Getting to Know Europeians 2.0 - Peeps - A Bear of Many Trades
An interview with one of Europeia's resident bears
Written by Forilian
Edited by Comfed, Dracondra, and Seva
In an effort to let everyday Europeians know more about their fellow citizens, Getting to Know Europeians is an interview project that asks Europeians casual questions about themselves. This is the second iteration of this project, as the previous series of interviews were conducted in 2020 with Hezekon, Kuramia, Lloenflys, Maowi, Prim, Istillian, and Astrellan.
Peeps, former president, senator, and long-time cabinet minister, is widely renowned throughout Europeia as a bear of many talents. His Europeian political career began in earnest in 2020; however, Peeps' time in the region and in NationStates (NS) actually started in 2017, when he joined Europeia, first as a diplomat from another region, then becoming a citizen. However, according to Peeps, he "didn't do much for the few months I was here, left NS and forgot about it for a few years." When Peeps resumed playing NS in 2020, he "naturally came back [to Europeia]."
Once Peeps returned to Europeia, he began joining different institutions; the place where he left his first major mark, however, was the City of Arnhelm. Peeps was elected Mayor of Arnhelm on March 6, 2020; by early May, at the end of Peeps' two terms as Mayor, he had turned a city-state plagued with inactivity into a thriving and vibrant political training ground. When asked about Arnhelm, Peeps said that he initially joined Arnhelm because "[he] was able to contribute and be elected without much in the way of tough questioning" in the city-state. Peeps also expressed how, through his time as mayor, "I was able to practice not only being a legislature [sic] and being a leader of one but being a leader of a team as well," and also gained experience with running in elections. These two qualities would be incredibly helpful in Peeps' later career. As Peeps expressed, "I channeled [these qualities] into my later endeavors, especially as Grand Admiral and President, where you are not the person calling every single shot and you need strong people who know what you are thinking and what's going on."
After his time as mayor, Peeps would go on to make even bigger marks in other areas of Europeia's government. One of his accomplishments was as Senator, where he has helped spearhead many highly impactful pieces of legislation throughout his terms. Possibly the most notable amongst these bills was the Executive Modernization Omnibus Bill (2020), which combined the offices of First Minister and Chief of State into the Presidency of Europeia, and re-merged the executive branch of the Europeian government. According to Peeps, passing the Executive Re-Merge was a major personal accomplishment: "I wrote a majority of the act itself and was a voice calling for the process to be done as soon as possible so it didn't face the same fate of drawn out process and controversy that the split had been subjected to." Furthermore, Peeps has also authored several other important bills in his terms as a Senator, for example the Frontier/Stronghold Act (2022), currently being debated in the Senate.
The Executive Re-Merge that Peeps helped pass would soon affect his Europeian political career, when he was elected Europeia's second post-merge president. To Peeps, "being one of the first few post-remerge Presidents did have a special significance." The Peeps administration made a lot of progress during its term; in particular, Peeps highlighted two accomplishments he was most proud of. "First, consistent positive activity. We had a number of interregional cultural events, always had a good number of recruitment telegrams sent, made a few new FA friends, eventually got a few Europeians commended, and both comms and radio saw a lot of good content published. Second, getting the IRC ball running so it could be finally introduced a few months after my term was up. It was a complicated agreement with complicated negotiations, and it certainly didn't have the easiest start. Now, with it fully spun up and serving as a credible alternative to NSGP as a forum for interregional discussion it has become something that I'm really proud we got done."
Among the many cabinet posts that he has served in in his time at Europeia, Peeps' favourite job has been the role of grand admiral. According to Peeps, he feels most at home in the Navy and finds the position of grand admiral "exhilarating." In fact, Peeps views the position as being very helpful for future presidents: "it's a foreign affairs oriented position with concrete deliverables and a large team to lead. That's why I really wasn't surprised when PA's recent article named it as the most common stepping stone to the presidency. Not only is it a good place to wave your hands up and down and talk about how awesome you and all the work you do is, but you also get to interact with our allies and partners as well as manage a large group, which are both things that the President really needs to be able to do."
In terms of the future, Peeps is not entirely sure yet. When asked about his future plans, he said, "starting in about a months time I'll be busy with school again, and I'm not sure if I'll be able to dedicate enough time to Europeia to serve as a Minister or perhaps even a Senator." One thing that is sure, however, "is that whenever I do have the time and something to contribute, I will."
Finally, Peeps offered the following advice to new Europeians: "Dive into something and ask for more. My first job in the executive was in the Ministry of Interior where I got the Deputy of Recruitment job by just asking the Minister at the time, Calvin. Getting established somewhere and proving that you can deliver is the first step to moving on to greater things, and if you can do that there isn't much stopping you from becoming a Minister in due time."
Peeps has been a juggernaut and Europeian political titan since his time as Mayor of Arnhelm, and his track record as president, grand admiral, minister of foreign affairs, and, most recently, senator, speaks for his abilities. Three cheers for Peeps, and we hope that he will have time to contribute to Europeia for many years to come!
