Re: DIS: [Proto] The Great Rollback

[Gaelan Steele via agora-discussion]

> On Jan 27, 2021, at 12:02 PM, Aris Merchant via agora-discussion 
> <agora-discussion@agoranomic.org> wrote:
> 
> The time has come for us to undo Statutory Instrumentation and return
> to the noble design of the past. Comments are, as always, welcome,
> even if I can't promise I'll agree with them. :)
> 
> -Aris
> 
> ---
> Title: The Great Rollback
> Adoption index: 3.0
> Author: Aris
> Co-author(s):
> 
> 
> If this proposal has already taken effect, then it has no effect.
> 
> In this proposal, "S->I" is to amend a rule by replacing each instance of
> "a statute" with "an instrument", and each other instance of "statute" with
> "instrument". This is not a case-sensitive match, however, if the word
> first word being replaced has a leading capital, then so does the
> first replacement word.
> 
> 
> Enact a new power-3.5 rule entitled "Statutory Instrumentation
> Simultaneity", reading:
> 
>  Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, the proposal which enacted this
>  rule CAN make multiple rule changes, which it could otherwise make
>  individually, simultaneously. When it attempts to do so, if any single
>  rule change it attempts is INEFFECTIVE, then so is the entire attempt.
> 
>  If the proposal which enacted this rule makes a change to the
>  definition of a rule then, except for rules which are simultaneously
>  and explicitly enacted or repealed with that change,
>  the rules after that change are exactly the entities that were rules
>  beforehand. This is a definition of the interpretation of the
>  amendment to the rules and not, in and of itself, a rule change.
> 
> 
> Apply the following rule changes simultaneously: {
> 
>  Repeal Rule 2611, "Instruments".
>  Repeal Rule 2612, "Bodies of Law".
>  Repeal Rule 2613, "Effects of Instruments".
> 
>  Apply S->I to Rule 1688, "Power".
>  Apply S->I to Rule 2438, "Ribbons".
> 
> 
> 
>  Amend Rule 105, "Rule Changes" by, all as part of the same
>  amendment:
>    1. Replacing:
>        Where permitted by other rules, a statute generally can, as
>        part of its effect,
> 
>      with:
>        When the rules provide that an instrument takes effect, it can
>        generally:
> 
>  Amend Rule 2140, "Power Controls Mutability", by, all as part of the same
>  amendment:
>    1. Deleting:
>        An ephemeral instrument is bound by prohibitions and limitations
>        specified in rules of lower power, unless it explicitly overrides
>        those prohibition(s) as provided for in other rules.
>    2. Replacing "set or modify any other substantive
>       aspect of an instrument with power greater than its own except as
>       otherwise provided in this rule." with "set or modify any other
>       substantive aspect of an instrument with power greater than its own."
>    3. Applying S->I.
> 
> 
>  Amend Rule 2125, "Regulated Actions", by changing it to read in full:
> 
>    An action is regulated if: (1) the Rules limit, allow, enable, or
>    permit its performance; (2) the Rules describe the circumstances under
>    which the action would succeed or fail; or (3) the action would, as part
>    of its effect, modify information for which some player is
>    required to be a recordkeepor.
> 
>    A Regulated Action CAN only be performed as described by the
>    Rules, and only using the methods explicitly specified in the
>    Rules for performing the given action. The Rules SHALL NOT be
>    interpreted so as to proscribe unregulated actions.
> 
>  Amend Rule 2141, "Role and Attributes of Rules", by replacing:
> 
>    A rule is an enduring statute. Every rule has a power between 0.1
>    and 4.0, inclusive. Rules to the contrary notwithstanding, it is
>    IMPOSSIBLE to enact a rule with power outside this range, or to
>    change the power of an existing rule to a nonzero value outside
>    this range. The set of all currently-existing rules is called the
>    ruleset.
> 
>  with:
> 
>    A rule is a type of instrument with the capacity to govern the
>    game generally, and is always taking effect. A rule's content
>    takes the form of a text, and is unlimited in scope. The ruleset
>    is the set of all currently-existing rules.
> 
>    Every current rule has power between 0.1 and 4.0 inclusive.
> 
> 
>  Amend Rule 106, "Adopting Proposals", by changing it to read in full:
> 
>    When a referendum on a proposal is resolved, if the outcome is ADOPTED,
>    then the proposal in question is adopted, its power is set to the minimum
>    of four and its adoption index, and it takes effect. Proposals CANNOT
>    otherwise be adopted or take effect, rules to the contrary notwithstanding.
> 
>    When a proposal takes effect, the proposal applies the changes that it
>    specifies, except as prohibited by other rules. Clearly marked comments
>    are ignored. If the proposal cannot make some changes it specifies, that
>    does not preclude the other changes from taking place.
> 
>    Except insofar as the actions performed by a proposal happen one after
>    another, rather than simultaneously, a proposal's effect is
>    instantaneous. A proposal can neither delay nor extend its own effect.
>    Once a proposal finishes taking effect, its power is set to 0.
> 
>    No entity with power below the power of this rule can prevent a proposal
>    from taking effect; this does not apply to generally preventing changes to
>    specified areas of the gamestate, nor to a proposal preventing itself from
>    taking effect (its no-effect clause is generally interpreted as applying
>    only to the rest of the proposal).
> 
> }
> 
> Repeal the rule "Statutory Instrumentation Simultaneity" enacted
> earlier in this proposal.

This is a good idea. I still like the principle of bodies of law, and I’d like 
to bring it back (in a simpler and preferably less invasive form) at some 
point, but yeah, an unused system nobody understands and the core of the game 
is a bad thing.

Unless I’m missing something, this repeals the definition of instruments and 
adds a new one. 

It might be a good idea to have a sentence at the top of this with a list of 
conditions that must be true afterwards (say, “rule 101 exists”), and says that 
the proposal has no effect if those conditions don’t remain true by the end. 

Gaelan