The Atlasian Cynic: Unbalanced and Cynical News and Opinions

[Dr. Cynic]

Proof That We've Run Out of Ideas

Our most recent storyline was that aliens landed, but wait! It wasn't aliens! Just those pesky Chinese playing a practical joke. Just reading that sentence, as with reading that storyline, I'm sure many of you face-palmed. I get that it was something done all in fun, but now what? The story either dies or we have a massive international incident with the Chinese. It just seems like, through the natural course of time, we've run out of creative ideas for new stories.

Now, I don't actually blame Griffin at all. On the contrary, I like Griffin and he did his part as my running mate in my ill-considered Atlasian Presidential campaign. It's just that there comes a time when activity is so low that this is what we do to maybe get a few more people interested again. This goes back to the original point made in this paper. We've come to the finish line.

Endings are not at all bad. They can be sad, but there's no reason not to keep the historical record of our work preserved, after all, the Atlasian experiment has gone now for a decade. That's quite an achievement and holding on to the wiki would be a way of reminding us that we can keep something going if we all put in a bit of effort to do so.

However, change must come and in the form of something new, be it a Presidential or Parliamentary system. This paper will continue to meet the opposition to restart with the arguments in favor. Some new ideas and a way to get the creative juices flowing again and maybe get back some of the old players who left through frustration at the stagnation. We can do it now because we did it before. In each article, the Atlasian Cynic will continue to be the voice advocating for real, radical change.

[Dr. Cynic]

A Blow To Atlasian Proportional Representation[

The Atlasian Cynic, after a brief hiatus, is returning with an article expressing the traditional doom and gloom that we've been known and widely read for. The current Presidential election, which we feel puts forward two excellent candidates for the job, still in the end, only has two candidates. The fewest in recent memory and perhaps ever (though I would have to read up on that). Taking time away from our crusade to restart Atlasia, we feel that we should point out that this Presidential election has gone from an exciting, multi-candidate race to an affair where preference voting, the long established Atlasia tradition, means nothing.

Want more proof that things are in bad shape? In the Pacific Senate race, there is no contest at all and in the others there are several two way races at various levels of competitiveness. Our grand tradition of PR is being kicked in the balls this election season. All the races will be decided in a manner of first-past-the-post. I don't know if that has ever happened in an election cycle before. Either way, it's bad news. Why? Who cares? Well, we do, for one. In order to foster competition and activity, when Atlasia was founded, it was on the principle of PR that our elections were to be fought. Preference voting is certainly the fairest system we could have come up with in order to have interesting, multi-candidate races. Now, we don't. What can we do about this? It all comes back to activity and reforming the whole structure. This paper loathes to sound like the Atlasian Pessimist, but the warning signs are there in front of us. Woe be to ye who ignore them!

[Deus Naturae]

Wait, what? There was a time when Regional Senate elections used proportional representation? How did that work?

[Dr. Cynic]

Wait, what? There was a time when Regional Senate elections used proportional representation? How did that work?

All Atlasian elections use PR. But because all too frequently only two candidates run, it devolves to FPTP. This wouldn't in itself be a bad thing on its own, but Presidential races were always multi-candidate affairs. I can't remember an election with fewer than 3 candidates.

[Napoleon]

Wait, what? There was a time when Regional Senate elections used proportional representation? How did that work?

All Atlasian elections use PR. But because all too frequently only two candidates run, it devolves to FPTP. This wouldn't in itself be a bad thing on its own, but Presidential races were always multi-candidate affairs. I can't remember an election with fewer than 3 candidates.

IRV not PR. You can't have proportional representation for a single winner race.

[Oakvale]

The ironic thing here is that FPTP would, of course, lead to much more exciting elections when we have more than one candidate.

[windjammer]

The ironic thing here is that FPTP would, of course, lead to much more exciting elections when we have more than one candidate.

What do you mean by FPTP???

[Oakvale]

First past the post, i.e. no preferential voting. Someone can win with a plurality. It'd really be a lot more interesting. Of course the downside is it might benefit the larger parties, but then again we already have a 2 + 2 half parties system so...

[windjammer]

First past the post, i.e. no preferential voting. Someone can win with a plurality. It'd really be a lot more interesting. Of course the downside is it might benefit the larger parties, but then again we already have a 2 + 2 half parties system so...

So there would be a run off?

[Oakvale]

First past the post, i.e. no preferential voting. Someone can win with a plurality. It'd really be a lot more interesting. Of course the downside is it might benefit the larger parties, but then again we already have a 2 + 2 half parties system so...

So there would be a run off?

No. Whoever gets the most votes would win. No second round.

[windjammer]

First past the post, i.e. no preferential voting. Someone can win with a plurality. It'd really be a lot more interesting. Of course the downside is it might benefit the larger parties, but then again we already have a 2 + 2 half parties system so...

So there would be a run off?

No. Whoever gets the most votes would win. No second round.

The british model??

Well, Ii guess it would be much more interesting

[Oakvale]

The problem is that it would only be interesting if we still had three or four parties - otherwise it'd just be like now.

[Hamster]

A Blow To Atlasian Proportional Representation[

The Atlasian Cynic, after a brief hiatus, is returning with an article expressing the traditional doom and gloom that we've been known and widely read for. The current Presidential election, which we feel puts forward two excellent candidates for the job, still in the end, only has two candidates. The fewest in recent memory and perhaps ever (though I would have to read up on that). Taking time away from our crusade to restart Atlasia, we feel that we should point out that this Presidential election has gone from an exciting, multi-candidate race to an affair where preference voting, the long established Atlasia tradition, means nothing.

Want more proof that things are in bad shape? In the Pacific Senate race, there is no contest at all and in the others there are several two way races at various levels of competitiveness. Our grand tradition of PR is being kicked in the balls this election season. All the races will be decided in a manner of first-past-the-post. I don't know if that has ever happened in an election cycle before. Either way, it's bad news. Why? Who cares? Well, we do, for one. In order to foster competition and activity, when Atlasia was founded, it was on the principle of PR that our elections were to be fought. Preference voting is certainly the fairest system we could have come up with in order to have interesting, multi-candidate races. Now, we don't. What can we do about this? It all comes back to activity and reforming the whole structure. This paper loathes to sound like the Atlasian Pessimist, but the warning signs are there in front of us. Woe be to ye who ignore them!

I'll run for something. So long as there's no chance of me winning (which should be all the races).

[Maxwell]

Chicken Little, I see you.

You're pretending as if this election is in bad shape but it really isn't. We have a competitive race in nearly every region. That is a definitive improvement from previous elections, not a decline, and to pretend that it is a decline is bull honkey.

I say that as someone who supports some changes in the game.

[Adam Griffin]

FPTP would favor the Right if you look at party sizes over the past year, so obviously, I'd oppose it without a runoff system attached (non-IRV). The Feds would be in their third term holding the Presidency right now under such a system; RIP Nix .

[Southern Senator North Carolina Yankee]

One would assume that people would vote differently knowing that it was FPTP, which mitigates the differences somewhat. It would move us further away from a multi-party system though, as a result.

[Dr. Cynic]

Chicken Little, I see you.

You're pretending as if this election is in bad shape but it really isn't. We have a competitive race in nearly every region. That is a definitive improvement from previous elections, not a decline, and to pretend that it is a decline is bull honkey.

I say that as someone who supports some changes in the game.

Clearly you've missed the whole point of the article and the paper

[Dr. Cynic]

Riley Keaton A Bigger Fear Monger Than This Paper!

Well, I didn't think it could happen, but it seems like the Atlasian Cynic has been dethroned as the biggest spreader of fear, doom and gloom in Atlasia. Riley Keaton, the Governor of the Mideast, improbably made the connection that DemPGH and Windjammer, the ticket this paper endorses by the way, want to call a ConCon in order to censor speech. He even started a "news" program that could help spread his nonsense. The Atlasian Cynic is all about nonsense. We've been the premier purveyors of pessimism since our founding. However, we feel our sense of pessimism is well placed within reality and yes, a ConCon is necessary in order to have the fixes that this country so desperately needs. To say the Labor ticket wants to censor speech is patently absurd.

After all, if Atlasian speech were censored, how long could Riley last? Yes, we all know he is barely wet behind the ears (he's had a very rapid rise, to his credit), but if speech really was censored around here, I'm sure he'd be squashed out like a bug. Shaken off of the Atlasian back like a bad case of fleas.

The timing of his bizarre behavior is also interesting. Riley was the subject of a draft movement for President. He chose not to fight. Could it be that rather than put himself forward for Atlasian scrutiny, he would rather snipe from the sidelines? Wouldn't the ballsy thing to do have been to actually make a run in the election? Is it because he knows DemPGH would have creamed him in the vote? We think so.

[Dr. Cynic]

Labor Party Platform Must Not Be Rubber Stamp

The Labor Party will most likely not tear itself apart over a minor kerfluffle over the platform. Even in a bitter fight, we doubt that Labor members have the stomach to split into fifth or sixth party efforts. But we must not simply rubber stamp the same platform pledges made over and over again.

As a party member, I voted Nay. My reasons are that game reform is generally glossed over and I do disagree with some of the foreign policy planks. The platform manifesto will still likely pass. I don't have serious objections to the platform, but as a political party, we must be very careful of simply rehashing the same manifesto over and over.

Much of the reason why I fear this is not that the party will slowly sputter and die. I doubt very much it would. Labor is sort of like the old JCP. Here to stay no matter what. So, I'd like to make it a more positive Atlasian force than what I viewed the JCP to be. Labor, we must have the debate. Fellow party members, we must have this debate and not become complacent. Yes, the election was a resounding success for Labor on the whole. However, we must remember to continually evolve to meet the new situations. That includes game reform and yes, we should have it out on foreign policy as well, because I don't believe there are deep ideological differences between Labor members in terms of domestic policy. So, rather than a cynical article, I'm using this paper for once to ask for something positive. A renewed effort from all party members.