A Second Speech to the Ziu from a Citizen

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I am working on a +1 concept, that is for me personally to recruit one active citizen this calendar year.  If each of citizen did that...

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

I just remembered that you can get a count of everyone who is granted citizenship by looking in the database. If you want to see who applied, just look at the list of applications. I generally tend to avoid issuing bureaucratic reports when doing so would more hassle than it's worth. This seems to be a really important issue for you, but I don't understand what you think it would accomplish. Everything is right there already.

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

Is there a public list of how many applications came in, not just how many were processed?  If not, were 100% of the applications processed?

Kind of surprised, Ian, that you would wonder at why this information is important.  We're in the middle of a crisis, and a very important metric is the immigration rate.  I mean, literally just months ago I was accused of "gaslighting" for saying that things were getting bad.  That wouldn't be possible if there was a way to easily look at this info.  I don't want a "bureaucratic report," but a simple spreadsheet that just gets updated at some reasonable frequency doesn't seem like much to ask.  I'll even set it up, to save the trouble, so all anyone would need to do would be to increase one number by one.

The cabinet is currently discussing ad campaigns. According to my research, we would pay somewhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 per click, which seems pretty pricey in my personal opinion.

That seems very pricey indeed.  I wonder if it's typical for the course?  I don't know anything about it, but maybe someone does.

May I ask if there's any reason that the discussion about this has to be conducted in private on Facebook?  I can understand that there could be very good reasons for that, such as discussion about the political aspect of the campaign or private plans about what should be prioritized, and that would be completely legit and understandable.  But it would be good to get away from the Government's habit of opaque secrecy punctuated by specific requests, since it hasn't exactly been paying dividends when it comes to getting anything done. 

People tend to get interested and involved when they can become a part of events, as opposed to receiving pronouncements (cf social media, new citizen's guide, id cards).  Maybe there's a citizen who knows a good bit about online advertising, for example, and this topic might pique their interest and energy. So even if the answer is that you guys really want to have this particular discussion amongst only yourselves, just food for thought about how that might not always be the best way.

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

Active as in engaging in something beyond just voting/census.  People who don't do either of those things are eliminated from the rolls, so they don't really figure into it much.  After all, we're talking about a crisis in activity, not just raw citizen numbers (we have a very healthy 178 citizens in those terms).  It doesn't look like any of the people who immigrated in 2019 or 2020 are still active in public life in that sense, although it is very possible I have just missed seeing their activity.  Maybe the names are changed -- isn't Antaglha a recent immigrant?

So it really is true that we only had a single citizen immigrate during the entire 2021 calendar year?

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

Something seems to be off about citizen ID numbers, since sorting by that shows only one new citizen during the whole of 2021.  It also looks like, according to that, the last time we had a citizen who actually stayed active in public life before Tric'hard was... Acafat in 2017, five years ago?  That can't be right.  Is there a way to sort by citizenship date?

I'm not sure what information you are privvy to or not as a private citizen. However, this is what I see:

2019 5 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2020 7 new citizens. 2 or 3 appear inactive (census/voting).
2021 1 new citizen. Active.
2022 1 new citizen. Active.

What do you define as public life? Active on Witt or active in voting and taking the census?

Active as in engaging in something beyond just voting/census.  People who don't do either of those things are eliminated from the rolls, so they don't really figure into it much.  After all, we're talking about a crisis in activity, not just raw citizen numbers (we have a very healthy 178 citizens in those terms).  It doesn't look like any of the people who immigrated in 2019 or 2020 are still active in public life in that sense, although it is very possible I have just missed seeing their activity.  Maybe the names are changed -- isn't Antaglha a recent immigrant?

So it really is true that we only had a single citizen immigrate during the entire 2021 calendar year?

You can define activity in any way that you like. As far as new citizens in 2021, I am sure the global pandemic might have had something to do with it, but since I'm not in charge of immigration, I'm just guessing.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Well, these numbers seem really bad, and it's clear we've seen a sharp drop in immigrants. I guess it might have been the pandemic, yeah... A ton of people were homebound or working off the internet, but it was also really stressful for a lot of people (and still is) so they might have had less time to do stuff like Talossa. But if that were the case, we would expect to see an upward trend over the course of 2021, not nearly a flatline. I don't know, doesn't seem clear-cut either way.

On a pure gut check level, it seems like everyone at this point is ready to recognize that we're in a crisis. Only in the last month or so have things actually start to happen. We have to get away from the same business as usual that's put us in this position.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been an entire month since this announcement.  Should we assume that this isn't going to happen?

Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

Start an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

@Ian Plätschisch says that the first pass was a little pricey.  Is it possible that a discussion could be started laying out the goals and possible level of expenditure, and then maybe other folks could contribute to that discussion?  We don't want this effort falling into the same hole as the Zuavs.

[Miestră Schivă, UrN]

The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been an entire month since this announcement.  Should we assume that this isn't going to happen?

I've asked the Minister of Defence to address you personally on this.

people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.

That's not what οἱ πολλοί means.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.

That's not what οἱ πολλοί means.

...I mean, I think it is?  We're "just citizens" and not in the Government -- the masses of the people? If the Government leaves Facebook and conducts their business on a private board here, then the people would see them busy on Witt sometimes and they themselves might see some posts that interest them from the masses.

But I am completely certain that my phrasing is much less important than actually, y'know, answering polite and direct questions.

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

I'm not against it in principle, and I will give it some thought as to how to accomplish this for not only the FreeDems but any other registered party. I don't see all intra-party discussions leaving Facebook, and we aren't trying to hide our discussions, but some of our members are not active on Witt (and I know before I write this you will say they can be more active on Witt if our posts are here).

Like I told Breneir, let me give it some thought as to the best way to do it, and also speak to my party about what their thoughts are also. The FreeDems is a democratic institution and I would never just push something on them.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

Government business and party business should be relocated to Witt, as much as possible.

One of the parties is taking the initiative on this, which is good to see.  It would be great to hear from the leader of the Free Democrats, the biggest party, on whether they will be joining on this possible boost to our civic life, by bringing their discussions off of Facebook and onto boards here, where people will see folks being active and those folks might see the posts of the hoi polloi.  How about it, @Dr. Txec Róibeard dal Nordselvă, Esq., O.SPM, SMM ?  How about for the Government, @Miestră Schivă, UrN ?

I'm not against it in principle, and I will give it some thought as to how to accomplish this for not only the FreeDems but any other registered party. I don't see all intra-party discussions leaving Facebook, and we aren't trying to hide our discussions, but some of our members are not active on Witt (and I know before I write this you will say they can be more active on Witt if our posts are here).

Like I told Breneir, let me give it some thought as to the best way to do it, and also speak to my party about what their thoughts are also. The FreeDems is a democratic institution and I would never just push something on them.

Thank you for the swift and reasonable response!  Of course, I know that you can't do it by fiat.  There are a lot of people in your party and you have a system for making changes like that.  But if you did want to do it, I bet you would be able to make it happen without too much trouble.  The law already provides for it and the technology for these boards supports it easily, as far as I have been able to tell.  And you're the elected leader of the party, with near-unanimous support (the only person who didn't vote for you was the other candidate) and so I bet that your opinion carries a lot of weight.

So all in all, I'm just happy to hear that you're seriously and thoughtfully considering it.  Thank you.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The cabinet is currently discussing ad campaigns. According to my research, we would pay somewhere in the ballpark of $1-$2 per click, which seems pretty pricey in my personal opinion.

Anything more on this?  Maybe a public discussion might be useful than the black hole of the Government Facebook group?

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

Start an advertising campaign.  Target some key words like "micronation" or "conlang."

Cabinet has discussed this. Finance says we can afford it. Initiative now rests with MinStuff.

It's been months.  Ian P said that his first look at this was too pricey.  Is anything going to happen with this?

[Sir Txec dal Nordselvă, UrB]

The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

[Baron Alexandreu Davinescu]

The Zuavs rewards activity with pomp and ceremony.  The whole program is already set up.

Cabinet has discussed this. Initiative now lies with the new Minister of Defence.

It's been months.  Is anything going to happen with this?

I guess you missed the recent activity in the Zouavs. Weird, since you commented on it.

The, uh, one new citizen who actively sought out to join, requesting specifically, and has since not received any sort of recognition or promotion for their numerous efforts?

No.  Um.  I noticed.