A Rebuttal to Mr. Andelarion's Green Resolution

[Braden Indianensis]

Recently, it has been suggested by Ric Andelarion that all law made in Shireroth be made by the Landsraad, with the Kaiser holding power-of-veto. Well, I would like to say that this would defeat the purpose of our simulation. If the Kaiser's only duties, are to either veto or sign laws, then we might as well melt down the Crown Jewels and elect a President of Shireroth. A complete democracy is not what we're trying to simulate here.

[andelarion]

Mr Julii,

With the soon-to-be-new feudal system in place the Kaiser would still be able to make decrees as long as they don't conflict with the Lawbook, and more importantly, the Kaiser would in effect appoint dukes (thereby controlling part of the Landsraad). I would hardly call that a democracy.

[Braden Indianensis]

All powers of legislation should be given the Landsraad. The Kaiser would still have the power to veto legislation.

So, decrees aren't legislation?

[osmose1000]

Smells like democracy to me. In fact, it sounds exactly like American democracy.

[Braden Indianensis]

I'm interested in reforms and equity, but a democracy like America's is not what Shireroth is.

[andelarion]

With the current feudal system Shireroth is more or less a democracy. No one can become duke or baron without the consent of the subserviants.

What I propose is not about making Shireroth a democracy. On the contrary, I hope to achieve more powers to the Nobles, who, in my opinion, should be appointed by the Kaiser and not the people under him.

[Braden Indianensis]

It should be one or the other, on either pole--
1.) The Kaiser holds most of the power, Landsraad and Ministries exist by his will and pleasure, and do those things delegated to them.
2.) The Kaiser shares about equal power with all of the people.

It has to be one or the other, no more of this pussyfooting around, giving more and more power to nobles. We need to be decisive.

[andelarion]

Why do we have to choose from two extremes?

[Braden Indianensis]

Because Shireroth will either become a limited monarchy with the interests of all the people in mind, or it must remain an absolute monarchy.

[osmose1000]

That's a bit much, Baldwin. It's more than just a choice between two extremes. Shireroth has existed for the majority of it's life with the half-democratic-half-feudal-half-monarchy system and most of the citizens around here are happy with the compromise, ignoring the activity issues. I have no idea where you got the gung ho idea that it has to be one way or another.

This Green Resolution isn't a good step, though, in my opinion. True, right now the contract system is more or less democratic, and doesn't even function well on a basic level. Hence why I've been (successfully) working out a return to the old feudal system with Bill. The rebellions decree is just one of the changes - I've been pushing for a repeal of the contract system for a while now and have been getting some positive feedback. Time constraints have stalled the conversation, but I'm hoping that Bill agrees with my view that we need to go back to the Kaiser-granted Nobility system and start re-tweaking it and other aspects of the nation to try and nurse it back into activity.

Although it seems that more and more citizens are dropping away from Shireroth, we've got to make some sort of effort to salvage what we have. I think that after some reform we can start looking for prospective newbies and ask them exactly what they want to do, and use that input to form a new way of functioning in Shireroth.

I believe by removing tedious things such as contracts and simply making it an "ask and you will recieve if I feel like it" system, we can encourage the fun parts of Shireroth. And that's basically what my stance is. The Green Resolution conflicts with how I'd like things to work, and as such I don't support it. Nor do I support a panic-induced "one or the other" view. The gentle balance is what has made Shireroth what it was and what it may hope to be again.