By The Fireside with First Minister Dax
There’s a Pandemic
Written by Dax
(12 Pope Lexus Lane - March 17, 2020) As Dax paces around her new office, thinking about her new responsibilities, and the chaos taking place outside. She pauses to take a look out the nearest window to see a shady-looking trade occurring for a roll of toilet paper. Continuing her pacing, she suddenly remembered something from a time long past, a lifetime ago. Sprinting from her office, Dax rushed through Pope Lexus Lane to locate where it took place several terms before her own. Finally, after causing a ruckus throughout the building, opening doors left and right, she found it. The Fireside. Walking into the dark room, she examined the dusty chairs and pictures scattered along the torn wallpaper that the walls were covered with, the crisp moonlight leaking in between the curtains hung from the window.
Dax finally walked up to the fireplace, running her finger along the mantel, collecting the dust that lay on it. Glancing at the floor, she noticed the logs that lay unused. She carefully placed them in the fireplace and dusted off the chair beside it. She grabbed a matchbook, struck a match and tossed it in the fireplace, lighting the logs ablaze. With a sigh, she analyzed the room once more, now illuminated by the glow of the flames.
*Ahem* Greetings fellow Europeians, I’m glad you’ve joined me next to the fireside as I talk to y'all today. As you guys might have noticed, there's a pandemic taking place. This pandemic has spread quite a bit, and has taken to the media, and of course, we all know what I'm talking about - inactivity.
As of recent, Europeia has been taken by storm by a number of resignations from several individuals we all associated with the future of the region. This new generation of Europeians taking a step back was certainly understandable, and we can all respect their abilities to realize what's most important and to act accordingly, but this was also a shock to Euro and activity started to drop. We lost a lot of the momentum that we had at the beginning of the term and it takes a lot of work to regain that.
Something I predicted way back when I was in my first term as minister of culture, was that this newer generation would burn out quite a bit faster than the older generation of Europeians. Those that have shaped the region into what it is today, Writinglegend, Mousebumples, Kraketopia, are part of a different generation with more people to take on offices and lead the new and innovative projects of the time. Now, as we exist in a time when many of those workhorses have run out of energy and left the region, the reigns are handed over to a new generation, one much smaller than many before it. These folks are unfortunately tasked with filling many of the positions and have extreme expectations attached to them. Reaching the bar that the region sets for them is extremely daunting at times, and I can guarantee that many of these have felt this pressure throughout their career.
We’ve continued to see this pressure push down on our newer generation as another force pushes its way into the picture: real life. Something that not only has an influence on what a citizen does, but completely controls it. Having the constant pressure placed on them to fill higher positions or even multiple positions in addition to this real life force can burn out individuals much faster than the speed that those have gotten burned out in the past.
At this time, recruiting and integrating newcomers is more important than ever. If you see a new citizenship application, drop by and welcome them. Why not say hello on the Regional Message Board (RMB) or answer some questions someone has? Even starting up a conversation and asking them what brought them to NationStates, why they chose Europeia, or just asking how their day is going, or about their favorite food, or about their hobbies. Mentioning a new nation on the RMB or reaching out to a newcomer on discord to see how they're doing so far in the region are a few little things that make a big difference to help draw people in to hopefully get involved in the region.
