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The hardest part is where to start I guess.
So before I begin I would like to attempt to explain international trade in a most simplistic way. Intra-national trade is vital and a failure or inability to get it right can be devastating to a State's development. If you cannot get your shit to market you are way way behind. Examples of this abound. International trade on the other hand is what makes superpowers rise and fall generally. Trade is making and moving stuff to where people buy it. Simple enough. Well there is a basic truth that you need to understand: moving stuff on water is cheaper, much cheaper, than moving it on land. I have read that the cost ratio is 70:1. I have no way to confirm that - seems that may be high - but whatever. It could be 35:1 and the advantage remains immense.
So that is why rivers, ports, and sea lanes interest me so much. They are in essence the life blood of international and frequently intra-national trade.
So if you have a really good river to move shit to a really good port that has access to the biggest sea lanes then you are probably going to do really fucking well without even thinking about it.
Lets define history in a paragraph.
What is history generally? It is a series of decisions most often made by States intended to do well for their selected people. Almost universally regimes (people who control States) are rational and want to forward their peoples interests. I am not going to prove that here but just assume it. Sometimes they fail but that is not intentional. However, often the solution to the immediate problem leads to the next problem (or you can get stuck on problem #1 until you, and your people, lose). Losing is usually bad. Ask the Persians, Samaritans, and Carthaginians...oh wait...you cannot. Well actually you CAN ask some surviving Samaritans - they will corroborate my point.
Enough of all that BS. Lets look at Murica.
Here is a good map of America:
Here it is in relation to other things around it.
Why maps? Because they are cool but more than that it is a base line for the way things are.
So, on those two maps you can see a lot.
The US is primarily bounded by the North Atlantic Ocean, the Pacific Ocean and the northern half of the Gulf of Mexico (or the Gulf of America if you will). To the North is Canada - a state that although large in mass has only a thin strip of its population living just north of the border. Canada was a dominion of GB and still retains some ties there. To the south is Mexico, more on them later.
Looking back to the US map east to west: On the East Coast, where the historical journey began, there is a strip of coastline running north south that is blocked from the interior plains region by a mountain range (The Appalachians). Where the mountains tapper off is a humid coastal region. On the other side of the mountains the most prominent features are the Mississippi river basin and the great plains -a major agricultural region. Then there are some really big mountains further west and finally another coast. That is about the sum of it all.
Tying my intro in with that geography here is another map:
So if you live west of the Appalachians and West of the Rockies you can with very little effort put shit on a nearby river barge and it will float all by itself to the mouth of the Mississippi. Incredible. Now the Hudson, Tennessee, etc rivers are all very good and were important for their region's development but nowhere near as cool as the Mississippi and its basin. There was a problem though. The USA did not start with that. In fact they were blocked from it by dem mountains. So enters history. And international history is a story of States interacting based on their geopolitical priorities. To understand one is to start understanding the other and v/v.
USA Priority #1: Secure North America
Problem 1a - A linear coastal state is not secure.
Priority 1a - Find depth beyond the Eastern Seaboard.
As I mentioned history is basically moving from problem to problem. So what was the USA's first problem? Well don't cheat but it falls under 'securing North America'. Look at the above map and try to find the strategic problem faced by the USA in 1776. It should be fairly obvious that the states (small 's') all fall along a narrow strip of land along a coast. Although the mountains 'behind' them secure them to the west any old naval power could swing by and bisect the State or land basically at will and threaten any area at any time. Basically indefensible vs a naval power. This became apparent when GB casually swung by (while fighting a world war) to burn the US capital.
So there are two things the US could do: a) Become a naval power or b) Stop being a State that only exists along a seaboard. Option 'c' is to do nothing - which given our assumptions of ration actors acting in the best interest of their State is not really an option, nor was it selected. Option 'a' costs a metric shit ton of money, takes a really long time (naval tradition is grown - not researched on a tech tree), and lastly someone was so far ahead it was not even a consideration to try. Well not much of a consideration anyway.
Interestingly enough, and proving my point well enough, the first major debates within the US regime was about two things: building a road across the mountains and building six whole warships . Interesting that they spent the money on the warships first and the road second. There are reasons for that but I will let it lie. More on topic is that the US limited its ship building program and that the road connected, guess what, the heads of navigation between two waterways. I love it when theory and reality collide.
But even more attention was sent sending settlers out to secure the excellent farmland west of the Appalachians. This was not really, from the US perspective, imperialism or manifest destiny or any of that crap. It was the simple need of the State to secure 'depth' to limit the vulnerability faced from the sea. In typical Murican style this was done and there was much rejoicing. Or not so much. Why? Because solving problem 1a led to 1b. Having secured farmland and sent farmers to farm it the unexpected happened. They farmed shit -I know this is shocking. But they could not get their goods to market over those bloody mountains. And so:
(to be continued)
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Purchasing Power Country Comparison (12 years ago)
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Understanting RL America Part 2 (12 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.
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