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[Servant Corps]

Radical Moderation, Year 2, Harvest Season-Year 3, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Actually, to be quite honest, the last few seasons were pretty boring. For the most part, we're made speeches telling people we're upholding the status quo, making them real happy...but it didn't work for some people.





The Communists are starting to regret their policy of subsidizing Chimerica...







The right and the center worries about the state of Chimerica's finances.



The IMF thinks about kicking Chimerica out.





We flip-flopped on labor issues.






We fight a pointless war on corruption and human right abuses; this war fails miserably. People just want to be corrupt and violate human rights; it's part of human nature.


We also finally abolished the Marketing Board.


We restore spending to infrastructre. We really got nothing better to do with what's left of our cash.


We re-affirm the traditional independence of the army, free from the the taint of politics.

The good news is that we got no more coups after this. Julio, Calderon, and Bernie just weren't in the rebelling mood. Given Calderon's background, I'd think Calderon love me for the military, but Julio and Bernie...I don't know why they weren't killing me.

The bad news is that I failed in my goal of getting a left-wing insurgency and a right-wing insurgency.


Did I win? The countyside burns, and PaxAmericana talks about occassional uprisings. But I never got a screen stating that the insurgency has begun. I have two ideas on why this happened:
A) The game automatically generates an insurgency opposite of that of your Sole Chief of Staff. You can have only a Left-Wing Insurgency (peasents) or a Right-Wing Insurgency (reactos)...not both.
B) I accidently stopped the Left-Wing Insurgency from firing by arresting Claudio. By arresting peasent agitators, I accidentally stopped the agitators from...well...agitating.

Quite frankly, I don't care anymore. I'm exhausted, tired, and disappointed. I tried my best, and this is the best I can get.I hope you're happy Pathos. If anyone have Hidden Agenda, can you see if not arresting Claudio could lead to the peasent uprisings?


When I first played this game, I felt sick, because I was a puppet of Ehrlich. I now feel sick, because I am a puppet of Correa. I really hope that 'third way', to fuse the armies together, can work.

Spoiler: Articles Worth Less Than The Paper It's Printed On; I'm Too Tired to Critique Them (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: PaxAmericana and Epilogue (click to show/hide)

...when the USSR began to collaspe, it (along with Cuba) withdrew economic and military aid. The only thing that kept Chimerica under the control of Pathos was the army, and by withdrawing military aid, the USSR doomed the Chimerican army to complete irrevelance.

The reactos struck, taking over all of Chimerica and launching a reign of terror. Correa was dead in the first week, Pathos murdered in the second. The new Presidente, Major Padilla, moved switftly to consolidate power, reversing many key desicions...

Spoiler: Graphs (click to show/hide)

[EuchreJack]

I like how you are starting to add an epilogue after the PaxAmerican Encyclopedia.

[Servant Corps]

I add an epilogue at the end of every Run. It is how I decide if I actually 'won' the game or not.

Looking at the graphs, it seems that I begun spending far too much on the military in this Run than I did in the previous Run. I wonder if this huge military build-up was caused either by (a) me agreeing to the military build-up, (b) the CIA making the reactos awesome and mighty, (c) the peasent uprising, or (d) all of the above. If it is C or D, then I did succeed in my objective, but I didn't get any articles or screens about it. Oh well.

Anyway, new voting time.

A) No Cabinet Run 2.0 - Because the last one went so well! (Actually, I already did this run, and I can assure you, yes, I did in fact win with this run. In addition, I also did a small variant on this run that would keep the army together and prevent civil war.)
B) Popular Stability - The people demand a strong leader that will protect the rights of the conservative ruling class. We need to restore capitalism and fight against the Marxist foe. (If you choose this path, I will attempt to get nominated as the Popular Stability candidate for elections, as well as survive to the end of the game.)
C) We're Sorry For Kicking You Out, Ehrlich - We hate the death squads, but we don't hate the traditional military that much. (If you choose this path, I will empower Correa and then try again to win elections by using Colonel Ehrlich.)
D) Karios' Run - Democracy requires free and fair elections. I will do this. (If you choose this path, I will mostly follow the advice of Christian Reform politicans. This path could lead to the permanent unification of the two armies, as well as 'free and fair' elections, at least according to Karios.)

[EuchreJack]

If you already did a run, I'm all for that getting posted.  Afterwards, I'd like to see if Oberon can keep the two armies together.

[Rolan7]

I'm most interested in seeing the armies united, D.  I'm a bit surprised it's possible, considering how cynical the game seems in most respects!

[Pacho]

I'd like to see both armies try to fuck each other up and fail miserably, ending with an unified army that hates itself =v

[Cheeetar]

I vote D.

[Servant Corps]

Alright, there has been a little problem. I,uh, have not seen the army fusion event. 

I know it is there, somethingawful said so but it looks like I need to have an account to find out...and accounts cost money so I need another way of getting in touch. Hm...I'll try a different method of communication.

It is actually very easy to prevent a civil war. Remember when I said that both sides of the army want to rig elections? That is what usually cause a civil war. As soon as you call elections, you tell the two armies "it's rigging time!" and then they kill each other to see who gets to run the polls. So, don't call for elections, and the army will stay stable.

but I wanted a unified army and free and fair elections. I have not seen that, and I really would like that ending, since it seems more plausible than the presidente being Farsante 2.0. I didn't get that, Instead I only cause a civil war with the colonel as the victor and me nominated as popular stability nominee.

[Servant Corps]

Interlude: Voluntary Resignation

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Sometimes, a Politican may not want to kill you, impeach you, or decide to disobey you directly. Instead, he may just be sick of politics. Like Julio here.



However, once someone does resign, you can easily reappoint him back to being on the Cabinet. Resignation doesn't prevent that person from ever being back on your Cabinet, it's just an expression of displeasure. In fact, you can re-appoint him back to the EXACT same job right after he "resigns".



He won't stay long though.

[Spartan 117]

D.

[Servant Corps]

I am putting the Karios' Run on pause until I get a reply from SA. I am starting to suspect that I made a major error in the game. Anyway, here's another quote from Karios about "Karios' Run".

I managed to get reelected on the CR ticket in my first game (subsequent games were much less successful, of course). Whether you could call that a positive outcome, though, was fairly questionable, since the country was overrun by LIMPIA and slowly being crushed under the burden of a foreign debt that just kept increasing and increasing, sapping money away from everything except the coffee growers (as demanded by the IMF).

[Servant Corps]

Oh wow. I messed up bad in reading. I didn't get in contact with sa but I am beginning to understand...

Karios said he got free and fair elections nominated as CR. However, he DID NOT say that he fused the militaries together. I thought he did, because how else are you supposed to have a free and fair election when one side is rigging the polls? But it looks like he didn't. Alright, I can finish this run now...but it will end in a civil war, since Elections start it.

[Servant Corps]

Interlude: Free and Fair Elections

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It looks like I can't hold free and fair elections in the game, but I got a way around it. See, the game keeps track of your Popularity, which has nothing to do with elections. Instead, Popularity decides how effective you are at fighting off military coups. According to Jim, designer of Hidden Agenda:

My algorithm for 'the voice of the people' was necessarily arbitrary. I took all the characters who were Chimerican citizens and made a poll. In general, as time goes by you lose popularity. If you want to control the army, you need to choose early on which side to support. After a coup attempt, if you win, your options widen.

So I can assume that in "free and fair" elections, that the Popularity of the Chimerican citizens would directly effect the results. If you are popular, you win, otherwise you lose. I will assume that there is no 'Presidente' figure who could straddle his party positions, and instead the citizens of Chimerica must vote for a party directly.

*Landless Laborer: Want extreme land reform. Want funding for health care. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*The Doctor: Want increased funding for Health Care, even if it drives the country to bankrupcy. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*The Teacher: Want increased funding for Education, even if it drives the country to bankrupcy. Also leads an NL-affiliated organization. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*The Campesino: Want the National Bank to loan to food producers. Wants funding for education. Hates food subsidies, but will likely be content with a National Liberation proposal to guarrante a fair price for food producers. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*Cotton Cultivator: Want the National Bank to loan to export crops. Strongly opposed to land reform. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Coffee Grower: Want the National Bank to loan to export crops. Want a voluntary Marketing Board (which Popular Stability opposes). 1 vote for Chrisitan Reform.
*Army Colonel: One of the main leaders of the Popular Stability revolt against Farsante. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Sub-Comandate: One of the main leaders of the Natonal Liberation revolt against Farsante. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*The Bishop: Wants to crack down on the death squads. While National Liberation might launch a "state of emergency" and engage in human rights violations, all the other parties will engage in human right violations. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*Guard Leader: Want the freedom to crack down on subversies. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Rights Activist: Wants to crack down on death squads. Only National Liberation can do so. 1 vote for National Liberation.
*Industralist: Hates union agitiators, and only Popular Stability can crack down on union agitators. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Trade Union Leader: Wants food subsidies, which makes the Trade Union Leader friendly with National Liberation. However, the Trade Union Leader hate the National Salary Scale (a key part of the National Liberation platform), because such a Scale would harm skilled workers. Dislikes Chrisitan Reform for not giving into the unions all the time, but it is the only party that would allow for the strikes to continue. It would seem the Trade Union Leader will be forced to split his vote equally. 0.5 votes for National Liberation, 0.5 votes for Chrisitan Reform.
*Shopkeeper: Hates food subsidies. Chrisitan Reform gives in too easily to food riots; only Popular Stability can prevent food subsidies from being implemented. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Banker: Wants to pay off the national debt. Prefers to loan money to export crops. Popular Stability's plan of austerity and increased investment in export-producing regions seems to appease the Banker enough. 1 vote for Popular Stability.
*Coffee Worker: Wants the National Bank to loan to food producers, want to turn the Farsante Farms into cooperatives, and want to implement the National Salary Scale. Also leads a NL-affiliated organization. 1 vote for National Liberation.

During the game, some people may die or go into exile. So the following Vote Totals reflect how these depatures can end up
affecting the voting result.

NO DEATHS OR EXILE WHATSOEVER:
Total Votes:
National Liberation=8.5 votes (53.125%)
Chrisitan Reform=1.5 votes (9.375%)
Popular Stability=6 votes (37.5%)
Total Voters: 16

Welp! It looks like Chrisitan Reform is incredibly unpopular! It also means that National Liberation would win handily in any democratic election.

LETTING LIMIPA RUN RAMPTANT
I must note though another complication. Cracking down on LIMIPA will lead to a civil war, which will likely lead to Correa rigging the polls. We want free and fair elections sadly, so we have to let LIMIPA kill off the Rights Activist and the Trade Union Leader. The Toal Vote becomes:
National Liberation=7 votes (46.6%)
Chrisitan Reform=1 vote (6.66%)
Popular Stability=6 votes (40.0%)
Total Voters: 15

This means that the National Assembly can in fact be deadlocked between National Liberation and a coalition of Popular Stabilitarians and Chrisitan Reformists. National Liberation will likely secure the Presidency though a pluarlity though.


EMPOWERING CORREA:
If you empower Correa and crack down on the death squads before they kill anybody, the Army Colonel and the Guard Leader both go into exile. The Total Votes

becomes:
National Liberation=8.5 votes (60.7%)
Chrisitan Reform=1.5 votes (10.7%)
Popular Stability=4 votes (28.57%)
Total Voters: 14

If you furthermore provoke the United States into funding the reactos, then Correa will declare a State of Emergency, angering the Bishop (since the National Liberation Party will begin creating a left-wing dictatorship and engage in human right violations). The Bishop will now oppose National Liberation and support the Chrisitan Reformists. The Total Votes becomes:
National Liberation=7.5 votes (58.33%)
Chrisitan Reform=2.5 votes (17.86%)
Popular Stability=4 votes (28.57%)
Total Voters: 14

So, interestingly, empowering Correa would in fact cause for relatively free and fair elections, in that the end result (60% of the votes for National Liberation) ends up matching these Total Votes popularity. The National Liberation Party does in fact win handily.

INDESICIVENESS OUTCOMNE
If you empower Correa after the death squads kill off the Rights Activist and the Trade Union Leader, the Total Vote becomes:
National Liberation=7 votes (58.33%)
Chrisitan Reform=1 vote (8.33%)
Popular Stability=4 votes (33.33%)
Total Voters: 12

The National Liberation Presidente wins handily.

EMPOWERING THE COLONEL
If you empower Colonel Ehrlich and let him kill off the Bishop, and exile the Landless Laborer, Correa, and the Cuban Consul, while also letting LIMIPA run

ramptant and kill two other people, then the Total Votes becomes:
National Liberation=4 votes (33.33%)
Chrisitan Reform=2 votes (16.66%)
Popular Stability=6 votes (50%)
Total Voters: 12

Uh...hypotethically speaking, let assume Ehrlich spares the Bishop. He really has no reason to kill that Bishop except to KickTheDog. Would that change

anything?
National Liberation=5 votes (38.46%)
Chrisitan Reform=2 votes (15.38%)
Popular Stability=6 votes (46.15%)
Total Voters: 13

This would mean that Popular Stability has no choice but enter into a coalition with Chrisitan Reform to head off a National Liberation trimpuh. The Popular Stabilitarn President wins by pluarlity.

CONCLUSION
I was wondering how to have free and fair elections, when the answer is right in front of me all along. Whatever extermist side you support will quickly purge the other side, thereby making your extermist side automatically the most popular. Elections will therefore always be free in Chimerica...if not fair. The only truly 'not free, not fair' election that you could hold is if you empower Correa and then allow Colonel Ehlrich to rig the elections.

If nobody gets purged, though, National Liberation wins. Not very good news.

[Servant Corps]

Interlude: Economic "Aid"

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Aid is a misnomer in Hidden Agenda. Superpowers want to help you, of course. But they aren't doing it for the 'prestige', they're doing it for cold, hard cash. The superpowers will provide you with valuable assistance, but they want you to pay for it in the future. They're banking on the fact that their aid will improve the economy, and that this will allow you to pay back the "aid"...with interest! According to Gorgo Primus, a SomethingAwful goon, the superpowers charge different interest rates for their aid. The US charges relatively high interest, and the USSR/Cuba charges very low interest. By comparison, the IMF charges very high interest.

Ideological considerations play a role in aid though; no use in loaning money to foes. The Americans hates left-wing economic policies while the combined Socialist Bloc (Cuba and USSR) hates right-wing economic policies. It is also possible that both superpowers pay attention to how you respond to the "International Affairs" agenda topics that your External Affairs minister periodically brings up.

There are however some interesting situations that occur if Correa becomes the 'Sole Chief of Staff', which distrupt the traditional 'ideological considerations' that guide the US and the Commies. The Americans are paranoid of Correa, and while they will still keep on giving economic aid, they are strongly opposed to a Chimerican draft and unilateral military build-up, viewing this as a security risk. They may even consider cutting off aid entirely (unless you find other ways of appeasing them).

Cuba and the USSR, by contrast, will no longer care about ideology when offering you aid. They want to fight off the reactos (and, by extension, American capitalism), and thus will allow you the freedom to do whatever you want. This allow you considerable freedom in exploring right-wing options for stimulating your economy.

Before deciding what bloc you want to side with, realize that the Americans are far more wealthier than that of the Commies. Angering the Americans also causes more economic damage in the long term (the sanctions). Hence, it is better to appease the Americans whenever possible.

You can choose not to accept aid from any superpower, and thereby not have to pay any of that pesky interest. However, note that all your Ministers love receiving economic aid...Chimerica needs all the help it can get, even with strings attached. Besides, aid will help Chimerica grow into a prosperous nation...at least, in theory. It's not a pancena, considering that you aren't receiving the beniefts of aid directly.

Besides, you already are accepting economic aid from the "Other" bloc (mostly Western Europan countries) whether you like it or not. You can't deny this aid, so you will always pay interest on it, but you can always rely on it being there. (The Other bloc supported Farsante during the Insurrection!) The Other Bloc do seem to like 'non-alignment' and human rights (read: they hate death squads and State of Emergency) though. Note however that the Other bloc might consider ending aid with you entirely if they feel your country is becoming a puppet of Cuba and the USSR...

[Servant Corps]

Somebody on SA forums (Galaga Galaxian) posted a couple of pictures where he created "dictators" in Tropico. I decided to do the same thing. His pictures are better, because he's using Tropico 3 while I'm using Tropico 1.

This will be the last interlude, I promise. The two runs are already done, I just need to actually stop getting sidetracked lazy and start typing up a summary of those Runs.

Spoiler: Rosario, the Presidental Candidate For Popular Stability (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Lanza, the Chrisitan Reformist Who Started The Insurrection (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Gloria, The Female Who Can't Stop Launching Military Coups (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Galaga's Pictures (click to show/hide)

Oberon:

http://img.waffleimages.com/334d17bbe3c68d28f51f0b91666d5a5de73e193c/Ferrante%20Oberron.jpg

Calderon:

http://img.waffleimages.com/48bd78c1b9b45333b021987ed743946aa80650c4/Calderon%20Iglesias.jpg

Alejos:
http://img.waffleimages.com/1cd72736a05f1e4de6b2e6cbdde5cd62bdd9799e/Alejos%20Espinales.jpg