We are working on a brand new version of the game! If you want to stay informed, read our blog and register for our mailing list.
Bill: Commonwealth Control Act
Details
Submitted by[?]: Catholic Workers Union
Status[?]: defeated
Votes: This is an ordinary bill. It requires more yes votes than no votes. This bill will not pass any sooner than the deadline.
Voting deadline: February 2257
Description[?]:
The Telamon Left is unanimous in its objection to private production and the for-profit society. By regulating these areas, the TL hopes to destroy such a society and replace it with a truly cooperative Commonwealth. The first step is to ban all advertisement that artificially manufactures want and actively enforce quotas to protect marginalized groups. |
Proposals
Article 1
Proposal[?] to change The government's policy on advertising
Old value:: All advertising is permitted.
Current: Only governmental organisation advertising is permitted.
Proposed: Only governmental organisation advertising is permitted.
Article 2
Proposal[?] to change Positive discrimination.
Old value:: The government does not regulate hiring policies.
Current: The government encourages positive discrimination and enforces it for government hiring.
Proposed: The government sets compulsory quotas for hiring women, minorities and marginalized groups.
Debate
These messages have been posted to debate on this bill:
Date | 02:38:21, July 18, 2006 CET | From | Telamon Patriots' Bloc | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | You claim to fight against fascism? You are limiting the freedom of speech and choice in Telamon, and robbing Telmonians of their right to pursue the Telamon Dream. Sounds pretty fascist to me. |
Date | 03:34:31, July 18, 2006 CET | From | Catholic Workers Union | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | No, we are removing advertisement from our economy. You see, back in the day, people knew what they needed because these were actual needs. They didn't need commercials to tell them what to buy because their only wants were what they needed to barely survive. Now we have an economy where we focus foolishly on increased production of unnecessary goods. These goods must be sold, and since they do not fall under the realm of natural wants, companies must produce want via advertisement. This is tremendously artificial and dangerous; we are producing what we do not really need, and as our economy moves more and more towards such production, the danger becomes greater. In a time of slight economic recession, the opening is there for complete collapse of such an artificial economy. Thus a slight recession becomes a catastrophic depression. The Telamon Left seeks to eliminate such an apocalyptic possibility. We strike right at the heart of the system: advertisement. By eliminating most advertisement, people no longer patronize unnecessary production and such production gradually recedes. In this vacuum, the Telamon Left would like to see a new focus on production for use along with greater social focus on education and the stimulation of the arts and culture. This is not fascism, in the eyes of the Telamon Left, it is common sense in the cause of greater social security. As for quotas for hiring, they would eliminate any remenents of rascism and sexism in our country. If, for example, there is a company where only 20% of the management is female, discrimination is obviously playing a part. Since 50% of Telamon is female, 50% of the employees should be female. Again, this is not fascism but anti-fascism; we are eliminating the last vestiges of an unequal society. |
Date | 06:46:59, July 18, 2006 CET | From | Telamon Patriots' Bloc | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | We strongly disagree with the TL. Companies should be free to speak about thier products to consumers in order to make money and pursue the Telamonian Dream, and freedom of speech should never be infringed unless it puts Telamonians in mortal danger. As for Article 2, it is simply reverse racism and sexism. People should be hired based on their skills, not thier race or sex. |
Date | 18:24:00, July 18, 2006 CET | From | Páirtí Sóisialach | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | [Crash!][Thump!][Gagging noises in the dark!][A cat howls!][A woman screams! (in a dark alley)][The Gestapo disciples file in and out!][The end is near! shouts a homeless person on the street corner!][He is never heard from again!][Silence!][A cricket!][No, I was wrong!]['Now, for something completely different!'] I can honestly say I completely disagree with TL. It is fascism when the government tells it denizens what they do and do not want or need. It is not discrimination in a factory with a 20% female workforce when 20% of applicants are women. By setting socialist quotas, you force people into certain jobs they would A) rather not have and B) over-employ the workforce. To re-set the stage for Britain in 1974, all you would need is your other bill requiring people to belong to trades unions. Thus, when the factory can only afford a 4% raise, but the unionists want 40%, they walk out en masse accross the country, forcing their employers into bankruptcy. Those that succeed in their demands ratchet wages causing massive inflation; those who are not successful find themselves redundant and unemployed. No offense, but you are the closest thing to a real socialist I have ever seen (not that I can see you). Telamon does not need the dark apocalypse you have in store for it. Random fact: Socialism doesn't work. |
Date | 02:05:34, July 19, 2006 CET | From | Catholic Workers Union | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | While the Telamon Left respects the views of its distinguished opponents (and heartily enjoys the debate), it must be earnest in its defense of these two proposals. It is the opinion of the Telamon Left that advertisement, by creating an artificial society of manufactured wants, places the well-being of all Telamonites in mortal danger by drastically increasing the dangers of economic collapse and ruin. Their ability to speak freely as individuals is being controlled only in the areas in which it actively endangers the well-being of our cooperative commonwealth. Neither is Article 2 reverse racism, for it only seeks to ensure that employment is done fairly. We are not forcing anybody to work somewhere they do not want, but we are ensuring that those who do want to work in certain areas are employed on a percentage equal to that of their demographic. And if there is not enough qualified minorities or members of a discriminated group to fill the job, that is the failing of our public school system in investing in all children the equal ability to pursue the Telamonite Dream. Finally, to our comrades in the Conservative and Unionist Party who have attacked the noble and respectable institution of the trade and labor unions: workers will not destroy or strike in factories that they own and have a democratic stake in. That would be against their own interest and against the interest of the cooperative commonwealth, thus they would not do such a thing. The answer therefore is to place democratic control of industry in the hands of the employee, so that it becomes his or her own, as it rightfully is anyway. And an aside on this intriguing issue. The C&UP makes a large deal about the vices and irresponsibility of the trade and labor union. They forget that members of unions strike only as a last resort, as strikes hurt workers too by depriving them of what little scraps of the overall yield are partitioned to them by their wage-slave master. The corporate master on the other hand controls his factory or company almost absolutely, and can do with it as he pleases, even when it is against the interests of the company and its employees simply because his wealth frees him from the burden of needing to scrape by for survival. This is a far greater threat to the cooperative commonwealth. (OOC: I'm not really a Socialist, but its damn fun to play a radical left-wing party! Try it some time.) |
Date | 15:59:34, July 19, 2006 CET | From | Páirtí Sóisialach | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | (I know it would be :) ) Again, sadly, my answer is Britain: 1980's. After that period of time, I have a phobia of the trades unions. You might look-up Arthur Scargil[l] sometime, since you say you don't remember it. You say that unions strike as a last resort. I learnt the hard way that they can strike because they feel like it. You say that workers will not be inclined to strike in factories they have a steak in; how can they have a steak in them if the factories are owned by the government? In the end, however small or insignificant this or any other party I'm in part of is, I will always stand up to the dangers of organised labour. Yes, there are some who would do so to protect their coporate privleges, but not I. I oppose it because I have seen what it wants and thrives for: Britain, 1980's. |
Date | 01:08:45, July 20, 2006 CET | From | Catholic Workers Union | To | Debating the Commonwealth Control Act |
Message | The DLF seeks government ownership of industry only as long as it is necessary to transition to democratic control. And even then, all government run industry will have a significant degree of independence as mandatory labor unions begin asserting their control over its operation. |
subscribe to this discussion - unsubscribe
Voting
Vote | Seats | ||
yes | Total Seats: 0 | ||
no |
Total Seats: 355 | ||
abstain | Total Seats: 0 |
Random fact: The Real-Life Equivalents Index is a valuable resource for finding out the in-game equivalents of real-life cultures, languages, religions, people and places: http://forum.particracy.net/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=6731 |
Random quote: "You don't have to be straight to be in the military; you just have to be able to shoot straight." - Barry Goldwater |