The Unity Party/October 2009 TUP Manifesto
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The Unity Party is the largest party in the UK and the twentieth biggest in the world, with around 400 members.
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Dear Friends,
This represents the first time TUP has written their congressional manifesto and published it on the wiki rather than directly in an ingame article. We feel that is better to put the bulk of the detail of our vision for the future here, and to leave the ingame article to cover only the basics.
Because it’s the first time I’ve done it this way, I appreciate your feedback! And of course, PMs are always welcome. We at TUP get more than forty inquiries a week covering topics such as wellness and warfare, as well as requests for information about our history, vision and goals.
Your support is welcomed. As we face difficult times, with a strong opposition, we have to remember that our strength has always been in our members. Young, ambitious players will find that TUP is always eager to get you involved from day one, and help lift you into your chosen line of work in erep. Be it military, congressional, governmental or business orientated we are here to help.
So without further ado, our manifesto for October ‘09
Contents
Financial Affairs
Where’s the money? A pertinent question. Over the last few months the government has printed ever increasing amount of cash, yet the value of GBP seems to have risen all the same! Even the average citizen will have noticed the financial markets are a bit messed up as well, with prices and wages both taking a hit.
Unsurprisingly, all this happening at once isn’t a coincidence! Basically we have fallen foul of three overlapping problems. Firstly, the admins messed up the productivity formulas. The formulas are designed (or were originally) like RL, so that society would always produce less than enough goods to supply itself. This way an economic hierarchy emerges, with the haves and have-nots being separated by earnings and prices. The issue is that now the world is producing more than it needs! We are literally in a post-scarcity society. Wiki that to find out what it is, but what it is in short is every socialists wet dream and a massive nightmare for any government designed to take advantage of scarce resources (ie. All of them).
Secondly, and tied closely in with the first problem, we have a situation where an aging population means our total productivity grows exponentially. Not only are new players arriving in a steady trickle but old players are increasing productivity by a % each day. This means that far from getting better things can only get worse. Even if the admins fix the productivity formulas to mean that overall productivity goes down, the continued rise of skill will mean that the apocalypse will only be delayed.
Thirdly, we have the issue of the price of companies, which in part leads to this situation. The entry level for companies is too low, and beyond Q3 the gap to Q4 and Q5 is too large. The price of a Q1 company, at 20 gold, results in huge competitiveness in this market, and overproduction here is the most noticeable. For a while investment outstripped collapse, so there was an illusion that ridiculously low prices could be maintained. Now however it becomes obvious to us all that this isn’t the case. The prices will slowly fall, and wages will fall as well. Initially workers may find succours in higher Q companies which still make a profit, but the knock on effect of wages falling is that there will be a reduction of higher Q sales, reducing in their prices falling as well. Eventually the market economy will collapse altogether.
There is very little we can do about this, as the faults (all three of them) belong to the admins. However having correctly identified this problem there are measures we can take.
Tax Policy
It is the conclusion of the current Chancellor, TUP member and financial genius DillTheDog, that we need to make goods as competitive as possible internationally to reduce the effects of the collapse. The fastest way to do that is to slash our import taxes as low as possible and abolish VAT. To compensate for the loss of income, a tax rise in income tax to 15% will be levied. Government income needs to maintain as stable as possible, not just for national defence but also for the inevitable government bail outs, initiatives and rebuilding that will follow the collapse, and presumably the admins attempts to fix it. Ergo we support the move to increase income tax to 15% across the board.
Work Policy
The Ministry of Work has struggled lately, and we would like to take on board some suggestions that have been made recently about how it should be structured and how the finished Ministry should operate. We have seen several different proposals, all of which we are happy to take on board. Firstly our proposition for the MoW companies released at the beginning of the month, the hire-and-fire method. Basically using a version of Laykes Groups circular productivity measure the goal would be to keep the number of workers as low as possible (with a minimum of 10) in our companies at all times. New workers could work, be fired, and then if necessary rehired the next day. This could be incorporated with a message for the fired worker containing a new players guide. By this means not only would the MoW be possibly even a little bit productive, new workers would be encouraged to move to the private sector as soon as possible alleviating the drain on government funds.
Secondly I believe that to achieve this we need to restructure the MoW so that there are more orgs and thus all our eggs aren’t in one basket. By entrusting access to Q5s to just the Minister, and the low Q companies (in separate orgs) to under-ministers we protect our national treasures whilst spreading the workload enough to provide the ability for more intensive care for new citizens.
Thirdly, we need to axe any companies we have which lose even more productivity due to poor resource production, such as timber and oil. Back in the day the justification for these companies were that they didn’t interfere with the open market. However, to be frank, we already own so many companies and the free market has collapsed to such an extent that our goal should be to reduce the drain on the public purse as much as possible. This principle began with the sale of our iron mine (yes we tried to mine iron when we had none to mine) under GLaDOS. It should continue with the sale of our timber company and a focus on wheat production.
Trade Policy
At the minute our only trade goals (other than the usual monitoring of the markets that have led in part to our understanding of our current situation) is to manage the recession as cleverly as possible. At the minute we absolutely do not want any new companies opening. Thus the MoT should be advertising investment opportunities, and encouraging existing companies to upgrade rather than spending gold on new companies.
Domestic Affairs
TUP has always been very strong in the domestic affairs of this country. As a party we put our citizens before anything else, and their welfare is our first priority. Thus a massive number of TUP members occupy positions in ministries such as the Ministry of Home Affairs, which is designed to look after and guide new players. Thus this section is both supporting action we are already taking, as well as outlining some new ideas coming through of late.
Info and Home Affairs
One area of the UK that fades in and out of consciousness is the regional council. Sometimes these are very successful, sometimes they are just a poor man’s congress. It all depends on local activity, which ensures a strong group from which councillors can be selected, as well as sufficient time to work through the tasks a council needs to complete to be effective.
Thus I propose that we ask the MoHA to contact successful regional councils and put together a council ‘Best Practice Kit’. The kit, along with a small startup grant, will be there to help councils get off the ground. The kit will include tactics for recruitment, fundraising and structure. It will also have examples of successful measures taken by councils. The grant will be available based on a few preconditions, such as evidence of citizen investment, active membership and a strong enough base to keep things going for some time. Existing councils will also be eligible for grants if they agree to support the project in any way asked.
Entertainment Policy
In terms of entertainment we would like to congratulate the MoHA for some of the wonderful schemes they are currently running, including: eUK Lottery, Pub Quiz, Olympics, Noob Day and Region wars. Of particular importance here is the Noob day, in which the MoHA will be leading a large drive to try and get people signed up to the forums in the name of having a damn good time! If anyone is interested in any of these areas, please contact the MoHA!
Military and Foreign Affairs
Over the past four months our military and foreign affairs have seen huge changes, and as a result have often been in the media. The introduction then collapse of the corps scheme resulted in the whole military being restructured, with the private sector suppliers slowly cut out and government owned companies replacing them. This has resulted in a strong, well armed military with the capability to supply & deploy simultaneously. Our foreign affairs have grown since our PEACE membership was accepted, and we now have contacts at the highest levels. However there is still work to be done on both fronts. These are mostly issues for the Presidential elections however, so we’ll be keeping it to a minimum here.
Military Policy
TUP believes in a strong self-sufficient military. However we do not believe in an inactive and inefficient military. The Royal Guard has been repeatedly described as unfit for purpose by the Ministry of Defence and Foreign Affairs. Despite recent attempts at reform we are still not convinced it fulfils the intended purpose: providing an active military home guard. The function it fills- as a non-moving home guard force- requires no organised hierarchy or military structure. Citizens who are needed in the defence of the country can receive orders from the military hub and guns from our designated IRC channel. Everyone other than Party Presidents, Presidents and Congressmen are capable of deployment, and if they want to be part of the armed forces they should join the navy which is our primary offensive and defensive wing.
Foreign Affairs Policy
In terms of foreign affairs we have a very simple agenda: keep at work maintaining good relations with our allies, especially Ireland. Despite a few incidents of trolling the political classes of both countries have remained on good terms and we want to keep it that way. We also wish to expand our dealings with socialist parties around the world, forging links regardless of the current state of our national government in an attempt to create friendships and have fun: which is the point of a social browser game after all.
Conclusions
Thank you for reading this. I hope you have a good day tomorrow, and consider TUP and our broad policy when you vote.
