NationStates Jolt Archive

This is one of my first issues. I'm just posting it to hear if any of you guys got ideas for improvement:

MPs with Mental Problems

After a secret survey, which shows that more than half of the Members of Parliament in @@NAME@@ suffer at least one kind of psychological disorder, was leaked to the public, there has been a call for regular mental checks on all politicians.

[option]"Of course it's a stressful job running a country," says your psychiatrist @@RANDOMNAME@@, "and of course we should help those who can't handle the preassure before they make any bad decissions. It would be best for everyone if we took the worst lunatics out of service while we are at it, though that means people can't vote for anyone they would like to... When I snap my fingers, you will not remember anything..."
[effect]the country seems to be indirectly ruled by psychiatrists
[stats]political freedom decreases, government size decreases, healthcare increases, political apathy decreases

[option]"They want to take our freedom! Our precious freedom!" hisses your alternate personality @@RANDOMNAME@@ from the mirror, "everyone has the right to be elected, and if people don't believe us we should convince them with... baskets! Yes! Lovely baskets for everyone!"
[effect]the government has started a "baskets for everyone" programme
[stats]political freedom increases, healthcare decreases, commerence increases, basket weaving increases, political apathy increases

[option]"We must find out who leaked this information!" shouts your minister of defence @@RANDOMNAME@@ dressed up like Napoleon from the top of your desk, "I bet every warmongering nation is preparing to invade us at this weakened state! We must find and execute all foreign spies and upgrade our defences no matter the cost! This is war!"
[effect]tourists from other nations are often executed for spying
[stats]personal freedom decreases, law & order increases, defence increases, tax rate increases, political apathy drastically increases

[option]If you ask me, everyone in @@NAME@@ would have to be checked for mental diseases," says @@RANDOMNAME@@, a surprisingly sane looking @@MAJORINDUSTRY@@ lobbyist, "In this way, no one will be in lack of help, and then you could make the results public so companies can avoid employing any of those crazies."
[effect]a public database keeps track of everyone's mental state
[stats]personal freedom decreases, healthcare drastically increases, commerence increases, social equality decreases, happiness decreases, economy increases

It looks good to me.

Bonus points for Style. You could even offer baskets of dairy products, to boost two industries at once.

Might think of another extreme option to ban psychological testing in any form. Effects could be that people are hired at random and assigned to jobs they're only occasionally qualified for. Economy suffers, of course.

Well done, though. Would be acceptable as is.

Wow. Excellent issue. Though you'll want to take into account San Mabus' suggestions.

Thanks for the advice (and the praise ;) ), though I didn't use any of it for the following reasons:

1. The dairy products didn't really fit with the Cheese Exports Industry because it's an exports industry after all. In the case of this option, the dairy products would stay in the country.

2. I really tried to add another option with your suggestion, but I just couldn't get the words right. I worked on it for more than an hour, but it just felt forced either way.

Anyways, thanks a lot. I really appreciated it :)

Wow. Excellent issue.

I must agree, this is a very well-thought issue! Good luck during the submission process!

I'd generalise the issue a little, and make it clear that a sizeable amount of the populace suffer the same problems - this makes it easier to understand and gives the reader something more concrete to form opinions about.

The first option is weak: it doesn't use potent arguments, and they're not clearly made. Put an emphasis on exactly what the option will do (basically ban anyone with mental health problems on being a politician) and take out the psychiatrist idea as it detracts from the essence of the option.

The second option is also weak, and should really be a rough (sometimes very rough) opposite of the main argument. While the enforcement (and probably even encouragement too) of having mentally handicapped people as politicians wouldn't really work in the issue, you can always have something along the lines of spending more money on healthcare for the mentally infirm, and/or compulsory mental health-checks on politicians.

You should take out the third option as it doesn't directly deal with the issue at hand. Issues are a bit like English essays in that respect: always refer to the question!

The fourth option, while good in essence, has crap arguments. Tighten it up with much less emphasis on the economic slant of it.

Thanks for the advice, sicorro. I decided to rewamp the entire issue (even the title!) Everyone just tell me what you think now. Here it is:

Crazy Times in @@NAME@@

After a recent survey showed that more than third of the population suffer at least one kind of psychological disorder, there has been a debate on what should be done.

[option]"We really need to help these poor lunatics," says your psychiatrist @@RANDOMNAME@@, "Of course it will require more funding, just like we need to educate a lot more psychiatrists, but I’m sure people are willing to pay for that. Also, we should introduce strict mental checks on everyone who want to run for parliament, just to make sure they won’t do too much damage... When I snap my fingers, you will not remember anything..."
[effect]psychiatrists are considered some of the most influential people in the nation
[stats]political freedom decreases, government size increases, healthcare increases, education increases, political apathy decreases, happiness increases, intelligence increases, tax rate increases

[option]"They want to take our freedom! Our precious freedom!" hisses your alternate personality @@RANDOMNAME@@ from the mirror, "everyone has the right to be elected! We should just fire all those expensive psychiatrists who do nothing but telling me that I'm insane. This will save us a lot of @@CURRENCY@@s which we could instead spend on... baskets! Yes! Lovely baskets for everyone!"
[effect]the government seems strangely devoted to baskets
[stats]political freedom increases, healthcare decreases, education decreases, commerence increases drastically, basket weaving increases drastically, political apathy increases, intelligence decreases

[option]”We need to get rid of those crazies once and for all!" shouts @@RANDOMNAME@@ of the National Purity Party, wearing a black uniform and an eye patch, "They are a weakness to our mighty nation, and we have no choice but to have compulsory mental checks on everyone and shoot all of those who show any sign of being weird. We can just fund this with money from Welfare budget since many of them are unemployed anyways."
[effect]the mentally handicapped are fleeing the nation in fear of being sent to death camps
[stats]personal freedom decreases drastically, law & order increases, social welfare decreases, compassion decreases, devotion increases, intelligence increases, happiness decreases