16
Dispatch → Bulletin → News
The West Pacifican - October 2019
Choosing a Successor
When it’s time for me to step down, who will take my place? Delegate Supremacy is one of the fundamental principles of The West Pacific, and there is probably no clearer demonstration of this than when a TWP Delegate chooses their successor. The only legitimate Delegate of The West Pacific is one who was chosen by their predecessor. This will be the most important decision of my tenure. What factors must I consider?
First and foremost, the next Delegate must be one who will support TWP’s long-standing traditions of Delegate Supremacy, Meritocracy and anti-fascism. Our newer institutions, such as The Manners and Etiquette should also receive the new Delegate’s full support, and I would like to see the new theme carried forward and expanded.
The one chosen should have contributed much to the region. We are a Meritocracy after all. Our leaders are not chosen by popularity or because they are part of an “in” group. Did this person work hard to make the region a better place?
Next, I will choose someone who is as comfortable mentoring the noobs as they are sharing snark with the seasoned players. TWP is unique in having a large cadre of active, older players as well as the steady stream of new ones one expects in a GCR. The Delegate must strive to enhance the experience of all of our players.
It is important for the Delegate to delegate! Trying to do everything oneself is a sure way to burn out and it limits others’ opportunities to contribute and grow. I will make this clear to my successor.
I also think it is important for the next Delegate to be patient and flexible. NationStates is a game. Players have real lives that come first. Not even the most loyal, energetic, enthusiastic, talented player will be on top of NS all the time.
Finally, my successor will have a sense of humor. TWP is known for not taking itself or NS too seriously.
I am blessed to have several people in TWP that fulfill these qualifications. When it comes time for me to appoint the next Delegate and Dragon-Emperor of The West Pacific, as it soon will be, I will do my best to leave The Best Pacific with a leader they can count on to build upon our wonderful history and guide us to an even better future.
Recently, the leader of the nation of Reçueçn has left his nation in Polaris on a trip to visit other locations within The West Pacific. Specifically, he now lives in Kigali, the capital of Rwanda, a breathtakingly beautiful East African country. This report will share a glimpse of this far away part of TWP.
Rwanda is known as the land of a thousand hills, and with good reason. It's impossible not to fall in love with its rolling landscape. Near the equator, darkness falls quickly and early each evening--around 6:30 pm. For the visitor flying into Kigali after dark, then, the lay of the land is laid out in a sparkling fashion--thousands of little lights dot the hills, glittering in waves in every direction.
The view at night surpasses even that during the day; during this time of year, the rains have just come in Rwanda, and the haze and humidity limit visibility. Often it will appear that the sky over the entire city is overcast, but from a hill or ridge you will be able to see in which parts of town it is actually raining. When it rains, everything stops. Buses wait at bus parks because no one will stand in the rain to wait for a bus anyhow. I walked through the rain to work only to be told that I shouldn’t have bothered—no one else would be coming until it cleared up. An interesting example, perhaps, of how Kigali blends the fast-paced hustle of a city with the more relaxed attitudes towards time of Rwandan culture in general.
Culturally, Rwanda is very different from a western country such as the United States. Greater priorities are placed on family over individualism and on relationships over tasks. It is a change to be sure, and sometimes not something I’m used to, but at the same time it feels like a healthier focus. Cultural values are manifested in unexpected ways, however: going outside with dirty shoes (Rwandans are very fashion-conscious) would look bad not just for you, but for your whole family. I accidentally offended a neighbor when in passing, I shook a friend’s hand but not hers. To my mind, it made sense that if I was just walking through, I wouldn’t go out of my way to shake her hand—I had already *said* hello. But she took it as a direct, personal snub, and asked me what I meant by it.
On a different note, another thing that makes Rwandan culture unique, especially among the other African countries which surround it, is how unified it is. The nation has only a single ethnic group with a single culture and a single language—compare that to the neighboring Democratic Republic of Congo, with 242 languages. A shared language is obviously a very big part of a nation’s culture; whereas other nations in Africa have been forced by the lack of a common tongue to adopt English or French—the languages of their colonizers—as their official languages, Rwanda is free to conduct its business in Kinyarwanda, the native language of its people. Business meetings and government deliberations don’t need to take place in the language of an entirely different people—something that would obviously come with a lot of baggage. In fact, in order to politically distance itself from the Belgians and the French, Rwanda has added English as a national language, and it has replaced French as the medium of education in schools. If you are trying to guess if a Rwandan will speak English or French, you can often figure it out based on their age—older people will have learned French, before that transition occurred.
Among people I talked to before I left the United States to come here, it seemed that Rwanda was mostly known for one thing—the terrible genocide which happened in 1994. But the nation has so much more to it than that. In fact, many of the ideas people have about the genocide are also misconceptions. For example, it is often pictured as a long-overdue eruption of tribal tensions. In fact, as I mentioned, there is only one ethnicity in Rwanda—the distinctions between the two groups were more cultural, and can hardly be said to be tribal—it was in fact the colonizers who used the distinction as a way to discriminate among (and against) the population, based on their pseudoscientific racist ideas. And the genocide was not a grassroots thing—it was meticulously organized and planned from the top down, a fact which accounts for its terrible efficiency.
For me, however, the biggest thing that struck me about Rwanda when I arrived was the order and progress apparent everywhere. Expats I spoke to would talk about how much had changed just in the last five years, with buildings springing up everywhere and infrastructure being built all around. Compared to other African countries I have visited, Rwanda is very safe and regulated—the motorcycle taxis which abound in Kigali are all registered and carry helmets for their passengers to wear, which is not at all the case in other countries that also use motos. New roads are well-built and long-lasting, not just vote-getters to be slapped down before an election as in other places. Violent crime is essentially non-existent.
Thanks to the miraculous transition from the hellscape which Rwanda was after the genocide to the beacon of hope and progress which it is now, it is understandable why the current government is so popular. Paul Kagame, Rwanda’s president, was the leader of the army that broke up the genocide. He won his most recent election with well over 90% of the vote—a figure that would look suspicious to someone not familiar with the culture or the context. And while he certainly has some more authoritarian tendencies, Kagame if he must be compared to a dictator, is a benevolent one. Rwanda’s government is strong—corruption is heavily punished, and its parliament has the highest percentage of women MPs worldwide—they make up in fact almost two thirds of the body.
There’s no way to sum up Rwanda to but a nice conclusion and a bow on the end of this article. A country full of contradictions and surprises, this country is beautiful and welcoming, with a history both rich and dark. So perhaps the only thing to do is come see it for yourself. This is one corner of TWP that’s worth visiting.
As a major player in the history of our world, our Western Pacific has been a target of hostile powers wishing to deny who we are and what our values are. We in The West Pacific state that our region comes first; that the supremacy of the Delegacy and recognition of mechanics is paramount; that a fair and prosperous region requires Guardianship, including a right to rebellion for the guardians of the region to protect the region from an unjust and anti-West Pacifican ruler; and that merit, ability and commitment to the region shall be the determining factor of how the region and the citizens interact. We recognize the sovereignty and self-determination of other regions unless hostile towards us and we further recognize and promote the sovereignty of all nations, particularly with respect to the World Assembly. It is the desire of The West Pacific to be good neighbours with all those who mean us no harm.
What does this mean for the citizens of our region? Youxia are a line of defence. In the event of a hostile power attempting to impose their will over our region, all nations will be called upon to help reassert our sovereignty and community. Youxia are individual nations recognized by the Delegate and the government to help with those efforts. To be a Youxia of The West Pacific, a nation needs to hold 100 or more endorsements over two-week time periods. Failure to hold the minimum amount of endorsements at any time over a two-week period will deny a nation of the honour. If a nation goes one day below 100 endorsements in a time period, they lose Youxia status. Being Youxia requires commitment and dedication. It requires a nation to be loyal to the region, holding the line against threats within and without.
There have been three reporting periods provided to the Delegate: August 10th to 24th, August 25th to September 7th, and September 8th to 21st. In each reporting period, Fujai was the first ranked Youxia, followed in second by Wickedly evil people (aka Eli), and Westwind with third rank. Fujai is currently a senior member of the Internal Affairs ministry with a deep commitment to Western roleplay and culture. Wickedly evil people and Westwind are both power players of our regional and game history, both previously holding the powers and responsibilities of the delegacy of The West Pacific and other regions. From August 10th to 24th, 14 nations were recognized as Youxia. 15 nations were recognized as Youxia between the 25th of August and 7th of September. September 8th through 21st saw a new addition to the Youxia, bringing the total to 16.
The Speaker or another representative of the Delegate shall collect the data necessary to determine Youxia status. They will inform the Delegate of any proposed changes to the list of Youxia, including ranking, promotion and demotion. As the fountain of honour in the region, the Delegate shall be the final determiner of those who hold Youxia or not. Youxia is fleeting and held only through hard work.
Youxia Rankings for Sep 7 - Sep 21: 1. Fujai (-), 2. Wickedly evil people (-), 3. Westwind (-), 4. Liberillia (+2), 5. Papercuts and Skittles (-1), 6. Cro Magnon (-1), 7. Gryphonian Alliance (-), The Undivided (-), 9. Oometz (-), 10. Sensorland (+6), 11. Denieria (-1), 12. Bhang Bhang Duc (-1), 13. Pandaland II (-), 14. Doggerstan (-2), 15. Shaqolandia (-1), 16. Kittenlicious (-1)