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I also believe that it's wrong to force your beliefs on others... but I consider the role of government to be enforcing the will of the people it governs—ideally with full consideration of human rights for all and for the world we all share. It's not some external body coming in from outside and pushing us around for lulz, and I think it's very necessary to uphold the rights of women, black people, gay people, Muslims, etc., when certain vocal and powerful groups would silence them, subjugate them, or even kill them for the offense of not being straight white Christian men.

I'm wondering, how does your philosophy answer a situation like somebody bombing an abortion clinic? I think we would both agree that women should have the freedom to seek that service, and that no one should be allowed to enforce their will on them, but what do you do about it without rule of law and a government to enforce it? Isn't any action another person would take against the bomber also enforcing their will on the bomber? Hurting others is clearly wrong, but how does your philosophy reckon with preventing someone from doing it, or punishing them when they do, if no one can enforce their will on anyone ever? And—let's just make it thornier while we're at it—does the unborn fetus also get consideration in this? Does it have a right to exist, even if the mother can't feed it, or love it, or safely bear it to term?

... Feel free not to answer that. I picked a tricky issue on purpose, to shine a bright light on the problems I see with what you say, but I don't want to put anyone in a situation where they're not comfortable speaking.

~Neshomeh

No reason we can't have Mosquitoes borne aloft by racing brooms for night attacks... =]

This Board is overwhelmingly (some variant of) leftist; people like Alleb and [EA]UO are the exception, not the rule. And any Board that has me as the third rightmost member is prooobably a bit Commie. I already have my State-approved™ hammer and sickle, get yours today!

Do you feel like you've moved from the Right to the Centre? If so, what caused the shift? Because your shift there is practically meteoric.

hS

I randomly changed your numbers for my own entertainment.

Nah, what I've done is readjust the axes to centre around the average of Boarders' responses. We concluded last time that the Political Compass is great for letting you compare your results to other real people, but tends to shift everyone left+down compared to their calculated politicians. So the red lines aren't quite a match for the ones on the website, which I think would place everyone this year except you left-of-centre.

The average is at -5.2, -4.72 right now, which is why you're so far out there. Your adjusted economic score is 12.6(!!!); even plaindrome's is only -3.8 on the Left side.

Alternately, I messed with the numbers for giggles. ;)

hS

Or are these axes mapped differently than in the original Compass? Because I was definitely in the Libertarian part of things.

Also, wow. I knew I was far more conservative than most the PPC, but I didn't realize by how much. It's like I sucked all the conservatism out of the rest of the Board and used it as rocket fuel to push Asteroid Alleb out into the cold reaches of space.

"LIMITED GOVERNMENT!" the Asteroid shrieks as it spins aimlessly through the void. "FREE MARKET!"

-Alleb

(The joke, since I've just realised no-one else will remember it, is that last year EAIUO objected to (his misunderstanding of) my D&D Political Compass. I then made the second version of the chart just absolutely covered in evil. I was part of Iximaz's plan to summon demons to usurp the throne; looks like you were going to blow everyone up with volcanoes. Muahahahaha!)

hS

Of course it isn't named after the Evil of Capitalism and the Darkness of the Bottom Line and I'm silly to suggest that.

Profit. Profit numbs the feeling.

I mean, it recommended badfic and it showed that it was bad. Fair enough.

Nevermind!

... that I've previously asked people to submit badfic recommendations in this format (well, I tweaked it slightly) for my Driftwood missions. It's not a bad way of presenting a badfic - certainly better than 'I found this fic AND IT MAKES ME MAD' with no further details.

I don't wish to make any comment on the actual content of the document.

hS

This isn't an intelligence report.
Intelligence reports are written by, and from the perspective of PPC spies. Who work in the Department of Intelligence. Which is the entire idea of the department.
This, as far as I can figure, is not. It is, rather, you simply filling the form out with your own thoughts.

There's nothing wrong, of course, with pointing us towards a poorly written fic and giving a few thoughts on it, but you have presented it in the form of an intelligence report, and it must be as such judged on the grounds of an intelligence report.
And on the grounds of an intelligence report, it really isn't very good, containing no actual story or character, or much of anything.

You got to research this stuff more, mate. Look at examples. Check the wiki.

Observations of the Continuum segment of the Protectorate Belt continue to be made, as scheduled. Currently, sixteen inhabited asteroids are included in the segment.

The main cluster remains as chaotic as ever. Asteroid JulyFlame has just completed a two-year orbit around the newly-colonised Asteroid Storme Hawk, and appears to have picked up some kind of resonance with Asteroid Desdendelle. This resonance may have caused the rapid ejection of Asteroid Seafarer, which is spinning rapidly to system west.

The slow-moving Central Group - Asteroids Neshomeh and doctorlit - are continuing their stately way through space, though there are concerns that Asteroid Neshomeh may be due for a close encounter with the careening Seafarer. Of far more immediate concern is the impending collision of Asteroids PoorCynic and Hardric; the evacuation effort is ongoing, but an attempt to alter their orbits by shunting the fast-moving Asteroid HG into their vicinity has failed.

The migrant Commie Cluster continues its passage through the south-western reaches of the segment. Asteroids Vixenmage and Scapegrace form the heart of the group, while Asteroid Huinesoron has spun off towards the centre of the segment, and may become entangled in the gravitational fields there. Asteroid palindromordnilap has just recently entered the segment, and is considered a member of the Cluster; the trailing Asteroid Tomash's status is under debate.

In the far system north-east, Asteroid Alleb has recently entered the segment. It is currently being used as a staging post for extra-segment observations of the hyperaccelerated Asteroid EAIUO: this body, ejected from what was known as the Realm of Evil and Darkness, is on a beeline for the heart of the segment. If it cannot be diverted, there is a significant chance of a catastrophic collision.

---

If you're not on the map yet, don't be shy - there's a whole bunch of themes I haven't done yet, I'll absolutely make another one.

(Oh, and the Realm of Evil and Darkness is named after its two inhabitants last year: [EvilAI]UBEROverlord and Dark Brother 16. What did you think it was about?)

hS

But anarcho-capitalism makes me think of Shadowrun, omae. And I don't think that's a fantastic model, even without the cyberpunk and fantastic elements.

More seriously, I don't think that's a so great idea. Free market only believe in one thing, the bottom line, like the precedent and current crisis proves it. At the very moment there will be no other actors that them around, you can be sure that profit will very quickly become their only concern, and the rest will go down the drain. Sorry, but I don't believe man is enough of a grown up for going without governements of some sort, even the ones from today and their many, many duck-ups.

Okay, so first off, Anarcho-Capitalism is pretty much just the belief that government is immoral, and can be replaced by voluntary cooperation and free market systems. I realize that's a bit vague, but I'm not sure how to fix that given how varied it can be and my rather unimpressive ability to explain those variances, so... Yeah. If you've got more specific questions I can try to answer them, but there's no guarantee I'll actually have a decent answer. Still learning myself, actually.

I'm fairly sure there are a few websites out there that go into the philosophy behind anarcho-capitalism (the one that springs to mind being the Mises Institute,) but I really don't know much about them, so I've no idea if they'd be at all helpful.

Now, as for why I disagree with the morality of government, that's a bit complicated. The basic principle for me is that I think it's wrong for people to force others to do things by force or threat of force, and I don't consider the government to be anything more than just people. If the individuals who make up a country do not have the right to dictate the lives of others, then I don't think they can delegate that right to others.

And getting by without government, that's the part I'm shakiest on. I personally think that if the government is nothing more than people, why couldn't everything the government does be done voluntarily? Crime and infrastructure are some thorny issues, but there are possible solutions to them, and I think they'd work.

Right then, hopefully I've managed to write something useful rather than just vaguely nattering for four paragraphs. Let me know if you have any more questions. I might not have useful answers to said questions (and I might not convey them well if I do) but I will do my best.

That's ridiculous.

On the plus side... well, there's two:

1/ Since it's not based on a preexisting story, it shouldn't suffer from Hobbit syndrome and have to stretch the plot out until it snaps (like butter spread over too much bread, if I may).

2/ This ups the chance that the story will run through to 1945 and the Dumbledore/Grindelwald duel. That would make #5 ('Please, Newt, Just Lock The Suitcase For Once') a magical war film. I... can get behind this.

hS

Economic Left/Right: -8.88
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -7.13

Yeah, that's shifted not a whole lot in a while. I think I used I be further right on the economic access, and certainly was a bit farther towards libertarianness earlier in my life.

While I'm saddened to hear my interest in jerkish characters isn't universal, I appreciate your saying so. That goes for the rest, as well.
I'll be sure and work on clarifying the language, tightening up the character design, streamlining the comma usage, and making things more readable overall.

As to the SPaG note- Jack is actually just considering, then replying that if he doesn't move his TARDIS, it will become one. He doesn't actually say 'considering.' I mean, that'd just be too explicit, wouldn't it?

I also meant to imply that Jack was filling out forms to get the Detective to keep the TARDIS, and was ragging mentally on the Detective for being obsessed with material possessions. I then meant to suggest that he was a hypocrit, as attached as he was to his own- specifically, the journal.

Any ideas on how I could get that across better?

I realize clarity and concision take practice above all else, but any tips and tricks would be appreciated.

Two years ago, I was -5.25 Economic and -5.49 Social.

Last year, I was -6.13 Economic and -4.56 Social.

This year, I'm -4.38 Economic and -5.08 Social. That's a fairly sizable shift in terms of economic positions. Meanwhile, my social score has pretty much split the difference. That all might not mean a thing when you consider margins of error and and issues with the quiz, but it is curious. At least to me.

(CONTAINS VAGUE SPOILERS FOR DOCTOR WHO)

The Agents
I have some concerns here regarding both characters. First off, and perhaps most notable, is the Detective. Describing one of your protagonists as 'an irredeemable jerk' is something of an issue. 'Irredeemable' means that there is nothing about this individual of merit, nothing that makes them a likable person. What's more, it means they never will gain any sort of positive trait. So why follow them? Even villainous protagonists typically have something that endears them to the audience, such as intelligence, honor, charisma, etc. Jerks… aren't really interesting. Well, unless they get comeuppance, which seems to be something that occurs in at least one of your prompts. But as it stands, the prompt just makes him seem like someone who would be unlikeable and get away with it.

My concern with Jack Riggs is less to do with with characterization—stout, stalwart characters are nice to see and have a lot of potentiality, and having him be unconvinced he isn't still in an illusion is something that could have a lot of play story-wise—and more to do with a canonical issue. You say he joined the PPC at age 19, and is now somewhere in his 30s. The issue there is that Supernatural first aired in Sept. 2005. That means, at oldest, he could be exactly 30. Having him be any older that would make him predate his own universe of origin. This is an easy thing to fix, though.

I... also must confess as to not being all that excited to see a new Time Lord agent. Or a new pair of Floater agents.

The Prompts
Regarding the first prompt, I admit to starting out very confused. Why was DoSAT after Jack's heirloom journal? I don't ever recall DoSAT seizing the personal possessions of agents before. Sure, it makes more sense that they would be concerned about a TARDIS, but that just made me ask: why don't they use the TARDIS as a response center? I'm also confused as to when this is taking place canonically. I was under the impression that Gallifrey was back (sorta, kinda). So… why is the Detective doing all this, then? Is this taking place in the past? Does he not know?

All that said, the first prompt is otherwise fairly sound. The characters banter well and the prompt is integrated well. It's a good piece, despite the questions that nagged at me.

The mission received story is also very solid, but lacking in some areas. Some of your sentences tend to drag on to such an extent that they become awkward to read. The first sentence of the second paragraph, for example, as well as the eighth paragraph in its entirety. You use commas when you really don't need to.

Some continuity errors: the Detective corrected himself, saying he was late by five hours, then said he walked in an hour after the Marquis de Sod told him. Should it be five hours? Also, the Marquis de Sod has nothing to do with assigning missions. If these are Floaters, then it should be the Floating Hyacinth whom he annoyed. Sure, the Marquis could have pulled in a favor, but that doesn't explain why Jack immediately thought of him instead of his own boss.

SPaG note:
—Missing quotation mark on the second page of the first prompt, (Before 'Considering.')

The Badfic
Wow, that looks like a mess of a crossover. And Harry Potter is apparently a god? Yep, I'd say this qualifies.

You, as a Member of the Community
No problems here. You participate on the Board, you're a regular in chat, and you play a mean game of Cards Against Humanity. You can work with others without issue. I have no concerns as to how well you would fit in.

Verdict
I'm going to have to say Permission Denied… but barely. Your writing is good, but there a few issues here and there that got underneath my skin. My biggest concern is with your characters. I feel like you should spend a little bit more time tightening them up.

It was a very close decision on my part. And I'm pretty darn confident that you'll nail it next time. But for right now? You should take another look.

PC

So, general thoughts, which I think take me to a weird mix of socialism and libertarianism.

There's two ideas that I think make good starting points, but should not be taken too far because then bad stuff happens. The first is that people should be generally free to do whatever they'd like, as long as they're not hurting others. The second is that the whole 'market' system (people are buying, selling, trading etc. stuff, whether physical or otherwise) is a decent idea.

But this sort of obvious market libertarianism has a few big problems. One glaring issue, I believe, is that if you put a market over things that are actually necessary for life (food, water, shelter, health care, social interaction, ...), some people will get 'priced out of the market'. That is, people could (through no real fault of their own) die because of this system. That is a Bad Thing, so you have to adjust your system to avoid it. One aspect of that is a class of necessary regulations that put a "floor" on the free market. For example, a minimum wage (property implemented, which it isn't) ensures that the price of labor doesn't spiral so low that people can't make a living. Similar arguments apply to things like unemployment, welfare, and so on (they protect you from failure modes of the market). I think a basic income would be an ideal floor, but I'm not convinced we have the technical capability to implement it.

The second problem is negative externalities, such as pollution. These are things that a person (or, more commonly, a group of people) can do that hurt everyone. So you can try to patch around them by adding the notion of a crime against everyone, and you give the government (which represents everyone) the power to prevent those crimes through regulation. This also justifies antitrust bills, since big monopolies hurt everyone by closing off the market in spheres where it would be better for it to be open.

tl;dr certain pretty broad classes of regulation are necessary.

As to the current US political situation: I would have preferred Sanders, but I can't really object to Clinton. The worst-case for a Clinton presidency is that we stay more or less where we are, the best case is that scoot a bit closer to what I want. Trump is insane.

And on a specific policy note: first past the post voting is a terrible system. Implement instant runoff today! Elect the candidates everyone's mostly OK with, while providing information about actual preferences!

(and my ideal far-future would be something like the Culture. That is, there's so much of everything that the price of anything important is indistinguishable from 0, and we've found technical solutions around basically all negative externalities. Then you can drop the regulations and everything still works.)

Is this the "college student who's totally got it all figured out, man" section of the chart?

Your Political Compass

Economic Left/Right: -4.63
Social Libertarian/Authoritarian: -1.18

Puts me in the same quadrant as the Green party, which is the party I vote for.

Everything's looking good on my end, so much so that I'd give you the green light if I had that ability.

The inestimable " Broken Universe." Inestimable, if only because I refuse to estimate that low.

For some unknowable reason, Ix would like to be associated with this, so thanks to both you and the brilliant Matt Cipher- who's getting dragged in now whether he likes it or not- for doing me the inestimable favor of looking over these before I posted. I owe you guys one.
Thanks a million.