NationState Reflection

NationState Reflection

I think the NationState game has been a very interesting and innovative way of teaching us the dynamics of running a society. I think our group has been quite successful for the most part; it's been a lot of fun. We all get along great; the 2-1 majority makes passing laws a breeze, but there have been times when we have nothing to write. I personally would never want to live in an oligarchy, but I sure do love running one. My favorite part of the game has been creating our culture and shaping Cerebria into the a world super power fueled by intellect. I definitely like the balance between state and common interest aspect of the game; the development of alliances and enemies alike has brought a new sense of realism to how we play. I am a fan of the blog; its really cool to way to see what everyone's opinion is on what ever is going on in the world. 

NationState Reflection

The NationState game has been a success.  My group of three has not had trouble making decisions and have maintained an appropriate level of productivity in our production of laws and communication and trading between other nations.  Since there are three of us, we make all of our decisions on popular vote.  A 2-1 vote will decide our next move.  We have been aggressive, but not violent.  Early on, our nation sought to build as many wonders as possible to collect law points.  We were able to build a few wonders, but not as many as we'd hoped.  Our alliances formed with nations such as Awesomtopia and Reach proved beneficial as we ended up with a large amount of Law Points by the time the 7th nation attacked all of us.  We have a forward thinking model and are heavily focused on scientific innovation and national defense.  Rather than looking to examples from our life, we pick and choose what we want from all sorts of governments in order to find a balance that works for the three of us.  A difficulty I've noticed is being able to come up with enough laws. How many laws are needed, and will the specifics of our laws have any effect on the outcome of our game?

Foundation and Bill of Rights

The Foundation of Cerebria written by myself, Jeff, and Chris, can be found here.

This will be the only post for this week from our group.

Ammunation

Though we all have the fundamental right to bear arms, I think people should only be able to own guns unless they can prove they can be responsible with weapons. I'm just one of those people who thinks that guns are better off in the hands of professionals or those who have been trained in handling a gun of any kind. Just because you own a gun does not mean you know hoe to use it correctly and that can be as dangerous as the criminals people are trying to protect themselves from.

I remember seeing a story on the news about a student in Colorado who was able to have a concealed weapon on campus at college. In a sense, I understand because of the kind of crimes that are prevalent on campuses such as robbery and rape. I believe that lethal force in self defense should only be used as a last resort, but in the heat of the moment, anything could happen, just so long that it was in complete self defense, I can't stress that enough

Firearm Laws

I think that Firearms should only be used by police officers and others with a license that represents one's ability to properly wield a gun.  Such a powerful weapon can make deciding when to use it a very tough thing, since death is such a common result, if not intention, of a gun's use.  So, police officers on duty should be allowed to use their firearm in the situations they have been trained to use them in.  I think that is appropriate.  As for personal use by any other adult... One should only use a firearm when on their own property, and only in the case of self defense. However, I do not support carrying a concealing weapon into a public restaurant or other venue such as a school.

I agree with the Castle doctrine, which states that deadly force is justifiable "when the actor reasonably fears imminent peril of death or serious bodily harm to himself or another".  

My Reflection
1. I believe everyone did their fair share and I think because of the cooperation and hard work on everyone's part made the difference. On a scale of 1to 10, I would say that everyone deserves a 10.
2. I wouldn't remove any member of the group; we all work very well together.

Showing Up - 10
Fair Share - 10
Responding to Emails and Communication - 9
Handling Conflict - 10
Being Present -10

An effective group is a group understands that:
1) everyone is entitled to an opinion
2) cellphones should only be used for class related reasons
3) Show up to the group meetings on time and ready
4) don't leave your other group mates hanging,
5) brainstorm your ideas

Group Success!!

1. I am very impressed with my group. We all did our fair share and pulled together an excellent presentation--10's for every member.

What impressed me the most was the high levels of motivation and the creativity of work from each member. We all had that common desire to nail the midterm, and we did. Nice job guys!

2. We Need More Members! We are only three at the moment but we hope to get more. For new members, I would like to see the same motivation, creativity, and work ethic my group has already.

3. We were originally four, but one dropped. So, for the remaining three:

A. 10 - Showing up
B. 10 - Doing your fair share
C. 9.5 - Being on time
D. 9.5 - Responding timely to email and communicating effectively with other members
E. 10 - Handling conflict among group members
F. 9.5 - Being present in the group -- not distracted by outside cell phone calls or text messages when the group is meeting.

There is a little polishing to do but, overall, we work very well together.

4.     The elements of an effective group:
        i.    Communication
        ii.   Motivation
        iii.  Respect
        iv.  Leadership
        v.   Creativity

Article on Group Management