new time-suck anyone?

A friend of mine pointed me to an online game called: NationStates. I know it's not brand new but it may be new/of interest to some here. It was invented by a guy to promote his book, Jennifer Government but seems to have taken on a life of its own. You create a nation (pick name, motto, flag, currency, etc...) and answer a few questions (game will categorize your nation--mine is a "Scandinavian Liberal Paradise" currently) and you are given an issue to decide. For example:

Should Democracy Be Compulsory?

The Issue

In response to a slow news week, certain highbrow newspapers have stirred up the debate over voluntary vs compulsory voting.

The Debate

1. "Compulsory voting makes about as much as sense as having the death penalty for attempted suicide," says civil rights activist Tobias Washington. "You can't force people to be free! You can only give them the choice. Besides, if all those derelicts who can't be bothered to get off their ass once every few years voted, who would they elect? I shudder to think."


2. "It's not contradictory at all," argues political commentator Charles Thiesen. "The fact is, if not everyone votes, the outcome isn't truly representative. Some groups--like elderly gun nuts--vote more often than others. That's why always we always end up with such terrible politicians."


3. "This raises an interesting issue," says Buffy Rifkin, your brother. "And that is: why do we need elections, anyway? Seems to me it would be much simpler if you just decided what was right, and did it. Wouldn't that save everyone a lot of time?"

You can agree with one of those statements above to show the government opinion or you can dismiss (ignore) it until/hope it goes away. You can create regions as well and, I admit, I chuckled at bit at the thought of a Shaker region that took over the world.