Post by Fleeb on Jul 20, 2004 4:57:44 GMT -5
Since the subject keeps coming up that some think non-UN nations should have some way to vote for Senators and other matters in 10000 Islands, it seems to me that having a central thread for the subject would be helpful, rather than spreading it through various campaign threads.
This does deserve discussion. It has been discussed in every election since the first one in January. I will leave it to others to put the case for change.
The Constitution which we have lived under since its adoption last December provides that only UN nations are citizen members of 10000 Islands. Only citizens may vote in elections.
Only UN nations are citizens because
1) no one should have more than one vote. The only way to guarantee a nation's identity is unique is through the NS mods certifying that it is not a duplicate. If you have multi UN nations you are ejected from the UN. Nothing whatever would prevent someone from having dozens of non-UN nations as voters. One-person/one vote is fundamental for democracy; anything else is a joke. (We used to have that in south Texas; the graveyard vote got ole Lyndon Johnson into the US Senate in 1948.) We don't want to go there.
2) Likewise, we are able to know a lot more about UN nations, especially those who are members of TITO, because of their actions (not their words only) in supporting the Delegate and helping defend the region. It is a definite advantage to the security of the region to have the citizens who are making choices be the mature and responsible UN nations.
Which opens the question of who the non-UN nations are. In any democratic society you have many residents who are not voting members of the body politic at a given time:
i) the very young and immature, who are dependents of others
ii) the disabled elderly, especially those afflicted with disorders of the mind
iii) convicted criminals
iv) resident aliens
v) those who do not register to vote in a timely fashion
vi) those who for whatever reason do not choose to vote
Nations who choose not to join the UN place themselves in one of these categories by their choice not to participate in the UN. It is the "voter registration" process for 10000 Islands.
Nations very new to NS who are just learning the game, or nations that have been dumped in the region and left to die, correspond to the first two groups listed above.
Spies, puppets, observers and ambassadors from other regions might correspond to categories iii and iv.
Any nation which wants participate in elections beyond expressing themselves verbally is at liberty to join the UN and become a voting member. No one is denied a voice to express their desires, and as several of our candidates have said very well, they will be respectfully heard.
But there are compelling reasons for UN membership to be the necessary qualification to be a voter or a government officer in the 10000 Islands. I would welcome something other than the emotional special pleading we have endured over the last six months to illuminate why we should ever consider overthrowing such fundamentals of democratic process.
This does deserve discussion. It has been discussed in every election since the first one in January. I will leave it to others to put the case for change.
The Constitution which we have lived under since its adoption last December provides that only UN nations are citizen members of 10000 Islands. Only citizens may vote in elections.
Only UN nations are citizens because
1) no one should have more than one vote. The only way to guarantee a nation's identity is unique is through the NS mods certifying that it is not a duplicate. If you have multi UN nations you are ejected from the UN. Nothing whatever would prevent someone from having dozens of non-UN nations as voters. One-person/one vote is fundamental for democracy; anything else is a joke. (We used to have that in south Texas; the graveyard vote got ole Lyndon Johnson into the US Senate in 1948.) We don't want to go there.
2) Likewise, we are able to know a lot more about UN nations, especially those who are members of TITO, because of their actions (not their words only) in supporting the Delegate and helping defend the region. It is a definite advantage to the security of the region to have the citizens who are making choices be the mature and responsible UN nations.
Which opens the question of who the non-UN nations are. In any democratic society you have many residents who are not voting members of the body politic at a given time:
i) the very young and immature, who are dependents of others
ii) the disabled elderly, especially those afflicted with disorders of the mind
iii) convicted criminals
iv) resident aliens
v) those who do not register to vote in a timely fashion
vi) those who for whatever reason do not choose to vote
Nations who choose not to join the UN place themselves in one of these categories by their choice not to participate in the UN. It is the "voter registration" process for 10000 Islands.
Nations very new to NS who are just learning the game, or nations that have been dumped in the region and left to die, correspond to the first two groups listed above.
Spies, puppets, observers and ambassadors from other regions might correspond to categories iii and iv.
Any nation which wants participate in elections beyond expressing themselves verbally is at liberty to join the UN and become a voting member. No one is denied a voice to express their desires, and as several of our candidates have said very well, they will be respectfully heard.
But there are compelling reasons for UN membership to be the necessary qualification to be a voter or a government officer in the 10000 Islands. I would welcome something other than the emotional special pleading we have endured over the last six months to illuminate why we should ever consider overthrowing such fundamentals of democratic process.
