NationStates Jolt Archive

The Centrist party.

Slogans are for extremists and those capable of creativity

Welcome to the Centrist Party thread. Do you want NSG to remain largely the same, but with slight tweaking? (not of the nipple kind, we are keen to assure you) Do the other parties’ programmes seem slightly too ridiculous and zany for your moderate and honestly quite dull mindset? This could be the party for you. The party’s policies are open to democratic debate, though the party leader reserves the right to veto suggestions that fail the absurdity criterion (this assessment is based on a rigorous analysis of hundreds of different factors by a team of several hundred party bureaucrats).

Our policy stances:

1. We think moderation is a good idea, but that it should not be used in an excessive manner that would curtail legitimate free speech.

a) We believe that senseless discriminatory talk or excessive hostility towards other posters should continue to be punished with bans, after appropriate warnings have been ignored.
b) We firmly hold to Aristotle’s words "The virtue of justice consists in moderation, as regulated by wisdom". Moderators do an excellent job, though care must be taken not to make difficult through excessive intervention the discussion of contentious and emotionally charged issues.

2. We endorse ‘fun’ spammish threads for those who find such things enjoyable, while continuing to punish those sidetracking threads intended for serious debate.

a) We all enjoy a bit of fun. The party approves of the occasional joke thread or risqué limerick, or the highlighting for the general amusement of some humorous event that has occurred.*
b) But we also appreciate intelligent debate of important issues. Do not enter a serious thread and start making jokes. Exceptions may be made in extreme circumstances when the topic is overly dull, has come up already within the last week, or a poster is clearly being a total asshat and could reasonably expect their views to be mocked. Likewise, do not weigh into a friendly spam thread and start a debate on abortion. In General, keep humour and seriousness as separate as one would with James Blunt and a microphone. We at the Centrist Party lack the emotional intelligence and wit to distinguish easily between sarcastic humour and seriousness, and thus appreciate the maintenance of a quite rigid distinction between the two.
c) If non-serious threads are overly centred on one’s personal experiences, are not humorous, or quite frankly just contain too much emo-whine, we support the gentle suggestion that the aforementioned poster set up a web log.

*Providing of course that the joke/limerick/humour derived from the event is not scandalously rude or likely to offend the sensibilities of any minority group.

3.We disapprove of the trend of creating parties with preposterous names and inane programmes

a) We believe that such parties act only to trivialise the elections. We thus view such parties with mild disdain, while respecting their democratic right to compete.
b) To facilitate the coalition building required for smooth running of any Parliament, as well as to ensure our own influence as a sensible, moderate force in a parliament of nutjobs, we are willing to cooperate and make concessions with such parties*

*This should not be regarded as selling our party’s soul. It doesn’t have one.

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Unlike inferior, less serious parties, the Centrist Party will not establish humourously-titled-yet-meaningless positions for those who join up. Election campaigning is a serious business, and as established in 2(b) above, we do not approve of mixing issues of fundamental importance with flippancy.

http://i31.photobucket.com/albums/c389/Smunkee/sheep.jpg

Faux-animals are in need of your help! Vote for FARp, we are bringing civil rights to the creatures who need it!

3.We disapprove of the trend of creating parties with preposterous names and inane programmes

a) We believe that such parties act only to trivialise the elections. We thus view such parties with mild disdain, while respecting their democratic right to compete.
b) To facilitate the coalition building required for smooth running of any Parliament, as well as to ensure our own influence as a sensible, moderate force in a parliament of nutjobs, we are willing to cooperate and make concessions with such parties*

*This should not be regarded as selling our party’s soul. It doesn’t have one.

---
Unlike inferior, less serious parties, the Centrist Party will not establish humourously-titled-yet-meaningless positions for those who join up. Election campaigning is a serious business, and as established in 2(b) above, we do not approve of mixing issues of fundamental importance with flippancy.

Alienating the current majority party and all those who voted for it during the last election is an interesting strategy...

Alienating the current majority party and all those who voted for it during the last election is an interesting strategy...

Politics is a serious business. Our team of highly-paid electoral strategists tell me that the prevalence of parties with no solid, rational programme will mean that we will pick up a large number of protest votes from those dissatisfied with the current leading parties. We are also projected to pick up much of the vote from much of the upper middle and upper classes due to our emininently sensible yet snobbish stances. This is not a risky strategy. At the Centrist Party we firmly disapprove of Risk, along with all other boardgames.

Alienating the current majority party and all those who voted for it during the last election is an interesting strategy...

Who is the majority party?

Who is the majority party?

The Chose Your Pogo-sticks Wisely (coalition) party.

http://img291.imageshack.us/img291/7294/basecl8.png

The other parties demonstrate their immaturity and unsuitability to govern by their picture-spamming and counter-picture-spamming on each others threads. Only one party stands above this imbecilic practice, and you are right now reading its official thread.

And as your name suggests, it is a dumb idea ;)

And as your name suggests, it is a dumb idea ;)

Ah, the opposition resorts to base name-calling so early. Voters, can you not see? Failed attempts at wit and image-spam based on unfunny ancient internet memes are all that the mainstream parties have to offer. The voters will cast their judgement upon all of you and your childish antics. May it be a damning one.

Considering how you have exactly no party structure or cabinet I suspect their judgement will be more faveourable to us.

Ah, the opposition resorts to base name-calling so early. Voters, can you not see? Failed attempts at wit and image-spam based on unfunny ancient internet memes are all that the mainstream parties have to offer. The voters will cast their judgement upon all of you and your childish antics. May it be a damning one.

What's the fun in being Grown up if you can't have childish sometimes?

What's the fun in being Grown up if you can't have childish sometimes?

Fun, my dear? A forum free of intelligent debate and filled with tired and mediocre image spam would not be fun, merely childish. Now, there is a role for non-political humourous threads. In the party programme it is explicitly and clearly stated that a role for these is permitted, though hijacking of serious threads is not. The Centrist Party does not oppose fun, but infantile spamming as substitute for argument. What more evidence do voters need of how an SSA dominated NSG would look than the party's incessant spamming of all the other parties' threads?

Considering how you have exactly no party structure or cabinet I suspect their judgement will be more faveourable to us.

Hmm? So you now play the credibility card? Having gone around posting nonsense spam on a variety of threads and making no effort to justify your party's arguments? On the basis of the quality of your current participation, surely you need but one member of your cabinet, the Minister for Irritating Spam Based on Tiresome Old Internet Memes?

The SSA party is not in favour of destoying debate. We love debate. We debate frequently. We also enjoy posting nonsense. We propose a forum where both are possible and allowed

The SSA party is not in favour of destoying debate. We love debate. We debate frequently. We also enjoy posting nonsense. We propose a forum where both are possible and allowed

How interesting. You come on to another party's thread and fill it with piss-poor putrid spam without even bothering to read their programme. Read point 2 of this party's programme. The Centrist Party believes that both serious threads and fun threads have their place and should be allowed, but that serious threads shouldn't be wrecked by spam, and those who attempt to do so should be punished. May I suggest a cooling-off of hostilities while you read the programme and come up with something you disagree with. While you are doing this it would be nice if there could be a dramatic reduction in the amount of image-spam and childish "you suck" comments being excreted by SSA members into this thread.

I've only done one :p

Bah, very well. I shall spare your pitiful party. You must be in awe of my incredible generosity :p

I've only done one :p

Bah, very well. I shall spare your pitiful party. You must be in awe of my incredible generosity :p

Yes, in the same way that I am in awe of Obama's policies and McCain's charisma.

Ohh, clever.

Dumb ideologies, now that you have kicked the image spammers from this thread, perhaps we can talk seriously.

Firstly, I apologise for their abrupt way of promoting the SSA, I can assure you that I am asking them to tone it down.

Now, the main point is, that it appears that both of our parties is interested in the same thing. The only problem is that you are trying to achieve by "Debator allowing spammers "more reign"and we are from the perspective "If you let us have more reign we won't invade other threads". Now, the combination of the two parties should allow for a broad spectrum fun protection, blocking over 85% of unwanted interaction. I would call it SPF(spam protection factor) of 45 (better than most current sunscreens)

Anyway, Basically, I would like to advise you that I will make sure the SSAers avoid your thread and we will not run our smear campaign against you.

Lapse

What makes a man turn centrist? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of centricity?
Is this the tao of all parties currently on NS?

Is this the tao of all parties currently on NS?

we were also after brains. plus to promote the religion of the actual dog.

What makes a man turn centrist? Lust for gold? Power? Or were you just born with a heart full of centricity?

It certainly isn't lust for power...on NSG the more extreme parties tend to do best in elections (well, the ones that have any socio-economic policy at all, which seems rarer this year than previously when there were communists etc). I'm rather hoping people will flock here as an antidote to the sillyness of many of the more popular parties last time out (a kind of reverse Monster Raving Loony Party strategy). While the policy content of my programme is actually precisely what I agree with, the party programme is in its deliberate dullness in some respects a parody of myself for being, despite some "quirky" elements in my social life, so damn boring and middle-of-the-road. I am genuinely a centrist, though I was a commie a few years back at school. I am naturally ridiculously moderate and willing to discuss and take on the ideas with others, hence the "selling the party's soul" line in the programme. I realise that this would have worked better if I'd made a few thousand more posts and people were thusly even faintly aware of my personality. Still, at least the spammers have increased the post-count enough to give the false impression that this is one of the most discussed parties:p

Dumb ideologies, now that you have kicked the image spammers from this thread, perhaps we can talk seriously.

Firstly, I apologise for their abrupt way of promoting the SSA, I can assure you that I am asking them to tone it down.

Now, the main point is, that it appears that both of our parties is interested in the same thing. The only problem is that you are trying to achieve by "Debator allowing spammers "more reign"and we are from the perspective "If you let us have more reign we won't invade other threads". Now, the combination of the two parties should allow for a broad spectrum fun protection, blocking over 85% of unwanted interaction. I would call it SPF(spam protection factor) of 45 (better than most current sunscreens)

Anyway, Basically, I would like to advise you that I will make sure the SSAers avoid your thread and we will not run our smear campaign against you.

Lapse

Heh. Apology accepted. I think I owe a small apology too really. Had a bad day and thus got slightly overly upset with a couple of posters who only really stepped a wee bit out of line, and started persuing a vendetta against them and their party across about three threads. As someone who prides themselves on being "reasonable" and "moderate" in my dealings, I'm a bit embarassed to be honest, especially as we don't actually differ much in terms of policy, as you pointed out. I'm not usually such a total uber-bitch. I've kinda realised I'm a little more obscure than most setting up their own parties, so the silly spat with the spammers has at least stopped the party dropping straight out of the top threads list into oblivion:p. So really I guess I should be thanking you!

Moley wishes to apologise. In true Mole style, he was too lazy to read your manifesto :p

Sorry, I'll go. I'm just overcompensating for the dramatic failure of my own party to gain any support whatsoever
Poor DI. Y'know this avowed centrist can support your party, but I don't know if you'll accept me, because I am exactly what #2 likes to punish. :p

Poor DI. Y'know this avowed centrist can support your party, but I don't know if you'll accept me, because I am exactly what #2 likes to punish. :p

Oh, I do that too, sometimes. But hypocrisy and going against your own principles are essential for any successful political party. Plus, as cynical, soulless centrists, we are of course willing to change our programme whenever it becomes politically expedient :p

EDIT: To reflect this, the party programme is now edited to allow reasonable exceptions to the "don't spam serious threads" rule.

Our team of highly-paid electoral strategists would like me to point out that this is not a "bump", rather a "strategic thread repositioning", attempting to "reassert the place of the party's policies on the mainstream political agenda".

*nods head*

oh.. they're good

*buys out your strategists*

oh.. they're good

*buys out your strategists*

I'm afraid you can't do that. When I've referred to them in the past as my "highly paid team of crack electoral strategists", I'm being rather more literal than you might think. They are plugged into a device delivering a constant powerful and highly addictive drug cocktail. They are incapable of leaving. No-one unplugs from the Centrist Party political machine. NO-ONE.

I'm afraid you can't do that. When I've referred to them in the past as my "highly paid team of crack electoral strategists", I'm being rather more literal than you might think. They are plugged into a device delivering a constant powerful and highly addictive drug cocktail. They are incapable of leaving. No-one unplugs from the Centrist Party political machine. NO-ONE.

*Cuts drug supply lines*

So, could you tell your strategists that we have some coke here for them if they want some?

*Cuts drug supply lines*

So, could you tell your strategists that we have some coke here for them if they want some?

Oh, ok. *strategists all leave*. Hang on...Dammit, outwitted again! *shakes fist* You win this time. But not long until our technicians finish our new electoral calculation computer "Uberstrategem" which will allow us to achieve our best possible electoral performance. Hang on, actually its first suggestion has just come through. "The only way to avoid total humiliation is to kill all the voters, you don't have a chance". Well, thats one for the ideas board, alongside "redefine victory as the least number of votes". Oh, hang on, must dash, it looks like Uberstrategem is trying to commit computer-suicide, depressed at the hopelessness of its task. Tis a busy day at party HQ today.

The Centrist Party: The only party not controlled by the bourgeois communazi jewish masonic illuminati lizardfolk who faked the moon landings, assassinated JFK, manufactured the HIV/AIDS virus for purposes of biological warfare and allowed 9/11 to happen.

How the hell did you get such an accurate desciption of the SSA and it's activitys? I smell a rat..... lizards like rats.

How the hell did you get such an accurate desciption of the SSA and it's activitys? I smell a rat..... lizards like rats.

I banish thee from this thread, foul reptoid!

Bel, Come on boy, come here!