GPA Declaration of Neutrality

[Sal Paradise]

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

A marvelous quote, often used without regard to context or an appreciation for the philosopher whose serenading visage graces my avatar. It is commonly quoted as it is seen here, with thanks to the venerable Regent of Valhalla, butchered with lines removed to skew the meaning.

Quoted below is the entire quote. It's removed parts restored and bolded for comparison.

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things: the decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks nothing worth a war, is worse. When a people are used as mere human instruments for firing cannon or thrusting bayonets, in the service and for the selfish purposes of a master, such war degrades a people. A war to protect other human beings against tyrannical injustice; a war to give victory to their own ideas of right and good, and which is their own war, carried on for an honest purpose by their free choice--is often the means of their regeneration. A man who has nothing which he is willing to fight for, nothing which he cares more about than he does about his personal safety, is a miserable creature, who has no chance of being free, unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.

Far more interesting, I'd say. And when you're a petty oligarchy of power with little better to do than hurl abuse on the meek over an ancient dispute, not as convenient a weapon.

Edited February 22, 2009 by Sal Paradise

[Thomasj_tx]

R&R removed their name from this over a year ago

http://forums.cybernations.net/index.php?s...mp;#entry363846

Thank you! The list has been corrected.

I hope that you will consider re-signing our DoN. If you have any questions please let me know.

[gamer42_au]

The DoN is not really a treaty - signing it (or not) does not mean that we will treat you differently. We treat everyone the same. Like our Charter, it is a public statement of our values and principles, together with the behaviours that we will follow. Signatories are acknowledging that these are our values and principles and the behaviours we are trying to follow.

While the GPA is unusual in CN, because most nations and alliances see warfare (including offensive wars) as an element in acheiving their goals, I don't think it would be correct to characterise us as unique. For instance The Democratic Order has a rather similar Declaration of Global Neutrality.

In choosing to be part of the GPA, our nations have also chosen the path of non-intervention. We focus on internal matters and are partners with the rest of CN through resource trades, tech trades and donation trades; but we are not players in the games of inter-alliance politics.

In many ways the Charter and the DoN are the core documents of the GPA; we assess everything else we do against the standard of whether it conforms with these.

[The Big Bad]

Thank you! The list has been corrected.

I hope that you will consider re-signing our DoN. If you have any questions please let me know.

You really should start from scratch cause I have a feeling this is going to keep happening. If your not sure who should be on it just start over.

[rabonnobar]

I remember waaaaaaay back when, I tried to get DefCon on as a signatory, and you guys were odd about it. This was like almost two years ago. So poo on you.

Just kidding grats on the er simplification.

[KahlanRahl]

“Neutrality, as a lasting principle, is an evidence of weakness” - Lajos Kossuth, Hungarian freedom fighter

'Neutrality' is a situational ethos and needs two things: a situation to be neutral about and at least two poles of thought/behavior to be neutral between. Then, one can have the involved parties sanction your neutrality and you don't have to take sides. Permanent 'neutrality' is unmaintainable - and giving you a signature you can point to and say "See? All these people certify we are neutral" is what got you into your mess last year in the first place.

'Isolationist'? Definitely. 'Non-aligned'? OK. 'Pacifistic'? Perhaps. But, neutral in all things? We know better. We've been there.

Neutral =/= isolationist. And I would not place us under that category, IMHO.

Edited February 22, 2009 by ConfessorRahl

[Sir Keshav IV]

Congrats on the new DoN

[MikeSierra]

I would like to extend my personal congratulations to the GPA on the new DoN.

[Bob Janova]

Neutral =/= isolationist. And I would not place us under that category, IMHO.

Independent, not neutral?

:lol:

[bill n ted]

Will GPA ever change?

Thank you! The list has been corrected.

I hope that you will consider re-signing our DoN. If you have any questions please let me know.

Yes, you were given a preview and an option to reaffirm your signature. And I will remove your signature.

Thanks!

GPA doesnt post much on the international stage anymore and I can see why. The Great Green Techraid came about because of GPA diplomatic SNAFU's with GPA doing things that would make even the most unseasoned alliance leadership on planet bob wonder what GPA was doing and how long it would take before GPA shot themselves in the foot.

This is a simple declaration of your being "neutral" and yet you still manage to foul it up; two notable alliances having withdrawn their signature and yet GPA not only attaches their signature to a different document but also forget that those alliances actually removed their signatures from the original document some time ago.

Wouldnt life be so much easier if GPA just declared its neutrality and have done with it? In my opinion its a bit more becoming of a neutral alliance just to declare neutrality rather than going around compulsively collecting signatures as though said signatures gives some form of validity of GPA's existence and neutrality.

Having signatures on your declaration hasnt stopped you being attacked in the past when you fouled up, nor will it in future should GPA provide reason to get another beatdown; keep yourselves to yourselves and dont go treading on toes and youll be fine. All this signature collecting is doing is showing to the world that GPA is still impotent on the world stage and are unable to attach the correct signatures to a document, all be it a new document.

[uaciaut]

If you're neutral who cares? >.>

[flak attack]

This is a simple declaration of your being "neutral" and yet you still manage to foul it up; two notable alliances having withdrawn their signature and yet GPA not only attaches their signature to a different document but also forget that those alliances actually removed their signatures from the original document some time ago.

Unfortunately, the government at the time these signatures were withdrawn was not exactly the best, as I'm sure you know. We've done our best to try and clean everything up, but clerical errors are going to happen.

[hertugen]

In the words of the Government of Salernoland:

We will never sign such a treaty. Doing so would endanger our people.

Edited February 22, 2009 by hertugen

[Finster Baby]

On behalf of IRON and the IRON Council, this is to advise the world that IRON will NOT be signing the new Declaration of Neutrality.

[Thomasj_tx]

On behalf of IRON and the IRON Council, this is to advise the world that IRON will NOT be signing the new Declaration of Neutrality.

I appreciate that you took the time to consider the preview that was sent to you.

Thank you.

[raasaa]

Congrats on the new DoN, i hope it causes less trouble than the last one o/

somehow, when i first read it....i read it as, "GDA Declaration of Neutrality" :S

[heggo]

I fail to see how your clarification improves your standing.

Once upon a time I got a GPA MoFA to plainly admit that there is no value in affirming the DoN nor any compelling reason to do so. If I still had access to the forum where he said it, I would post it here.

Well, I was just defending Dante's cleverness against misquotations. Personally, I thought it was obvious that the real-world moral pitfalls associated with absolute neutrality are fairly pointless to bring up in a game where no such comparable moral dilemmas can arise.

[bill n ted]

We've done our best to try and clean everything up, but clerical errors are going to happen.

If I remember rightly it was a clerical/administrative error that allowed Lord Swampy to become an affiliate member and we all know what happened there; best watch out for those clerical errors.......

[Shodemofi-NPO]

As horrifying as it is, I'm actually going to agree with bill n ted here. (Well, just a line or two of what he said). Having people sign a Declaration of Neutrality means nothing. If they want to attack you, they'll do so anyways, you learned that last war. So lets phrase it this way, why do you want people to sign your DoN?

[Thomasj_tx]

As horrifying as it is, I'm actually going to agree with bill n ted here. (Well, just a line or two of what he said). Having people sign a Declaration of Neutrality means nothing. If they want to attack you, they'll do so anyways, you learned that last war. So lets phrase it this way, why do you want people to sign your DoN?

As to your first observation.....

It seems that this can apply to many documents that have been signed by any number of Alliances. History has shown that documents alone may not prevent an attack.

That said, the purpose of our DoN is not to "prevent" an attack. We fully realize that our actions are what will do that. This document is a declaration of our principles, and those that are signatories, 1) recognize these principles and 2) agree to reciprocal interaction with the GPA. The presence or absence of any signature does not effect the actions or values of the GPA. A signature shows recognition and acknowledgement.

[flak attack]

As horrifying as it is, I'm actually going to agree with bill n ted here. (Well, just a line or two of what he said). Having people sign a Declaration of Neutrality means nothing. If they want to attack you, they'll do so anyways, you learned that last war. So lets phrase it this way, why do you want people to sign your DoN?

Many of us see it as a way for people to let us know how we're doing at being neutral. When we're doing well, people tend to add their signatures. When we aren't, people drop them.

Edited February 22, 2009 by FlakAttack

[Thomasj_tx]

If I remember rightly it was a clerical/administrative error that allowed Lord Swampy to become an affiliate member and we all know what happened there; best watch out for those clerical errors.......

Thank you for your observation.

Actually the issue to which you refer was not a "clerical error". It was an illegal act made by long gone former member(s).

As to "clerical errors" in general....

You may recall that the GPA recently had the final term of our Peace Terms removed after nearly one year. You may also recall that the reason given as to why the term was not removed sooner was basically a "clerical or administrative error". So it seems that these "errors" can happen to even the best of Alliances and not the least the GPA. I hope that you would agree that the inclusion of a couple of signatures on a 2 ½ year old document is not on par with the illegal act that you referenced to that was committed by a long departed leader(s).

[bill n ted]

You may recall that the GPA recently had the final term of our Peace Terms removed after nearly one year. You may also recall that the reason given as to why the term was not removed sooner was basically a "clerical or administrative error".

Actually I think the GPA were forgotten about

[Archon]

Honestly, I think the reaction to all of this is hilarious. And while I'm sure plenty of entertainment can be derived from picking on the GPA, I've never really been one for it.

The Mushroom Kingdom hereby reaffirms our signature on the GPA Declaration of Neutrality. We view our signature as a recognition of the goals of the Green Protection Agency, and do this with the expectation that should there be an incident between our two alliances, it would be resolved with alacrity and to everyone's satisfaction. We furthermore recognize that there have been incidents in the Green Protection Agency's past for which they have paid dearly, but as a sovereign alliance we are not obliged to subscribe to the views and attitudes of others. We create our own, and we have not been given a reason to question this alliance's resolve or drive to achieve such a difficult goal.

Thank you.

[flak attack]

Actually I think the GPA were forgotten about

As were these withdrawals from the DoN.

Honestly, I think the reaction to all of this is hilarious. And while I'm sure plenty of entertainment can be derived from picking on the GPA, I've never really been one for it.

The Mushroom Kingdom hereby reaffirms our signature on the GPA Declaration of Neutrality. We view our signature as a recognition of the goals of the Green Protection Agency, and do this with the expectation that should there be an incident between our two alliances, it would be resolved with alacrity and to everyone's satisfaction. We furthermore recognize that there have been incidents in the Green Protection Agency's past for which they have paid dearly, but as a sovereign alliance we are not obliged to subscribe to the views and attitudes of others. We create our own, and we have not been given a reason to question this alliance's resolve or drive to achieve such a difficult goal.

Thank you.

Thank you very much.