Ashoka the Great

Every now and then I'll notice that players have their Political Compass score as part of their signature. I cannot tell you how many times I've tried this test. More than three but less than ten, probably. Each time, I gave up somewhere around Page 3. Way back when studying for the priesthood, I took a variety of personality tests. I was interviewed by several psychologists. Before that, while working in public policy, I was given security clearance in order to fête various government-types from various countries including my own. It is said that the unexamined life is not worth living. Well, having been compelled to examine my life from a variety of vantage points, I can also tell you that the over-examined life ain't so hot, either. There's another reason I've avoided the Political Compass. As you may have picked up from the above comments, I hate tests, especially those that purport to tell me more about myself. I think they're all about as reliable as opening up the paper and checking my horoscope. (I'm a Pisces. We're supposed to be sensitive and caring and all that. Oh btw, I have the same birthday as Josef Mengele.) Anyway, tonight I decided to try the Political Compass again. Not once, but twice. In the first test, I gave nuanced answers which most closely reflect my views at any given time. In the second test, I allowed myself only the option of 'Strongly Agree' or 'Strongly Disagree'. Nothing in-between. I did this because, like most people, there are times when I feel like supporting the most drastic measures available. For example, each time I read about a serial killer being put away for life instead of genuinely paying for his crimes, I find that I am willing to support capital punishment for people who cut me off in traffic. When my own father was recently denied a place in a veterans' home because he had not served five or more years in the Canadian Army -- he served about four-and-a-half, including more than a year in combat in Korea -- I would have supported damn-near any measure that would guarantee seniors a measure of dignity. And so on. We all do this, right? I call it the 'If I Were Dictator' hypothesis. Something annoys us and in our minds we can't help but imagine how we'd do things if only we had the unlimited power to do so. (By the way, if I'm ever Supreme Dictator all office telephones, photocopiers and coffee makers will have identical instructions for use. If you've worked in more than a couple of offices, you know why.) Anyway, according to this test, here's where I sit on a normal day: I find this result to be interesting. I have spent a large part of my working life in public policy research, and the organizations I have worked for would tend to put me more to the economic right. I mean, geez, I organized Milton Friedman's (belated) eightieth birthday party in Vancouver, coinciding with a Regional Meeting of the Mont Pelerin Society. My (economic) libertarian credentials are pretty darn good, at least on paper. But, according to this test, not in practice. Interesting. Perhaps I'm mellowing in my middle age, at least with regard to economic policy. Or perhaps I've just given up on the idea of making government small again. With regard to personal liberty, that's no surprise at all. I've always been a "Get off my damn lawn" kind of guy. Alright....having dispensed with that, let's see what the world would look like if I were granted absolute power. And this is what the world would be like if I were handed supreme authority. So what have I learned? Well, apparently I'm an Authoritarian Centrist. For some reason I find that to be very funny. Or, rather, I found it funny until I compared my results with the placement of various political figures on the Political Compass: Ha ha. Very funny.

If Fark's elections are rigged, more power to the puppet masters, I say. Democracy is for chumps.

[quote name='Gopherbashi' timestamp='1293600276' post='2556998'] Also, what's defined as a "Dark Fist nation"? Any DF nations before the disbandment, when the war began, or when the war ended? [/quote] Given the number of nations who 'joined' Fark/NEW for this, I propose that merely saying "Send me tech. I'm in DF." should be sufficient. Also, send me tech. I'm in DF.

I find this....baffling.

If enough people 'join' NEW and Fark, we could call it The War of the Foreign Legions, The Volunteers' War or something along those lines.

[quote name='Comrade Craig' timestamp='1293561357' post='2556337'] Normally I have a lot of respect for you and your positions, but in this case you're dead wrong. No treaty should be a license for one-sided aggression. People who treat treaties as commodities to "cash in" are the problem, not the victim. -Craig [/quote] I judge treaties by what they actually say and how people act on them. I know, I know....it's a minority position.

[quote name='Antoine Roquentin' timestamp='1293549999' post='2556207'] What treaties? NEW was the aggressor. They raided DF despite protection notices and refused to give an apology to avoid getting retaliated against. I don't know any treaties that cover that. NEW as a collective whole decided to start their own curbstomping and it was made clear when their representative said that by apologizing he said he would betraying his membership by doing so. In what world is endorsing that following your treaties? Get off it. [/quote] [quote]Both NEW and PC understand the meaning of Mutuality and which we will defend each other till the end[/quote] [quote]We will defend each other, share information and may even go to war together.[/quote] I see nothing in there about "unless one party is the aggressor." In fact, that second quote is the [b]entire[/b] treaty between NEW and iFOK. But hey, whatever lets you and your buddies sleep well at night. It seems that unless a specific situation is explicitly written into an Agreement, either party can weasel out of it. Enjoy your precious Infra.

[quote name='PotFace' timestamp='1293502541' post='2555733'] I don't know about other cases, but in this case, I [i]promise[/i] there's absolutely nothing to gain by doing so. And I mean that from the bottom of my heart. [/quote] And yet people will do it anyway. It's this year's substitute for genuine honor.

This would be a non-issue if folks had followed their treaties.

[quote name='Dochartaigh' timestamp='1293247231' post='2553249'] hahahaha, you do realize that PC/iFOK agreed to this (not sure who actually proposed the idea). so how about stop blaming one side for it being a curbstomp when PC/iFOK could have stopped it at anytime from being a curbstomp. [/quote] And all they would have had to do was something more than....well....nothing. Best. Allies. Ever.

Congratulations Genmay Lite. May your Bunchies....ummm...do whatever a Bunchie does?

[quote name='Jocko Homo' timestamp='1293234043' post='2553060'] I don't think calling them rogues is accurate. If you must call them [i]something[/i] then I think "[b]Illegal Combatants[/b]" fits best.[/quote] I was thinking of something more along the lines of 'Foreign Legion' or 'International Brigade'. 'Illegal Combatants' still implies that they're doing something wrong.

If NoR were ever to find itself involved in this, we'd likely be on the Fark & Co. side. (Although I can connect the dots and have us on the NEW side as well.) Regardless, much respect to Zoom, Twisted and the 11 (as of right now) other PC members who are standing with their brothers in NEW. I tip my hat to you gentlemen.

[quote name='Megamickel' timestamp='1293208038' post='2552677'] [OOC]This kind of crap is why people are getting bored and leaving the game...[/ooc] NO! Your allies will IGNORE your request if they have any honor! Thor frowns on those who are too cowardly to do battle! And you are cowards for suggesting they should not fight this war! Blood must be shed to appease the blood god! [/quote] I rather like the way you think, Gentle Sir. And indeed, this stifling of conflict is indeed tiresome. [OOC]I'm tempted to give up and press the delete button myself. Call it whatever you like, but from my vantage point the Infra>Friends crowd is carrying the day and has been doing so for a while now.[/OOC]

Fare thee well, Hizzy. [ooc]You should still have my contact info. Let's do lunch next time you're driving past my house.[/ooc]

On a scale of one to ten I'm giving this a yawn. Enjoy being destroyed.

[quote name='Balkan Banania' timestamp='1293012280' post='2549813'] I didn't, it is just the fact that your reaction is rather mild compared with the one half a year ago . [/quote] I've learned to accept that there are faithless cowards in all parts of the Cyberverse. Acceptance brings a modicum of tranquility to one's protests.

[quote name='Balkan Banania' timestamp='1292974625' post='2548863'] Also I await the great KingZog to start a campaign against the cowards, like you know last time [/quote] You seem to have missed many of my posts, for I've already made it quite clear that I believe PC/iFOK are cravenly avoiding a situation in which they would find themselves on both sides of a large conflict.

If I die, my cats will feast on my corpse. I love them that much.

/me strokes his stache Hmmm....

[quote name='Joe Izuzu' timestamp='1292966297' post='2548679'] Well, with us it was because NSO emphatically told us not to enter. With you guys it is because you told NEW that you wouldn't enter. Kind of a large difference there, don't you think? [/quote] It pains me to say that I largely agree with you on this.

[quote name='Sigrun Vapneir' timestamp='1292893483' post='2547289'] For the record, I am disappointed with all involved. This has been building for a long time and should never have gone this far. [/quote] I tend to agree with you. Things only reached this point because Nordreich was too merciful with respect to the initial transgressions. (That's right, kids. 'Nordreich the Merciful'. My how times have changed.) Also.... Hi, Sigrun. Miss you!

[quote name='ktarthan' timestamp='1292898626' post='2547385'] Nice speculation. [/quote] Actually, the 'nice speculation' was in that other thread wherein a number of people said that iFOK and PC would [i]never[/i] leave an ally twisting in the wind. Hilarious.

When MK launched all those nukes in the noCB War, t'was a beautiful thing to behold.

[quote name='wickedj' timestamp='1292883406' post='2547074'] Werent you bashing NSO/NPO for this SAME thing>[/quote] I was one of those people at the time. And I'm one of them now. PC/iFOK don't want to 'break' the treaty web, so they effectively nullified treaties with an alliance that would have died for them. Bravo, gentlemen. Bravo.