*pleased*

[silversolitaire]

Of all the nations in our region Beelville is the most religious and in world comparison I'm on 5683 out of 87,484. *very pleased* At last all my efforts have paid off. Oh and the fact that when it came to war-funding, my country was somewhere around rank 82700 or so XD. Like Tom put it, of what I wanted I was among the 5000 best! LOL

Now I need to decide on budget. I'm certainly not going to fund the military. Education and Health & Welfare sounds important, but I already have a tax rate of 80%, so a tax cut wouldn't be too bad either. On the other hand my citizens enjoy extensive care through the government, so it's not like their wanting. *debates*

It's really difficult to keep a country going the way you want to! My Civil Rights are "World Benchmark" which is very important to me. And in my decisions I realize how difficult it is to step aside and let others do what they want to do and not impose your opinions on them. Like it would have been easy to ban meat-eating, but many people would have considered this a considerable impediment of their personal freedoms. On the other hand I couldn't allow exploitation and cruel treatment of animals. So I decided to tax meat according to the way it's being won. The more of a strain it is on animals, the more expensive it gets. That way I hope to encourage a lower consumption of meat and if it's eaten then from sources that respect animals and treated them with dignity. I think that's a good thing.

So far, my accomplishments have been (among others):

• Award for positive portrayal of ethnic minorities on TV


• Legalization of soft drugs


• Legalization of euthanasia


• Confirmation of free speech


• Allowing same-sex marriage


• Our religious leader is a New Age guru. Down with the pope!


• Indecent exposure is no longer an offense (i.e. people can go naked, if they want)


• Capital punishment is illegal


• Gambling is legal


• Organ donations may not be paid for


• The rain forest has been protected from Uranium Mining

I think I'm doing a good job! ^_^

Of course, my politcal freedoms are below average, but that's a price I have to pay to ensure that my nation stays healthy and happy. And I know they're happy because I'm doing the right thing. On the other hand my economy is imploded. >.< That sucks. I'm still seeking to rectify that.

Should we ever get attacked I'll have to rely on the Republik of Tomvee to help us! ^.^;;;

Comments

[fleurrochard]

And I know they're happy because I'm doing the right thing.

Um.
Um.
You know, that is a very dangerous thing to think. I mean, I agree with the decisions you made, no problem with that, but thinking they are happy because you're doing the right thing? I'm sorry, but that's a way of thinking I'm not very comfortable with.

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

First of all, it's not real. And then I'm doing what is morally right for me, personally. And I have enough trust in my own moral mindset to know I'm not doing anything that is substantially wrong. And then I'm a free country, so everyone is free to move to a different country. If people are interested in a compassionate country with all-inclusive wellfare and healthcare, with an intact environment and unimpeded personal rights this is the place for them.

Re:

[fleurrochard]

First of all, it's not real.

Yes, of course not.

And then I'm doing what is morally right for me, personally.

Yes, I do that, too, and I agree with your decisions (I think, I made quite a few of them, too).

And I have enough trust in my own moral mindset to know I'm not doing anything that is substantially wrong.

And exactly here I'm twitching. Not because I think you're wrong with that thinking in your personal case, but because that kind of thinking can be very dangerous. I'd bet that people who want the death penalty, who hate homosexuals, who think that white people are the better people and so on, think exactly the same. They also "have enough trust in [their] own moral mindset to know [they're] not doing anything that is substantially wrong."

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

But don't you see? There are things that are fundamentally wrong and things that are fundamentally right. Taking someone else's life is always wrong. Impeding someone else's personal right is always wrong. Discriminating against someone because they're different is always wrong. I don't care what certain religions or whatever say. There are certain inalienable truths and following those just can't be wrong.

[fleurrochard]

*sighs*
I don't disagree with your decisions, I don't disagree with your opinions about these things.

There are certain inalienable truths and following those just can't be wrong.

And you decided which these truths are. Again, I don't disagree wth you about that, I think that following these truths can't be wrong, too.
But you decided for yourself what these truths are. And as you are human, you could be wrong, as anybody else could be wrong about what they think are these truths.

It is the mindset of "I know what is good and right and everybody else has to agree with me if they are good and right" that I have a problem with. And I know that you don't have that mindset, but you sounded like that.

Is mindset the correct word here? I thought it was, but I can't find it in the dictionary...

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

It's okay. I know what you mean. BUt it just sounded like you were implying I was forcing my opinion on everybody else. And that is exactly what I'm not doing. If you read the whole statement I said it was actually interesting to see how you have to make decisions in order to prevent that. All my decisions are based on the idea what nobody well be forced to do something they don't want, everybody has the right to make their own decisions about things concerning themselves and nobody will be harmed.

I think this allows enough freedoms for everyone.

[tomkayito.livejournal.com]

You can't please everyone.
This is a simple comment, this is an accurate comment.
The fact is, when dealing with over a million people, you can only consider the population as a whole, not as individuals. If you tried to please every single person, there would be utter chaos. What's good for the population as a whole, is generally good for the individual people.

Sure, the people may be unhappy about not letting Bomb manufacturers mine for Uranium in their forests, and sure, gay-haters are going to gripe about legalized same-sex marriages. But these are the right thing to do, and the SMALL portion of the population against it are the only unhappy people...

And for them, who cares. Let them move to another country... They can go live in some corrupt dictatorship where the forests are clear-cut for mining, the national animal makes a popular side-dish, the average lifespan of people is 20 years old because of no healthcare system, and the people are all dumb as rocks because of no education system, so too stupid to care about all that stuff anyhow.

So yeah, making the right decisions won't make all the people happy...
But it makes far more people happy than making the wrong decisions.

Re:

[fleurrochard]

You don't understand what I was meaning. I don't think that you can please everyone, that would be a ridiculous thought indeed. I don't think that she made wrong decisions, really not.

I wasn't happy about the sentence "they're happy, because I'm doing the right thing". Who decides that you're doing the right thing? The right thing for who(m?)? It's only that kind of thinking that disturbs me, not her decisions, which I very much agree with. (Ok, I'm not sure about that New Age Guru, but then I didn't have an issue like that yet.)

[silversolitaire.livejournal.com]

(Ok, I'm not sure about that New Age Guru, but then I didn't have an issue like that yet.)

^.^;;;

The options for that were pretty scarce. I don't like the term "New Age" and I didn't like that the person I hired said that some may call it a cult, but the essence was pretty much what I agree with. He said that he wants to bring out the spirituality in everyone. I liked that. The other one was a stern Catholic who wanted to enforce the Pope's decrees and the other one was some teacher who said she's going to resign the very moment she gets appointed because God is a big poopyhead and all religions can go to hell. Of course I could have dismissed the issue, but that subject was too important to me to do that.

Re:

[fleurrochard]

Hmm. I'll have to see the options when I get this issue, but I'd probably dismiss it.
But then I was quite pleased that I wasn't very high on the "most devouted people"'s list. ^_^;;