NationStates Jolt Archive

Do the moderators have a position on political "parody" nations in the General forum? I'm talking about people who create nations in order to pretend to believe in political positions other than their own--with the goal of mocking or discrediting arguments that they oppose. In other words, if I believe in A, and I create a nation that argues against A in an illogical or flaming manner with the goal of discrediting opponents of A, I would have created a parody nation. Is this sort of thing tolerated, frowned upon, banned, etc.?

Any flaming or flame baiting is not accpeted on this site. If the nation was used to debate in a logical, non-flaming, manner about "A", that would be fine.


~The Barkless Land of The Basenji~
Non-Moderator
http://a9.cpimg.com/image/25/D7/21759269-e5f1-00300030-.jpg

A few such nations already exist. "Ernst Rohm", for example, frequently posts that all true Nazis are homosexuals. I find it slightly hard to believe that he's really a gay Nazi, so his position is probably a parody.

Then there's "The Leo Felton Church" (whom I suspect is the same person as "Ernst Rohm"), who posts about a mixed-race white supremacist.

Of course, given some of the views that real-life people actually hold, it's hard to be sure sometimes whether or not something is a parody. I think some of the neo-Nazis on this forum do a wonderful job of discrediting their own arguments. :lol:

(For that matter, I occasionally lapse into a parody of a mad scientist with this nation, just for fun. But I usually stick to posting my real-life political views.)

:twisted:

"Greater Dystopia" is a parody of the United States, but I never use it to post, and if so I would make it clear that it is a parody.

A few such nations already exist. "Ernst Rohm", for example, frequently posts that all true Nazis are homosexuals. I find it slightly hard to believe that he's really a gay Nazi, so his position is probably a parody.

Then there's "The Leo Felton Church" (whom I suspect is the same person as "Ernst Rohm"), who posts about a mixed-race white supremacist.

Of course, given some of the views that real-life people actually hold, it's hard to be sure sometimes whether or not something is a parody. I think some of the neo-Nazis on this forum do a wonderful job of discrediting their own arguments. :lol:

(For that matter, I occasionally lapse into a parody of a mad scientist with this nation, just for fun. But I usually stick to posting my real-life political views.)

:twisted:

Perhaps there's a difference between a "joke" nation and a "parody" nation. (In retrospect, "parody" might not have been the best choice of words, but I'll stick with it for now.) "Joke" nations don't actually intend to convince people that they believe what they say. They're doing what they do for fun, but they let everyone else in on the joke. Rohm and Felton, based on your description, sound like nations that fit in the "joke" category.

"Parody" nations, as I'm using the term, are those that want people to believe that they're serious. Their goal is not to joke around, but to make the other side look bad on the forum. It's a blurry line between the two, but I guess one distinction is that "joke" nations are willing to 'fess up to the joke when questioned. Another is that "joke" nations are usually a lot more obvious about what they're doing, by taking on implausible or ridiculous identities (e.g. a mixed-race or gay white supremecist).

Also, on The Basenji's point, it's true that if they are flaming, they are violating the rules. But suppose they stop short of flaming; instead they just post illogical arguments in an attempt to discredit a certain view. Is the parody element itself enough to violate the rules?

I wouldn't think so, unless they blatantly famebailt in the argument, such as a liberal saying conservatives are all morons or the like.

I'd find a mixed race white supremacist extremely funny. :lol:

Facts: Ernst Rohm really existed. He was homosexual. He was a nazi.

Many mixed race nazis exist. A few years back the National Front in the UK was particularly proud of one member they had who was of mixed race: his position was that he was an abomination and thus mixed marriages and mating should be stopped.

Nations whose names are created to be mockeries of existing nations should be deleted.

There is nothing wrong with a witty parody of a political stance, provided none of the existing rules are broken.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator

well at last count I ahd something like 30 parodies/clones, I aint complaining, I think it is cool.

Loop

well at last count I had something like 30 parodies/clones, I aint complaining, I think it is cool.

Loop
Good I'm glad you weren't offended by Finite Loop, although it was a one time joke, so I'm sure It's dead by now.

The only other parody that I did of another nation was The NationsStates Hippo, which was looooong dead at Sirocco's request before even Stephistan was a mod.

well at last count I had something like 30 parodies/clones, I aint complaining, I think it is cool.

Loop
Good I'm glad you weren't offended by Finite Loop, although it was a one time joke, so I'm sure It's dead by now.

The only other parody that I did of another nation was The NationsStates Hippo, which was looooong dead at Sirocco's request before even Stephistan was a mod.

The NationStates Hippo still exists...it's in Delaware.

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/the_nationstates_hippo.jpg

The NationStates Hippo still exists...it's in Delaware.

http://www.nationstates.net/images/flags/uploads/the_nationstates_hippo.jpg

Whaaa!!!! :shock:

I tmed Sirocco the password and he told me to let it die.

How did somebody else get ahold of it? :?

Edit: To whichever mod cleaned up my duplicate posts, thank you. That was the third time within an hour or so that I had been unable to delete duplicate posts, and I was very frusturated.

I see nothing wrong with "parody" nations. I think it's good healthy fun.

Just wondering...how often do people have conversations/debates with themselves on the forums? Puppet A is a Nazi and Puppet B is a Nazi-hater, etc.

I've sometimes suspected this kind of thing and have often wondered what the Mods must think when they see someone having a conversation/RP with his/herself.

Probably a combination reaction of :lol: and :roll: .

If it's just RP, they usually let it go. This and the Tech forum are different stories. Propping your arguement up with a puppet is frowned upon.

There is nothing wrong with a witty parody of a political stance, provided none of the existing rules are broken.

Tactical Grace
Forum Moderator
(ooc: thank you!!!)

non-witty parodies of political stances are not allowed however, violaters will be banned twice :shock:

I created this nation with the express view of putting forth a political opinion about Iraq. It isn't meant to be a parody or joke but a serious viewpoint.
With the way the United States controls most of the "free press" there aren't many truly democratic outlets left.