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South Pacific Independent News Network · 08-15-2020, 12:20 AM

Year 18 | 14 August 2020

THE SPINN
NAKARI MADE THE RIGHT CHOICE
James D. Halpert | Senior Editor

THE WEEK'S HIGHLIGHTS

• The High Court ruled on August 12 that Local Council elections cannot be restricted only to native WA members and ordered the Election Commissioner to open voting to all members.

• Legislators are debating several drafts to allow the Local Council to set voting requirements for its elections.

• The Council on Regional Security announced on August 14 the appointment of Auphelia, Concrete Slab, Poppy and Rabbitz to the Coral Guard.
Nakari resigned the office of Prime Minister on August 12, after completing roughly half of their term. This was the right choice, but not not in the sense that you might think. This column does not seek the disparage Nakari, criticise their job performance or somehow suggest that new leadership was needed. Did Nakari have significant areas of improvement? Yes, and I listed a few of them in my previous column, but the same can be said from other government officials and I'm not calling on them to resign. No, the point of this column is that Nakari showed a true strength of character and conviction when they resigned, and that level of self-awareness and self-care is one that we should all aspire to have.

Just think it through. The Prime Minister is the leader of the Cabinet; they hold the reins of the region, in one way or another, for a period of four months. Add to that the fact that, by the time someone is elected Prime Minister, they already have a certain name recognition and have most likely served in the Cabinet. These are the likes of Drugged Monkeys, Roavin, Seraph and Farengeto; people who are driven, accomplished and have shown to the region that they have what it takes to make it to the top. When you reach that position, it can be easy to feel that you need to see things through, perhaps even run for re-election out of obligation even if you would rather do something else, or nothing at all. Nakari made a brave and mature choice when they decided that they didn't, in their own words, "see the need to pull [themselves] through it out of obligation anymore".

There is an important lesson to be learned from this attitude about the way in which we should play NationStates, no matter how invested we can be in this community, which Nakari so eloquently put in their resignation address:

"It's a game, you don't have to do things that aren't fun unless you want to! You don't need an excuse for it! It's a game! We'll be fine! It's all good!"

Nakari is absolutely right. NationStates can involve heated political arguments, clashing personalities, intricate military gameplay and more, but at the end of the day it's just a game. You can see a heated argument through to the end, but you can also decide that it isn't worth your time and close the tab instead. It's alright, there's no shame in deciding that you have better ways to spend your time. Similarly, if you are holding an office or discharging a responsibility, it's more than alright to decide at any point that you would rather take at step back and focus on the things that let you enjoy the game on your own terms. By all means be civil about it, avoid leaving people high and dry, but other than that your only real obligation is to yourself, to making sure that you are playing this game because you want to, not because you have do.

Let's all take a page from Nakari and give ourselves permission to relax every now and then and do what's right for us. We owe it to ourselves.

The South Pacific Independent News Network (SPINN) is an independent news organisation established in 2003 with the goal of providing good, insightful and timely commentary on regional events for the citizens of the South Pacific. Opinions expressed in this publication do not necessarily reflect the views of the Editorial Board. Content is published via pseudonyms. The SPINN is not associated with the Government of the South Pacific.

(This post was last modified: 08-15-2020, 12:23 AM by South Pacific Independent News Network.)