[ACCEPTED] A Little Gift from a Friend

[Jutsa]

So this is an issue idea I decided to make specifically for nations with bad economies.
Ever wonder why you can give foreign aid but never get offered any?
Well, Skandilund's going to help you out - for a price.

Title: A Little Gift from a Friend
The Issue: Skandilund has proposed sending financial aid to help your nation's troubled economy.
Validity: Nation has a very bad economy

Option 1: "I see your nation's been having a bit of financial trouble, @@LEADER@@," notes a representative from Skandilund, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "If you let us, we'd be more than happy to provide some help to your nation by allocating some funds to you for economic growth. Granted, we'd like to be paid back, eventually, but you'll be more than able to once you get your feet off the ground."
[effect]the nation's debt is double its GDP

Option 2: "Our economy is doing perfectly fine without you, thank you very much!" asserts your Minister of Finance to the Skandilund representative, adding a few zeros to a number under "economic output" to prove @@HIS@@ point. "Sure, we may not have a powerhouse economy, but being effectively ruled by a foreign economy just to wind up crippled in debts? I think you'd better take your business elsewhere."
[effect]children must live in poor conditions while the government rejects money

Option 3: A dodgy @@MAN@@ in an overcoat pulls you into another room. "Yo, buddy. I couldn't help but hear you've got a sweet deal made out for you. Now listen, don't pass up an opportunity like this. That money can fund an effective military capable of squashing them if they want their precious gifts to be repaid. We keep the money, they get the zip, and we become a military power to be reckoned with. It's win-win for us, buddy!"
[effect]trade has been halted on account of embezzlement

Title: A Little Gift from a Friend
The Issue: Skandilund has proposed sending financial aid to help your nation's troubled economy.
Validity: Nation has a very bad economy

Option 1: "I see your nation's been having a bit of financial trouble, @@LEADER@@," notes a representative from Skandilund, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "If you let us, we'd be more than happy to provide some help to your nation by allocating some funds to you for economic growth. Granted, we'd like to be paid back, eventually, but you'll be more than able to once you get your feet off the ground."
[effect]the nation's debt is higher than its GDP

Option 2: "Our economy is doing perfectly fine without you, thank you very much!" asserts your Minister of Finance to the Skandilund representative, adding a few zeros to a number under "economic output". "Sure, we may not have a powerhouse economy, but being effectively ruled by a foreign economy just to wind up crippled in debts? I think you'd better take your business elsewhere."
[effect]children must live in poor conditions while the government rejects money

Option 3: A dodgy @@MAN@@ in an overcoat pulls you into another room. "Yo, buddy. I couldn't help but hear you've got a sweet deal made out for you. Now listen, don't pass up an opportunity like this. That money can fund an effective military capable of squashing them if they want their precious gifts to be repaid. We keep the money, they get the zip, and we become a military power to be reckoned with. It's win-win for us, buddy!"
[effect]trade has been halted on account of embezzlement

Title: A Little Gift from a Friend
The Issue: Skandilund has proposed sending financial aid to your nation.
Validity: Nation has a very bad economy

Option 1: "I see your nation's been having a bit of financial trouble, @@LEADER@@," notes a representative from Skandilund, @@RANDOMNAME@@. "If you let us, we'd be more than happy to provide some help to your nation by allocating some funds to your economy. Granted, we'd like to be paid back, eventually, but you'll be more than able to once you get your feet off the ground."
[effect]the nation's debt is higher than its GDP

Option 2: "Our economy is doing perfectly fine without you, thank you very much!" asserts your Minister of Finance to the Skandilund representative, adding a few zeros to a number under "economic output". "Sure, we may not have a powerhouse economy, but being effectively ruled by a foreign economy just to wind up crippled in debts? I think you'd better take your business elsewhere."
[effect]children must play with sticks while the government rejects money

Option 3: A dodgy @@MAN@@ in an overcoat pulls you into another room. "Yo, buddy. I couldn't help but hear you've got a sweet deal made out for you. Now listen, don't pass up an opportunity like this. That money can fund an effective military capable of squashing them if they want their precious gifts to be repaid. We keep the money, they get the zip, and we become a military power not to be reckoned with. It's win-win for us, buddy!"
[effect]trade has been halted on account of embezzlement

[Trotterdam]

Some similarity to #337, but probably meaningfully distinct by focusing on economy rather than healthcare. Might want to look into exactly how these funds would be used to improve the economy, though.

and we become a military power not to be reckoned with

You don't want that word there.

[Jutsa]

Derp! <_>

Removed "not". Also changed "your economy" to "you for economic growth" in option 1.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Aussie Republic did this subject a little while back in a draft called "What to do About Foreign Aid".
viewtopic.php?t=400224&f=13&view=unread

Wasn't quite up to publication standard, but I think he'd be interested in knowing you're giving this topic another spin.

[Jutsa]

That's certainly an interesting draft.

Funnily enough, his options 1, 2, and 3 are very much like my options 2, 3, and 1 - well ok the 2:3 correlation's very loose but it's still interesting, regardless.

[Australian rePublic]

Ha, I forgot about that one. Take what you need

[Jutsa]

Bump~

Thank you, Aussie, although I don't really think I'll be needing anything from that draft.
On the other hand, if you'd really like me to take something the draft, I could try to squeeze something in.

[Australian rePublic]

Upto you mate, it's your draft

[Jutsa]

Weekly bump.

[Fauxia]

Maybe you should add a sentence in the description that mentions how terrible your economy is, which is why the foreign aid

[Jutsa]

added this:

's troubled economy.

[Australian rePublic]

The second effect doesn't sit well with me. Rich kids can play with sticks. Besides, poverty brings worse problems than not having toys

[Merconitonitopia]

what's wrong with children playing with sticks? you're telling me you didn't play with sticks as a child?

[Jutsa]

Ah... fair enough...

changed "play with sticks" to "live in poor conditions" - don't know if that'll suffice, but the change was made regardless.

[Fauxia]

Nice issue Jutsa!

Description- "help" sounds a bit unprofessional to me. I'd change it to "assist"
Fallout 1- Good overall, although maybe instead of just "higher" say "double" or "triple" or something even more outlandish (it should seem highly unlikely). Some real countries (cough, USA) have larger debts than GDPs, so that seems a bit too factual.
Option 2- pretty sure quotations always go after periods, but no matter what, it looks pretty ugly. Could you move the phrases around a bit?
Fallout 2- Not a bad effect idea, but it doesn't sound all that great to me... could you "perform some surgery" on it?

Nothing else to say really. Good luck!

[Jutsa]

Glad you like it, Fauxia!

@Option 1: I was kinda doing that to poke fun at the U.S, but I can change it to "double".

@Option 2: I think it's fine, myself, but I can see the neighboring quotation marks to be quite a confusing little gurfuffle.
What about saying "to prove his point" to help separate them?

@Option 3: idk what kind of surgery to do on it - cosmetic surgery? What kind of cosmetics should I add?

[Jutsa]

Implemented changes for options 1 and 2, although I also replaced "his" with @@HIS@@. whoops!

I still don't know what you meant by option 3's effect line. Er - anything else I should do to this draft?

[Bears Armed]

What the title brings to mind: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R6qFG0uop9k

[Jutsa]

Submitted.

[Fauxia]

Good luck.

[Drayxaso]

Good luck. I actually had begun to write out some suggestions, but I suppose it's too late now. Hope this gets published!

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Write them anyway. If / when we edit and publish, we always double back to and read through drafting threads, and we may use whatever you suggest.

[Drayxaso]

Write them anyway. If / when we edit and publish, we always double back to and read through drafting threads, and we may use whatever you suggest.

Alright then. Here you go. Not entirely sure how useful this will be to you guys.

The Issue: Skandilund has proposed sending financial aid to help your nation's troubled economy.

This is a rather simplistic description. Just stating that you got foreign aid is rather dull and seems random.

If I were you, I'd go with something like, "After a popular United Federationite documentary brought @@NAME@@'s poverty to eye of the international public, multiple aid groups and countries, chief among them Skandilund, have begun to offer @@NAME@@ large amounts of financial aid."

Option 2: "Our economy is doing perfectly fine without you, thank you very much!" asserts your Minister of Finance to the Skandilund representative, adding a few zeros to a number under "economic output" to prove @@HIS@@ point. "Sure, we may not have a powerhouse economy, but being effectively ruled by a foreign economy just to wind up crippled in debts? I think you'd better take your business elsewhere."
[effect]children must live in poor conditions while the government rejects money

This option isn't very appealing, and I really can't see very many people choosing it. I think that the best way to improve it would be to try to make the Minister's point more focused on pointing out that receiving foreign aid would make @@NAME@@ dependent on other countries. Alternatively, you could try to undermine option 1's point.

We keep the money, they get the zip,

They get the zip? What does that mean? Maybe you should instead try "They get prestige" or something.

[effect]trade has been halted on account of embezzlement[/box]

This could be a lot better. I'd go with "Foreign aid is used to make government-sanctioned @@LEADER@@ memorabilia."

[Jutsa]

Ah well. I'm sure the editors can either have me do something or do it themselves, if they even accept the issue.

[Drayxaso]

Ah well. I'm sure the editors can either have me do something or do it themselves, if they even accept the issue.

Hopefully it'll get in. Generally I try to focus on one issue at a time, so it's always strange to me when people write a bunch at once and finish them quickly.