The George R. Brown Convention Center
Houston, TX
Thurdsay, October 6th, 2016 8:00 PM EST
Good Evening Houston
Throughout the history of this game, we have born witness to two powerful dynamics in the regions. One is the witness to the awesome potential of regions providing a stepping stone to new players, putting them on a glide path to high accomplishments and even the Presidency in a very short period of time. However, on the flip side we have witness the significant impact that activity and incompetence can have on a region and the resulting impact on the economic situation in that region and in the game as a whole.
I have often said and I think it is quite accurate, that there is no such thing as economic policy in a free society. There is a series of policy areas and issues, each of which directly or indirectly affect the economy. You have the obvious ones, taxes, infrastructure, trade, education, energy, right on down to health care and even the environment. However, in Atlasia we have seen established time and again that the biggest impact on the economy comes not from those areas but from lapses in activity at the regional and federal levels.
We have cycles of boom and bust, just like in real life, but our boom bust cycles occur not in GDP but in active membership, and this as we have seen in our latest Game Moderator reports, has had a significant impact on the unemployment rates in two regions, as well as the nation as whole. This therefore requires a stimulus of sorts, but unlike the tax cuts and infrastructure one would traditionally associate with that word, for us in this present situation, a different connotation of the word is necessary. For us, we face a traditional rut that has resulted from the a shift in real life obligations. It is as predictable and expected as time itself, when people go back to college, Atlasia sees a withdrawal of members, typically the youngest and most active ones that are often powering its success in other times of the year.
For us, our stimulus has to be two fold. We have to attract newer members and former players into the game. But as I said in my speech in New York, we need to create a more welcoming environment for a more diverse crowd of Atlasians. There have been and there are examples of people who are older and working who also participate in the game. That is small in number, but we should explore diversifying our base membership to an extent practical. this will flatten out the cycles of boom-bust in our activity as well as flatten out the cycles of decline in our economy that are inevitably attached to it.
In keeping with the economic analogy. I am going to say that the above is a macro response, but there are individual circumstances within regions and as President it would be beyond my power to alter them directly. However, it is in the power of the great people and their representatives at the regional level and as President and even as a Presidential candidate it is within my responsibility to call on the people of this game to rise up and demand action in their regions. I advise you to contact your legislatures and make sure they are functioning, make sure they are addressing your concerns, and if they are not I advise you to run in the next elections.
In this game we too often forget that it is a game and it is has to be played. We too often think that reform equals fix, as in a President can sign a bill and fix everything from on high. If this were the case, when President Duke, did all in his power to fix the Pacific, it would have truly had lasting success. President Duke, Emergency Administrator Oakvale and Governor DemPGH did all they could to that extent, but the people of the region did not pick up the ball and run it down the court. There was not competition, no hunger for the game, no animating animal spirits driving forward the interaction necessary and essential for activity to be sustained.
In the South, we used to have parties that existed only on the regional level. This was not a dissolution of national parties, which failed after only six months. This was a complimentary system that allowed for the development of a sublevel of party systems at the region level. People could be members of different parties nationally and in the same party at the regional level. This created dynamism and competition in a region that was heavily dominated by conservatives and libertarians, with only a minority on the left. This system had its peak early on but faded as newer people were not exposed to it and players who championed it like Yelnoc and others faded from existence. I am glad that my campaign and more specifically an endorsement from one of those champions, Fmr. Governor Jbrase, helped bring this idea back to the forefront at a time at a when the Governor of the South is someone who likewise recalls this system. It is my firm belief that this kind of inspiration and innovation, will be inspired by this campaign going forward and will help power success, not dictated from above, but encouraged from above and percolating from below amongst the active multitudes.
At this critical point, we need a realization both of the importance and of the limits that are present at the highest office in the land. We need a surge of the people coming forward to demand and seek action on their behalf, for without that mobilization at the grassroots level, all reforms will fail. You can knock off limbs and chase a downward spiral. We can take that tempting approach, or we can move in a different direction. It starts with me calling on all Regional Authorities to organize and direct their institutions towards the immediate servicing of the people, but it ends with the people demanding and pushing it in that direction. We can have a new burst energy and activity in Atlasia at all levels of government and the only way to do it is through the people. Therefore, we must create A More Welcoming Atlasia for all players of diverse and different backgrounds, both new and former players. This along with innovations and imagination can breath new life into languishing bodies and establish competition where there is prsently none.
I cano not do this alone, no one can. I encourage you to not only come join my team, but also to actively demand action from your government officials.
Thank You, Houston! And Thank You, Atlasia! Come out and vote NC Yankee for A More Welcoming, a More Active and a More Engaged Atlasia on October 21st.
