A Guide to the NS-Nation
Posted: Wed May 18, 2011 9:04 amIntroduction
The human body is a curious thing. Frail, weak, yet so detailed and intricate. In addition, a NS-Nation is so much like this. Therefore, for this guide/analysis of nationstates-nations, I shall frequently talk about a NS-Nation like a body. Yet this guide is not meant to blast anyone nor explain how much better I am than anyone else is, for I literally am nothing amongst the NS crowd. I am new here, started out in November of last year as Latnya and slowly became Deus. I am not important nor anyone special. Just a simple, kid-writer and thus being a kid of only fourteen I ask you to be patient with me as I speak my words. However, let us begin.
A nation is like a body, it has blood, a brain, a nervous system and other such things. However, I will be focusing on the government, politics and mindset of the ruling parties [Brain]. The common populace, and mindset of the populace [Blood] and aging [adapting/evolution of a nation]. I hope you enjoy this guide/analysis…Heh.
The Brain
A national government is much like a brain. The brain is said to control and regulate everything of the body and so too does the government do this for a nation. A government is nothing without its general populace and its general populace is nothing without its government. The human brain is complex and superbly crafted. It is not a mishmash of this and that, but an interlocking puzzle that fits. In addition, as such, a government cannot be random, but interlocking. One cannot be a pacifist while advocating war and the use of WMDs, correct. A government cannot stand against slavery, fully condemn it and all nations and then ally itself with a slaver state. To make a quick analysis of II and NS nations as a whole, I have seen many nations that just rush into the game, no prior thought or planning, yet simply basing themselves off something and then playing by the rule of cool. Nothing wrong with that, nothing at all. But if you ever wanted to be “something” amongst II, or even make stories and RP that others will read and think “Wow…Nice stuff”, then you must not rush.
A brain and body are centred on one thing, survival. This instinct governs everything else. As I have said before, in the face of destruction mothers will kill their children. A government should [at least realistically] focus on the same. Yes, governments can have goals, plans, etc., but they realistically always benefit the state in some way and thus, increase survivability. Politics is a tricky game. To many times have I seen nations that are the cut/paste monarchy or military city-state. Nothing wrong with this, but think for a moment, think of the vast numbers exactly like you, little military city-state, how unoriginal and black and white you are. If you like, it, that is cool, I only wish to make the game more enjoyable. If not, then try to add a brief sparkle of this innate survival instinct to your government or people. In the face of destruction, a government and state will have a flight or fight reaction. Fight does not mean stand boldly on the mountaintop, flag waving. Fight means frightened near out of your mind and clumsily clutching your gun, yet prepared to fight anyway.
A government is nothing without its people, mind you, so governments should not senselessly go killing off their population in genocides, wars, etc. etc. Having proper reasoning for any of these things is key really. However, like a brain, the government can shut down; it can go into a coma and stop. Alternatively, it can become insane and slip into random bouts or even full on anarchy. Like a brain, the government is always being influenced by foreign material. Be it the tiniest IC remark by a foreign nation about the quality of shoes to the largest condemnation by the same foreign nation. Anything and everything influences a government. In addition, as such, corruption is usually present. Corruption does not exactly mean evil men in trench coats conspiring to take over. Corruption simply means government officials here and there would be willing to bend or even break the standards of their duty [I.E: Making a tax cut to ensure equality amongst the masses, when the government is pro-capitalist and the majority did not authorize the tax cut. Just an example, I know really nothing of economics].
However, before we go to the next section, let us just generally recap. A government is like a brain. It’s mostly focused on surviving and keeping its people alive, for without its people a government is nothing. Foreign influences are everywhere and are anything. A government is always due to these influences, internal or external. A government must be an interlocking puzzle, it must fit together, it must not be random nor [largely] contradictory.
The Blood
Blood keeps the body alive; it keeps everything moving and steadily alive. As such, the general populace is the blood, for they keep the state alive and are in fact very precious. Just as blood can be lost, so can the populace. The general populace is always changing, always flowing and adapting to time and different influences. They have the instinct to survive, with the majority of them having the secondary goal of going as far as they can in life. Blood can be poisoned, either intentionally or accidently, and thus so to can the populace. A foreign, even internal threat or poison can always appear, in the form of an invasive nation or a revolution. The general populace need to be protected, because alone they are nothing but sheep. In addition, just as blood loss can totally kill a body, so can population loss ruin a state. If too many people are lost, then the state itself will die.
I have seen many nations whose population is uber-nationalistic, ready to fight tooth and nail, and that is fine, but as stated in the face of destruction insane things can and will happen. All things have a flight or fight mechanism [except bears, ratels and Kraven.] and thus so do the general populace. In the face of danger, even the most nationalistic state will cower and even its people who madly in love with the state may flee and abandon the state. Few are ever willing to die and thus I have seen many nations RP some sort of mix between Rambo and Nazi-Germany [nationalism-wise] and go down fighting. This simply is not true, for even in the face of defeat Nazi-Germany began to crack and strain under the pressure. In the face of death, the general populace and entire state should begin to crack and strain slowly. Not full on break, but slowly degrade, for when people see death, when the body is on the cusp of shutting down and dying, it will fight tooth and nail to survive and thus will do crazy things.
Yet to simply recap, the population is like blood, precious to a state. A population can always be influenced and sometimes this influence can poison the population and kill the state. The population has a flight or fight instinct and thus, on the cusp of death or destruction will both run and flee, leaving the state to die, or clumsily and frightfully fight to survive. Survival is what keeps nearly everything going, this instinct, and this motivation. In the face of destruction populations and states, will crack and strain like an egg or decaying building and will do insane things to survive for as long as possible. Insane does not mean full on anarchy, but riots, public anxiety and fear, etc. are good examples.
Aging
I could go on and on about the state being like a body…but I will save that for another time. Instead, let us wrap this up in aging. The body slowly ages, it evolves and adds, subtracts and other such things as it goes on. A state is generally the same, for over time things change and will thus adopt a new way of functioning or thinking or what have you. A state can always change, like a person, in the flash of an eye. It can slowly evolve from a republic to a dictatorship in what seems like only a few IC years. No system can stop or change evolution. In the face of destruction, a state will adapt to survive. In times of peace, the state will evolve to stop one-step ahead of others. A state is always changing, and so too is its people and government.
The government is always changing, for even if they become president for life, the leader of any given state will die and be replaced. In addition, the possibilities that this new leader will change things are high. A government will always change and can be changed by anything, be it a foreign influence or a internal cultural or social fad. And just as any foreign thing can influence a government, a government can influence its populace and vice versa. Thus, nothing is truly ever stable, for things can always change and to fight against change is always a losing battle. Implementing change into your NS-Nation is always a fun thing to do, heh, but I am not telling nor forcing you to, I am simply suggesting.
To wrap this all up, I’m not forcing or telling anyone they should change or adopt this way of thinking and RPing, I’m simply saying consider it, for it is a simple suggestion. Got any concerns, comments or questions post them below, heh.