Article
First off, I would like to start off by thanking Oghuz Khagan for providing the article which I will be responding to. While it was not well-written, nor did it contain anything of substance, it was quite a read!
Let us start off with the first paragraph:
First of all, I want to say that war is not for Americans, so please calm down and lay down your weapons. You are just a bunch of rich guys who know something about politics, and you take after your English ancestors. If you look at WW I or WW II, you can see that Americans don't know how to fight.
They've waited until end of war and joined to take treasure.
So, let's start off with a list of claims:
Claim #1: "War is not for Americans"
Claim #2: "You would be better off laying down your arms"
Claim #3: "You are rich"
Claim #4: "We know something about politics"
Claim #5: "Our ancestors are English"
Claim #6: "The English are inherently good diplomats"
Claim #7: "American performance in WWI and WWII was subpar"
Claim #8: "Americans are opportunists in times of war"
Claim #1: War is not for Americans.
You are absolutely right. We don't like war one bit!
"You cannot qualify war in harsher terms than I will. War is cruelty, and you cannot refine it." - William Tecumseh Sherman
"Every gun that is made, every warship launched, every rocket fired signifies, in the final sense, a theft from those who hunger and are not fed, those who are cold and are not clothed. This world in arms is not spending money alone. It is spending the sweat of its laborers, the genius of its scientists, the hopes of its children. The cost of one modern heavy bomber is this: a modern brick school in more than 30 cities. It is two electric power plants, each serving a town of 60,000 population. It is two fine, fully equipped hospitals. It is some fifty miles of concrete pavement. We pay for a single fighter with a half-million bushels of wheat. We pay for a single destroyer with new homes that could have housed more than 8,000 people. . . . This is not a way of life at all, in any true sense. Under the cloud of threatening war, it is humanity hanging from a cross of iron" - Dwight D. Eisenhower
While both of these Americans had faults, both were heavily involved in warfare and hated it! Who wouldn't? But I don't like making arguments based on real-world figures. This is e-Sim and I prefer to keep the world outside of e-Sim out of it!
There is a reason that the United States is the highest country in productivity, many of us prefer the business game to that of warfare. After all, warfare is a punching your pointer finger on a mouse several times over again! I personally play the game because I get a kick out of designing communes for my nation's military unit -- although, I would do so for private corporations if the module wasn't terribly broken.
Claim #2: We would be better off laying down our arms
I disagree.
You have attacked our allies and neighbors. When our neighbors and friends are under attack, we must step in to help them when they are being attacked by a much larger foe! We are trying to defend our friends, and we would expect that you would do so if your friends were under attack. I do not see why you are bothered by allies and friends defending allies and friends! Is there something that Turkey would like to tell its friends? Will you be there for them? Or is that just too offensive for your taste? Turkey's stance lately has been "Screw my friends, I am going to have this great empire in the North Atlantic and in Europe. I'm not being greedy at all! I promise!". In my opinion, Turkey bullies its own allies and gives nothing back.
Claim #3:
If we are rich, it is only due to the fact that our government has been extremely friendly towards business during the five years I have played this game. We haven't manipulated our market, we have made currency plentiful and available at a constant price for businesses, and we have been quite stable in the long run. There is a reason that we have the highest productivity in the world at the moment.
Claim #4:
I'm not going to argue here. Our statesmen and women over the history of our country have been particularly good about picking friends and foes. We remember those who harm us and those who aid us and we make it a habit to support our friends and we are always interested in making friends out of foes. We would prefer to be well-liked throughout the world, or at least viewed in a neutral sense. We want to be the defender of the weaker nations of this game. I don't think that giving everyone a fair shake in this dying game is all that bad of a bargain.
Do you?
Claim #5:
The United States is a very diverse community, we aren't all white and we aren't all of English ancestry. The very name "Eisenhower" is a good example. My family immigrated to the United States from (maternal) Luxembourg and my father's side was conscripted in Germany and shipped over to the colonies in 1776 to fight against the colonists.
Heck, there are even Turkish-Americans. So, uh, try explaining to them that you generalized them as "English" (Not that it is an insult, I love my English pals!
Solymir and 
CBall )
Claim #6:
Again, real-world comparisons are not my forte. When I hear the word "Diplomat", I think French or Swiss -- or the masters of long-haul diplomacy, the Chinese.
You know the joke?
Heaven is where the police are British, the lovers French, the mechanics German, the chefs Italian, and it is all organized by the Swiss. Hell is where the police are German, the lovers Swiss, the mechanics French, the chefs British, and it is all organized by the Italians.
Claim #7:
Another real world argument...
We could have this argument all day.
"Did US involvment in WWI and WWII aid the Allied Coalition in a material fashion?". Yes.
"The United States singlehandedly saved Europe from the Nazis". I don't think anyone would legitimately argue that point. Maybe the uniformed, but I certainly wouldn't.
Claim #8:
This is why we have generally paid lease agreements throughout our history?
This is why we have never used a national legislature to steal money from another country?
Wait! What was that last thing?
Turkey has stolen money from Iceland. Go check Iceland's donate laws if you do not believe me!
Turkey and its represenatives in Iceland increased taxes to drain the United Kingdom and Canada! Again, check out the new 50% Income Tax, 99% VAT, 99% Import. That seems like a fair thing to do!
You know, you are trying to sound very righteous but your words aren't backed by nearly five years of consistent action.
Every time we have held CEC/CPC in the past, we have negotiated an agreement with Canada. We have extended that privilege to the current government of Canada! For someone that we have invaded several times over the course of the game, we get along quite well!
As for your comment about wolves and hunger for blood, we are fairly certain our allies have fairly good aim. We do too.
So, Oghuz, I do look forward to our next meet up on the battlefield. You can surely come with bayonets, but we will be coming with friends -- and they have guns!
Sincerely,
Filthy
Previous article:
[US] On Exploitation (8 years ago)
Next article:
[US] When The Going Gets Tough... (8 years ago)
About the game:
USA as a world power? In E-Sim it is possible!
In E-Sim we have a huge, living world, which is a mirror copy of the Earth. Well, maybe not completely mirrored, because the balance of power in this virtual world looks a bit different than in real life. In E-Sim, USA does not have to be a world superpower, It can be efficiently managed as a much smaller country that has entrepreneurial citizens that support it's foundation. Everything depends on the players themselves and how they decide to shape the political map of the game.
Work for the good of your country and see it rise to an empire.
Activities in this game are divided into several modules. First is the economy as a citizen in a country of your choice you must work to earn money, which you will get to spend for example, on food or purchase of weapons which are critical for your progress as a fighter. You will work in either private companies which are owned by players or government companies which are owned by the state. After progressing in the game you will finally get the opportunity to set up your own business and hire other players. If it prospers, we can even change it into a joint-stock company and enter the stock market and get even more money in this way.
In E-Sim, international wars are nothing out of the ordinary.
Become an influential politician.
The second module is a politics. Just like in real life politics in E-Sim are an extremely powerful tool that can be used for your own purposes. From time to time there are elections in the game in which you will not only vote, but also have the ability to run for the head of the party you're in. You can also apply for congress, where once elected you will be given the right to vote on laws proposed by your fellow congress members or your president and propose laws yourself. Voting on laws is important for your country as it can shape the lives of those around you. You can also try to become the head of a given party, and even take part in presidential elections and decide on the shape of the foreign policy of a given state (for example, who to declare war on). Career in politics is obviously not easy and in order to succeed in it, you have to have a good plan and compete for the votes of voters.
You can go bankrupt or become a rich man while playing the stock market.
The international war.
The last and probably the most important module is military. In E-Sim, countries are constantly fighting each other for control over territories which in return grant them access to more valuable raw materials. For this purpose, they form alliances, they fight international wars, but they also have to deal with, for example, uprisings in conquered countries or civil wars, which may explode on their territory. You can also take part in these clashes, although you are also given the opportunity to lead a life as a pacifist who focuses on other activities in the game (for example, running a successful newspaper or selling products).
At the auction you can sell or buy your dream inventory.
E-Sim is a unique browser game. It's creators ensured realistic representation of the mechanisms present in the real world and gave all power to the players who shape the image of the virtual Earth according to their own. So come and join them and help your country achieve its full potential.
Invest, produce and sell - be an entrepreneur in E-Sim.
Take part in numerous events for the E-Sim community.
