- Pronouns
- Him / He
SEPTEMBER 14, 2021
AUTHOR: PICHTONIA
AUTHOR: PICHTONIA
A Conversation With: Lime
It's election season in Europeia, and we are faced with huge changes to the game we play and the communities we have built. Europeia is paddling along, but not everything is rosy, and the region has suffered from a lack of engagement. The next term will likely be a crucial one.
Who are the brave souls daring to tackle this challenge? What guides them, defines them, as candidates and leaders?
For this election, I invited the candidates to sit down for an interview with me. The few rules are easy: I will ask a question, the candidates will answer. Without a strict time limit, but without any big breaks to discuss an answer first or to do a whole lot of research. This way, I was hoping to get the most heartfelt answers and a good flow of conversation. For the second iteration of the series, I interviewed Lime, the first candidate to stand in this election.
Lime has a lively history in Europeia, and I was curious to hear how that influenced him, as well as how hungry he is for the Presidency after all these years. It wasn't super easy to schedule this interview with him, because Lime is currently moving, and packing his bags even as we were having the conversation. It was very interesting to me, however, how his answers and his style of answering in this interview differed from the answers of Hell's Soldier and Gaudosia, much more controlled. And I do imagine it's a bit less relaxed when you've got a solid chance at winning an election - and a single mistake or switching voter could bury that chance. I'm curious to see how the other frontrunner, Lloenflys, will do in tomorrow's last interview of this series (as far as we know now).
In the meantime, if you are interested in what Lime was saying and what he and SkyGreen24 might stand for policy-wise, please do check out their platform here (click) and find out/ask more.
In your platform, you list the offices you have held - and it’s not a short list. One would be forgiven for thinking that the Presidency would be the logical next step for you, the crowning achievement. Do you feel that way?
I don't think it's much of a secret that I have Presidential ambitions - I have ran for the Presidency on multiple occasions. I believe I could do a good job as President. I think I have the skills, knowledge, temperament and experience to serve successfully. After a long career in many positions, the Presidency is the next logical step to take. That said, I have had a successful and enjoyable career and could easily retire without ever running for President again and not feel like I should have run. And indeed after the last election I ran in, I did think that would be the last Presidential race I would be a candidate in. However, I felt a calling at this moment in Europeia's history. It didn't look likely that Calvin would run, and I knew many others were planning on stepping back as well. I felt I had the necessary attributes to help lead Europeia through this period of great change, and I felt I had the right vision for the region during this change. That's why I chose to run. It's not about my own personal ambitions, it's about having the right vision for Europeia at this moment in time. And I think myself and Sky have that vision.
I'm stuck on that one sentence of yours -- that it didn't look like Calvin would run, and that many others were planning on stepping back as well. Was that crucial to your decision? Would you not have run if Calvin had been in the race from the beginning?
It certainly played a role in my decision, it was not the main reason however. For quite a while it looked like Calvin would not run, and then when I started reaching out to people it become increasingly clear that many people were planning on taking a break from government altogether, let alone run for President. I would have been happy to see fresh leadership in the Goldenblock however it was clear that was not going to happen. I had been thinking about the upcoming update and how Europeia should best respond to it. The formations of a plan started to develop, along with a vision for Europeia and each Ministry for the next 70 days. While at first I may have taken the decision to think about running for President because it looked like no one else would, my motivations quickly change into running because I thought I had the best vision for Europeia. I would soon get the signals that Calvin was planning on running for re-election however that was not going to change my decision. I felt that myself and Sky had the right ideas and plans for the next 70 days and we were going to present them to the region regardless of if Calvin was going to run for re-election or not.
Earlier you mentioned having the right temperament for the Presidency, and you can probably anticipate what’s coming now, but I think we’d all cautiously agree that wasn’t always the case. You did have a very spirited time in 2018/2019 that ended with you leaving and eventually returning - as Lime, and with an arguably calmer temperament. How would you say that time and your second chance have shaped you?
While it may be counter-intuitive to say this, having a break from Europeia was great!
I finished school, went backpacking in Costa Rica, went to university in a different city living away from home for the first time and enjoyed it all a lot. In short I grew up a lot in that year away from Europeia, and I don't know if I would have enjoyed that time as much as I did if I was still in the region at that time. I enjoy Europeia, I love our community, it's why I returned here. However, having pretty minimal responsibilities for that first year of university just enjoying myself, going out, trying new things and making friends was great and helped to develop me as a person. Would trying to salvage a failed career in Europeia make me enjoy that time anymore? Probably not. I think it was the right time for me to have a break from Europeia, and for Europeia to have a break from me.Having this second chance, and that break away for a year has really emphasised that this is just a game and we're here to have fun. And I think a lot of us forget that at times. There's no real need to make enemies or burn bridges, because it's just a game and what we do here doesn't really matter. We're all here to have fun, and that's the most important thing. When it stops being fun you should take a break and step back. And it's important not to hold grudges, and be willing to forgive and let go. A lot of people I wasn't particularly fond of (they also didn't like me!) when I was here first time, have been amazing friends and mentors this time and have given me new opportunities and chances. We should all be mindful of the fact that this is a game, and we're all here to have fun. No one should be spoiling other people's fun either intentional or unintentional through their actions and that includes ourselves. Often times we put too much pressure on ourselves and end up ruining our own enjoyment of the game by taking things just that little bit too seriously.
And yet, as leaders in this game, certainly as President, we sometimes find ourselves in a situation where we must decide between our own joy and heart, or taking seriously the game that is Europeia. When I've been in this situation, I told myself that this is not just a game we are here to win or lose, but also a community behind it that we are taking responsibility for. Would that be wrong? And if not, then how would you weigh that against the argument that "this is only a game" when making decisions?
You're right that sometimes when in leadership positions we must take decisions that we may not want to take, or sometimes we must spend a bit longer online than we had originally anticipated. I'm sure that if I'm elected President I will have to make difficult decisions where there is no clear "right or wrong" answer, and I'm sure there will be times where I'll end up spending more time than perhaps I first wanted to. We are in positions of leadership and we have a responsibility to the community to make those tough decisions and put in the extra work. That is just part of the responsibility of such an important role. My point is, you shouldn't be in a role that you actively dislike or is having a negative impact on you or the community. There is a big difference between having to spend an extra hour on NS dealing with the occasional crisis, versus no longer enjoying the game.
You may have read my other interview with the ticket of Hell's Soldier and Gaudosia already, we did that one yesterday. Something I asked them, and that I would like to ask you as well, so it's pretty fitting that we've reached this discussion, is about the matter of burnout. How would you like to protect yourself and your team from burnout?
I think good delegation and having a strong support network around you is vital. The next term is bound to be extremely busy with the largest change to NS since 2006, and one which will fundamentally change how NS and Europeia function. Our plans to respond to that change will also be ambitious. That's one of the reasons why we would nominate a Transition Minister to help coordinate our administration's response, to help advise us and make decisions but also to assist each Minister with their plans for the update. They're an experienced individual who will be able to provide an additional hand and help reduce some of the burden on our team. Sky will also be playing a full and active role in our response, helping me and our Ministries throughout the term. He's an experienced individual with a strong track record of success and his WA experience will be invaluable for the upcoming update. The Vice President will be an active and vital role in our administration, not just an insurance clause.
But aside from that, I think it is also important to know when to take a step back and have a quick break. When you're feeling overwhelmed it's easy to think you just have to keep struggling on and eventually you'll make it through. However that's often not the best thing to do. It's better to step back for a while, re-focus and re-charge and then tackle the issue again. I'm sure everyone is familiar with the struggle of studying for an exam, and reaching a point where you feel overwhelmed and nothing seems to be sticking in your head and as a result you become more overwhelmed and more stressed and keep plowing on and become less and less productive as a result. Well in that situation, you should take a break. Go get a drink, have some food, watch TV or go for a walk and then come back to it and you'll feel much more able to tackle the issue. The same is true in almost every situation. Knowing when you're overwhelmed and doing the responsible thing is vital to avoid burnout but to also make the right decision. I want to make sure that myself, Sky and all of my Ministers are taking a break when needed - be that for an hour, the day or the weekend and coming back to tackle whatever issue feeling refreshed and prepared.
I do want to move on and talk to you about policy. I personally feel as though the perspective of Hell’s Soldier and Gaudosia in this Presidential race is an incredibly interesting one when it comes to our integration, and one that I think lays bare part of our struggle with new members.
Do you personally see such a struggle? What would you like to do about that? In your platform, you mostly seem to focus on RMB activity as a means to attract and attach residents to our region, but will you do anything to help them make the jump to an engaged citizen? And if so, what would that be?
I'll quote from Calvin what he wrote in our September 2020 platform in regards to Interior: "Interior as a ministry is a part of our government that is, without a doubt, critical to our region’s survival. Gaining new members and retaining those members is paramount to any region’s success, and Interior is at the forefront of those efforts. That is not to say, however, that Interior is solely responsible for these things happening. We frequently gain new members through our foreign engagements and we often integrate our members through our cultural efforts and media projects. While Interior is the face of integration, it is important we know it is not alone"
Integration is part of everyone's responsibility, and the government can do various things to help improve our integration efforts but ultimately everyone must play their role. We will continue to use #newcomers-questions in Discord as well as the welcome lobby, we will continue to regularly update all of the government's various guides and resources for newcomers, and we will push our Ministers to welcome new staff members and encourage them to give new staff members a task for them to start on ASAP. We'd also like to see "Silly Questions" asked in citizen application threads to help break up the monotony of a dozen "Welcome" messages. Ultimately we cannot force new members to become engaged citizens. Everyone in the region can help facilitate that jump to engaged citizen by being welcoming, by answering their questions and encouraging them to get involved. The responsibility of Ministers, Senators, Vice Presidents and Presidents is even greater and they should act as role-models for new players, and if approached should help new players get involved. But ultimately we can't make that jump for them, we can help facilitate such a jump but they must be the ones to take it.
I want to move on to a final round of quick questions soon, but before we do that: You've seen and lived the ups and downs in Europeia. How would you assess the current state of the region? We often ask this in polling, but I'd be curious to see a more elaborate answer: Are we on the right track?
The region is certainly facing challenges at the moment. We've seen a historic population slump, and activity has been shaky and I know that many people are planning on taking a step back from government next term. Part of this can be attributed to the "Summer Slump", and as many in our region are still at school or university they are starting to return to full time education and have less time for Euro. Some of this is worrying, and we shouldn't ignore what is going on. However, the region has shown remarkable resilience and remains in a strong position. We've seen lots of people step up and start recruiting on a regular basis, we continue to have competitive elections and we still see new faces joining government. We have been in far worse positions before. In the summer of 2018 we had long stretches of uncontested elections, and at one stage it did look likely that the region may have been reaching its end. I believe at one point in 2019 during my absence, the region was once again in a dark place. We came back each time, and we are not in that position now. We do face serious challenges and we should acknowledge them, however the upcoming term does present new opportunities and I believe Europeia can continue to grow and flourish and I am confident that we will.
Alright, then on to the final round! Please try to keep your answers as short as possible, no more than five words!
What do you like about Europeia?
You bb
..No, the community.
It's the thought that matters. I'll take it - and you managed to write both of that in only five words!
What do you dislike about Europeia?
Five word answers.
It's sometimes a little too slow/afraid of change.
What was your proudest moment here?
Becoming Speaker or becoming Minister of Communications after returning to the region.
What’s Independence to you?
Scotland's future.
The right path forward.
What’s your favourite policy from your platform?
Oh now come on, that's impossible!
I think most of the most exciting parts of the platform would be hosting radio shows in the IRC. I think that could be really fun and exciting.
Thank you very much for your time, Lime!
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