History of the WA: Silly Proposals

Among the longest running traditions of the World Assembly – so long running that it actually pre-dates the organization itself, stretching all the way back to its predecessor organization, the NSUN – is of commentary on the proposals that make their way into the submission queue by interested parties in a dedicated thread. While many of the proposals discussed are simply illegal for violating some of the proposal rules created to make the WA game fun and fair for everyone, some are … just special, and have earned particular renown for their sheer silliness.

Such proposals have attempted to ban the wearing of steel-toed boots, to incite the NSUN to “killllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllllll llllllllllllllllll” George W Bush and Tony Blair, to ban anyone weighing over 160 pounds from wearing spandex, and to try to skirt the ban on creating a world army by instead creating a world Jedi Council. Also typical of such proposals: excessive use of exclamation marks, titles that sound like late Star Trek TOS episodes, and numerous references to that most noble of infirm animals the “illeagle”.

While proposals of this kind rarely even reach quorum, let alone pass into law, they do still sometimes have legacies owing to delegates' amusement at their foibles. For example, two of the most widely regarded for their supreme dedication to sheer silliness were the Inflatable Gandalf Act and Mad Sheep Railgun Act. The former would have required nations to set up giant inflatable wizards at crossings to warn approaching drivers “None shall pass!” while the other simply ended in the famous words: “Nurse, my medicine!”

Some people attempted to justify such silly proposals on the grounds of the NSUN's “Freedom of Humour” resolution, which led to a bizarre legality battle when a resolution entitled “HIPPOS ARE BIG!!!!” was deleted. Furious delegates railed against the decision, and a subsequent collaborative drafting effort produced the seminal work, “HIPPOS ARE REALLY QUITE LARGE”. The voters did not appreciate the joke, however, and the resolution failed by a huge margin. Even the (in)famous hippo proposals were no match for perhaps the silliest of all proposals ever seen in the long history of such absurdities: the “National Sovereignty Act”, written by Kryozerkia.

One of the very oldest – and very silliest – was a proposal that gave rise to a meme. A largely illiterate screed attempting to condemn homosexuality gained inadvertent longevity of reputation owing more to misspelling the word 'since' than any reference to Friedrich Nietzsche. In the years since, the NSUN actually protected equality and made fighting discrimination a core component of its legal body, a tradition the WA has strengthened and continued. And other traditions live on, too: even today, eagle-eyed delegates can be found scouring the proposal queue for something that will recall the majesty of the most truly silly proposals ever; and still, on quiet nights in the WA Headquarters, you may hear delegates whispering to each other in the Strangers' Bar:

“Do you know what 'gay science' is?”