’s fore-bearers.

I guess our position was similar to Switzerland or even Austria: we were officially neutral, and we remained friendly with both sides, but we preferred the US and the EU.

Also great question!

by **Mowte** » Thu Oct 22, 2020 6:36 pm

When was the last war you fought in, and what was it? Also is it from your own personal Lore, the issues, and RP thread, or a combination of both?

by **Middle Barael** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 11:18 am

Mowte wrote:When was the last war you fought in, and what was it? Also is it from your own personal Lore, the issues, and RP thread, or a combination of both?

We fought in the Malah War on the side of BEKM, FACP, and Gandenia back in the 50s and 60s. The war went on a couple more years, but we completely pulled out in 1967 after massive anti-war protests and the impeachment of the unpopular, pro-war PM. The war began after The Order of Malah invaded the FACP Confederation. BEKM proceeded to attack Malah, and Gandenia soon joined in to support Malah. We of course supported the BEKM-Gandenia-FACP side, and we sent troops to aid them.

However, the PM who joined the war was quite unpopular, authoritarian (though not undemocratic), and Red Scare anti-communist, and so beginning in 1961 and beginning to gain traction in 1963 and 1964 a number of new movements formed, including the Heritage Movement, the Neo-Heritage Movement, the Hippie Movement, the Blue-Green Wave, the Minority Rights Era, and finally the MB Anti-War Movement.

These movements reached a high point in 1967, where they managed to first impeach and later unseat the unpopular PM. They quickly introduced many reforms, including a new, more democratic constitution, a ton of new environmental regulations, and finally an end to the Baraelan involvement in the Malahian War. Middle Barael withdrew completely by May of that year (They were elected in January, and began the peace negotiations in February), although the war continued without them. In the end, however, the Gandenia-BEKM-FACP alliance defeated Malah, though it was to some extent a Pyrrhic victory, as BEKM and FACP lost their whole economies, saw a bunch of revolts, and even more dictators, while Malah kept their dictatorship and continued to bully around the other countries, and Gandenia saw a revolt that divided it into two.

Nowadays almost all Baraelim, regardless of their politics, praise the decision to pull out, as they know that they too may have ended up with a broken economy and either an authoritarian or an anarchical government. The social movements of the 60s slowly fazed out, and by the 80s they had essentailly just became the normal, standard centre-left politics of Middle Barael, though most Baraelim still look happily at the movements of the 60s, and they mostly support the same policies nowadays, only now those policies aren't nearly as radical and progressive as they were back in the 60s.

OOC, this is all from my brother's lore (my brother runs Gandenia, Malah, and BEKM), not from RP or issues

And sorry for giving you the whole megilla

by **Zarnicovia nova** » Mon Oct 26, 2020 4:21 pm

what is your opion of zarnicovia nova?

by **Middle Barael** » Tue Oct 27, 2020 3:23 pm

Zarnicovia nova wrote:what is your opion of zarnicovia nova?

We like them, although we don’t interact all that much with them.

The only things we disapprove of are the possession of nuclear weapons, the militarism of Zarnocovia Nova, the fact that they are a monarchy, and them having somehow lost 8 nukes.

But other than that, they seem pretty swell. Now tell me, what do the people of Zarnicovia Nova think of Middle Barael and the Baraelim?

by **Zarnicovia nova** » Tue Oct 27, 2020 3:25 pm

Middle Barael wrote:
Zarnicovia nova wrote:what is your opion of zarnicovia nova?

We like them, although we don’t interact all that much with them.

The only things we disapprove of are the possession of nuclear weapons, the militarism of Zarnocovia Nova, the fact that they are a monarchy, and them having somehow lost 8 nukes.

But other than that, they seem pretty swell. Now tell me, what do the people of Zarnicovia Nova think of Middle Barael and the Baraelim?

we're not a monarchy we're a democracy but the current leader is part of the royal family he was elected democratically

by **Middle Barael** » Tue Oct 27, 2020 4:02 pm

Zarnicovia nova wrote:
Middle Barael wrote:We like them, although we don’t interact all that much with them.

The only things we disapprove of are the possession of nuclear weapons, the militarism of Zarnocovia Nova, the fact that they are a monarchy, and them having somehow lost 8 nukes.

But other than that, they seem pretty swell. Now tell me, what do the people of Zarnicovia Nova think of Middle Barael and the Baraelim?

we're not a monarchy we're a democracy but the current leader is part of the royal family he was elected democratically

Ohhhh, than that is better.

We too sometimes face confusion for a similar reason. Our democratically-elected Head of State is known as the King, but it is in name only. In reality, they are like any President in a semi-presidential republic, being the Head of State and the representative of Middle Barael on the world stage and in cultural affairs. The Kingship lasts for a term of 13 years, and they can have up to 2 terms, a total of 26 years in power. However, it is not hereditary, and the King doesn’t really enjoy any special privileges outside o f the normal realm of Presidential privileges. Many people get confused about this, but if they just think of the King as a fancy President, then they’d be correct

by **Middle Barael** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 10:40 am

/bump

by **Zarnicovia nova** » Sun Nov 08, 2020 9:08 pm

what do you think of New GRAIL?

by **Middle Barael** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:55 pm

Zarnicovia nova wrote:what do you think of New GRAIL?

I’m not exactly sure, I haven’t heard of them.

I vaguely know about the original GRAIL, but only that it is a defensive, militaristic, and economic alliance created by Empirical Switzerland as an alliance to defend freedom, democracy, and liberty, but other than that I don’t really know about GRAIL.

As for the “New GRAIL”, I have no clue

by **Zarnicovia nova** » Thu Nov 19, 2020 3:56 pm

do you know that we are having an election?

Middle Barael Q&A (Forest + Anyone Else) (IC or OOC)

Middle Barael Q&A (Forest + Anyone Else) (IC or OOC)

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