Post by Alvero on Nov 6, 2018 7:24:02 GMT
News Service of The Democratic Socialist Assembly Issue 2
Greetings, Comrades
Welcome to the second issue. This is a special issue because there are two new members to the writing team: The Exceptionally Bad, an editor, and Dekks, a writer. Now, I know this looks long, but honestly, it's not too much.
Establishment of the DSA Convention
With the recent passage of Ministry of Role-Play Omnibus Act, which enumerated the rules of the Ministry of Role-Play's department, a new legislative body was formed. This is the Democratic Socialist Assembly Convention (DSAC). What is it? It is essentially like the World Assembly, but on a regional level and for Role-Play. While the DSA Congress has say in actual regional law, the DSA Convention will have say in regional RP law. There have been attempts to pass DSAC, but only recently was it successful.
Any and all members of congress are allowed to participate in DSAC, and no sign-up is required. As per the amendment, all MoC are automatically allowed in. Until one is found, the Secretariat of DSAC shall be Student Loan Debt.
Due to the current issue of the forum migration (talked about in a later article), DSAC will not be hosting any votes, for voting seems best fit to take place on the forums.
Writer: Student Loan Debt
West Bengalis On The Communist Bloc
On the 5th of August 2018, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs had decided to establish diplomatic relations between the Democratic Socialist Assembly and The Communist Bloc, following the precedent of our NSLeft ally, The Internationale. It was noteworthy as we had established an embassy, but what made it more noteworthy was that we established embassies with a region, that is at the time of writing, designated Enemy of the Union by our closest and oldest ally, the Social Liberal Union. Tonight, I write here in the hope of putting to rest concerns about the establishment of the embassy. This embassy was opened keeping the SLU Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the know, and they have given us their okay. It was for good reason that we had shunned TCB earlier, as it was under authoritarian rule and had played a role in the raiding of the SLU.
However, times have changed since then. The current administration of TCB, with Ubertas as its Foreign Affairs Minister, has expressed regret and has denounced its earlier history of raiding Leftist regions. In the sphere of foreign affairs, TCB has made the effort to reform and now wants a cordial, beneficial friendship with the regions that it has wronged earlier, including us and the SLU. To turn our back on a region which is reforming and is apologizing for its history is, in my opinion, foolishness. This will just see a regression within TCB, where the current administration is seen as an aberration, and the earlier history of raiding will continue, harming us, our allies and Leftism in NationStates.
Yet, I do understand that many people reading this might not forgive TCB as easily for what it had done earlier. This is not unreasonable: raiding our allies is a serious crime for us and to forgive them easily might not be possible for some whodo remember the raid and the hurt and anguish that caused them. To those people who still cannot forgive TCB in their hearts, I only ask of you: give them a chance. If they have changed, and I believe they have changed, the bonds of friendship might form where once there was hurt, hatred, anguish and sorrow. If you have any concerns about TCB or any other embassy that the DSA has, do approach me via telegram, RMB or Discord. And to conclude: I wish our new allies in TCB welcome. May the dark past be replaced by a bright future, and may the ideals of Democracy, Equality, Solidarity and Freedom be cherished.
Writer: West Bengalis
DSA Forums Still Down
Recently, Zetaboards, the website that hosted our old DSA forums, was taken over by Tapatalk. This led to a change in policy and restrictions on users, as well as user privacy issues. Further, it is now impossible to conduct cabinet votings in a reasonable manner since only one poll per topic is allowed. Because of this, the cabinet decided to migrate forums. Unfortunately, due to yet unkown issues with the new host, forums are currently inaccessible. Please note that this makes both charter and map opt-ins impossible for the time being. Cabinet is working hard to find a solution for this problem, and wants to ask for patience from our residents while the problem is being worked on.
Writer: Xingal
Interview With Ivory Rhodes
Our second interview is with Ivory Rhodes, who is, at the moment of this publication, the sitting president and WA delegate of the DSA.
⦁ When did you first join NationStates? How did you first hear about it?
I first joined with Ivory Rhodes on Nov 17, 2012. I faintly recall hearing about it on a forum of a website, and I decided to look it up. At the time I owned a really crappy laptop that couldn’t even play Minecraft over 18 FPS so I figured I’d give NS a try since it wasn’t really a game.
⦁ When did you join the DSA? Were you just looking at regions when you found us or did you come through recruitment telegram?
If I recall correctly, it was sometime in September of 2013. My old region collapsed and after trying to strike it out on my own, I ended up in the DSA. I don’t remember ever being recruited, it just sort of happened. I came to the DSA in its hay-day. The funny thing is, at that time I was ideologically a centrist Democrat who had almost nothing in common with other people in the region.
⦁ What are some things you've come to enjoy about the DSA most? A favorite memory?
Definitely the strong community we’ve built. Being young and impressionable I really came to admire some of the region’s biggest names in government. My favorite memory overall was when I was first nominated for MoRP by someone already in government. It made me feel like I was doing my part.
⦁ What do you do outside of NationStates? Examples: what your job (if employed)? Hobbies? Talents? etc
I’d like to consider myself a well rounded guy, and for people on the Discord, my time off of NS has become a bit of a meme. I currently work full time in politics as an organizer, and when I’m not doing that I’m typically at the gym or playing games.
⦁ What made you first want to enter DSA government? What made you want to enter for this cabinet?
I first wanted to be in government because of the fact that it was really cool at the time, and Congress was active enough for competitive elections. I decided to return from my retirement thanks to the urging of a few friends. What sealed the deal was 124mm10 deciding not to run again, making the potential election less messy.
⦁ Who are some people who you've come to consider good friends in the DSA?
Surprisingly enough I never got very close with too many people until recently. I’ve forged more friendships with people like Courelli, Goncar, Ghostopolis, and Anaaxes to name a few who were previously not in the DSA. I’ve also come to consider Gallifrax a good friend, and I remember talking to her every day as she prepared to come out to her parents. Additionally, Wileyshire has been one of my favorite people to just chat and play games with.
⦁ What are your plans for the future in your life? What do you hope to be or accomplish before you die? Or more simply and less macabre, within the next 20 years?
My overall goal is to make sure I’ve had a net positive impact on the world, that I can die knowing life wasn’t lived in vain. As for the next years of my young life, I hope to be able to finish college with a Bachelors in Public Policy and move on to grad school. I’ve always wanted to work for a non profit or as a college professor. On the other hand, politics is my life and I bet I’ll end up somewhere in government.
Interview Conducted By: Student Loan Debt
To see more quality articles in this issue of Solidarity, including an article on the memes of the DSA, you can view Solidarity: Issue 2 here.