First, what do people mean when they talk about Aytos's "red tape"? I think there are two main things included in this so-called red tape. I call them "Democracy", the idea that a government needs a mandate from the people before they can do stuff, and "the Rule of Law", the idea that even government members have to follow the laws our society has agreed upon.

Yes, there is a bit of extra effort required from us the citizens in order to have Democracy and the Rule of Law. But it's well worth it. Aytos is a small and rare pocket of the server that is not ruled by either anarchy or brute authoritarianism. This is what makes us unique out of the server's many cities, and it may be the main reason why most of us love Aytos and have chosen it as our home to begin with.

Cost-benefit analysis of having Democracy

So look at our current situation. Cheif wants to take over the town and do something with it. He could (A) overthrow the government and constitution and get things done now but lose Democracy, or (B) spend ten days convincing people he has a good plan, get the votes, and do the same exact stuff while preserving Democracy, and while enjoying a clear mandate from the people to do the things he has planned.

I don't see how anyone could say that having a mandate from the people isn't important, or that explaining your plan to the people you want to serve is a waste of time. Spending only ten days to acheive all this is a real bargain.

Cost-benefit analysis of having the Rule of Law

Suppose you are "Minister of X" and you want to do stuff, but the law prevents you. Well naturally that is going to be annoying for you. But if the stuff you want to do is so great, (1) why is it illegal, and (2) why won't the people of Aytos make it legal, if you ask them to?

The big benefit here is a no-brainer: even government members are subject to the law and have to respect citizens' rights. The cost is that parliament members have to spend time writing laws and listening to ministers and voters, ministers have to spend time talking to parliament and the people, and the people have to kick out the government whenever it stops listening to them. But those are all things that you would want leaders to do anyway, right? It's not a good thing if a government makes a bunch of changes without asking anyone, is it? When it comes down to it, the only cost left is that the people have to hold their government accountable and fire them every once in a while (and this takes ten days).

What I think this is really about

Now I'm going to say something that is hard to say, and maybe sounds a bit mean, but it is the truth. We have just seen a "no-con" initiative pass in under 24 hours. This happened because finally a citizen cared enough to do something (cheifjames planning to form a new government). It's real easy to complain about how things are, but not really care enough to do anything about it. I believe that if three months ago, for example, someone had cared enough to try forming a new government, a no-con initiative would have passed within 24 hours, three months ago. And within ten days they would have been running the town, three months ago. The fact is that all this time people have cared enough to complain, but not enough to take action. And blaming "the government system" or "red tape" is a scapegoat that lets them avoid their responsibility as citizens. The truth is that our system moves as fast as its people do (with a ten-day delay), but we have all let the town go, as players. That's on us, not on the system. Please don't form a bandwagon to destroy the precious things that make Aytos Aytos, just to avoid accepting a small amount of personal responsibility.

In conclusion:

I urge you to vote in this election for a government that will keep the constitution, or amend it in a way that still leaves Democracy and the Rule of Law as major features. I also urge you to vote for a party that will put active players like cheifjames into the important ministries. This does not need to be about effective government versus the constitution: we can have it all!