The Revolutionary Society
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The Revolutionary Society (TRS) is a Political Party of the United Kingdom. It was first founded in 2009 and grew rapidly from February 2023 to become the UK’s largest political Party. It was called The Real Spamicans, a name that dated back to the earliest years of the game. Political rivals of TRS contacted Hormel Foods who in turn contacted Plato, who required the name to be changed due to copyright concerns. Party members voted on a new name in January 2024 and the party was renamed to The Revolutionary Society.
TRS describes itself in-game as a Center, Libertarian party. This is a reflection of it being the only party in the UK fully committed to an active Political Module and meaningful engagement in politics. Additionally, it complements TRS's belief that the game should be fun, and the fact that eRepublik only allows two other categories (anarchist and authoritarian), which map even less to the party’s pragmatic and interventionist ideals.
The period of rapid growth in the first half of 2023 has been described as the Pink Revolution, as the party's activity-promoting views and upending of the political establishment began to move the United Kingdom away from stagnation.
Mission Statement
TRS values democracy and eRepublik’s Political Module. It is a home for all those who want to take politics seriously, and who understand the Political Module is the UK's greatest retention tool.
As such it outright rejects democracy-limiting policies espoused by other UK parties, such as having lame-duck Parliaments, handing all power to Presidents, prohibiting non-Tanks from decision making processes, preventing the public from knowing Congressional outcomes, installing a Dictator, and banning parties from campaigning and messaging citizens.
These are all things raised by the established parties since TRS entered the top 5.
Instead, TRS believes in-game powers and game mechanics should act as the basis of where power is held in the UK. It campaigns for the rights of Congress as a body and the principle of consensus, and adopts a common-sense approach to law making and governance.
Further detail on TRS’s political stances can be found in our Manifesto See: The Revolutionary Manifesto.
What’s in a name?
The name ‘The Real Spamicans’ has a history longer than the party itself, and is still used to refer to The Revolutionary Society because TRS believes that the UK should be a fun place, and understands that it is the community that makes eRepublik an enjoyable game.
The Spamicans originated on the UK forum in the very early days of eRepublik. It began as ‘The Spamican Church’, which was a group of players who regularly contributed to the off-topic section of the forum, and a particular sub-forum called ‘Bob Boblo’s House’. This sub-forum was moderated by Bob Boblo and he allowed a wider range of topics than was allowed elsewhere in the forums, and crucially allowed users to Spam as a form of fun and political satire.
As such TRS traces its antecedents back to the earliest political movement in the UK - that of endorsing and fostering community spirit above and beyond the structures of the game itself and in resistance to those who would prefer the UK to be silent and soulless. The struggle continues!
‘Spamicans’ and Bobloism
The Church motif and the name Spamican were conceived as a reflection of the UK’s e-faith, Bobloism. This was created as an expression of a quirkier, funner, and less serious preference for playing eRepublik as opposed to more serious faiths such as Dioism. Bobloism had limited spread outside the UK, USA, and Belgium.
The first Pope, Sir Digby Chicken-Caesar, was appointed in April 2009 as a community leader for users of the off-topic section of the forums. Many of our current members remember the strong sense of community and large pool of active players as being the real achievement of the UK, and The Real Spamicans is proud to draw its lineage through the timeline of eRep knowing that line intersects players at all periods of the UK’s history who have focussed on engagement, games, and keeping it real.
History of the in-game Party
The party was first established by Horice G Fossil in December 2009, John Forseti took over as party leader in February 2010 and has held the position since. During that time the party's position varied between 28th to 8th in terms of size (out of 29). In April 2010 John Forseti orchestrated a successful takeover of the British Empire Party, the then 5th largest party, merging it into The Real Spamicans.
June 2011 Bamber takes over the party, showing the ongoing association between the two entities.
TRS became an anti-establishment party from 2012 when, with its sister party the unreal Spamicans, they would routinely take active decisions about backing candidates and even run people for the presidency. This includes electing Horice G Fossil to the presidency, an election held dear in the hearts of many older TRS players!
Between 2019 and 2023, during a period of a long decline in the UK and eRep at large, The Real Spamicans acted as a retirement home for players who wanted to duck out of politics, particularly post-2019 when many were exasperated with the lack of ambition and drive in politics.
During this time various players kept the fires burning, and the Spamican cause remained alive in papers and games, and competitions. The political activities of the party were limited as it largely sat outside the top 5, however, it did have congressmen, as other top 5 parties allowed people to run on their slate to keep their nomination lists full. This way Mr Woldy was a consistent TRS Congress member in the lead-up to their great revival.
The Great Spam Revival
In Early 2023 the UK was a very different place from how many of its citizens remember it being in its prime. It was given over largely to farming medals, and politics, domestics, and entertainment initiatives had been totally shunned in favour of constant ‘business as usual’. In this context, Sambo223 and Mr Woldy began planning a way to change this downward trajectory of the country and its community, and knew that the ideals always upheld by the Spamicans would be a potent remedy for a country which had almost no community whatsoever.
Core to this plan was to take the UK’s politics seriously, and treat The Real Spamicans like a true political party. The values were simple, we wanted an active country, we wanted to be able to participate, and we wanted a sense of community. This simple message allowed the party to grow. Very rapidly people were drawn to the cause, with players such as AMD. and Mr Immanuel Kant adding strings to TRS campaigning bow, and many more players joined to help the cause, too numerous to name!
In taking the Political Module seriously and wanting to actually play eRepublik, many gentlemen’s agreements that TUP and UKRP had made had to be ignored, such as a ‘ban’ on ‘poaching citizens’ by messaging people promoting parties. TRS recognised that is democratic suppression, and part of the UK’s problem.
In beginning political campaigning, TRS was met with great enthusiasm and players from across the political spectrum joined the party, and some even returned to the UK to join.
The party grew, and became the dominant force in the UK’s Congress and politics. It launched several initiatives and programs, and grew to become the largest of the UK’s parties in the space of six short months. Members refer to this period and the growth of the party as the Pink Revolution.
