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[Servant Corps]

We're Sorry For Kicking You Out Ehrlich

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

I hate showcasing trainwreck videos, because I have to record them, find a website to upload them, try to upload them, find out that they've been "hidden" so the computer doesn't know the videos existed, etc. At the same time though, trainwrecks are useful; they allow you to build new trains.

To summarize the videos, I start off by purging the right-wing military and making Correa the Sole Chief of Staff, while staying on the good side of the Americans. However, the problem is that Oberon, Alejos, and Rosario wanted to overthrow me because I destroyed the "balance" of the military. To defend against this coup requires that I build up an army; but if I build up an army, I make the Americans paranoid about my intentions, and thus lose their support. Trying to increase my popularity doesn't seem to have any effect on my survivablity rating too. So I have to appease the right-wingers.

That'll be fine, except that if I appease the right-wingers, I offend the left-wingers, and they will start launching coups against me. The point of an Army is to defend you against military coups; if I can't survive a right-wing military coup, I can't survive a left-wing military coup either. And it turns out that if I appease the left-wing...there's a chance that I might go far too left, and thereby gain the support of Correa for rigging the elections...thereby defeating the whole point of attracting US military aid in the first place. Also, I was being bombarded with coup attempts, making the game virtually unplayable.

This made me start wondering though. In Karios' Run, the two Leftists, Calderon and Gloria, attempted a coup against the government and failed, badly. They were sent into exile, meaning they couldn't launch coups against me again! What if I reloaded that save, and THEN kick Ehrlich out? I can then appease the right-wingers without fear of the left-wingers overthrowing me.


So that is exactly what I did.


Meanwhile, I deviated from the ideas of Chrisitan Reform, seeing that those 'ideas' got me nominated by Popular Stability. I supported Hector's glorious crusade for worker's rights. Though, come to think of it...


...I haven't really engaged in investing in "a modern economy". I always favored funding Popular Stability's idea of supporting export crops. If I throw money at the cities, maybe that could give me some credit with the moderates.


We also reaffirm the Army's traditional independence, altough Correa is doing its best to subvert it.


...oh dear.





Last night, while I was doing Presidental duties, Escobar, I heard a car crash, and I rushed outside to observe. 10 people, women and children included, slaughtered because of poor roads. There was some chatter, but after the casualities were dropped off at the morgue, there was just silence.

Did I hear people screaming about the corruption of the road officals, about how they don't care about how deadly the roads are? Did I hear people shouting about the need to form "volunteer" armies, and draft construction workers, just so that we can fix these roads and prevent future accidents? Did I hear people declaring that we're inhumane for even tolerating these car accidents?

No, of course not. All the Influentials in Chimerica know full well that to fix roads would be a pointless quagmire; we may build our roads a little bit better, but people can and will still die in horrible, horrible car accidents. Indeed, you know full well: you too have rejected all attempts to build infrastructre, because you wanted more funds to be devoted to your health care clinics. Even if we could, we just don't have the resources at the moment; we are currently at the risk of default.

Yet, more people die from car accidents than they do from the Farsante Guard! Why should one type of death be prioritized over another? Death is death, Dr. Escobar. And I want to save what little money we have in Chimerica, and spend it on what deaths that we have a chance at stopping. And we don't have a chance at stopping the reactos.

I'm sorry, but if you seen what I have seen, you would be ashamed.



I don't want a default, so we have to listen to the IMF, and secure more loans. Yeah...Escobar isn't really going to like hearing this news.

We keep on trudging through the game, reaffirming the status quo, receiving US economic aid, until we reach Year 3, Rainy Season, which is when its time we hold elections. Still no Ehrlich in sight.



Both the Left and the Right hates my guts and want elections. Since I don't have the support of either National Liberaton or Popular Stability, that means...


Woo-hoo! So, uh, how we're going to win this?


...uh...


...yeah, our guys are getting beaten up. I don't think that accepting US aid is going to help us at all. Sorry. Look, I want to talk to the Americans directly, I want to know where is---


...oh my god.

YES! Yes, we accept financial aid from the US government. Give Colonel Ehrlich all the intelligence he needs.


Oh, you Popular Stabilitarians are just jealous.

So this is it. Me with US electoral aid! Can this stop anything?



...uh...nope.

I have not been able to replicate the glitch where the US sends me military aid, and thus I cannot see if US military aid could affect my chances at winning. Gah. I thought US military aid is tied to how much economic aid, but that might be wrong. Maybe I should try to boost my relatonship with the Americans some more through International Affairs, or refusing Commie aid? Maybe?

This Run isn't a total loss though, check out PaxAmericana for a glitch.

Spoiler: Graphs and Charts" (click to show/hide)

The reacto insurgency is reaching a very critical level. Oh well.


Austerity works, somewhat. Infrastructure also is effective.


Infant mortality is going down.


Land reform is occuring at a snail's pace, but it's still happening.


The middle class is starving.


Cotton production is going up. I think. Hard to tell really from the graphs.


What's important is that Cotton and Coffee profits are holding steady.


Eeek! Our national debt is soaring! We aren't in default, but we're going to be soon.


Int his run, we manage to keep the support of the Communists, partially due to us expelling Ehrlich (and thus getting them oh so happy). However, they limit their aid to only $50 million dollars/season. When I was accepting Communist military aid, I was receiving $100 million dollars/season, suggesting that the Communists really want to send you military aid; they really want to turn Chimerica into an outpost of communism and export the revolution across Central America.

Spoiler: Pax Americana and Epilogue, Along with TWIST ENDING! (click to show/hide)

In Chimerica, the President and the leader are often two different and rivaling people. Karios Ferrante Oberon was no longer President, but his connections to the United States government, and access to Colonel Ehrlich's death squads, gave him the ability to veto most of the radical changes of Presidente Calderon.

Calderon's radicalism eventually placed him in direct confrontation with the more moderate Karios. Calderon rallied Sub-commandate Correa, while Karios covertly brought Colonel Ehrlich back from exile. The stage was set for a civil war that would never happen. In 1991, Chimerica went into default, and thus neither Ehrlich or Correa could afford to actually fight. The government itself surrendered to the reactos.

The leader of the reactos was Major Padilla, a former member of the Farsante Guard. The new Presidente moved quickly to consolidate power, reversing many key desicions...

No, really, I'm shocked at the result. I lost the election, of course, but the game also thought I still lead Chimerica, possibly due to me accepting US aid. I'm not complaining.

---
With this post, I'm going to end this Hidden Agenda LP. I have broken the game many times, and I learnt a lot, but frankly, I'm becoming so spiteful of the game that I don't think it'd be fun for me to see it anymore. I know I haven't finished a lot: I haven't gotten Ehrlich to rig the elections with Correa as Sole Chief of Staff, nor did I ever start the "Popular Stability" run, but I just don't feel as if I have the strength or the willpower to continue trying. End it with a bang, not with a whimper.

If you guys like it or anything, then just post here saying you do, and forward this thread to anyone who does play Hidden Agenda. HA is a game after all, and people need to know how to play games effectively.

[Rolan7]

Thanks for sharing this game with us, SC.  I gave it a couple of tries myself and didn't survive long at all, so I would have quit from frustration before realizing what an interesting simulation it is.  It really shows that a president can have the best intentions, and try to keep everyone happy, but fail because some groups will always hate other groups.  And the government will go bankrupt.

[EuchreJack]

Thanks for playing this game as much as you did.  Your epic struggle lasted longer than most.

[Servant Corps]

I didn't really want to go back to Chimerica, the country where dreams goes to get beaten up by left-wing goons or killed by right-wing death squads. But I have forgotten one last event chain. So...there is one last playthrough...

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 1, Dry Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Independent. Gorgo Primus was a leftist civilian politican closely aligned to the National Liberation movement, and is a closet admirer of Leonard Flores. Considered a ruthless pragmatist, Gorgo wanted to promote a policy of left-wing reform while still cooperating with the major political powers, such as the Army. This made him very unpopular with the National Liberation gurellias, though the party leadership nominated him to the Presidency in the hopes of consolidating the Chimerican Revolution.

The goal of this run is to empower Colonel Ehrlich as the Sole Chief of Staff, and then promote a National Liberation ideology. I already did a similar run with a Popular Stabilitarian Presidente running a left-wing army, so I would assume it'd be very possible.

The Cabinet Ministry is as follows:
*Alejos as Defense Minister
*Gloria as Agricultural
*Julio as Internal Affairs
*Calderon as External Affairs



I start off funding health care and education.


We aren't going to intervene to stop US military aid, since we'll need it to fight off against military coups. And US military aid will automatically happen anyway once Colonel Ehrlich become Sole Chief of Staff, so why bother?


I guarrante the right of unions to strike.



I implement a policy of price controls.



The National Salary Scale may be popular amongst the National Liberation unions, but unpopular with...well, every other union. Still, I want to be left-wing, so I really got no choice in the matter.




Ehrlich appears to turn into the very foe he hates, that of radicalism and extermism.




Alejos is still happy to empower him, and so empower him we do.



Ironically, National Liberation is the rightist here. They have unions that operate in Farsante's coffee farms, and thus want to ensure that these farms keep on getting money.

Much as I would like going left-wing, I would rather have a country that doesn't go into default. So I'll divide export credits, rather than give it to the food producers.



I talked to Sergio, leader of the National Liberation unions, to see if I can split up the Farsante Farms into cooperatives, but it seems that cannot be done now. National Liberation like keeping the state farms. Alright, so maybe NL isn't exactly smart, but I'll defer to their whims. And, anyway, free Support from Sergio! We need that if we want to survive military coups.

Spoiler: Interesing Pictures (click to show/hide)

It turns out Chimerica has oil. Not enough to cut its dependence on agriculture though.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 1, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

We will start funding education and...


...oh god, interrupts...



We take out some IMF Loans...




...We arrest the Farsante Guard (stupid Julio)...




...We side with General Alejos to keep US military aid...




...and I'm forced to announce land reform...ugh. Well, the interrupts are over.


I'll take out another IMF Loan while I'm at it. We'll need all the help we can get. I'll also strengthen Ehrlich too before thinking about more government policies.



...Ehrlich is now making a bid for complete dominance. I'm surprised at how early it was, but I'll be fine with it. During the Radical Moderation run, I made Correa "Sole Chief of Staff" int he first season, so making Ehrlich "Sole Chief of Staff" in the second season would be fine too.




We'll also announce the purge of Correa now. Bye Correa scum.



Correa better not run the left-wing insurgency from Mexico!


By purging the army early before receive the event where El Independite burns down, we can now read what the leftists think about the army purges. Ironically, Alejos is himself considered an Army "progressive" in the Minister dossiers, though I'm guessing El Independite has a stricter definition.



Our subsidies aren't working. What a surprise. Giving into the farmers with a 'fair price' will make subsidies more expensive, but it'll also pave the way for a rationing scheme, which should save us money in the long-term.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 1, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

It seems that empowering Ehrlich had some rather undesirable side-effects.



The communist countries now refuse to give us any aid whatsoever, as they hate Ehrlich dearly. Not even Buffard is that much of a jerk.



In addition, Padilla is now free to form LIMIPA ahead of schedule. There will be no "amnesty", as an amnesty would imply Padilla has done wrong.


I have decided to do a reshuffling of my cabinet. I know that Claudio will soon start a protest to force me to implement land reform, and I'm worried that land reform would cost a lot of money and would likely be useless in the face of Ehrlich's goons. By kicking Gloria out of the Agricultural Ministry and replacing her with Alejos, I can prevent land reform from occuring. I also appointed Gloria to the Defense Ministry to see if I can stop Colonel Ehrlich from amassing too much power.

Gloria seems to like me; that's good to know.



The Americans aren't being generous with aid right now, but we really need the money. Oh, and Calderon? The only reason people give aid is to influence our desicions.


Claudio, I'm ready.






If I didn't stop land reform in its track, Claudio wouldn't be chased out immediately, but I know that land reform is eventually going to be terminated.



I'd feel more sorry for you if you haven't sought to export the revolution every single second.


Cuba? Beacon of freedom? Are you serious?


Anyway, I use Gloria to try and "soften" the Army's counterinsurgency. Not going to work, but whatever...


Alarcon still wants the National Bank to give money to the food producers, but we're keeping the status quo policy.



So the Popular Stability conspiracy theorists were right all along! Literacy programs existing only for propaganda purposes and spread Marxism to the masses? Er...don't we got better things to do, Julio?

And Leticia, you are a failure. Only tens of thousands of citizens learn how to read? That's brutally ineffective compared to how awesome our doctors are, which are constanly lowering the infant mortality rate.



...in fact, we might as well increase funding to health care, to reward effectiveness.


The IMF has given us a vote of confidence, which will help pay for our programs.


Buffard? Uh...


Yes, Colonel Mendieta is engaging in illegal transshipping, but this is a matter of national soverignity here! We are not going to turn ourselves into an American state, and we're not going to allow any Chimerican to be extradited. If the Colonel is guilty, he'll be found guilty by our awesome military court who is in no way biased or corrupt. For that is the Marxist way (tm)!

Besides, I am not having my soldiers waste their time standing around while your annex burn, Buffard.


...wait, what?


No, seriously, what? I wanted for Colonel Mendieta to be tried at home, not be kidnapped by Correa and sent to Mexico! I'm not trusting the left-wing goons to give fair justice...





I side with Gloria to keep the University open, but we all know Ehrlich isn't going to listen.





See what I mean? Gloria, you aren't really doing your job of limiting the power of Ehrlich here.


By the way, I just noticed #146, Ismael Alvarado, who was killed by soldiers. Looking back at the previous playthroughs, it seems that this article gets printed only if LIMIPA is active, so Ismael will get killed by soldiers anyway. It seems El Independiente really hate right-wing soldiers and want to smear them with allegations of being part of LIMIPA...


I suppose Lady Mendoza's death was going to happen sooner or later, due to LIMIPA forming early. I'm not worried about it.


I'm worried about this though.


EEK!


Oberon, you're facing off against the combined forces of Ehrlich and America. You stand no chance at defeating me. Do your worst.



...well, you done your worst.

I'll need to increase popularity if I want to defend against the coup, and I think the best way to do that is to aim for Chrisitan Reform. Larry, you're hired!


Yes, I know you hate my guts, but you won't try to kill me, unlike Oberon.




I'm going to sell land to less-well-off coffee producers! Horray!




I wanted to change priorities to favor export crops, to gain support of Cotton Guy, but Chrisitan Reform won't cooperate here. Flip-floppers. I decide I might as well reaffirm support for dividing credit between food growers and export crop producers...maybe my meeting with Cotton Guy will help get popularity to fight Oberon off.



...it does. Phew.

We also avoid economic default for now.

Spoiler: PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Interesting Pictures (click to show/hide)

National Liberation wants land reform, but on its own terms. If you let Claudio take whatever land he wants, then the Cotton Producers will interrupt you, thereby allowing Gloria to implement the land reform program that it desires.

Of course, National Liberation is very good at alienating managerial and entreprenurial skills, so I highly doubt Gloria is being entirely sincere here.


...uh...sure...


It seems that PaxAmericana may actually appluad a extreme right-wing privatization program. Usually, PaxAmericana views such a program as making the rich more richer, but in this case, it actually served to comfort the rich and stop capital outflow...because we imposed the National Salary Scale.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 2, Dry Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The recent insurgency has made the Americans incredibly happy in giving us economic aid to fight the insurgents, including Emergency Support Funds...but Calderon wants the United States to go towards development projects for the poor, and not to fight the insurgency. As this is a left-wing run, I'll side with Calderon.


The Americans are unhappy, but we'll get the aid we need.


Now that we have survived the military coup by Oberon, I feel free to reappoint Gloria to the Agricultural Ministry (I kicked her out previously in the last season to replace her with Larry). She likes me...which is strange, since I rejected land reform. Her profile points to her being a son of a doctor, so she might like me funding health care.

I had Larry be the new Defense Minister.



The price controls aren't working...meaning it's time to implement rationing and save us some cash.


Hector hates rationing though.



Reaction to the rationing scheme was...mixed.




Manzon hates the scheme as usual (capitalist scum), but Gloria seems pleased at the end result, so I'll keep the status quo.




I decided to quickly reverse my commitment to coffee farms, and is now favoring turning the state farms into cooperatives, partly to bolster my National Liberation credentials.


We also need to keep on implementing left-wing policies, and the National Marketing Board shall do the trick.





The Americans still have no choice but to deal with us. We're the only thing preventing the left-wing insurgency from winning. So I don't see any reason not to pick a fight with the US now.



We'll keep on our crusade to defend health care...


...and France cheers me on. Uh, infant mortality dropped from .175 to .150, I don't really think that's a big drop.


Can you at least give me a timetable for when you're going to win this war, Ehrlich?


...uh, what? Nobody have mentioned a power outage, and nobody has mentioned that the left-wing gurellias were responsible for it. Do you have inside knowledge that other people do not have?

And why are you basically acting as cheerleaders for the left-wing resistance? Are you trying to get yourself killed by LIMIPA?


I guess so.


Seemingly flush with cash, we begin planning a infrastructure program to benieft the poor and needy.



We'll begin cracking down on the black marketters. Larry is complaining about how the rationing system will lead to us declaring default. Hah! That's a silly notion! We're a rich country backed by the United States, what can go wrong?


Lots, it would seem.

Spoiler: Interesting Pictures (click to show/hide)

Look like we got some opposition to the Marketing Board. This guy is the leader of TNC Corporation, Chimerica's equiviliant of United Fruit.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 2, Rainy Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

The IMF is willing to bail us out of default, which is incredibly nice for them. I guess that's the benieft you get when you're pro-American: the IMF is obligated to save your skin rather than hang you out to dry. That being said, I'm afraid of the increased interest, but that's for another time.


Meanwhile, I meet up with Manzon herself, leader of the controversial Chimerican Mob.


Manzon, you really don't know basic economics. Markets tend towards equilibrium prices, which change when the demand and supply curve changes. When people want more of something, the demand curve increases, but the supply curve stays the same, and thus, equilibrium prices increase. It will not go down until either the demand curve goes down or the supply curve goes up.

This is so elementry. I don't even know how you became leader of the Chimerican Mob. Anyway, now that you're in prison, the rest of the Chimerican Mob will fall into line.


...er...



I hope the IMF bailout will appease everybody. I really do.



Ah, so this is the "State of Siege" that PaxAmericana warned me about in a previous timeline.




...you're all lame. (According to the Chimerican Reference Manual, "Farsantismo" is the ideology of Farsante's government, but it seems only Farsante's opponents use that term...which makes sense. Farsante really is so hated that his ideology would likely be a good insult.)

Fine, Colonel Ehrlich, I authorize the "State of Siege". But there WILL be modifications. I just know that your anti-union clauses are geared towards torpedoing our glorious National Salary Scale, and I'll do what is in my power to prevent that from happening.




...wait a second, the charts said that I only get $225 million dollars a year ($75 million/season) from military aid and...

CALDERON! GET IN HERE!

By insisting that the US give developmental aid to the poor rather than fighting the left-wing insurgency, you caused Buffard to cut off all aid with us! We are receiving $0 in economic aid, thanks to you. That's it. You're fired, and Alejos will become the new External Minister.


Finally. We really need that money, and we can't afford to dictate terms to the US.





We need to modify that State of Siege now. First off, we agree with National Liberation and roll back the artibrary detention law.




We'll then restore the right for strikers to organize. I'm a bit too afraid of giving them weapons, but if that's enough to deter Ehrlich's goons, that'll be enough.



...except it isn't. Even though people are allowed to organize, the Army can and will arrest union leaders, thereby making it impossible for me to ensure a minimum wage. No way the National Salary Scale can be implemented under these conditions.


So, wait. We're going to declare default...AGAIN?!


...who is it now?


Gloria, you saw what I did to Oberon. Do you really want to fight me?



Yes you do. Let me see if I can bring up my popularity so I can fight the good war against you.





We try our best to reassure the teachers and doctors that we'll keep funding them.



The Marketing Board is unpopular, and since I want Coffee Guy on my side, I decided to make the Board voluntary.


I also promise to sell the Farsante Farms over to the less-well-off coffee producers, again to gain the support of Coffee Guy.



I end the rationing program so that I curry favor with Manzon.



So I have made TWO enemies, huh? And, yes, Calderon killed me, so much for gaining popularity.

It seems that this State of Siege is somehow causing problems. I can't be popular with Ehrlich running around causing chaos. And the US isn't providing me with enough military aid, so it seems that I have to resort to appeasement. First, let appease Calderon (maybe that'll also appease Gloria too):





Will that save me?



Gloria again.

Calderon seems to be already appeased though, it was only when I was gathering popularity to fight against Gloria that he got angry. So the real threat is Gloria: I got to appease her.





In the end, Gloria is pleased, and I have to no longer worry about a coup, for now. But as long as Gloria still is unhappy, there is always a threat. Since I was so busy trying to please Gloria though, I didn't modify the State of Siege to allow for strikes. I did, however, promote civil liberties by removing artibrary detention and cracked down on corruption. I also did not accept American economic aid, worried about the consquences of angering any side.



So we live in a bizzare world where the best way to wage a counterinsurgency is to lay down mines. That explains why Padilla had human minesweepers when he was leading the right-wing insurgency; the left-wing government was using landmines to try and kill the insurgents.

Spoiler: PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

Spoiler: Interesting Pictures (click to show/hide)

This is the militia that we have developed to defend our unions from our own Army.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Election Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

National Liberation loves me dearly, and thus is afraid I might lose elections. Considering how Ehrlich runs the military, they'd be right...


But I'm still going to hold those elections, for crying out loud!


Here's our center-right consitution, geared towards legalizing the Army's control over Chimerica.



National Liberation nominates me, while Larry resigns to campagin on the platform of Chrisitan Reform.




The election season begin in earnest!




...and ends in earnest. Great.


...uh, sure.


You're the one with CIA funding! Try to get them to bail you out, if you can!



And there's that. What a fun election. But wait a second, Ehrlich? Did you have to rig elections in Rosario's favor?

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

Nope. You didn't! Popular Stability won legitally. National Liberation just is not popular enough. Oh well.

Spoiler: PaxAmericana (click to show/hide)

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 2, Harvest Season

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

Now that we had our election fun, we reload our last save and begin again.


We need IMF aid if we are to avoid another default, so I agree to end the rationing system.




And Calderon automatically launches a military coup. A bug basically, as coups usually happen at the begining of the season. I can't fire Calderon, since if I do, he'll launch a coup against me.



We didn't deal with the State of Siege and its ban on strikes. As we are a left-wing country, I offically side with the unions and get rid of the ban on strikes.


...still no timetable?


The death of Hector means the end of LIMIPA. Thank god.




...and it's alright for the Army to use landmines?

Alright, so this season is over, what's next?

Gloria, again huh? How about cracking down on corruption? I am already so far-left as it is that I think that's about all we can do.



...uh...that's it? Can we get to the root of the problem?



I always find these back-and-forth accusations of corruption hilarious. But now our fun is over. Can we go to the next season?


Gloria, that's it! I don't want to deal with you, I don't want to appease you anymore, you're going to die! The Americans have provided us with more military aid, maybe I got a chance against you this time! Cabinet, you're fired. Except for you, Calderon, but I won't talk to you for a while.

First, I'll stop supporting the unions. They'll whine all the time about the Army, they won't help me. Instead, I'll support the Industralist and "use all means at our disposal to rid country of subversises".

I try to curry favor with the rich by abolishing the Marketing Board and meeting up with the Banker. I then try to pander to the teachers by promising more money to them, while giving full support for Colonel Ehrlich's war against the communist rebels.


I provide more support for splitting up the Farsante Farms into cooperatives, int he hopes of keeping Sergio on my side.



We also abolish the Barrio Defense Commitee to get the aid of Manzon.



I also get rid of the rationing as well. I won't have to worry about food riots that occur when I abolish rationing, since Hector is dead. And now that we have no more rationing, we can apply for IMF loans now, which is great.

...and then?

Nothing. There was no coup, no great war...the game just continued onto the next season with no penalty. I have appeased Gloria and Calderon without even realizing it, even though I was going far-right!

I suspect the reason behind it had to do the rationing program. Yes, National Liberation supports rationing to the end[1]. But it is just too expensive for the IMF to continue subsidizing, especially since they're the ones bailing me out. Without loans from the IMF, the government cannot spend money on all the other government programs that National Liberation likes, such as health care and education. But National Liberation was too short-sighted, they wanted to eat their cake and still have it too.

By going against National Liberation and abolishing the rationing program, I was able to ensure the funding of health care, thereby appeasing Gloria.




...uh, are we winning? At all?

[1]I said that National Liberation would eventually abandon it, but I did not see it in this game. I suspect that my memory may be faulty though.

[Servant Corps]

Colonel Ehrlich's Joyride, Year 3

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

...I have been facing military coups from my own party, Tomas. I think my situation is far more worse than yours.


...I hope this is a nightime curfew and not a day-time curfew. Parties?




...yeah, I don't really got any choice here.


Well, good for you.

Me? I rather you'd be sitting blindfolded in a cell somewhere in Mexico instead of talking to me.


I feel sorry for that captain, secretly kidnapped by the CIA and sent to secret detention centers and tortured in Las Vegas and Miami...oh. Oh.


Huh. Since we know the starting population of Chimerica is 4 million, and we have access to WW2 casualities information, broken down by death percentages...

...uh, El Monde? 14.21% of USSR citizens died in WW2, but 16.1% of Polish citizens died in WW2 too. Though I'm guessing you're not counting Holocaust deaths...I think you need some better fact-checkers.

Next on that list is Lithuania, which had 13.71% of its citizens died during WW2...13.71% of the Chimerican population is...548,400.

584,400?! PaxAmericana states that only tens of thousands of civilians died! This means one of two things:
(A) You're lying, France. You are inflating death tolls in an attempt to undermine both Colonel Ehrlich and me, because you love Subcommandante Correa and his "beat" squads. This is a unlikely theory though, since El Monde still have some sembalance of professionalism, unlike all the other newspapers.
(B) The vast majority of casualities in this war are MILITARY. And I have a hard time thinking that it's Ehrlich's forces getting butchered on the field here. If that many people are classified as 'military', then El Monde "justified" Colonel Ehrlich's harsh and inhumane tactics: nobody is innocent in war.

Maybe they just want major combatants during WW2, and they don't care about Lithuania. Hm...how about Yugoslavia? They have 6.6% of its citizens died...so 6.6% of the Chimerican population is 264,000.

How about really major combatants then? Japan, with 3.78% of citizens dead. 3.78% of the Chimerican population is 151,200...you know what, I give up. This is unbelievable.

...You know what's bizzare about this? When I'm facing a right-wing insurgency, 5 Chimerican citizens get killed by the reactos per day, meaning 1890 die every year. Assuming the insurgency lasts for three year, this means that 5670 Chimericans gets killed by the reactos...which is far lower than the amount of dead in this war...unless our Correa kills 145,530 reactos.


You do realize that Tomas blamed you for the kidnappings as well. Though I guess you got a point: an Army, whether left or right, needs to engage in self-defense. If only you understand the concept of human rights, Padilla...


Is it possible that Claudio and Padilla are two sides of the same coin? Correa worried about how the reactos' mines would hurt civilians, just like Chimerica Ahora worried about how Claudio's mines wouild hurt civilians. Claudio and Padilla are quick to use violence against their political foes, rather than seeking for dialogue. Claudio and Padilla love engaging in horrible violations of human rights (according to Amnesty International), while enjoying unoffical backing from large segments of society.

Prehaps the only difference is where their funding comes from. Padilla may get funding from the CIA (but only if you make the Americans angry), while Claudio runs a criminal syndicate on the side.


Wait, there's a difference of opinion? Chimerica is so polarized that people walk, lock-step. There is no internal debate within the parties, only external debate.

Also, army moderates? Alejos was an Army progressive, and he's the one who advocated for letting Padilla run free. El Monde, you might want to check your sources.

Government Policies: It seems that now that we abolished rationing, I'm safe against Gloria and Calderon. I begin rolling back my other right-wing policies: I support the right to strike, re-establish the marketing board, empower the Barrio Defense Committees, defend civil liberities, and restore the Dinando Cult. We also fruitlessly tried to crack down on corruption.


Colonel Ehrlich seems to want three things:
(1) A strong Army, based with American military aid.
(2) No land reform whatsoever, or if you do have land reform, it has to be a rather bloody one with the Army killing off people wanting land.
(3) No labor rights whatsoever (even if you defend the right of workers to strike, the Army will still harass and kill the union leaders). This means no National Salary Scale, sadly.

But, other than that, you're free to do whatever you want. So I can implement lots of left-wing reforms. The problem was that the ongoing war, and the self-defeating nature of National Liberation policies, led to me defaulting on my loans, and thus am unable to deliever on many left-wing promises. If I had balanced the budget better and avoided default, I might have still had money dedicated to health care and education.

Still, I did quite well. I have the Mandatory Marketing Board, the Farsante Farms turned into cooperatives, shared credit resources, built infrasturctre to benieft the poor, and formed Barrio Defense Committees.

Spoiler: Graphs and Charts (click to show/hide)

The left-wing insurgency is rather expensive, but the United States is very generous, providing me with lots of military aid to help pay for the war. The US is far more generous than the Soviet Union, which is a big plus.


Our default lead to all our spending to be basically cut off.


The infant mortality rate is going down.


While some of the Farsante Farms was sold off to private hands, most of the farms was given to the cooperatives.


Our best success was with our subsidies and our division of credits to favor food producers. This brought our food production far beyond pre-Insurrection levels, meaning we could easily end the rationing and see minimum starvation. Chimerica may now be self-sufficent in food, meaning we could pretty much return to a policy of funding export crops now.


Cotton production is dropping heavily, while coffee production slowly rises (due to us selling off the Farsante Farms).


Coffee profits is increasing, while cotton profits decrease heavily. I suspect it has everything to do with the Mandatory Marketing Board and the National Salary Scale, which was driving rich people away from our country, and thus harming us in the long term.


We are totally on the life support of the IMF.


And I mean totally. Europe is not giving us money because of human right issues, the Commies aren't giving us money because we backed Ehrlich, and America isn't giving us any money because we demand for the money to be earmarked to help the poor, not fight the insurgency (and if I say otherwise, I'm afraid Calderon might murder me). It is only international creditors that are saving our country...

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

After the end of the Cold War, the "Chimerican situation" became seen as an embarrassment to American policy-makers, who only saw the country as a black hole where money is sucked into and no results being seen. Under domestic pressure, the United States decided to cut military aid to Colonel Ehrlich. The IMF, upset at how the government was too busy waging a war instead of engaging in developmental projects, also decided to cut aid to the Chimerican government. Isolated, the Army collasped and the leftist insurgents took over the country.

National Liberation commandos, led by Calderon and Gloria, betrayed Gorgo Primus Helliad, and welcomed Claudio with open arms. Claudio, however, struck against National Liberation, viewing the party as traitors who sold out the progressive cause for mere political power. Claudio pointed out that National Liberation wanted an 'organized' land reform policy designed to help the rich, as opposed to an actual 'real' land reform policy that would benieft the rural poor, and that National Liberation wanted to implement a terrible rationing program that the rural poor opposed.

Claudio turned his country into a proletarian dictatorship, and killed off any potential enemy, rich or poor. The end of the Cold War however meant that Claudio could not get any aid for his regime of terror. Claudio's inexperience with actually governing Chimerica also made him incredibly unpopular. The CIA, wishing stability in the region, and seeing Claudio as a lunatic, secretly backed his overthrow in a military coup.

The CIA then installed Fransico Ferrante Oberon, a sometime member of the Junta who was exiled to Miami after leading a failed military coup. The new Presidente moved swiftly to consolidate power, reverting many key decisions...

Spoiler: Game Breaking Bugs (click to show/hide)

This is a very good idea, even though we already have popular democratic organizations, so why not try that?


Wait, why are you angry? What did I do wrong?


*BEEP!* The game just thought I called for elections. Nope, I don't want to see Julio in a dumpster again, so it's time to reload.

[Servant Corps]

IMPORTANT NEWS
According to a VLP of Hidden Agenda, it is possible to get Hidden Agenda to consider you an Arch-Conservative. The player, PlumpHelmetPump, chose following options:
-free and open distribution of information (even extreme Popular Stabilitarians hate censorship)
-developmental programs that protect the free movement of goods and capital (No Marketing Board!)
-improvement of the country's infrastructure: road, utilities, and port facilities (build stuff to help to export crop producers!)

"The new government therefore seemed determined to limit government to a traditional managerial role, opting not to risk economic dislocation in pursuit of social justice. Resisting all attempts to soften this position, the new president held firmly to the principle that government interference in the lives of its citizens should be kept to a minimum."

I'm still surprised how little I know of this game.

[Nikov]

Wait, you didn't know how to be considered a conservative? That was like the first thing I got.

... Oh yeah. This is me talking.

[EuchreJack]

So wait, conservatives are AGAINST censorship?  I find that odd.

[Servant Corps]

So wait, conservatives are AGAINST censorship?  I find that odd.

In Hidden Agenda, an extreme right-wing government never overtly shuts down a opposition newspaper (and the right-wing paramilitaries would have done so regardless), while an left-wing government faced with a growing insurgency will call for a State of Emergency, engaging in censorship and even calling for the temporary shutdown of Chimerica Ahora, for no real good reason.

Basically, think of conservatives preferring 'unoffical censorship' as opposed to 'offical censorship'.