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On the 5th of September, Ghost unveiled his “Plan Feed The Wolf” as part of his campaign for the election of SimDemocracy’s 150th Senate. The plan would involve setting up a “SimDem merch store” in order to be able to operate expensive digital infrastructure ourselves without foreign influence and to pay back the people that had been doing this previously out of their own pocket for their efforts. The store would sell goods such as SimDemocracy flags, T-Shirts or hats with the flag on them, or shirts with the “SimDem is my religion and its constitution is my bible” quote on it, a popular meme within the SimDem community.
One of the problems he wanted to address this way was the cost affiliated with running a Minecraft server. Currently the “official” SimDem Minecraft server is Strixcraft, a server privately run by Strix as a private person. With the new program, they would no longer have to pay this expenditure out of their own pocket. Another goal of the plan would be to expand SimDemocracy by allocating funds to advertisements on YouTube or Reddit.
While it has many potential advantages, such a project would also be a huge change in direction for SimDemocracy. Dealing with the selling of real-life goods, setting up a system for shipping, and to concern oneself with the legal intricacies of running an actual store are all things very far away from the things SimDem governments have been doing since 2019.
Perhaps because of this, Ghost has opted for a very specific version of this plan. Namely, it would be him running the store and being in possession of the legal entity owning it as well as all the proceeds coming from it. Furthermore, he would be doing all the “leg room” associated with the project and providing start-up funds, although he has also stated that he would like to be paid back some time in the future.
When taking a look at Ghost’s past history with SimDem politics though, one thing that immediately comes to mind is the incident where he, acting in his position as the Chief Ombudsman, directed the SimDemocracy Independent Oversight Authority (SDIOA) to conduct an undercover operation into a potential terrorist organization, a clear violation of the mandate afforded to the SDIOA under the Government Oversight Act, and thus a demonstration of inability to comply with regulations. When posed the question of how he would ensure the earned proceeds would be handled in compliance with SimDem law and (indirectly) how a similar incident could be prevented with the merch shop, he stated that he would always comply with orders given to him by the Senate because his “betrayal” would lead to social isolation.
It is clear that Ghost is passionate about both this project and SimDemocracy as a whole and while he almost certainly won’t steal any of the profit for himself, the feasibility of this plan still has to be taken into question. When asked about how the merch shop would be legally owned under real-life law, he said that he would still have to discuss this with the Senate. When asked whether he already had any legislation to put his plan into action drafted, he responded with a no.
Concluding this article, setting up an online shop, producing goods, and shipping them to customers is a huge feat that won’t be achieved in just one Senate term. While Ghost definitely is serious about “Plan Feed The Wolf”, he also still is very early in the process of breathing life into his plan and we certainly won’t be holding any “SimDem merch” in our hands any time soon.
Full interview with Ghost
Q: You have announced your candidacy for the recent Senate elections promising voters you would try to help expand SimDem by creating a merch store: Do you have legislation drafted to support this idea already?
A: I have several options which I recently mentioned here. I will draft legislation and have the senate discuss which would be best for our interests.
Q: You also mentioned that another goal of the SimDem merch store would be to generate income that could be used to host the minecraft server or similar technologies, how much money exactly do you reckon will this new program make?
A: Profit can be tight on this kind of thing, but 100 dollars generated would be enough to pay for strix’s server time which costs him at least $60 which he is paying for free.
Q: How exactly are you planning on growing SimDemocracy with the merch shop?
A: Any money left over I would want the senate to advocate it be placed on ads on Reddit and Youtube. This will help us expand.
Q: How exactly will the SimDem merch shop be legally owned under real-life law? Will you be the owner, or will SimDem become a real-life legal entity?
A: This is going to be dependent on what we decide in the senate. Most likely I will be doing most of the leg room and providing start up funds.
Q: How will this interact with SimDem law? Will the merch shop fall under SimDem jurisdiction and will the SimDem legislative be able to set regulations for it?
A: After we decide on what kind of ownership there is, we will set up a system where the senate can allocate funds to various projects. However we will have a special task force who makes business decisions.
Q: What projects exactly are the proceeds going to go to, and how will they be transferred from you or whoever legally owns the shop to SimDem?
A: I will keep a public ledger of transactions that will be published live as it is made. When the senate requests money is transferred to a project I will do so. The Minecraft server and advertising are candidates for funding. I will comply with the government’s wishes as most of the friends I have in life have been from simdem and betrayal would lead to my social isolation. However I will not comply with someone voting to just pocket the money.
Q: Does that mean that SimDemocracy will have real life money in its government reserve?
A: Yes, think of it like a gold stockpile.
Q: What products will the SimDem merch shop sell?
A: The Simdem flags as well as flags of the better known parties like SPQR. Hats & T-Shirts with the simdem flag on them, a T shirt with the whole “simdem is my religion and it’s constitution is my bible” quote on it, as well as other notable quotes.
Q: Who will cover the initial costs of setting up an online shop (shipping, fees, etc)?
A: I will cover the start up fee, although I will request to be paid back at some point.