BlackDragon2020's Election Post

[Syronic]

Hello everyone, I’m BlackDragon2020 and I’ve decided to run for Parliament. I may be newer than most to the server, but I have plans to make it better all the same.


I’m best known for my mini company “Book Nook Emporium,” in which my goal was to save the dying role of Writer by hiring employees at an exuberant price. It was all I could do as a new player, but I can say with certainty that all my Writers had an excellent time on the server.


I joined this server around two months ago during the summer, funnily enough, looking for a server centered around economy. I have a playtime of 15 days and 14 hours.


I believe I am best suited for Parliament, because all of my past actions and future plans have revolved around the betterment of the server, and the strengthening of our economy. I make a point to preserve relationships and bridges with the people of BusinessCraft, because I understand that this is a village. What I mean by “village” is that we are a tight-knit group, with the same goal of becoming better. This can only be accomplished, however, with people by one’s side that are both looking out for each other and are supporting of one another.


I am all for laws and Bills that protect the rights of the people overall. I have learned in-game and in real life, that it is easier to protect the rights that you already have, rather than fighting to get them back. I would like to give power to the people, while also putting checks and balances of both Parliament and them, which is why I propose the following Bills.

• Writer’s Rights
• Convention of Cities (similar to our i.r.l. Convention of States)
• Patent/Copyright Law
• Price Floor Law

As for a law I would vote against, I would choose the one that gives Iron Golem rights. The reason being is because they are non-sentient beings made to serve and follow their programming, which is to kill hostile mobs. Unlike every animal in Minecraft, they are missing a key feature, which is their will to live. (Also, I love the look of them in buildings :D )

I am definitely planning on being present at the debate, and I hope to hear all questions and concerns plaguing my fellow citizens minds.

 

[kailabeann]

Can you elaborate more on your bill ideas and what they entail?

The reason being is because they are non-sentient beings made to serve and follow their programming, which is to kill hostile mobs.

Dogs are also designed to serve and attack hostile mobs and yet they are also protected under our government. Are you suggesting any mob with the ability to attack hostile mobs shouldn't be protected? If not, why don't Iron Golems fit into that category as well? Is your plan to repeal this bill if you get into office?

 

[Syronic]

First off, I wouldn't be so rash and eccentric as to repeal a bill on a whim, but that's not the criteria that I'm judging Iron Golems by. Wolves are obviously alive according to the lore of Minecraft, and this is apparent seeing as they need air, eat food, can swim, and also participate in the reproduction of their species.

Meanwhile, the Iron Golem is quite simply a robot ai built for the purpose of protecting. The same can be said about wolves in the manner of them being protectors, but wolves aren't built and created like Iron Golems, nor are they just protectors.

 

[Ferngrove2004]

I agree with Black, Iron Golems are literally in all practical purposes robots created by players, with iron and pumpkins. As for village ones... they're created by the fear of villagers? It's complicated, but they aren't ALIVE, so, if you had a robot that was running around doing robot things, would you want to give it rights irl? I understand that it may seem alive as it is called a 'mob' like most of the other living ones, but it couldn't even hypothetically feel pain, as it is just an ai with hostile mob tracking abilities. --- Added note, I do not agree with Iron Golem farms on the whole, as they Abuse villagers, but the iron golems I do agree there shouldn't be laws protection them as if they were sentient. Yes, I agree that if someone is foolish enough to create lag by cramming a ton of Golems into a small area, they should be prosecuted, but more for the lag and less about harming the golems, as they are merely robots.

Also Props for the copyright laws, care to go into detail regarding your plans for it?

 

[FlamingNinja728]

What Exactly is the "Price Floor Law"

 

[Syronic]

Sorry to just be getting back to you on your question FlamingNinja728. By textbook definition, a price floor is "a government- or group-imposed price control or limit on how low a price can be charged for a product, good, commodity, or service." At the moment, our economy is in termoil, and people believe their only option is to keep lowering and lowering their prices. This is almost like a check and balance for that problem, lest they get caught up in having the best price

 

[kailabeann]

I understand your and ferngrove's point about golems and I follow your arguments. What about the issue of lag, though? Declassifying them as entities that don't deserve rights means they can be crammed together and contribute to massive lag machines. Don't you think this is problematic, regardless of whether you believe they are "alive"?

I'm also echoing the ask for details about your copyright law. This was something I wanted to explore next term as well.

I'd also like more details about the Convention of Cities bill.

Lastly, regarding your price floor idea, how do you think the public will react to that when they historically are very adamant about maintaining a free market? I agree that many players fall back on price as their only point of difference. Wouldn't it be more beneficial to put resources into educating players about better business practices and effective strategies rather than try to impose regulation the public has expressed disdain for? How will you address complaints after the price floor is set and players go bankrupt because their entire business model has collapsed and they can't afford their employees or shop rent?

 

[Syronic]

And concerning the question that Ferngrove2004 asked about my proposal of a copyright law, this is the basic structure of what I'm thinking.

Right now, one of the most unprotected job roles is "Writer." Anyone is allowed to publish and sell a book without actually having to be a "Writer," or without publishing and selling under someone who is. The copyright law is supposed to do three main things, one of which if for the benefit of this role.

First off, it protects the writer's work by prohibiting spin-offs of original stories, reselling the book as a product without a clear contract between the seller and writer, and creating duplicates for personal use or just handing out to people. Authors have the right to sell, rent or lend their work or copies of their work.

Secondly, it will protect constructors' rights of any architectural plans and designs along with the buildings themselves, sculptures, and even graphic designs that can span as far as company logos to original banner creations.

Lastly, it will allow people to protect their websites, specifically discord. The original authorship appearing on a website may be protected by copyright. This includes writings, artwork, photographs, and other forms of authorship protected by copyright. This WILL include screenshots, and businesses like "Galaxy Studios" would definitely benefit from this.
(This last one is still through the brainstorming phase, and I hope to get insight from fellow MP's if I get into Parliament.)

(I would also like to note that I am referring to the "copyright" portion of the original phrase "patent/copyright." They may seem the same but both do completely different jobs in matters of protecting players' rights. They are still closely related enough for me to propose this as one bill though.)

 

[Syronic]

Responding to Kaila's concerns about Iron Golem farm lag and also Price Floors, here is my opinion on the matter.

I will first address what you have stated about the Iron Golem farms. I find it clear that I'm not completely disregarding the problem of Iron Golem farm lag by becoming fixated on Minecraft lore. If this is not the case, then allow me to reclarify. I am merely stating that such mobs shouldn't qualify for the animal rights bill.
If we are in agreement that Iron Golem farms shouldn't be outright banned for player use but also can't go on as they are, that only leaves one option; the use of a new plugin. There are two that come to the top of my head when I think about it. The first being a plugin that regulates the spawn rates of certain mobs within the server that can be adjusted, or a plugin that allows us to change the rate in which golems drop iron. In other words, a plugin that allows us to modify the drops and drop rates of mobs. (again, issues that take more than one person to solve, but this is just my personal insight into the matter)

Regarding the questions asked about the price floors, I would like to make a reference to the irl world. America is arguably one of the most free market countries in the world, but even they have set price floors in the past for one reason. The was so that people with abundant resources and money couldn't monopolize the markets with low prices they could afford giving, by taking advantage of the population's needs.
The reason why I implore a law like this is because it has been proven over and over that this such law does not effect either the supply or the demand of the product in question. It actually makes it so that there is never a shortage of said product. Regulating most of a limited amount of items, like Minecraft with a set variety of blocks, can lead to unintended consequences. This is the reason why I'm not proposing it for every item in the game, much less giving you a specific list of the items at this very moment. It is something to be discussed about as a group.
On top of that, price floors can be taken away as easily as they have implemented. This gives more flexibility to the government as it tries to do it's part by promoting the general welfare of the server.

 

[Windows_Dog]

Hey Black, I just need one elaboration needed.

• Convention of Cities (similar to our i.r.l. Convention of States)

Are you able to expand on this bill you want to propose?

 

[Syronic]

The Convention of Cities Act would work as a way to stop corruptness from spreading within Parliament itself. Say one person holding the voice for all MP's, or a majority teaming together to pass only the bills they want to, to mostly benefit their personal markets. The bill would act as following:

If the government became too biased, corrupt, or dysfunctional, then the opportunity for a Convention of States would arise. It could be proposed by any citizen, possibly through making a forum thread. Here, citizens and MP's alike can vote on whether or not necessary amendments should be made to fix such issues plaguing the server.

We would decide the voting procedure over majority rule of either 2/3 of the active server players voting yah or nay, or majority rule based on cities.

If we decide for option two, then that means that each citizen would vote for their city or town. The town's decision would then be decided based on it's own personal majority rule.

My proposal for such a structured setup:
1.) Creating a census would be helpful
2.) Small towns would get 1 point to whatever side they believe.
3.) 2 points will be given to the larger cites with a denser population.

(Please note that this is not unlike our irl presidential election. Also, this is the most simplest way I can describe it, but I plan to give a more detailed description of procedures before the Discord Debate)

 

[kailabeann]

I don't see how any of that applies because the public can petition to remove MPs and MPs can remove Ministers. Everyone is already replaceable in the case of suspected corruption or bias. It would be pretty impossible to set up some voting system based on a census because there is no set population in any location on the server. Players have multiple homes all over the server and some even spend all their time in the wild.

I'm looking forward to a more detailed description in the debate; I'm not sure I'm understanding your intention with this bill.

 

[Syronic]

It's quite simply to reinforce and make doubly sure that there is no possible way corruption can grow. As you've stated before, MPs can remove Ministers. I wasn't aware of this, but I still question if it's as efficient as can be. If it's by majority rule, then one can easily rig it within legal parameters by simply persuading the majority into following his/her ideals. Whether or not there's already corruption, I have no idea. But this bill is more like a fail safe if the worst possible scenario comes to pass.

As I previously stated, "If the government became too biased, corrupt, or dysfunctional, then the opportunity for a Convention of States would arise." With these specific criteria in mind, who would keep who in check when everybody has taken the bait for personal gain?

 

[violetunknown]

So basically you're convention of towns and cities act is similar to the part of the constitution that says it is the right of the people to change a government that no longer functions? This is a great idea, however it is one that is already in use in our community. Like kaila said, the people vote for MPs, and MPs vote for ministers. To adress your statement that MPs can 'rig it within legal parameters by simply persuading the majority into following his/her ideals.' That is not rigging the situation. MPs are human beings with minds that function well, or else they would not be elected. You cannot 'rig' people's minds without technology that A( hasn't been invented yet and B( would most definitely not be used for a video game, even if it did exist. the MPs are the voice of the people, and I believe that a better alternative to this would be a gov transparancy bill which causes the MPs and Ministers to provide reasoning for Vetos, removal of Ministers, Etc. to those outside the Parliament or Departments. But Good Luck Mr. Black!!

 

[Syronic]

It still comes to stand that it is still an easily corruptible situation. I'm not quite certain with your use of the word "rigging," seeing as neither of us are looking at them as machines, robots, or people I have under my control. xD

All I'm saying is that there could come a time in which we get a bad batch of eggs that now control Parliament by majority. If this happens, you WILL need some type of fail safe. Of course, it's not needed at this very moment, thus people don't understand the importance of it yet, but I've yet to see a country make and try to use a fail safe 5 minutes before it's needed.

I'd like to personally thank you for your insight and your time. Additionally, I was already thinking about a law that would similarly work to how you just described, so I'm grateful to know that others than myself would appreciate a bill like that.

 

[Creepsteve05]

If this happens, you WILL need some type of fail safe

Players can already post petitions to remove certain members of Parliament

 

[Syronic]

This isn't just about removing people as MP, Creepsteve05. What about the laws that my have been passed and the destruction they could've left behind? Convention of Cities is for the complete reset of both the country's laws and government officials.

 

[Creepsteve05]

This isn't just about removing people as MP, Creepsteve05. What about the laws that my have been passed and the destruction they could've left behind? Convention of Cities is for the complete reset of both the country's laws and government officials.

I see your concern. In that case, a bill such as CoS may be applicable.

 

[Syronic]

:D

 

[kailabeann]

What about the laws that my have been passed and the destruction they could've left behind?

This is why electing MPs is so important. Vote for players who follow the public's best interest and they in turn speak for you. They have the power to remove and edit previously passed bills. I understand your idea here but President Koalition already vetoed a bill this term that gave the public the right to VoNC MInisters because MPs already can, and MPs are a reflection of the people. The public can also petition to stop a bill from going through Parliament. There are already plenty of stop-gaps in place to prevent corruption and bias.