Op Ed: What’s in a Name
The detriments of “cocooning”
Written by JayDee
Before I get to the article, I would like everyone to listen to this two minute clip from the “Ranking our Government” broadcast last week.
Europeia prides itself as a place that welcomes people from all walks of life. No matter your race, your sexual orientation, or your religion, you will almost surely be accepted here. Europeia has managed to build a culture where people of all ages can thrive and succeed as long as they have the ability and work ethic to achieve their goals. There is absolutely no doubt that Europeia is a region open to all walks of life, and that is one of its selling points.
However, Europeians have fallen into a singular inevitable trap; a trap that many people throughout the world are guilty of falling into. We have set people into their own separate categories based on our past relation with that person. This is not to say that Europeians are guilty of prejudice or a slavish devotion to stereotypes; perhaps there isn't even a term to describe it. We view people based on what we expect them to be rather than what they’ve grown into. It is a cocoon that we fit different people into. Aditya Republic is the “spammer,” Boomer is the “Okayest Senator,” Writinglegend is the “President for life.” As you can see, it’s not always bad for the individual, but many times it can be detrimental. While some people can break out of this cocoon as a beautiful butterfly, many emerge as a moth; an ugly creation condemned to a life of chasing the light only to be consumed by the flames when they finally get there.
People such as Writinglegend are a good example of people who managed to break out of this “cocoon” and have a very successful career. Writinglegend started out as a spammer who posted a bunch of spam posts on Skype and the forum. In short, no one really took him seriously. That all changed with his first term as Minister of Culture under Kraketopia, where he quickly showed himself to be a dedicated worker and talented Minister. Writinglegend managed to use his personality as a trickster to his strengths; promoting a greater feeling of community as a member of Cabinet and later President. However, individuals such as Writinglegend are not the norm. For every Writinglegend, you have a multitude of individuals who are trying to break free to create a successful career.
People such as Vlaska have shown clear growth since joining the region, yet struggle to break through the cocoon we have placed them into. Vlaska for his part has been a positive contributor to the Law Clerk program and was a positive influence on the Saxonian Parliament as Speaker when the States Program was still alive. Despite his tremendous growth as an individual, many of us still see Vlaska as the same person who first joined many months ago. We review him based on who he used to be rather than who he’s become. The same goes for Comrade Snowball, whose platform has gone from a promise to “bring Europeia into the 21st century” into a nuanced platform detailing his opinion on legislation currently being debated.
Many people in the beginning struggle to understand how Europeia works, because of this they may come across as trolls or helpless noobs who will never amount to anything. The temptation to ignore these people is a strong one; after all, there are plenty of other newcomers who show promise right now. We cannot afford to be concerned about right now though, we have to worry about our future too. Like it or not, these people are our future.
”A society will be judged on the basis of how it treats its weakest members”-Pope John Paul II
