Ma'at Kheru: Commend Harmoneia

Cormac · Post by **Cormac** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:19 am

Commend Harmoneia
A resolution to recognize outstanding contribution by a nation or region.

Category: Commendation | Nominee: Harmoneia | Proposed by: Milograd
Description: The Security Council,

Believing that dedication and contribution to the success of communities is an act that fulfills the Security Council's goals of promoting international goodwill and peace, and that nations that achieve that aim are deserving of commendation,

Acknowledging that the nation of Harmoneia has a storied history of dedication and contribution to the region of Lazarus, that the region was the original region were new nations reformed after ceasing to exist, and that Harmoneia's efforts there include, but are by no means limited to:

Being a member of the regional community for over eight years at the time of this resolution's writing,

Serving as the region's WA Delegate five times, which is more than any other nation in Lazarene history,

Spearheading the efforts as WA Delegate in 2005 that led to Lazarus achieving regional forum activity records that stood until 2013, which is significant because it is an accomplishment that starkly contrasted the previous status quo of inactivity in Lazarus, and showed the potential for life in the "region of revival",

Serving as the community's administrator on all three of its historical forums, and thus being responsible for maintaining and preserving a core home to Lazarus' community,

Contributing to the preservation of Lazarus's 10-year history by maintaining the forums and recording information in descriptive accounts that detail the region's past,

Being a co-founding member state of the modern government of Lazarus, the People's Republic, which has been responsible for setting hitherto unseen levels of success for Lazarus in the fields of cultural, military, political, and legislative activity
Realizing that Harmoneia's contributions and activities extend beyond Lazarus, and that Harmoneia created the region of Jethnea, a region that at one point had over 300 nations,

Noting that that Jethnea is a founding member of the Founderless Regions Alliance, which is an organization whose member states have been been previously commended by the Security Council for their activities in defense of the world's regions,

Appreciating Harmoneia's long career of defending regions against invasions, and the nation's service in organizations such as the Founderless Regions Alliance ("FRA"), the United Defenders League ("UDL"), and the Lazarene Liberation Army ("LLA"),

Affirming that the above stated actions constitute dedication and contribution to the success of communities both big and small in the world,

Hereby Commends Harmoneia.

Co-authored by Hobbesistan and Kazmr.

Cormac · Post by **Cormac** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:21 am

I don't think being active in a GCR, commendable though that may be, is sufficient qualification for a Security Council Commendation and I'm uncomfortable with the subtle but noteworthy commendation of the People's Republic of Lazarus that is included in this resolution. I certainly don't think founding an FRA member region qualifies one for an SC Commendation.

Against.

Post by **Koth** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:31 am

Against.

Charles Cerebella · Post by **Charles Cerebella** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 6:56 am

Against.

Post by **Lord Ravenclaw** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 7:51 am

Well considering we're currently trying to court Lazarus and seek their recognition I'd recommend holding off on voting for the moment.

Cormac · Post by **Cormac** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:12 am

Lord Ravenclaw wrote:Tue Dec 31, 2013 12:51 pmWell considering we're currently trying to court Lazarus and seek their recognition I'd recommend holding off on voting for the moment.

If we're expected to vote in favor of Commend Harmoneia to get the PRL's recognition -- and knowing that Milograd is a reasonable person and statesman, I don't think he would actually expect that -- I would say we don't want their recognition if that is the price. Our WA vote is our own, it's part and parcel of the sovereignty of our region; we shouldn't trade or compromise our sovereignty for diplomatic recognition from other regions. We didn't make the decision to secure our sovereignty by removing the Empire only to hand our sovereignty over to the PRL or any other region, organization, or group.

We also need to consider the impact this could have among friendly and allied regions, regions that are already providing us with substantive support and aren't having to hold a referendum to decide whether or not to even recognize our legitimacy. This resolution contains an implicit commendation of both the PRL and the FRA, and we need to weigh the impact voting for these implicit commendations could have among regions supporting us (not to mention our own citizens, some of whom feel personally wronged by actions of the PRL) at least as heavily as we need to weigh the impact voting against could have with the PRL.

The Pharaoh can and should decide how or whether to vote on this resolution, but thus far the citizenry is against and I would recommend not basing this vote solely on concerns regarding recognition of the OFO by the PRL.

Post by **Lord Ravenclaw** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:37 am

In this case, I'd recommend on not voting at all - we stand to annoy someone regardless of how we vote.

Cormac · Post by **Cormac** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 8:55 am

Our Delegacy has, at present, 162 WA votes. Not voting is also going to annoy someone, probably opponents of the commendation who will badly need our vote against if the resolution is to be defeated (which is already looking very unlikely).

If the forum vote and the in-game regional vote remain as solidly against as they currently are, I would strongly recommend voting against.

North East Somerset · Post by **North East Somerset** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 9:30 am

For some balance in the Security Council forum discussions I noted:

I don't understand how we're commending someone allegedly primarily for their contributions to the activity and community of Lazarus, when the record of that region is one of inactivity and irrelevance over vast swathes of the 2005-2013 period which is under question. Furthermore, Harmoneia disappeared for significant periods of this time anyway - it's not like she was around regularly for even most of the period. I don't see how anyone can commend Harmoneia for her efforts towards creating an active or vibrant community of Lazarus when that region has performed so badly in those departments. And it's not a matter of it being because its a sinker - cause we've seen more forum activity in the past 2 years from for instance Balder, than the past 7 in Lazarus. Will the author also be commending Rach? I think not.

The truth is we're not commending her for her service to Lazarus - cause we'd have done that years ago if that was worthy of commendation. We're commending her for handing Lazarus to Milograd when she got the chance to, a few months ago. Which interestingly despite not being mentioned in the text, is probably the most significant thing she has ever done anyway.

Now, Milograd may actually have the skill and intuition to make something substantial of Lazarus. Qualities which Jethnea's dismal performance as a region shows that Harmoneia clearly lacks. There are countless other uncommended defenders who have built up better regions than Jethnea, or contributed more to central defender institutions like FRA/UDL. And also defenders who have served with merit in GCRs. Admittedly not many have done all of these things, but I would say better to have done one thing with merit than several with insignificance.

Such a record of image conscious trophy chasing above actual substance probably places one in a strong position for a Commendation though, so I guess it is inevitable. However, it is just ironic that the real breakthrough in Harmoneia's journey to Saintdom, has come from doing something in such exact contradiction to her supposed past of "promoting international goodwill and peace", ie. the Lazarus Purges.

Pretty mean but someone's got to provide some balance to the "she's really nice and hard-working" line put out by Unibot. I don't think I've ever even spoken to her, despite serving in Lazarus' Parliament (which was illegally dissolved) for over 4 years, at the point she had me banned as an "evil" "imperialist" "threat" to the region*. That doesn't strike me as terribly nice.

*Please ignore current avatar whilst reading this sentence

shetef · Post by **shetef** » Tue Dec 31, 2013 2:45 pm

While Harmoneia seems nice enough as a person in the limited interaction I've had with her, I don't view votes on a Commendation or Condemnation as being terribly personal- either they deserve it or they don't. Harmoneia does not, in my view, appear to have earned this. I recommend either an abstention from voting as Raven suggests or a vote against.