An Interview with Kanglia, the Current Vice-President
By: Guess and Check, Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to EDN's fourth interview, everyone!! It's been half a year since we published anything and a year + a few months since we last published an interview!! But before we get started, a bit more on the interviewee:
Kanglia first joined Nationstates in sometime around 2016/2017, after leaving the The Free Nations Region during their Presidency there. Since then, Kanglia, also known as Kang, has served in various roles within the Union, including Prime Minister (the Union's equivalent to President during its earlier years). Kanglia has done a lot of things and has been around the block a few times, but currently they're most known for being Minister of Defense, publisher of Kanglia's Corner, and (as of 16 days ago) being the Vice-President of the Union! Kanglia can also be found in The Order of the Grey Wardens nowadays - if you wish to learn more about Kanglia, you can read TGW's interview of him here!
Seeing as Kanglia often has a unique perspective on improving the region, and that he's now entered into a position that gives him more reign to enact his ideas, I thought it would be prudent for myself to also interview Kanglia, although focusing on his thoughts regarding the Vice-Presidency. I also interviewed Kanglia about his personal history on NationStates and his in real life hobbies as well. I ultimately found this interview to be pretty enjoyable and thought-provoking, and I hope you do too!!
Now, to the interview~!
Guess and Check: Hey Kang! First of all, I want to thank you for allowing me to interview ya. Been thinking about doing this for a while, so it's finally great to sit down and talk to you!
First question, obviously, is how are you doing right now?
Kanglia: I’m fantastic overall Zuk, I appreciate you thinking of me for it! Means a lot that you think I’m worth talking to
Guess and Check: Of course! From what I know you have a really interesting history in the Union, so I'm hoping this interview can shine upon your story and help me and EDN's readers learn more about it, and you, in the process!
Which is a perfect transition to my next question - could you give us a brief run-down on your history in UDS from the day you joined?
Kanglia: Yeah so before I even joined UDS I was a part of the FNR, they had a bit of a tumultuous time during this period so I eventually left the presidency to join the UDS, in I believe early 2017(or late 2016, one the two.) From there I’ve done just about all you can think of, had a couple of runs as Prime Minister, a run or two as Speaker be it in the Senate or the Council of State, was the chair of the general assembly and had a fun term as the Chief Justice. I often joke about becoming the WA Delegate because thats really the only thing I haven’t done. I’ve been a long time commander and on again/off again head of the UDSAF(mostly on when I’m around)
Thatcher and I had a large scale disagreement at one point in mid 2017 that led to the infamous “Nuking the government” and I would leave UDS to go to TSP, where I had a good time and served as the interim MoRA for a short spell before leaving NS entirely for the majority of the next three years. I’d come back every so often for a while but would often CTE, although I always came back to the UDS because this has been my home
Guess and Check: Seems I know more about you than I thought! A lot of that seems familiar to me - which is good because we've known each other for a while. xD.
In any case, it's pretty clear based on your history that you have an extensive history outside of other nations (and I'll be doing a crime to not mention that you're a well known TGW solider too). How do you think your time in other regions has helped you improve the UDS? And how do you think your experience in foreign nations may help you as you settle into becoming Vice-President, if you are elected?
Kanglia: I think just having the wealth of knowledge that I do about regional politics and foreign affairs within this game is going to be something that would continue to be a benefit to me not only in this(hopefully) upcoming VP term, but just in general as we continue to grow and build the UDS as a region and in any other aspect of regional governance I may do in other regions. Being able to draw on several years of experience(which really feels more like several decades, NS politics is so fast moving after all) it just gives me a lot of confidence that any situation that arises I'll know exactly how to handle it.
Guess and Check: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Sheer wealth of knowledge can be really helpful, especially when it comes from ripping off copying ideas from other places that may work in UDS. I'm totally not guilty of this.
So, speaking of being VP - what do you plan to do with all that experience? Or to be more clear, do you have any specific plans/goals and/or specific initiatives to further those goals, if any, for your prospective VP term? If so, what are they?
Kanglia: Oh neither am I, I totally have never seen something in another region and tried it here. Never
Ultimately I think a lot of what my goals are are going to be to continue to build on the ultimate success that was the previous term of Phoenix and yourself. We have gotten ourselves back on track in the last several months I believe and I think that the only way to go is forward. Continuing to push through recruitment is going to be something that I focus on heavily, and I think that both the welcome and recruitment telegrams are going to be looked at with an intense microscope to see if we can gain further members to the region. Additionally I have long hoped to mend the gap between the rp servers and our main server, something that seems to be slowly happening but something that I want to see us continue to do within any prospective term. Additionally, and this is just my own personal goal, trying to rebuild the UDSAF into a more consistent and revitalized force is something that is going to always be on my mind, so recruitment in general is going to be a very key goal, along with pushing our new Council of State forward.
Guess and Check: lmaooo
But in terms of your VP plans, sounds pretty solid! Although I am a bit curious - could you elaborate more on how you think the gap between the RP servers and our main servers are closing? I think I may have noticed it myself, but I'm not sure enough to treat it like fact - so I'm interested in seeing what's your reasoning/evidence behind that statement.
Kanglia: For starters I think we are seeing a lot more people who are usually only active in one space or the other making efforts to be active in both, myself included in that. I also think that just seeing people who are more well known for their roles in the UDS as a governmental region making appearances within the RP servers or vice versa builds upon some good will that we are trying to generate and use to create more activity and attention for both sectors, so I think that's really where we're seeing that gap being closed.
Guess and Check: That's fair enough, yeah. Makes sense.
To return back to your potential Vice-Presidency, I'd like to ask you what you think the typical role of a Vice President has historically been in the Union, and how you plan to subvert or conform to this general standard? Mainly asking because the VP position is the most varied position in the Cabinet, so it'd be interesting to get your take on that.
Kanglia: See, the role of the Vice President/Vice Delegate/Running Mate in general has a LONG history of being incredibly complex, and either incredibly valuable or incredibly useless depending on the time period. I think that generally the role of the Vice President has been to act as a second set of hands for the President, whereas Ministers only have scope over their own group, and the President has had an overarching focus on all of the big picture things, the Vice President is able to really narrow in on one or two areas if needed. I think you're slightly an exception to the rule because you've been such a large part of everything that the region has done since you became actively involved here(Zuk honorary perma-citizen status when??) but you really notice your impact on the Cultural side of things with how well you manage our affairs on the RMB and other gameside actions. I will not even pretend that I intend on keeping that level of commitment gameside, partially because I know that it's in good hands with you and others who do such a wonderful job, but I think that seeing me be heavily focused on one or two key aspects is likely going to be what continues, I will just probably have different things than you!
Guess and Check: Not sure I've had much an impact, but I'm also biased against myself so. But in regards to your VP role analysis, that is definitely something I've noticed as well. Being VP is also so self-directed... a VP can be useless or remake a Presidency into something more than it is. I remember Phoenix in his interview with EDN saying he'd like a VP that'd be more community focused coupled with a politics-focused President, so it's a pretty interesting to see the differences in y'alls thoughts on that matter.
Speaking of glorious Presidoot Phoenix (smooth_transition.exe), I do have an interesting question to ask! So no one is perfect and we all love Phoenix, but I do want to ask you what's the primary thing you think Phoenix could've improved on as President during his recent previous three terms, and how do you plan to help him improve or take over that issue yourself should you two be elected?
Kanglia: As Phoenix and I have discussed numerous times, and I think we've all been able to see over our histories with him, Phoenix always has the capability to be a bit of a loose cannon at times. I think the big thing that he has improved on is his ability to reign that in over the course of his time both as President and in the UDS as a whole, and I think that that's really served him and our region well. For me, continuing to have him keep himself in check and be the person we totally pay elect him to be is really the big thing for me. Overall he does such a lovely job politically and he continually is able to evolve and grow with the region that in that regard there's really little for him to improve on.
Ironically enough, if anything I think he needs to involve himself a little bit less because he cares so deeply about the Union and this region that when we struggle as a whole he puts a lot of the blame on himself and I really don't believe that that's fair to him.
Guess and Check: Fully agree. Though not sure where this region would be if Phoenix didn't care so much, xD (though yes, his tendency to care a tad bit too much is not as much of a good thing for him).
But going back to the VP-ship: how did you feel when Phoenix approached you about being VP? And what made you decide to accept the position?
Kanglia: Definitely think that's true on both fronts hahah.
And really I wasn't entirely sure, mostly because I was still under the impression that you were still interested in the role(which ofc I later found out wasn't the case) and also because I originally planned to run for President myself. Ultimately I think I decided that because it's Phoenix and because the two of us have such a good history of working together that it would make a lot more sense for the two of us to combine in this way rather than having to throw myself at someone who I don't have as strong of a bond with both in the UDS/NS and in general and instead allow myself to be in a slightly different role than maybe I intended to put myself in even just two or three weeks ago.
Guess and Check: To be fair I didn't really say much publicly about it xD. But yeah, that's completely fair. I feel like a Vice-President and President who don't know each other well may lead to potential issues or at the very least a bit more conflict/clashing between the pair's plans. IDK about everyone reading this, but I'm very certain that if you and Phoenix get elected you two will get along wonderfully and hopefully keep this region going on that forward momentum it currently has.
My last question about your VP-ship (and my last prepped question I still have lmao, we be free balling after this), is if Phoenix wins this election and runs for another term in 3 months - will you be willing to serve as VP again under him, assuming nothing goes catastrophically wrong in another term? Or will you run against Phoenix in the next hypothetical election, should he run?
Kanglia: Really and truthfully I'm not entirely sure. I think I made it fairly clear in some of my recent postings in Kanglia's Corner(shameless plug) that I fully intend on eventually returning to the head of the executive, but like I've also said, I don't have any intention of running against Phoenix. If he wants me to be a VP for another term, I most definitely will be part of it, but if he wishes to step down after this term I fully intend on running as President in my own right.
So to answer your question: If he wants me back as VP, I'll be back. If he doesn't run, I will. Simple as that.
Guess and Check: Definitely fair.
But now, since you mentioned it, we might as well maneuver into giving you more shameless plugs! So I know (by know, I mean I looked on the forums) that you founded Kanglia's Corner in 2021 - and since then it's served as one of the more prolific papers in the dead media scene that's been UDS's life for the past two years. (Or if we're really honest, one of the two prolific papers - the other being EDN, lmao. 3 if you include the Roleplay Report.)
ANYWAYS, so could you share some more light on Kangalia's Corner? What made you found it in the first place, how has the type of stuff you've published in it changed over time, and what are your future plans regarding KC?
Kanglia: It’s actually really funny that we’re bringing up Kanglia’s Corner and it’s history because i literally just published a new piece as this interview is happening ha.
Originally when I was creating it, the name Kanglia’s Corner came to me because I had a running bit about having my armchair in the corner during my time away from nationstates and when I would only pop into the discord on occasion.(and because the void in which I shout in is located in the corner.) Anyways, my focus initially on Kang’s Corner was a podcast of sorts, and if you look at the first few posts there you’ll actually see interviews with people who were relevant in the region at the time or a reskinned Kang’s Questions. I was mostly concerned with discussing and writing about current events of the region. From there I transitioned to more of just ways for me to write thinkpieces based off of what was going on either in my life or in the region or both. My current plans for the Corner is going to be more of an educational place for now, with several of my next pieces being this series of essays on Defending and the UDSAF, but I ultimately plan on also doing Essays on legislation and it’s history in the UDS and potentially Nationstates history at large. Kanglia’s Corner really has endless levels of publication because it’s whatever I get an inkling about.
Guess and Check: I see. Honestly, ngl, it's the same for EDN XD. It's just me pumping out whatever I feel like right now. But I guess that's what happens when our newspapers are one-man shows lmao
But thinking on it, you've been around the Union for a while and that means you've probably seen different stages of the media scene. So could you share what you think was the most active time of UDS media you've ever witnessed? What similarities/differences did said time have with the media scene of today? And what were you doing in UDS during that time?
Kanglia: so honestly i think that right now is really the most active time for newspapers/media outlets that we've really had in the UDS as a whole. I kow that Asders and Com both had very long running and successful outlets but they were a lot more infrequent and really other than that I can't think of anything else that was fantastically long running other than the Union Times, which was really mostly state run to begin with. I think that there's a lot of differences between what papers are doing now versus in general.
And really, just because there was such a large period of time with Asderslands Printing Co(I think that was the name forgive me Asders) Com's publications in TFT, the Union Times, and the great memery that was Hacim's media outlet, there's really no way to compare anything of what I or anyone else was doing or how similar any of them really are to each other, which is something I honestly really love
Guess and Check: That's pretty true. State-run media often tends to take a certain flavor (which would go for all newspapers), so just having a diversity of newspapers always leads to really great and interesting results! I do hope Hacim brings back his satire newspaper though... that was fun.
Now, before we start wrapping up the interview by leaving UDS topics aside - I'd like to ask you more about the Council of State, seeing as you're the person who authored the legislation that enacted it. I know that you initially didn't really have any ideas beyond finding an alternative to the Senate - so what made you settle on an Assembly-type body and what made you support said body having more RP-focused motives that previous Union legislatures haven't had for a long time? And also, of course - what do you hope for the Council of State to accomplish, both in terms of itself and the legislation it passes but also in a more meta level concerning the Union's well being?
Kanglia: Yeah I would love it if the satirical stuff makes a comeback, was a good time.
Ultimately I think a lot of what made me want to go with an assembly like body was my time and experience with TSP, I think regionally speaking, at least with us, our numbers are at least decent enough that we can produce some activity but it will behoove us overall I think if we allow there to be more. I don’t anticipate this to be an immediate success, I think there will be a lot of people who are initially legislators that will not remain because they simply don’t wish to make any time for the region or for the game itself, and that trimming of the fat will ultimately strengthen us because those who remain will ultimately care about what we do here. I think that having more RP-focused motives will combine both levels of what we do here into one group and hopefully one community.
Guess and Check: That sounds fair. Your hope that this would combine our RPers and government communities into one is definitely my hope as well, as it was when I voted in favor of your bill. We'll see how it goes.
In any case, let's switch off of NS stuf for a bit and explore your more IRL side (if you're willing)! I guess my first question to ask about this is what hobbies do you do when you aren't hanging around NS?
Kanglia: Oh for sure. So for starters I’m a big history nerd (as evidenced by the degree lmao) so I’m huge into anything history related, I’ve always been a pretty avid gamer and an electronics guy, so building or working on computers has always been something that I’ve liked to do. Aside from that, working on my farm is one of the things I enjoy, be it either trimming the yard or feeding my animals.
Guess and Check: Wait, you have a farm??? Is it like a big farm or small farm and did you inherit it or smth? Gosh damn that's like uber cool o.o
Kanglia: Technically speaking it’s my parents but it’s not a really big farm, we have about 18 acres that we’re on. Nothing too significant plant wise the last couple of years, mostly just corn and tomatoes,we’re mostly livestock so chickens and goats, we used to have ducks when I was younger and I’m telling them to get some more since we’ve started putting more work into our ponds again, but the geese that hangout there suffice
Guess and Check: [strike]The geese are perfect why would you want ducks[/strike]
That's honestly, like, uber cool. My mom used to be a farmer's daugther, but now all we have is a small backyard garden. Can't imagine living on a farm! Do you think that being on a farm has taught you anything you can bring to other aspects of your life, beyond practical skills?
Kanglia: Honestly just to think creatively. There's never a simple easy solution in living on farms so it's taught me to think outside of the normal sphere of thinking about things. Now whether that's in deciphering how to bring out just enough height on one side so a building doesn't lean despite being on an unevenish surface or how to most effectively draw up Constitutional law in a browser game it's completely dependent on what it is that i'm doing at the time
Guess and Check: I can see that, yeah. Being able to manage any problems that come up definitely would boost your creativity, and I imagine you'd face a lot of issues running a farm!
Now, to work back of something else of interest (to me personally at least, xD) - you stated that you like building computers. Have you, by chance, built your own o.o
Kanglia: A while ago yeah, I gave that one away about a year and a half ago because I just didn't have a lot of space for it, but I do plan on building another one here soon. Probably will just be simple and not go too crazy on it, like a 3070 card at the most probably because I certainly don't run anything that intense
Guess and Check: AAAh that's cool! What got you interested in making computers in the first place?
Kanglia: just being a nerd quite frankly, was just bored and decided to get into it one day
Guess and Check: That is quite fair. [strike]It's how we all got into NS[/strike]
So out of curiosity, do you like just build and sell computers, or fix other's computers, etc... i.e. how do you keep doing this hobby of building 'em?
Kanglia: It was originally gonna just be build & sell tbh, but lately how i've kept up is actually my job, i work in geek squad so it's been a lot of fixing.
Guess and Check: Ah that makes sense! Kinda cool to see how you're using your interests in your job o.o. But you also mentioned that you have a history degree - do you plan on using that to launch a career in a history-related field some day? Or do you think you'll stay within the tech realms?
Kanglia: Probably a bit of both to be honest. I think that one day I'd like to do something in the museum space, either as a guide or a curator, something like that I think would be a lot of fun.
Admittedly my degree was moreso obtained because of a love of history versus wanting some practical applicable job
Guess and Check: Okay that's adorable!! Considering more and more degrees are becoming economically-focused, it's nice to hear someone able to pursue a degree out of interest. I also can't imagine you being a museum space guide but somehow I think you'd be a good fit for the role, lmao. But speaking of, what is your degree particularly about (like a specific kind of history I mean)? And what made you decide to persue it and/or how did you find yourself gravitating to getting that specific degree?
Kanglia: So in my studies I primarily focused on American history in the events pre WWII, the time periods of Civil War & Reconstruction up to World War I. I personally liked to focus on Reconstruction and the Civil War as a whole just because of the interest in the socioeconomic patterns of Reconstruction being so intrinsically different from the two different timelines of it. Admittedly my main interest has always lied in Medieval Europe, but I never took enough classes for that to really be a concentration, it's more of just I've read a lot(and played a lot of the Crusader Kings games lol.)
History as a whole has just always fascinated me. Oftentimes in school people define history as the stories of "Great People" doing "Great Things" but history is so much more than that. We may look at history in a broad scope as the great people who do the great things or the bad people that do the evil things but the real interesting parts are the normal everyday people that do normal everyday things as adaptations of the great and bad people. That's what's always made me love it. If you look at it broadly, you get the history of the famous, which is fine and dandy and mostly interesting. But if you look at it with a microscope, you get the history of something far more important, and that's everyone
Guess and Check: I'll be honest with you, that's a perspective I only recently (like last week lmao) encountered, so it's super cool to hear more about it!! But yeah, it's kinda amazing how easy it is to kinda focus on world events, meanwhile during every single year of human history there's been thousands to millions to billions just living their lives like we do. It's also interesting to think about how NS kinda fits into that paradigm as well. The world's a crazy place, XD.
But in any case, I think it's about time to wrap up this snazzy interview. Now usually, I do ask people to share a general message to readers, but seeing as you're someone who seemingly felt college had a large impact on their life and has now settled on living post-college - I do wanna ask, do you have any words for le high schoolers who may be reading this and wondering what they'll pursue in college?
Kanglia: Well you have to look at it like this, NS as a whole fits into the world paradigm because we are essentially just reenacting world events in a lot of ways. NS shares a lot of similarities with the real world in that regard.
Ultimately I think the most important thing for high schoolers, or really anybody thinking about college in general, is to enjoy the experience. It's genuinely a very different experience from anything you've ever felt before or will ever feel after. So enjoy that trip while you're on it. Don't stress if you don't know what you want to do immediately, most people don't the first two years anyways. Be active in the school but make sure you're still making enough time for your grades and classes. Ultimately my main message would just be to enjoy it, it's fun and it's supposed to be your first experience of combining leisure with work. Make it your own and you'll probably have a great time
Guess and Check: I think that's a very fair message.
And for the final question - any message for EDN's readers in general?
Kanglia: Join the UDSAF!
No but in all seriousness, look for things to do around here, the community is really great, but it's always gonna be better when we all have roles beyond just being here
Guess and Check: nods another fair message!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview, Kang. I do really appreciate it!! \o/
Kanglia: Of course, happy to do it!
By: Guess and Check, Editor-in-Chief
Welcome to EDN's fourth interview, everyone!! It's been half a year since we published anything and a year + a few months since we last published an interview!! But before we get started, a bit more on the interviewee:
Kanglia first joined Nationstates in sometime around 2016/2017, after leaving the The Free Nations Region during their Presidency there. Since then, Kanglia, also known as Kang, has served in various roles within the Union, including Prime Minister (the Union's equivalent to President during its earlier years). Kanglia has done a lot of things and has been around the block a few times, but currently they're most known for being Minister of Defense, publisher of Kanglia's Corner, and (as of 16 days ago) being the Vice-President of the Union! Kanglia can also be found in The Order of the Grey Wardens nowadays - if you wish to learn more about Kanglia, you can read TGW's interview of him here!
Seeing as Kanglia often has a unique perspective on improving the region, and that he's now entered into a position that gives him more reign to enact his ideas, I thought it would be prudent for myself to also interview Kanglia, although focusing on his thoughts regarding the Vice-Presidency. I also interviewed Kanglia about his personal history on NationStates and his in real life hobbies as well. I ultimately found this interview to be pretty enjoyable and thought-provoking, and I hope you do too!!
Now, to the interview~!
Guess and Check: Hey Kang! First of all, I want to thank you for allowing me to interview ya. Been thinking about doing this for a while, so it's finally great to sit down and talk to you!
First question, obviously, is how are you doing right now?
Kanglia: I’m fantastic overall Zuk, I appreciate you thinking of me for it! Means a lot that you think I’m worth talking to
Guess and Check: Of course! From what I know you have a really interesting history in the Union, so I'm hoping this interview can shine upon your story and help me and EDN's readers learn more about it, and you, in the process!
Which is a perfect transition to my next question - could you give us a brief run-down on your history in UDS from the day you joined?
Kanglia: Yeah so before I even joined UDS I was a part of the FNR, they had a bit of a tumultuous time during this period so I eventually left the presidency to join the UDS, in I believe early 2017(or late 2016, one the two.) From there I’ve done just about all you can think of, had a couple of runs as Prime Minister, a run or two as Speaker be it in the Senate or the Council of State, was the chair of the general assembly and had a fun term as the Chief Justice. I often joke about becoming the WA Delegate because thats really the only thing I haven’t done. I’ve been a long time commander and on again/off again head of the UDSAF(mostly on when I’m around)
Thatcher and I had a large scale disagreement at one point in mid 2017 that led to the infamous “Nuking the government” and I would leave UDS to go to TSP, where I had a good time and served as the interim MoRA for a short spell before leaving NS entirely for the majority of the next three years. I’d come back every so often for a while but would often CTE, although I always came back to the UDS because this has been my home
Guess and Check: Seems I know more about you than I thought! A lot of that seems familiar to me - which is good because we've known each other for a while. xD.
In any case, it's pretty clear based on your history that you have an extensive history outside of other nations (and I'll be doing a crime to not mention that you're a well known TGW solider too). How do you think your time in other regions has helped you improve the UDS? And how do you think your experience in foreign nations may help you as you settle into becoming Vice-President, if you are elected?
Kanglia: I think just having the wealth of knowledge that I do about regional politics and foreign affairs within this game is going to be something that would continue to be a benefit to me not only in this(hopefully) upcoming VP term, but just in general as we continue to grow and build the UDS as a region and in any other aspect of regional governance I may do in other regions. Being able to draw on several years of experience(which really feels more like several decades, NS politics is so fast moving after all) it just gives me a lot of confidence that any situation that arises I'll know exactly how to handle it.
Guess and Check: Yeah, that makes a lot of sense. Sheer wealth of knowledge can be really helpful, especially when it comes from ripping off copying ideas from other places that may work in UDS. I'm totally not guilty of this.
So, speaking of being VP - what do you plan to do with all that experience? Or to be more clear, do you have any specific plans/goals and/or specific initiatives to further those goals, if any, for your prospective VP term? If so, what are they?
Kanglia: Oh neither am I, I totally have never seen something in another region and tried it here. Never
Ultimately I think a lot of what my goals are are going to be to continue to build on the ultimate success that was the previous term of Phoenix and yourself. We have gotten ourselves back on track in the last several months I believe and I think that the only way to go is forward. Continuing to push through recruitment is going to be something that I focus on heavily, and I think that both the welcome and recruitment telegrams are going to be looked at with an intense microscope to see if we can gain further members to the region. Additionally I have long hoped to mend the gap between the rp servers and our main server, something that seems to be slowly happening but something that I want to see us continue to do within any prospective term. Additionally, and this is just my own personal goal, trying to rebuild the UDSAF into a more consistent and revitalized force is something that is going to always be on my mind, so recruitment in general is going to be a very key goal, along with pushing our new Council of State forward.
Guess and Check: lmaooo
But in terms of your VP plans, sounds pretty solid! Although I am a bit curious - could you elaborate more on how you think the gap between the RP servers and our main servers are closing? I think I may have noticed it myself, but I'm not sure enough to treat it like fact - so I'm interested in seeing what's your reasoning/evidence behind that statement.
Kanglia: For starters I think we are seeing a lot more people who are usually only active in one space or the other making efforts to be active in both, myself included in that. I also think that just seeing people who are more well known for their roles in the UDS as a governmental region making appearances within the RP servers or vice versa builds upon some good will that we are trying to generate and use to create more activity and attention for both sectors, so I think that's really where we're seeing that gap being closed.
Guess and Check: That's fair enough, yeah. Makes sense.
To return back to your potential Vice-Presidency, I'd like to ask you what you think the typical role of a Vice President has historically been in the Union, and how you plan to subvert or conform to this general standard? Mainly asking because the VP position is the most varied position in the Cabinet, so it'd be interesting to get your take on that.
Kanglia: See, the role of the Vice President/Vice Delegate/Running Mate in general has a LONG history of being incredibly complex, and either incredibly valuable or incredibly useless depending on the time period. I think that generally the role of the Vice President has been to act as a second set of hands for the President, whereas Ministers only have scope over their own group, and the President has had an overarching focus on all of the big picture things, the Vice President is able to really narrow in on one or two areas if needed. I think you're slightly an exception to the rule because you've been such a large part of everything that the region has done since you became actively involved here(Zuk honorary perma-citizen status when??) but you really notice your impact on the Cultural side of things with how well you manage our affairs on the RMB and other gameside actions. I will not even pretend that I intend on keeping that level of commitment gameside, partially because I know that it's in good hands with you and others who do such a wonderful job, but I think that seeing me be heavily focused on one or two key aspects is likely going to be what continues, I will just probably have different things than you!
Guess and Check: Not sure I've had much an impact, but I'm also biased against myself so. But in regards to your VP role analysis, that is definitely something I've noticed as well. Being VP is also so self-directed... a VP can be useless or remake a Presidency into something more than it is. I remember Phoenix in his interview with EDN saying he'd like a VP that'd be more community focused coupled with a politics-focused President, so it's a pretty interesting to see the differences in y'alls thoughts on that matter.
Speaking of glorious Presidoot Phoenix (smooth_transition.exe), I do have an interesting question to ask! So no one is perfect and we all love Phoenix, but I do want to ask you what's the primary thing you think Phoenix could've improved on as President during his recent previous three terms, and how do you plan to help him improve or take over that issue yourself should you two be elected?
Kanglia: As Phoenix and I have discussed numerous times, and I think we've all been able to see over our histories with him, Phoenix always has the capability to be a bit of a loose cannon at times. I think the big thing that he has improved on is his ability to reign that in over the course of his time both as President and in the UDS as a whole, and I think that that's really served him and our region well. For me, continuing to have him keep himself in check and be the person we totally pay elect him to be is really the big thing for me. Overall he does such a lovely job politically and he continually is able to evolve and grow with the region that in that regard there's really little for him to improve on.
Ironically enough, if anything I think he needs to involve himself a little bit less because he cares so deeply about the Union and this region that when we struggle as a whole he puts a lot of the blame on himself and I really don't believe that that's fair to him.
Guess and Check: Fully agree. Though not sure where this region would be if Phoenix didn't care so much, xD (though yes, his tendency to care a tad bit too much is not as much of a good thing for him).
But going back to the VP-ship: how did you feel when Phoenix approached you about being VP? And what made you decide to accept the position?
Kanglia: Definitely think that's true on both fronts hahah.
And really I wasn't entirely sure, mostly because I was still under the impression that you were still interested in the role(which ofc I later found out wasn't the case) and also because I originally planned to run for President myself. Ultimately I think I decided that because it's Phoenix and because the two of us have such a good history of working together that it would make a lot more sense for the two of us to combine in this way rather than having to throw myself at someone who I don't have as strong of a bond with both in the UDS/NS and in general and instead allow myself to be in a slightly different role than maybe I intended to put myself in even just two or three weeks ago.
Guess and Check: To be fair I didn't really say much publicly about it xD. But yeah, that's completely fair. I feel like a Vice-President and President who don't know each other well may lead to potential issues or at the very least a bit more conflict/clashing between the pair's plans. IDK about everyone reading this, but I'm very certain that if you and Phoenix get elected you two will get along wonderfully and hopefully keep this region going on that forward momentum it currently has.
My last question about your VP-ship (and my last prepped question I still have lmao, we be free balling after this), is if Phoenix wins this election and runs for another term in 3 months - will you be willing to serve as VP again under him, assuming nothing goes catastrophically wrong in another term? Or will you run against Phoenix in the next hypothetical election, should he run?
Kanglia: Really and truthfully I'm not entirely sure. I think I made it fairly clear in some of my recent postings in Kanglia's Corner(shameless plug) that I fully intend on eventually returning to the head of the executive, but like I've also said, I don't have any intention of running against Phoenix. If he wants me to be a VP for another term, I most definitely will be part of it, but if he wishes to step down after this term I fully intend on running as President in my own right.
So to answer your question: If he wants me back as VP, I'll be back. If he doesn't run, I will. Simple as that.
Guess and Check: Definitely fair.
But now, since you mentioned it, we might as well maneuver into giving you more shameless plugs! So I know (by know, I mean I looked on the forums) that you founded Kanglia's Corner in 2021 - and since then it's served as one of the more prolific papers in the dead media scene that's been UDS's life for the past two years. (Or if we're really honest, one of the two prolific papers - the other being EDN, lmao. 3 if you include the Roleplay Report.)
ANYWAYS, so could you share some more light on Kangalia's Corner? What made you found it in the first place, how has the type of stuff you've published in it changed over time, and what are your future plans regarding KC?
Kanglia: It’s actually really funny that we’re bringing up Kanglia’s Corner and it’s history because i literally just published a new piece as this interview is happening ha.
Originally when I was creating it, the name Kanglia’s Corner came to me because I had a running bit about having my armchair in the corner during my time away from nationstates and when I would only pop into the discord on occasion.(and because the void in which I shout in is located in the corner.) Anyways, my focus initially on Kang’s Corner was a podcast of sorts, and if you look at the first few posts there you’ll actually see interviews with people who were relevant in the region at the time or a reskinned Kang’s Questions. I was mostly concerned with discussing and writing about current events of the region. From there I transitioned to more of just ways for me to write thinkpieces based off of what was going on either in my life or in the region or both. My current plans for the Corner is going to be more of an educational place for now, with several of my next pieces being this series of essays on Defending and the UDSAF, but I ultimately plan on also doing Essays on legislation and it’s history in the UDS and potentially Nationstates history at large. Kanglia’s Corner really has endless levels of publication because it’s whatever I get an inkling about.
Guess and Check: I see. Honestly, ngl, it's the same for EDN XD. It's just me pumping out whatever I feel like right now. But I guess that's what happens when our newspapers are one-man shows lmao
But thinking on it, you've been around the Union for a while and that means you've probably seen different stages of the media scene. So could you share what you think was the most active time of UDS media you've ever witnessed? What similarities/differences did said time have with the media scene of today? And what were you doing in UDS during that time?
Kanglia: so honestly i think that right now is really the most active time for newspapers/media outlets that we've really had in the UDS as a whole. I kow that Asders and Com both had very long running and successful outlets but they were a lot more infrequent and really other than that I can't think of anything else that was fantastically long running other than the Union Times, which was really mostly state run to begin with. I think that there's a lot of differences between what papers are doing now versus in general.
And really, just because there was such a large period of time with Asderslands Printing Co(I think that was the name forgive me Asders) Com's publications in TFT, the Union Times, and the great memery that was Hacim's media outlet, there's really no way to compare anything of what I or anyone else was doing or how similar any of them really are to each other, which is something I honestly really love
Guess and Check: That's pretty true. State-run media often tends to take a certain flavor (which would go for all newspapers), so just having a diversity of newspapers always leads to really great and interesting results! I do hope Hacim brings back his satire newspaper though... that was fun.
Now, before we start wrapping up the interview by leaving UDS topics aside - I'd like to ask you more about the Council of State, seeing as you're the person who authored the legislation that enacted it. I know that you initially didn't really have any ideas beyond finding an alternative to the Senate - so what made you settle on an Assembly-type body and what made you support said body having more RP-focused motives that previous Union legislatures haven't had for a long time? And also, of course - what do you hope for the Council of State to accomplish, both in terms of itself and the legislation it passes but also in a more meta level concerning the Union's well being?
Kanglia: Yeah I would love it if the satirical stuff makes a comeback, was a good time.
Ultimately I think a lot of what made me want to go with an assembly like body was my time and experience with TSP, I think regionally speaking, at least with us, our numbers are at least decent enough that we can produce some activity but it will behoove us overall I think if we allow there to be more. I don’t anticipate this to be an immediate success, I think there will be a lot of people who are initially legislators that will not remain because they simply don’t wish to make any time for the region or for the game itself, and that trimming of the fat will ultimately strengthen us because those who remain will ultimately care about what we do here. I think that having more RP-focused motives will combine both levels of what we do here into one group and hopefully one community.
Guess and Check: That sounds fair. Your hope that this would combine our RPers and government communities into one is definitely my hope as well, as it was when I voted in favor of your bill. We'll see how it goes.
In any case, let's switch off of NS stuf for a bit and explore your more IRL side (if you're willing)! I guess my first question to ask about this is what hobbies do you do when you aren't hanging around NS?
Kanglia: Oh for sure. So for starters I’m a big history nerd (as evidenced by the degree lmao) so I’m huge into anything history related, I’ve always been a pretty avid gamer and an electronics guy, so building or working on computers has always been something that I’ve liked to do. Aside from that, working on my farm is one of the things I enjoy, be it either trimming the yard or feeding my animals.
Guess and Check: Wait, you have a farm??? Is it like a big farm or small farm and did you inherit it or smth? Gosh damn that's like uber cool o.o
Kanglia: Technically speaking it’s my parents but it’s not a really big farm, we have about 18 acres that we’re on. Nothing too significant plant wise the last couple of years, mostly just corn and tomatoes,we’re mostly livestock so chickens and goats, we used to have ducks when I was younger and I’m telling them to get some more since we’ve started putting more work into our ponds again, but the geese that hangout there suffice
Guess and Check: [strike]The geese are perfect why would you want ducks[/strike]
That's honestly, like, uber cool. My mom used to be a farmer's daugther, but now all we have is a small backyard garden. Can't imagine living on a farm! Do you think that being on a farm has taught you anything you can bring to other aspects of your life, beyond practical skills?
Kanglia: Honestly just to think creatively. There's never a simple easy solution in living on farms so it's taught me to think outside of the normal sphere of thinking about things. Now whether that's in deciphering how to bring out just enough height on one side so a building doesn't lean despite being on an unevenish surface or how to most effectively draw up Constitutional law in a browser game it's completely dependent on what it is that i'm doing at the time
Guess and Check: I can see that, yeah. Being able to manage any problems that come up definitely would boost your creativity, and I imagine you'd face a lot of issues running a farm!
Now, to work back of something else of interest (to me personally at least, xD) - you stated that you like building computers. Have you, by chance, built your own o.o
Kanglia: A while ago yeah, I gave that one away about a year and a half ago because I just didn't have a lot of space for it, but I do plan on building another one here soon. Probably will just be simple and not go too crazy on it, like a 3070 card at the most probably because I certainly don't run anything that intense
Guess and Check: AAAh that's cool! What got you interested in making computers in the first place?
Kanglia: just being a nerd quite frankly, was just bored and decided to get into it one day
Guess and Check: That is quite fair. [strike]It's how we all got into NS[/strike]
So out of curiosity, do you like just build and sell computers, or fix other's computers, etc... i.e. how do you keep doing this hobby of building 'em?
Kanglia: It was originally gonna just be build & sell tbh, but lately how i've kept up is actually my job, i work in geek squad so it's been a lot of fixing.
Guess and Check: Ah that makes sense! Kinda cool to see how you're using your interests in your job o.o. But you also mentioned that you have a history degree - do you plan on using that to launch a career in a history-related field some day? Or do you think you'll stay within the tech realms?
Kanglia: Probably a bit of both to be honest. I think that one day I'd like to do something in the museum space, either as a guide or a curator, something like that I think would be a lot of fun.
Admittedly my degree was moreso obtained because of a love of history versus wanting some practical applicable job
Guess and Check: Okay that's adorable!! Considering more and more degrees are becoming economically-focused, it's nice to hear someone able to pursue a degree out of interest. I also can't imagine you being a museum space guide but somehow I think you'd be a good fit for the role, lmao. But speaking of, what is your degree particularly about (like a specific kind of history I mean)? And what made you decide to persue it and/or how did you find yourself gravitating to getting that specific degree?
Kanglia: So in my studies I primarily focused on American history in the events pre WWII, the time periods of Civil War & Reconstruction up to World War I. I personally liked to focus on Reconstruction and the Civil War as a whole just because of the interest in the socioeconomic patterns of Reconstruction being so intrinsically different from the two different timelines of it. Admittedly my main interest has always lied in Medieval Europe, but I never took enough classes for that to really be a concentration, it's more of just I've read a lot(and played a lot of the Crusader Kings games lol.)
History as a whole has just always fascinated me. Oftentimes in school people define history as the stories of "Great People" doing "Great Things" but history is so much more than that. We may look at history in a broad scope as the great people who do the great things or the bad people that do the evil things but the real interesting parts are the normal everyday people that do normal everyday things as adaptations of the great and bad people. That's what's always made me love it. If you look at it broadly, you get the history of the famous, which is fine and dandy and mostly interesting. But if you look at it with a microscope, you get the history of something far more important, and that's everyone
Guess and Check: I'll be honest with you, that's a perspective I only recently (like last week lmao) encountered, so it's super cool to hear more about it!! But yeah, it's kinda amazing how easy it is to kinda focus on world events, meanwhile during every single year of human history there's been thousands to millions to billions just living their lives like we do. It's also interesting to think about how NS kinda fits into that paradigm as well. The world's a crazy place, XD.
But in any case, I think it's about time to wrap up this snazzy interview. Now usually, I do ask people to share a general message to readers, but seeing as you're someone who seemingly felt college had a large impact on their life and has now settled on living post-college - I do wanna ask, do you have any words for le high schoolers who may be reading this and wondering what they'll pursue in college?
Kanglia: Well you have to look at it like this, NS as a whole fits into the world paradigm because we are essentially just reenacting world events in a lot of ways. NS shares a lot of similarities with the real world in that regard.
Ultimately I think the most important thing for high schoolers, or really anybody thinking about college in general, is to enjoy the experience. It's genuinely a very different experience from anything you've ever felt before or will ever feel after. So enjoy that trip while you're on it. Don't stress if you don't know what you want to do immediately, most people don't the first two years anyways. Be active in the school but make sure you're still making enough time for your grades and classes. Ultimately my main message would just be to enjoy it, it's fun and it's supposed to be your first experience of combining leisure with work. Make it your own and you'll probably have a great time
Guess and Check: I think that's a very fair message.
And for the final question - any message for EDN's readers in general?
Kanglia: Join the UDSAF!
No but in all seriousness, look for things to do around here, the community is really great, but it's always gonna be better when we all have roles beyond just being here
Guess and Check: nods another fair message!
Thank you for giving me the opportunity to interview, Kang. I do really appreciate it!! \o/
Kanglia: Of course, happy to do it!
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