In chewing this over, it's taking me some time to step back and ask the question "Why Talossa?" As in, if there's anyone who has a reason to not be here, it's me. And yet here I am. Endured some withering (and deserved, don't get me wrong) abuse, but here I am and here I shall remain.
There's something exciting about being a part of something that had legs enough to walk away from its creator. That's eally something, and there's something valuable in its vision. As opposed to trying to write some grand sweeping things, I think a list will work best.
1.) Political diversity- There's not a lot that the government can do about this, but I agree that it is needed. The majority of Talossan culture is a political culture, or it GROWS OUT OF POLITICAL CULTURE (see "Fluff" below). Getting involved in a party gives you a prefabbed support group and potential early friend circle. Some of the best early times I remember was when I joined the MRP in the Republic, that put me in contact with Deet, Andy, Ian T, Txec DM, etc. And that was pretty huge. I think that this is what the new citizen cohort is trying to accomplish. But parties do this efficiently, and give a project to rally around. I'm not sure if loosening list restrictions on the Cosa would work. But it is worth a shot.
2.) Fluff- We need some more of this. But again, I'm not sure how much the government can do. The RUMP parade was excellent, and the Peculiarists have their tinfoil hats. I think that fluff can grow out of the party structure (along with other nonpolitical groups, Talossans in Christ Church, etc... but again, parties are probably the most common structure) effectively, if it is given the opportunity to do so. Again, notice that our examples aren't government initiatives, but civil society ones.
3.) Flying Mieda/Cruelty- There's still some of this. And there always will be. But I think we can keep a lid on it to the point that it isn't detrimental to our society. My theory on this is probably a little fringe, so feel free to pillory later. But I think at least some of it is a side-effect of too much derivativism. In taking "Talossa as Serious Business," too far, we've begun to act like macronational politicians... and this has metastasized until people need to step back for their mental health. And before fingers get pointed, I've seen plenty of nasty on all sides. In RUMP and Republican forums. I've been guilty of it myself, and it's one of my major regrets. We NEED a dose of truly Classical Peculiarism. Dan L founded Peculiarism as a way to try and get Ben to stop taking Talossa so seriously. We may not need a specific strain of Peculiarism, but we need a bit of a shot in the arm.
4.) Whoa-Boy, the Infrastructure- Sleek websites and forums are very nice. But they're also a huge pain in the tuckus. Talossa will always be beholden to its nerds to keep things running, but I often think back to the geocities era of micronationalism and wonder if there wasn't something to the "quick and dirty" method of hanging out your shingle. From what I've gathered, maintaining this stuff has been a thankless job. This can be extended to a lot of stuff handled by the overall civil service. You hear from the requisite minister when you miss a deadline, but not otherwise. Do we have too much STUFF?
5.) Let's Talk- I honestly think we need to get to know one another better. MPF and I used to have long talks on the phone about a project we were working on back in '05 or '06. When storms were tearing through my city, Txec Dal Mar called me to update me on NOAA and ask if I was alright. I'm not sure if this is something the government can help foster, but I think a certain amount of chattiness could even cut down on the Flying Mieda. The language and history are nice, but Talossa's real treasure is its people.
There's something exciting about being a part of something that had legs enough to walk away from its creator. That's eally something, and there's something valuable in its vision. As opposed to trying to write some grand sweeping things, I think a list will work best.
1.) Political diversity- There's not a lot that the government can do about this, but I agree that it is needed. The majority of Talossan culture is a political culture, or it GROWS OUT OF POLITICAL CULTURE (see "Fluff" below). Getting involved in a party gives you a prefabbed support group and potential early friend circle. Some of the best early times I remember was when I joined the MRP in the Republic, that put me in contact with Deet, Andy, Ian T, Txec DM, etc. And that was pretty huge. I think that this is what the new citizen cohort is trying to accomplish. But parties do this efficiently, and give a project to rally around. I'm not sure if loosening list restrictions on the Cosa would work. But it is worth a shot.
2.) Fluff- We need some more of this. But again, I'm not sure how much the government can do. The RUMP parade was excellent, and the Peculiarists have their tinfoil hats. I think that fluff can grow out of the party structure (along with other nonpolitical groups, Talossans in Christ Church, etc... but again, parties are probably the most common structure) effectively, if it is given the opportunity to do so. Again, notice that our examples aren't government initiatives, but civil society ones.
3.) Flying Mieda/Cruelty- There's still some of this. And there always will be. But I think we can keep a lid on it to the point that it isn't detrimental to our society. My theory on this is probably a little fringe, so feel free to pillory later. But I think at least some of it is a side-effect of too much derivativism. In taking "Talossa as Serious Business," too far, we've begun to act like macronational politicians... and this has metastasized until people need to step back for their mental health. And before fingers get pointed, I've seen plenty of nasty on all sides. In RUMP and Republican forums. I've been guilty of it myself, and it's one of my major regrets. We NEED a dose of truly Classical Peculiarism. Dan L founded Peculiarism as a way to try and get Ben to stop taking Talossa so seriously. We may not need a specific strain of Peculiarism, but we need a bit of a shot in the arm.
4.) Whoa-Boy, the Infrastructure- Sleek websites and forums are very nice. But they're also a huge pain in the tuckus. Talossa will always be beholden to its nerds to keep things running, but I often think back to the geocities era of micronationalism and wonder if there wasn't something to the "quick and dirty" method of hanging out your shingle. From what I've gathered, maintaining this stuff has been a thankless job. This can be extended to a lot of stuff handled by the overall civil service. You hear from the requisite minister when you miss a deadline, but not otherwise. Do we have too much STUFF?
5.) Let's Talk- I honestly think we need to get to know one another better. MPF and I used to have long talks on the phone about a project we were working on back in '05 or '06. When storms were tearing through my city, Txec Dal Mar called me to update me on NOAA and ask if I was alright. I'm not sure if this is something the government can help foster, but I think a certain amount of chattiness could even cut down on the Flying Mieda. The language and history are nice, but Talossa's real treasure is its people.