Can SimCity teach us how to run govt?

As I am without the internet until sometime Thursday when the technician comes, I've tried to find other things to do since I am not networking as much. And, I've been getting busy with some SimCity 3000. Unfortunately, I can't find disc 1 to my SimCity 4

One thing that I know about SimCity is that if you're hemorrhaging money, you won't last long. The game is set up so that you run a successful city indefinitely.
Well, what defines success?

Simple enough, as long as you're in the black or making money, you can maintain and expand your city, you're a success.

You zone for residential, commercial, and industry from light to medium to dense. Basically, it's the difference bewteen zoning for small homes to large industrial complexes. And, a burgeoning city will have a mixture of all these zones. People need a place to live, a place to work, and a place to buy things.

And, unfortunately, the government needs taxes to support services such as roads/bridges, water, electricity, education, fire department, and even police. Taxes also allow for ordinances which include things like smoke detectors, junior sports, and neighborhood watch programs. Finally, who's going to build and maintain those parks?

One cool facet to keep your city healthy is the neighborhood deal which may include buying or selling water delivery, garbage disposal services, and/or electricity. Depending on your excess of allocations for those services, you may be offered a deal.

If at any point, you run out of money, you can always get a loan. If you go in the hole deep enough, it's game over.

I know SimCity is a case of art imitating life but, it's still based on fundamentals. How "real" is SimCity? How close to life is this art?

I find that I am very Republican when I first start a city. Low taxes and low spending. Low taxes bring the people in fast. Low spending allows me to run a deficit. However, my Republicanism ends very quickly after which I turn into a Democrat because I can't run a deficit forever. The game will end, obviously.

Mostly, I do this because in SimCity, as is in the real world, people want this and they want that. For example, the elderly want shuttle service. Well, if that's going to happen, I'll need to find a way to afford it. Eventually so many people want so many different things that some will be ignored and others, to my thinking, are required. There's only so much "dealing" I can do. Therefore, I have to raise taxes so I can afford it.

One thing that I've learned is that you've got to plan for the future. In case something happens - natural disaster - I'll have some funds that I can quickly spend to rebuild the area quickly. That makes perfect sense doesn't it? However, I don't have to hoard all of the money! This is SimCity, not SimDictator or Tropico, which is a fun game as well.

At a certain point, I'll feel it is necessary to lower taxes because I am running on a surplus. What else would I do with that money after I've filled the city's "emergency fund"? Pay down the "city" debt? Well, if I had a debt, I'd be concentrating on getting rid of it, not lowering taxes. But, I guess that's the Democrat in me. Besides, I'd lose the game otherwise.

The most important thing to do in SimCity is listen to the people - petitioners and advisers. They come with gifts, advice, demands, and anger. It all depends on how you run the city.

I know if I run the city like a Republican, crime will go up, fire hazards will increase, traffic will get out of control, and people will leave the city and what little taxes I do get won't even begin to cover any of my expenses. Then, I have to cut back services which end up causing strikes, riots, and protests in the streets. At that point, all the bad things have taken hold and I couldn't attract people to my city with 0% taxes. The point is that I have to stay in the black or lose the game.

But, if I run my city like a Democrat, I know it will go on forever. Sure taxes will be higher than a Republican would like but, people have a home, they are working, and they are buying. Crime is low; my jails are only 10% full which equals about 0.06% of my population in jail. The RCI indicator is letting me know that people desire more industry and residential while commercial desirability is stable. My taxes are comfortably are lower than what I started with. And, I am well above my "emergency fund" so I can actually begin deficit spending by lowering taxes even more. Why not? I can afford it since my cash flow has increased almost 300% even with the lower taxes.

Interesting! How exactly does it work that I have lower taxes and more income even though my spending increased? Well I also have 6,000 more people in my city! I didn't need to increase services so they can pay more into the system for the same efficient and effective services! And, that's how you run a government.

Unfortunately, SimCity is not real life. When you have problems in SimCity, you can start over again. You can't start over in real life. You've got to actually fix problems or else they persist and worsen. And, you definitely can't fix your problems by ignoring them or continuing the same policies that caused problems in the first place. That's not just a political reality, it's personal reality.
End
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T