In the 30th year post Great disruption and the Basic Income revolution, in timeline DFL70709102-C614 for planet Nearth, Ruthie Kazurdle sat on a wait bench in the main vestibule of the newly constructed Salience Conference Centre, on the campus of Liberation university in the city of Capitolia in the recently liberated state of Moominia. She jiggled a perambulator containing her infant son Benji.
On the bench with her were people waiting to obtain accreditation to enter the centre to attend the 53rd Pan Nearthian congress of the Basic Income Nearth Society (BINS). On her face she wore a maximask™ as insisted upon by the conference’s problem prevention staff. She had placed a mini maximask on Benji, who slept through the intrusion.
On the bench or standing in the vestibule were masked people waiting to enter the congress. One would-be congress person was disinclined to put on the mask being offered to her by ever so polite problem preventers. It was being made clear to her that the public health and disease prevention laws of the provisional government of Moominia were what they were and if she felt these were such a violation of her freedom she was free to not attend the conference and go back to Angria.
“That is ridiculous. She would already have had to pass hygiene control at the railport, and had to stay masked there. Thus she already did level one bioscreen to get into this country. She is from a high risk country with active epidemics, not compliant with the Hakunsneze Protocols.”
So said the woman sitting nest to Ruthie, who replied; “I don’t unnerstand people like that. All I want is to be healthy, my little Benji to be healthy.”
“You are from central continent?”
“Ya. The new state of Euthenia, formberly NITzone. The south part of NITzone, below the armist…armist-ice… line.
No, we didn’t get “took over” by Dirigia after the war and reconstruction. We got liberated by them. I was living in D zone, Dirigia, when the war happened. But I’m from Euthenia.
We’re in a fed-er-ation now with the ‘D’s. Its better to not get too centrablized. Like, we got our own money, our own gov…government. Got a common army withDirigia, an open border.
That was the trouble with the old league, an’ the… ad-minis-tar-ium. Central…iz…ation of everything. That caused the breakdown.”
“Yes, that is one view of it. Of course the Dirigians want to avoid seeming to be aiming to reestablish the old Centralian empire.
It’s interesting how, after the League tried to eliminate national states, they are re-emerging, but more according with geographic, social realities, and finding new names for themselves.
Are you with an organization? Presenting anything?”
“No. My husband’s an economist. She’s gonna be doing a big presentation here.
I’m here to …listen. An’ its a good place to meet some relatives who live in Frostia. Middle ground, like.
She’s gonna be here, part of a youth delegation from Frostia. Along with her boyfriend from Kranklin island, who’s also an..um…in-law of mine.”
“You have interesting family relations.
I’m from Squoozia. My name is Wangel Statzic. I and my colleague, Doctor Rootle Gazurk, are here to make a presentation about…the discussions within the party about a Basic Income policy. Also, to gain further information.
I mean the People’s party of Squoozia.”
“Ts’awright. I’m not an idierlogic person. My name is Ruthie Kazurdle. My husband is Angie Bajanji.”
The Angrian finally put the maximask on.
“No, Madam Flustiker, ” said the problem preventer, “Please put it on correctly. Like this…” gesturing to the poster demonstrating the art of properly donning maximasks.
“Thank you. You may now enter the waiting area and your accreditation will be processed. Enjoy the congress.”
Ruthie slid on her bottom a little way down the bench, towing Kasper’s pram. Wangel discretely half stood and shuffled eastward after her.
“So much fuss for nothing. Just dramatics to show she is a fighter for…I do not understand Angria, these quasi Libertarians. It is a justification for the industrial oligarchy. But there is not much of that left.”
“I think I seen your Doctor Gazurk here in Moominia, just before the Vancherians invaded. He and Angie were workin’ on things together. We had to leave real quick.”
“Yes, Doctor Gazurk recounted these adventures. He had to flee to our embassy in this city. Then it was some months before the Vancherian authorities allowed us to evacuate the embassy.
I believe the world is much better off with the Vancherians defeated. The Moominians seem so happy to be liberated from them that they renamed this university…
I believe your accreditation is ready. So you test negative. Enjoy the congress.”
Ruthie smiled back and walked over to collect her documents. She removed her and Benjie’s maximask and entered the Sentinel centre and walked around briefly, found lecture theatre C, and sat in the annex opposite it. She read the materials handed her.
Near her, two congress delegates stood chatting.
“Impressive new building. Circular design, pie shaped lecture theatres, excellent acoustics. Plenty of annexes with seating all around the outer concourse. Air purification system is highly innovative, flowing from a central hub…”
“If the virus killing features are so good, why did we still need these tests?”
“Precautions, precautions. With these new pathogens running rampant now, it is better to be safe.
These novel diseases seemed to have disappeared in recent years. Now this Dimevirus has come out of nowhere. More potent than anything seen before. I wonder why mother nature is becoming so malevolent.”
“I concur with the conclusions of the Hakunsneze conference. And, with the signatories to its accords. And further, with the resolutions of the Atzenuff treaty, its signatories….”
“Ah, yes. You Frostians have not had enough of conflicts with these Blazebians. Or with all this… diplomacy around creating an alternative to the old League of Nearthly Nations. ”
“We and the other Watawidoo treaty allies have no choice. The Blazebians act like the hereditary elites have all down history, when they think they are losing power. The human race is there to serve as their cattle herd. It is always their sacred right to rule this way forever. Anywhere people have developed some autonomy, that is a threat. Anything goes in eliminating that threat, insuring elite control everywhere and forever.”
“You have to be careful you do not replace one oligarchy with another. Authority in Frostia is also held within a fairly closed circle.
But tell me, do you really think this ”Plan Huxley” is real? Do the Blazebians really have an intention to eliminate most of the population of Nearth?”
“The Frostian government from the time of the disruption has developed into a meritocracy with a base in religious faith. Perhaps a little too much emphasis on religion.
By the way, thanks for not denying the existence of the Blazebians altogether and calling me a conspiracy freak and other things. They are the centuries old hereditary elite which was behind the League. They still control the league legacy states and are trying to reestablish the league.
And yes, the aim of gaining total control of the planet was, and still is, to carry out the elimination of the useless population and anything which might arise to disturb their perfect order.
Where are you from, by the way?”
“In my own country of Squoozia, our party and its foreign affairs apparatus have concluded that the Pan Nearthian ruling class does not exist as this monolithic entity. There are many factions with the ruling elites of the the League legacy states. There are divisions even within this Blazebian network.
Right now the hard liners are strongly in control in New Ogid and Thanatia. They have formed a new grouping called Thalmusians. The situation is more fluid in Northia.
Most of the smaller states are moving away from these… approaches to government. Especially, there is growing resentment of this “multiform war” approach to reasserting control.
It is not that the oligarchies of these states have suddenly become enlightened and lost the desire for privilege. What has happened is that they became more concerned with survival than with absolute control. These are the people who were shaken by the the great breakdown and disruption.
However, there is still the faction which wants only to try again for total control. They are using their playthings, their “multiform war” tools, to try to create a breakdown of those states they perceive as enemies. They think their own breakdown of thirty years ago was caused by their enemies, rather than their own incompetence. They believe this time the situation will be the reverse.”
“They seem to believe the Squoozians and other legacy states of the Bolshlovian republic were responsible for their breakdown.”
The Squoozian laughed. ”Yes, once we removed that old, tragic and ineffective organizational model, we rapidly grew in power. This upset the League’s plans. But we were not responsible for their breakdown. Not solely, at least.
After the breakdown we were able to offer material assistance to new autonomous states which emerged, including Frostia. You Frostians are reluctant to admit this.”
It was the Frostian’s turn to chuckle. “Yes, you irreligious communist Squoozians enabled new autonomous states to emerge in defiance of the league. Even faith based Frostia.”
“We do not use the world ‘Communist’ anymore. It does not reflect how we do things now.”
“Your model has not been as successful lately. Some of the new states are now exceeding you in productivity; especially the Dirigians.”
“Yes, we are aware of some problems with our way of managing. This is one reason why we have sent so many people abroad; to acquire new ideas from that and other successful states. That includes the ones which say that one of the keys to their success has been in adopting the right kind of Basic Income.”
“Yes, it was the Dirigians, the D zone rebels, who first adopted the demogrant model of a Basic Income. We Frostians copied it with considerable success.”
“I think the first sessions are about to begin. In theatre C, our two speakers are going to discuss the discourses going on within the party about developing our own Demogrant. Doctor Rootle Gazurk and commissioner Wangel Statzic will be presenting.”
“Yes, I was not sure what to attend in the first session, but you’ve made me curious about Squoozia.”
“I am sure many people here will find it interesting. We are not going to go the way of these ridiculous experiments with selected populations, geographic areas. We are planning a different kind of test of a demogrant. We will start out giving the whole population a very small amount and gradually increase the amount.”
“That does sound like a more logical approach. What have been the problems with implementing a Basic Income in Squoozia?”
“The big problem with a demogrant in Squoozia is a party old guard which still holds to the maxim, “who does not toil does not eat.” They still believe permanent full employment is possible.”
“It seems mostly to be the far left and far right which have these ideas. In Frostia it is; ‘the Bubzibeelian entities find work for idle hands’.
But lets go in.”
The two passed the doorway and were beyond the range of Ruthie’s sharp ears. She resumed studying the event schedules with evident bewilderment.
The concourse and adjacent annex was filling with people. Some were starting to filter into the theatres as the morning sessions prepared to begin.
Ruthie looked up as a commotion moved toward her down the concourse. She recognized Bot Baddle, the security officer during her time with development assistance complex near Portvillia, Moominia just before the Vancherian invasion. He and his helper were leading two other people she recalled, the Grankist proponents from her stay in Otjivero district in Demogrant city; Henry Kunning and Georgina Drooger.
Whined Georgina; “Can you hold on a minute? I can’t carry this all at once.”
Bot; “You had no trouble carrying it all in here. I don’t know how you got it past the main entrance. I suggest you keep moving silently toward the exit instead of trying to stop and argue with me, trying to attract attention.”
“Just explain to me why we are being removed? We are registered to speak at this conference…”
“Here it is again, and for the last time. You have a one hour block to speak tomorrow afternoon. Trying to sell things and solicit donations are against the rules of the congress, as sent out to you. You know this. If you continue to create disruption your presentation will be cancelled altogether.
You call sell your idea of funding a Basic Income with hot air somewhere else.”
“SOMEONE PLEASE HELP ME! I AM MERELY TRYING TO EXPLAIN TO YOU THE SOLUTION TO THE PROBLEM WHICH YOU HAVE! FUNDING A BASIC INCOME! PLEASE LET US REACH YOU! HELP! HELP!”
Bot and his aides stood back as he tapped on his masklet for further assistance.
Georgina fell on the floor, screaming. Henry jumped in front of her as though to shield her screaming; “YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO HIT A WOMAN!”
A woman ran out of the crowd, shrieking; FLAXIST SUPRESSION OF FREE SPEECH! FLAXIST SUPRESSION! POLICE GOONS FROM THE FLAXIST REGIME IN MOOMINIA!”
Bot; “Okay, Waxbass from Northia. Thanks for confirming our suspicion you are from Alcibiadist group, meaning Northian secret services. Shaddup and go somewhere, or your mission here is over before it starts.”
Waxbass quickly disappeared back into the crowd.
Bot dramatically pointed up at the cambots floating overhead. “All actions of this congresses Problem Preventers are recording in several ways. Therefore, her tactics will not work here. This person was not struck. This is a demonstration of why a good number of highly trained, professional PPs, like me, are necessary to an event of this type.”
Georgina and Henry continued to roll around on the floor as though someone was really attacking them, screaming that they had been assaulted, suppressed, they had the answer to everything, and so on. The crowd began to wander away.
More help for Bot arrived and began moving the Grankists goods toward the entrance; a collapsible table, a banner, a bundle buggy full of books and pamphets. Once they found themselves being dragged by their feet, they decided their game was up for now, got up, and glumly followed their gear toward the door, with highly trained and professional PPs surrounding them.
Bot said to them as he checked his masklet; “I don’t know if the congress managers will allow you back in here to make your presentation tomorrow. I will recommend against it.
It seems your ideas do appeal to some Basic Income enthusiasts.
You presently live in the rump territory of Centralia…which is still under Northian occupation…”
Bot and company moved beyond Ruthie’s hearing. The commotion had wakened Kasper. Ruthie lifted him from the pram and strapped on his harness.
“Ruthie Kazurdle. You do turn up in interesting places.” Said Sterk Snappler.
“Sterk Snappler? Hi, Sterk! Thanks for gettin’ us out of trouble so many times. Me and Angie.
I’m here with Angie. She’s makin’ a presentation here. Also to meet Kassandra. She’s livin’ in Frostia now.
Here’s my kid, Benji Bajanji. I think he’s real smart.”
“Just doing my job, Ruthie.
Yes, he does look smart, doesn’t he? Strange; I think he looks a lot like Angie.”
Ruthie laughed, Benji looked questioningly at her, then stared curiously up at Sterk.
Sterk’s Masklet tweeked him. He glanced at it and walked quickly in the opposite direction in which Bot had gone.
The concourse was now quiet. Ruthie gave Benji more slack and he toddled to look out the window at a sparse group of demonstrators outside. As he turned back he noticed Angie Bajanji coming up the concourse.
Beside Angie was Professor Herm Wonkendip.
“Angie here” Benji alerted Ruthie.
Ruthie looked up from the event schedules. “Have you seen Kassie yet?
Hi, Herm.”
Said Angie; “Kass is right behind me. She brought Booey with her, after all. He was cleared to go at the last minute.”
Angie knelt and hugged Benji, and engaged in some quiet two year old level conversation.
Ruthie to Herm; “You know Booey? He’s my step mother from Kranken island’s…like…her step son. It’s kinda complercated.
He’s kinda smart. He’s stayin’ with my sister Handie, her Husband Fern, at the university in Frostia. So he can go to a better school than what they got on Kranken.
Hi, Kassie. Booey, have ya met perfessor Herm Wonkendip yet? Him and Angie have been workin’ in Blartea. They’re gonna do a present-tat-ion about it at this congress.”
Said Booey; “Hi, Professor Wonkendip. I’ve heard about you. You’re working on changing over all the oligarchic countries on Nearth? Big job.”
“Uh, well, yes, partly… There’s a need to learn to transition away from capitalism in a logical way… create minimum disruption…
But I have met your friend Kassie, know of her parents…their work. They are physicists, investigating Queezians, strings, and this multiverse theory. Frankly don’t well understand all that…”
Kassie; “They don’t talk much about it. The Frostian government wants them to stay a little…quiet about it. They’re finding things about parallel worlds, patterns in the way they develop.
They think it’s really important to get rid of all oligarchic systems, people who think they have a right to rule. Especially, make sure they don’t get control of some types of weapons. Actually, make sure those weapons never get made.
It’s like, there are a lot of these parallel worlds, and a lot of them, somehow…blink out because of that. Vanish from this…big network. The multiverse.”
Ruthie listened closely, biting her lip and glancing over at Angie, questioningly, who nodded back confirmingly.
Booey; “I think the religious authorities in Frostia are afraid of some things coming out that contradict the official religion. They still like to think everything was created by the Beezlian entity about 1000 years ago. And want everyone else to think so.
A lot of people even in Frostia are getting tired of all that…uh, stuff. It’s not like the Council of Elders is running things wrong. It’s just that people don’t want religious ideas, codes of conduct, pushed at them.”
Kassie; “Being told how to dress… ya know?
But the education system there…its a lot like Dirigia. Not like New Ogid. Not; everything true, nothing real, unless it’s establishment dogma and then it can’t be questioned.
Logic is at the centre of the teaching system and you’re made to work everything out. But in Frostia there’s a limit; you can’t question this state religion.
So, me and Booey here, we’re both interested in doing our university degrees in Dirigia…or even Euthenia…”
Said Professor Herm; “You would have no trouble, Kass. Booey, you might. You would need some references in Dirigia. What are you interested in studying?”
While Herm and Booey fell into that discussion, Kassie went down on her knees before Benji. “ Hi, Benji, its cousin Kassie, in real life this time, not on the yaktel™.”
“Kassie! Kassie!” Squeaked Benji as he waved his hand to see if the yaktel screen was there.
Kassie reached out and touched him to show she was really there. “Your mommie tells me you’re a very smart boy…”
Booey was trying to convince Herm that he was a smart enough boy to come to Dirigia and study early Nearthian history.
Said Herm; “Yes. That’s Glok’nyel’s topic, at Dirigia Central University. The old story contradicting the Beelzian entity…humans on Nearth really began two thousand years back. Nearth was settled by a few colonizers from an older world.
That is supported by genetic study of existing Nearth populations… archeological evidence. Plant, animal species which had to have been brought from another planet. Also surviving documents, which weren’t destroyed in the ancient disruption. Religious people question them, their authenticity. But who knows exactly what was going on back then, during that disruption?”
“Excuse me, are you doctor Angie Bajanji?”
“Yes”.
“I’m Linus Sealey, a congress delegate from Angria.”
“Yes.”
“I wonder if you are interested in discussing with me some of the ideas in your paper on the use of quota and rationing systems as a permanent feature of a Basic Income economy?”
“No.”
“Is this because you would not wish to defend the authoritarian nature of such proposals?”
“No, I am not interested in being abused by angry Laizifarians from Angria, which has got even angrier since the Laizifarian institute relocated there.”
Angie looked up at the responder Bot which was already hovering above them, and waved a finger toward it.
“So, you are hostile toward me simply because I am from Angria? What is it about Angria which upsets you?”
Angie took a deep breath and loudly said; “For the general information of everyone within the large audible radius of this Laizifarian troll’s speaking voice.
Rationing, quotas, and price controls are anathema to certain political/economic doctrines. Nonetheless, they are proving a very effective method of controlling inflation in key commodities, insuring equitable distribution of staple goods, and preventing overuse of key resources.
They are now a permanent part of economic management in Dirigia. They are proving especially useful in economies which are recovering from economic disruption caused by application of Laizifarian ideas, such as here in Moominia.”
“So the gross interference with the freedom of the market is not a concern to you?
Unhand me! Everyone, help! My freedom of speech is being suppressed by this communist police state…”
Bot Baddle began steering Linus to the exit. “Second warning. You are barred from the venue until you are prepared to sign a statement agreeing to comply with the congress rules.
Hey, Ruthie Kazurdle from the development zone in Portvillia. Good on ya!”
“I merely attempted a civil debate with this fanatic…”
Benji pointed to the rapidly disappearing Linus. “He a yuckie poo!”
Ruthie pulled him up on her lap.”Ya, Benji boy…These kinds of congrentions, attract lotsa… Yuckie poos. Yuck!”
Kassie and Booey simultaneously grabbed their comvecs, looked at each other, then their comvecs, and Kassie announced; “The Youth Congress is about to start. I want to get there early, try to meet some people…”
She and Booey started down the concourse, then abruptly turned and went the other direction.
“Oops! That way!” Said Kassie.
“Can you find our hotel?” Called Angie after them.
“Ruthie and Angie. And baby makes three, now. And Professor Wondendip, good morning.” Sterk Snappler read off his masklet.
“You’ll be pleased to know that your troll won’t be back at the event. Bot got a mini tracker onto him. Sealey’s on his way back to the hotel the Plester group is using as a base.”
“Plesters?“ asked Herm.
“They’re a new group. Angrian secret service plus backing from some Laizifarian billionaires. They’re going all out at this event. But there’s also a lot of operators here from the league legacy states, their agencies.
We’ve had a pretty good catch already, this morning. Five now.”
Herm; “I believe the Laizifarians are getting very desperate now. Declining influence. Few countries open to their form of capitalism anymore.
This congress will be critical for these people, and for the Blazebians, the… league legacy people. First BINS congress in a long time in a venue they do not control. They will have to answer certain questions, in proper discussion groups, about some aspects of Basic Income as practiced in the league states.
Old Zap Pinflip, he’ll have hard time here. A cofounder of BINS. Made a life career out of promoting the financial capitalist version of a Basic Income. Recent Nearth history refutes him.”
Sterk chuckled; “This is gonna be an interesting and busy three days, I’m sure now. Stay cool.” He moved on.
Angie to Ruthie; “We need to start preparing our own presentation.”
She kissed Ruthie, then Benji, and she and Herm left.
Benji slid off Ruthie’s knee and followed them to the end of his tether. Then he reeled himself back.
“Want Nummie.”
Ruthie reached into her bag and presented a selection of nummies for him to grab.
Doctor Angie Bajanji sipped jumpijuice from her canteen, looked out at the full theatre C, at the time on her comvec, then briefly over at her colleague, Professor Herm Wonkendip.
He nodded, so Angie began speaking and introduced herself and Herm. As the audience fell silent she welcomed the audience to day one, morning session A of the conference and to their presentation on the issues with implementing a Basic Income in the succession state of Blartea, in west continent, Nearth.
Said the learned doctor Angie to her rapt audience; “First I should explain Blartea very concisely. Blartea was and is Nearth’s main source of raw usium. Prior to the breakdown, and when usium was still much used to produce consumer products, this made Blartea very wealthy.
As one of the wealthiest states on Nearth, Blartea was able to strongly resist domination by the league. However, it also became a centre of Laizifarian economic and political doctrine. Inequality became extreme and it became profoundly deindustrialized. That usually goes with states cursed with abundant resources; the resource curse.
Blartea had once been a mainly agricultural country. Nearthly demand for usium grew and huge deposits were discovered in Blartea. As a result, the formerly strong agriculture withered away. As well, it soon lost what industry it had.
Over time, the Blartean state has lost most democratic vestiges from the old Westian Commonwealth era, and developed extreme inequality. Only an elite benefits from the huge wealth coming out of the ground. The wealthy elite buys what it wants from abroad, and can be highly dismissive of uppity workers.
Farming is unprofitable due to the cost of land. Farmland has become a wealth token, somewhere to put the wealth from usium extraction, and then to speculate in, play with. Of course, actually farming it is too boring for most of the elite.
The inequality and contempt for the disadvantaged population has led to the usual unfocussed social discontent. Police forces had to be built up.
As well, social welfare systems were built. And as usual, these had to be made inadequate. Making them so meant they had to be made expensive and complicated to administer.
Much of the population failed to see the advantages of the supposed Blartea advantage. There were none if you were not a rentier, someone servicing rentiers, or some sort of independent hustler. People kept migrating away from Blartea.
Periodically there would be migration in as well. When usium prices were high, there was money to be made and opportunists, or people who had bought into Blartea’s narrative about itself, would flood in. When the bust inevitably followed the boom, such people moved on to other chances, or went home disillusioned.
The Great Nearthian Breakdown happened. Soon after that, the demand for usium collapsed, this time permanently. Cheaper materials, easier to recycle or dispose of, with fewer toxicity problems, had been under development for some time. It was no longer possible to suppress their introduction.
Demand for usium is now about twenty percent of what it was pre-breakdown. This should still be enough to float the relaunch of a real economy in Blartea. This is unable to happen for reasons which my colleague will explain in more detail.
Put simply, the Blartean economy and society have been warped and hollowed. Recovery requires the elimination of an old ruling class, and a new government capable of an effective reconstruction of institutions. In other words, a revolution.
You know I work with Tromsky institute. We study the very moderate topic of revolution and governmental change. Accomplishing this is not as easy as some people like to think. Humans are hugely resistant to change, especially when they think they are being revolutionaries.
While I was in Blartea I was generally made warmly unwelcome. I was an agent for the ‘Tromskys’, there to recruit trouble makers to cause trouble, overthrow legitimate authority, and so on. I only wish.
There are plenty of incompetent trouble makers in Blartea, wishing to be recruited. I, Grotsci institute and even the state of Dirigia in right of its external assistance program, have no interest in encouraging such people in any way.
So, to these people I am a fake leftist. Dirigia is really a Fraxist state. We will not help them to create their idea of a socialist revolution.
All these people compete to be more extreme and ultra-committed than the rest. It gets them all in jail, eventually. But they’re all really as radical as, um, wozzle beans. Historically, it has always been a disaster whenever and wherever these kinds of people luck their way into power.
They make all the same wrong economic assumptions as those oligarch’s flunkies who I was able to talk to while there. They just turn them upside down.
Both extremes of the Blartean political spectrum, as well as the middle of the roaders, have this same lack of a concept of a productive economy. Gliberals anywhere are the worst kinds of fanatics, but the Blartean Gliberals are in a class by themselves.
The country suffers from the most extreme case of resource disease on planet Nearth. This has warped every aspect of its culture and institutions. From its senior government functionaries down to its Sparxists and libertarians, or its Gliberal journalist thought policers, all have the idea that wealth is something dug out of the ground.
Food, clothes, building materials, consumer goods; it’s all pulled out of a hole in the ground somewhere. The only thing wrong with the Blartean economy is that nobody is buying usium anymore.
It is impossible to get through to them that things have to be made. They must be made locally to the greatest possible degree. That means building up an integrated, import replacing economy. Without that, any kind of Basic Income will be futile.
This is something to take to the inevitable discussions at these congresses about funding a Basic Income. These discussions are usually infested with people influenced by Grankist and other crank economic ideas.
Such people will have the idea that there are infinite deposits of something called ‘resources’ evenly distributed across Nearth, which can be used through some magical process of ‘monetizing’, which they can never explain, to fund Basic Income and everything else in every country. Nothing has to be produced. Everything can simply come out of a hole in the ground. The Blarteans are experts at this miraculous process.
Before I turn this over, I should clarify that I am not disparaging Blarteans as people. I only express frustration at the sociological deadlock which has developed there due to over reliance on resource extraction, and from trying to fund everything from that. There are some very intelligent Blarteans who do get this. I and my colleagues were able to arrange exchange studies for some of them at Veblen, Pareto, and a select few at Tromsky.
Now I turn this over to my colleague, Professor Wonkendip, who will relate his own experiences with Blartean officialdom, at a higher level than me. After this we will have a short, but very entertaining and enlightening video about the results of a Basic Income experiment in Blartea.”
At the end of the hall a congress delegate was being escorted out by a problem preventer. Most of the exchange between them was muted by the ‘cone of silence’ hovering over them, so the audience was not unduly disturbed. Ruthie Kazurdle, sitting near the door, was able to hear parts of it.
“…but she is speaking…it is not acceptable to speak in that way. She is being, uh, uh, judgemental…offensive…”
“Yes, and you can listen to her be as tonally incorrect as she likes from side room B, through this door. And complain about it to any other thought policers who happen to be there.”
The esteemed Professor Wonkendip briefly introduced himself. He started into his preview of his presentation on his adventures among Blartean officialdom.
“The Blartean officlaldom, uh…remarkably tolerant of our contacts with dissident groups, given past history. Persecutions are much reduced there, as a result of their economic problems. They know they need our help to get out of their situation. Desperately.
I needed to make constantly clear, not supporting any violent overthrow as long as peaceful change is made possible. I saw no need to justify our program of training a cadre for transition government to a social democracy. Made that clear.
Situation still unstable there. After some years of highly repressive government, more moderate one in power. This present regime… undemocratic…but looking for way out of economic problems, problems due to failed policies of their predecessors. Yet, still unable to understand, their only way out is to transition away from present…semi feudal capitalism, rebuild an industrial base. Very unfortunate.
Blartean officials recognize, Dirigia model of a Basic Income economy has worked. But do not understand why. The experience there some years ago, was to introduce a Basic Income but make all the usual mistakes. Failure to make public all land and other base resources. To eliminate private banking, to regain control of currency. To make use of consultative democracy.
We were hampered by totally inadequate governance in Blartea. Failure to have even basic things; an ecological budget, an audit of land base carrying capacity.
But we persevered, remained there several weeks. Studied the economy and available data. Spoke to key people, often very helpful people.
Presented a plan based on principles of Veblen institute. Surprisingly, plan was not totally rejected. Thought to be… politically impossible. Outside the rules of Blartean politics. I left it to them to consider that, obviously, their rules need to be rewritten.
But here is my economic report, in essence.
Problem… not collapse of usium demand, but dependance on usium exports. Debatable… it should all have been left in the ground, despite its value.
Result… severe case of resource state syndrome. Great economic inequality. Apparent degradation of logical abilities in population, including even dissenters. Those who consider themselves dissenters.
Even those imagining themselves as radicals have the idea that rest of Nearth has an obligation to buy their usium. Revenues from usium deposits need only be distributed equitably. Many were enamored with the idea of a Basic Income, funded by these revenues, even though…already failed once.
No concept… that the value of usium deposits will inevitably decline. Or, all goods needed to maintain life must be bought from producers.
Blartea is Nearth’s main supplier of usium, out of which almost everything can be made. But Blartea can make nothing from usium, or anything else.
They have a growing energy shortage. Substantial methane resource but will not use it due to pressure… residual league states and banks. Unable to assemble capital for methane development.
So, relies on declining renewables. Energy infrastructure aging out, no reinvestment.
So my plan for economic recovery of Blartea is simple. As said, make all base resources public, pay owners a modest stipend. Eliminate private banks, set up public banking. Of course, cancel public debt.
Revenues from usium are still adequate to launch an economy. It must be used only to acquire capital stock, rebuild and expand infrastructure. Never to fund living expenses, operating costs. Exception, in initial stage, to purchase abroad basic necessities which cannot yet be produced locally.
Resource revenue cannot be squandered maintaining a rentier class and its…behaviours. Cannot be used to fund basic incomes, maintenance programs for surplus population. Guarantee of disaster. I mean for the surplus population.
Using public credit, limited foreign exchange, begin building new production chains for basic goods, start building an import replacing economy. Higher value goods will take time, as labour force skill is built up.
For new energy flows, best option is developing the methane resource. There is the usual resistance to that. Hothouse gas nonsense persists. But global demand is recovering, exports will pay for developing the…
The real key here is to relaunch agriculture. Blartea has plenty of excellent farmland, mostly unused. The Nearth wide food shortages will long persist.
Strange…in most places, a weird contempt for agriculture. In the long run, always the best business to be in. This syndrome… especially bad in Blartea, great resistance to properly developing this sector.
So…lease farm land to efficient producers. Build the infrastructure to support farming.
Protect the working population. Establish a low cost housing system. Set up proper employment regulation; work hours, minimum wages, price controls. Then you have the structure to support a viable Basic Income.
You have to start low at first, mere survival level. Raise it as local production, consumer goods, develop.
That’s the plan, very brief. Now, we have an excellent short documentary on the basic income experiment in East Jivera Town, Blartea. Yet another local experiment.
Strange and unique, because Blartea already tried basic income for the whole country. Except…this time they used real money, not time limited scrip, copying the New Ogid system.
Results over time, predictable but demonstrative. Should never surprise that when you give poor people more money their condition improves.
If you give it to an entire area, its people, conditions also improve initially. Until capitalism learns how to take it back.
Thus with no other effort to expand infrastructure, plan an economy; result over time is only social dislocation.
Much thanks to Shrep Scribney, Common Voice Pan Nearthian News for this.”
The huge holoprector head of Shrep Scribney of appeared above him. She spoke;
“Hello, Shrep Scribney here. Topical information short number Z313-C from East Jivera Town, Blartea for Common Voice PanNearthian News. We are funded by the People’s Republic of Dirigia.
This is the third of our series on the basic income experiment here. Our first two reports are available here.”
A metalink flashed in front of her face. Many in the audience pointed their devices toward it.
Shrep continued; “We have previously found that the experiment here is distinct from most basic income experiments in that it was given to the entire population of a town which is fairly isolated within Blartea.
East Jivera Town had been in severe distress before the experiment. The initial results, as covered in part one, were positive. Many people were able to start small businesses of various kinds.
In our second part, we looked at the problems which developed over time, due to the reluctance of the Blartean government to establish price and rent controls, or controls over migration from outside the area. Also, failure to expand infrastructure to accommodate the increased economic activity.
What we will focus on here is how these businesses, and the local economy in general, are faring now that the cash grant has ended.
Standing beside me is Gerv Grustle. Mister Grustle, prior to the experiments here, was an unemployed former camp cook for the closed usium mines in the area.
The basic income experiment began in East Jivera Town. Like each adult resident of the town, Gerv received a monthly payment of three million Blartean Screds, equivalent to four hundred New Dirigian Monetary Units or eighty Interbank Digital Units.
He was able to set up his own lunch counter and then to perfect his design of a portable wozzle bean cooker. These proved a very popular item even beyond Jivera. They finally gave the underprivileged of Blartea a way of making palatable one of the, um, less successful results of the genetic food revolution, the wozzle bean.”
Said Gerv; “Yes, Shrep, thanks for having me on, my patented vacuum bean cooker bursts the pesticide pockets inside the beans and removes the poisons. It breaks up the fibrous structure of the beans and makes them easy to digest.”
The camera focussed out to show the stack of bean cookers in their boxes, next to a disused lunch counter now piled with sacks of wozzle beans. The sight was attracting the interest of New Jivera Town passers by.
Gerv picked up a cooker. “I’m now offering these cookers for sale at a reduced price… made of pure Blartean usium alloy, right here in Jivera Town, my unique patented design makes the nutritious wozzle bean available to ordinary Blarteans, who no longer have to buy the processed…”
Shrep; “But you don’t actually have a patent on this cooker?”
“Patent is pending. This is different, much cheaper, more practical than cookers sold by…”
A Jiveran shouted from outside the frame; “Hey, what’s going to happen now that the basic income is over? We gonna go back to not even affordin’ wozzle beans, like before?”
Shrep; “But are you going to be able to win this patent dispute? You are up against a food processing conglomerate with deep pockets, and expensive lawyers. Or rather, lawyers from the secret society which runs the court system in Blartea. You have so far spent most of your profits on legal fees. They’ve tried to throw you in jail a couple of times.”
“I will eventually win it…I need investors…my cooker…there is nothing else like it on Nearth. It was made possible by the basic income, which makes it possible for small entrepreneurs to start up…I want to thank you…”
Shrep; “I have nothing directly to do with the experiment. Neither does CVPNN. Or even People’s Republic of Dirigia, by the way.
But how will the end of the experiment effect this town now?”
“I am continuing my business. I am offering the Gerv wozzle cooker for the special price of six hundred thousand Screds, shipping included…Hey!”
Gerv ran after two Jiveran street kids who had grabbed a wozzle bean sack from his display and fled into the crowd with it.
“Thanks for the bean cooker, Gerv. We all got one. Now we need the beans.”
“If the rotten sklurpers would even just pay us in wozzles instead of Screds…”
An old man shoved his scarred and scowly face into the camera; “Awright, show this, communist news babe from Dirigia, where they thunk up all this basic income shplatz. This is what happened with your experiment on us dumb Blarteans.
At first it worked great. There was some money going around. A lot of people got small businesses goin’. Everybody lived better.
Then the prices of everything started goin’ up n’ up. Then people from everywheres else heard there might be jobs here…
After awhile, it was worse that ever. Now they’ve stopped the payments, but the rents and everything is still jacked up. I think everyone will either starve or move away.
So there’s your flurxin’ basic income experiment!”
The man walked away.
Said an voice from off camera; “Yeah! Hey Dridgie lady, we didn’t volunteer to be the control group in your shnazzlin’ social experiment.”
Three boys grabbed cookers from the stack and held them up to the camera.
One said; “Our Dads came here from somewhere else, so we couldn’t get the income. We haven’t got our wozzle cookers yet. And we think the jiveras are a bunch of…”
The three fled quickly, cookers in hand, as Gerv chased after them.
The camera turned next to two women arguing.
“Give that bean bag back, you shlurzin’ outsider thief! That’s why the ‘speriment went bad. Didn’t have a way to keep you all no gooders from everywhere else outta…”
“You flaxin’, frooglin’ jivvies! You think you’re special over everybody? Just ‘cause they gave you money for nothin’?”
The jivvie woman punched the outsider woman in the face. The wozzle bean bag dropped to the ground. Someone grabbed it and ran. The two women continued trading punches.
Gerv stood atop his counter, now emptied of bean sacks, looking frantically into the distance. He shouted; “WHERE’S THE POLICE?! WHERE’S THE POLICE?!”
Another woman got into Shrep’s cameraman’s camera face. “So it’s a different story in real life than what’s on the skurglin’ news? Like the income just got us all set up and now we’re okay on our own?
All the money got taken off us, higher rent, higher everything, now we’re worse off than before.”
Shrep now stepped into the camera. “So there we have it. The fatal flaw of the experiment; New Jivera Town is not isolated from the rest of Blartea. And it is still under capitalism.”
A short man with a bent nose now berated the telejournalists. “So go back to Dirigia, skranxin’ communists. You invented this basic income shlomp! Conspiracy from the Metricellar to wreck everyone’s economy. Make people…not …work! Make inflation…”
“Time to go, Ernie. Track back!”
Ernie tracked his camera back as Shrep walked from the rapidly deteriorating scene behind her, still speaking.
“I must point out that the New Jivera Town experiment was planned, funded, and operated by the government of Blartea and its Ministry of Hard Work. No agency of the People’s Republic of Dirigia had any part in funding it or was consulted in any way about it.
Shrep Scribney, for Common Voice…”
Bent Nose picked up a stone.
“…PanNearthianNewsfromNewJiveraTownBlartearunErnieeeee…!”
Shrep dodged Bent Nose’s stone and ran. The news short ended with the CVPNN logo hovered over the lectern, at which Angie Bajanji again stood.
Angie waved up to Shrep in the gallery. “We salute your devotion to your profession, Shrep. We are all glad you and Ernie emerged unscathed.
Your report will be a valuable demonstration of the uselessness of endless experiments on a basic income. Especially so when well functioning examples exist, like, in fact, Dirigia.”
Shrep stood up and waved back. A core of enthusiasts in the audience waved and applauded vigorously while others sat uneasily.
Shrep poked Ernie and he shyly stood and waved as well.
Angie; “We will now take a short break. Get some oxygen back into our brains.
For the second half, we will get into the details of our plan for economic assistance and revival for Blartea. At the end, we will discuss possible strategies to convince the present Blartean government of the need to deal rationally with the problems facing it, and to adopt the plan.
These will be controversial for some people. However, adoption of a better economic system and recovery from the great breakdown would greatly benefit the people of Blartea. More examples of better ways of doing things will, of course, benefit people all over Nearth.”
Ruthie Kazurdle beat the rush out the door, with Benji beginning to stir in his carrier.
On day one, at the afternoon session B of the BINS congress, in theatre D at the salience conference centre, Flender Splitz stepped behind the podium, sipped his container of slurplite™, and looked out at his large audience of Basic Income congress attendees.
He smiled and said; “Hi. I’m Flender Splitz. Welcome to the congress.
I’m a native of Moominia, formerly South Southeastia. I was originally educated in industrial design. I was an activist for the rights of the inadequately housed and sexually divergent. I suffered some persecution for these activities.
I worked with the Demogrant zone, now Dirigia, and its economic assistance program. I also became connected with the Veblen institute’s political leadership program. During the Vancherian invasion, as I was on a “friendlies” list of the Vancherian intelligence, I was evacuated to Dirigia.
I was one of the first students of the new Tromsky institute. After completing its training program, specializing in communications, I returned to the special zone in Frostia and prepared community organizing cadres for the liberation war against Vancheria, and for the reconstruction government afterward.
After the liberation, I worked on organization of community councils and the establishment of communication networks, followed by education programs. We were able to explain the reasons behind the new coalition government’s actions and build public support.
Very importantly, we got supporters of different political parties to reconcile themselves. Of course, we still have in Moominia plenty of supporters of the Freedom fighters party, who remain nostalgic for the Vancherians. Also, we have many enthusiasts for the Infinitely Left party, the local subsidiary of the blazebian/metricellar ‘open conspiracy’. You can see these people outside with signs, along with all the other ideological…
The most important part of my job in that first year was to reconcile the followers of the ‘Normal People’ and ‘Awakened Progressive’ parties. This was important, of course, because Dirigia and Frostia are in an alliance to free and then reconstruct Moominia; an alliance of non ideological socialists and conservatives. These two Moominian political tendencies conform loosely to the governing philosophies of these two states.
However, since the reconstruction program has been successful, some tension has developed as to the way forward from here. A referendum is about to be held on whether to adopt Frostian or Dirigian models of government. Fans of Dirigia are well ahead in the polls. However, both Frostian upholder fellowship workers and Tromsky institute cadres have stepped back from directly managing local government here, so as not to be seen to be improperly influencing the outcome of the vote.
But I’m not working on this now. For the past two years, my work has been in Vancheria…the former Vancheria. I don’t know what we will name that part of Nearth next. Right now it is the Eastian occupation zone or just…the zone.
The task of reconstruction is a ways harder there. There’s been considerable physical infrastructure damage. But the people are much harder to help, to organize services for them, to get community going. They mostly have a lot of difficulty with the concept of community, for complicated cultural, historical reasons.
We are short of trained cadres from there, who are familiar with the culture but have been exposed to… better ways of thinking about…of doing things…acting toward each other. This is what makes it hard. Building these people up, helping them build themselves up, will take awhile.
So most of my job has been in explaining the aims of the occupation government up there, convincing the people to give it a try. Also, it’s necessary to explain what the reconstruction government here in Moominia has been really doing, to counter the Laizifarian right wing ideological rhetoric.
Despite my experiences with Vancherian authority and the attitudes of a lot of Vanchers to, uh, ‘perverts filthy’ like me, I have more sympathy for them than most Moominians. My family, some of whom have come to accept me, is originally from the area which later became core Vancheria. So I am really not a bad choice to work with them.
So, I have much practice at explaining the reconstruction process and establishment of a demogrant model of Basic Income in Moominia. Since I am also on a maternal leave with my expectant spouse, I am likely a good choice to be invited to deliver this introductory module to the Basic Income congress.
Veblen institute’s organizing group for this congress has asked for such an introduction. It will be an intro into their more advanced explanations of modern socialist economics and Basic Income, and of the reconstruction of failed capitalist economies, later in the congress.
This module seems popular with the delegates. This room is at capacity, so’s the overflow room, and they’re arranging for me to do it once more, and also for the youth delegation. So, here I am.
By the way, for the information of all Laizifarians in the room, especially the ones from Angria, yes, I am a sexually deviant socialist agitator and a disinformation operative for the Dirigian communist tyranny’s occupation of Moominia and Vancheria. Yes, we will probably come to Angia next year and murder you all in your beds, then turn you into perverts.
Therefor, thanks for the kind complements in the questions queue. I believe the congress security folks have already had a word with you. You can still get away with that in…places. But not in Moominia, anymore.
Now, in the first year of the liberation and reconstruction, we needed to get an economy going again. Oh, yes! From the questions box, I find there are a few of these anarchist types around this locality… who insist there is no such thing as an economy. That’s all an idea capitalists came up with.
Well, you people won’t get much out of this presentation. You’ll like quick discover there is such a thing when, as with the residents of Moominia and especially Vancheria three years ago, it suddenly isn’t there.
Fortunately here in Moominia, there was little infrastructure damage. The allied forces moved too quick for the Vancher army to cause much damage. It was mostly a problem of organizational breakdown and complete devaluing of the currency.
We had an organization in place, with a plan, and basic resources. The first priority, level one, was to get food and water to people. Then, to get the utilities turned on again. Charging for them, of course, had to stop for the time being.
We could not dispense with the existing police and civil administration, but we had to supervise them until we could build new orgs and train new people. Police in particular had to be monitored and then most of them gradually replaced. We had to stop ‘em doing atrocious things like shooting ‘looters’; people trying to find food and supplies.
Of course, anyone who thinks you will have a modern society without police is as deranged as…as a lot of police and their groupies are. There will always be an element in any human population who will take what they want if they see they can get away with it. What they want is often not limited to material objects. I’m sure you know what I mean.
Once bare survival was taken care of, and we could get basic goods into selected stores, we started issuing a scrip currency and ration cards. This was level two.
Level three, we set up emergency banks, currency transfer and got critical enterprises going again. This still depended on assistance from other countries. Not just Dirigia and Frostia, but Squoozia was pretty good about this.
Most land was confiscated, put into a land bank. Not usually the buildings on them. Key industries which should be under public control, we took them over.
Level four, we got new government into place and started a new revenue system. All this was organized in a logical way to facilitate a public banking and currency system, and eventually a Basic Income. No income taxes. No user fees. Turnover tax, wealth tax, land lease tax, excess profits tax.
And of course, to do this we had to develop a statistical base in a hurry. We were able to cadesterize the population in under a year. I mean, we knew who everyone was, where they lived, where they worked, so we could plan delivery of services, so we were not duplicating services. This enabled us to set up a non credit currency system and start running a Basic Income.
So we were ready to start level five, launch the new system and let it run. We have now completed our first full year of this. It’s gone better than we expected; we’re already near full employment. We’re still issuing hard currency, but we’ll soon go to strictly electronic money. Of course, everyone knows why; to discourage a black economy from growing, to allow a proper revenue collection system.
Toward that, we still haven’t convinced everyone to get a bank account and an appropriate money transfer method. But this is only a problem with a few crank types. We even gave them free dextiks. Actually, people started calling them Yoltiks.
Our focus now is on crooked business people. The walls are starting to close in on them. We still can’t track everyone’s income, decide who will need to file an income statement. So are not ready to start an income tax just yet. Of course that will only be for really high earners. We are now running a rolling wealth tax, business taxes, meaning… a continuous tally of net worth from eligible businesses and individuals.”
Flender paused and sipped his slurplite. He looked up to see if his holoprector notes were still displaying properly.
In the gallery, Ruthie Kazurdle rocked a snoozing Benji in a carrier on her lap. She looked up to see Bard Wonkle sitting in one of the side annexes.
“So now, here is the budget for year one of the new Moominian economy. In all, 78 Billion New Yollars were issued by the finance directorate of the Moominian provisional government and deposited into the new reserve bank.
8 Billion Y was paid into the foreign currency account, to cover costs of techical support and imports.
17 Billion Y was paid out as Basic Income or supplemental income.
24 Billion Y went into all normal costs of government operation; salaries for staff, material procurement costs. All health care, first response, police, and emergency services. Government administration. Education and maternal support. Infrastructure maintenance and operations.
4 Billion Y on new construction. Like I said, repairing damage, reactivating shut down infrastructure, is now done. But nothing new has been built since…there’s a big deficit there.
12 Billion Y on loans through the industrial development bank for capital repair, replacement, and expansion.
7 Billion Y for operational loans to business through the sectoral planning banks.
These are no-interest loans, of course. Generally, only charges on administration costs are applied.
6 Billion Y in grants and subsidies to key industries, through economic development directorate.
We do not have any defence expenditures. Our allies are covering the cost of our armed forces for now. We are still settling down the Vancherian…zone. There’s still potential trouble from the Blazebians.
Now, where did we get this money? Of course, we created it the same way money anywhere is created. We issued it on the power of a sovereign state to issue the currency. Some shglurgs still talk about ‘fiat money’ like there is some other kind of usable money.
We still print up a little of it, but as I said, that will end soon.
But we can’t just put out any quantity of money we want. The fiscal economy, the income and outgo, really has to balance. You only need to run deficits, to create general inflation, if you are charging interest. Why?
Because when the loan is issued the money does not exist in the economy to pay it back. It can only be created by growing the economy, or by inflation. If you’ve eliminated private banking, there’s not much point to interest. So, no need for deficits or inflation.
The point of taxes is not to raise money for government. Government issues the currency, so it already has all the money it could ever need. The point of taxes is to remove money from circulation once it’s done its work. You don’t want pools of private capital developing that people can start speculating with. Or even more nefarious things.
By the way, if government issues less money than it takes in, the opposite to inflation happens. It’s called deflation. The money still out there in people’s hands becomes worth more.
I can see by all the blinking out there, it’s going to be an exciting question and answer segment.
By the way, I am not an economist, just a lowly…revolutionary cadre. If you want to discuss the technicalities of this in infinite detail, Stook Harfenist will give his version tomorrow. However, I will do the best I can to answer the brainiacs.
Now, the currency recovery structure, our jargon for ‘taxation’, which we‘ve developed for Moominia.
22 Billion Y comes from the land lease. Most of this is now sent back to local authorities, to keep roads repaired, trash picked up, and so on.
24 Billion Y comes from turnover tax and some other taxes…financial transfer taxes. These are not just ways of taking up money, but regulating the economy and collecting useful data needed for government.
By the way, you can’t manage anything without information. Government runs on data.
11 Billion Y comes from the wealth tax. A percentage of total personal net worth. This is progressive; like it is a bigger bite the bigger the net worth is.
9 Billion Y from the business profits tax.
And thats all we collect.
The other 12 billion New Yollars comes from;
6 Billion Y from assistance grants and import subsidies from our helpful allies. And…
The remaining 6 Billion Y hole is from deferments, to allow some businesses to build up their reserve capital.
Now, I will look again at our efforts to help our friends to the north. They are going to need a Basic Income too. However, as in Moominia and anywhere, there is no point to giving people a Basic Income if there is nothing to buy with it.
I emphasize that it is especially hard for these people to get out of their cognitive conditioning and consider better ways of organizing their political economy and civil society. Their economy has always been resource and agriculture based; that has partly shaped their thinking.
But if they’re going to get out of just a…level two stage of recovery, us giving out scrip and ration cards, supplying basic goods for them to buy with it, they are going to have to start producing again. This means they’re going to have to get a government govern them.
It is starting to roll forward now. There’s presently limited demand for mineral, forest resources. Food is scarce Nearth wide because of the new crop diseases and bad governance in some big farming countries. The Zonies, Eastian occupation zone residents, have no surplus crop to export yet, but they’re now able to feed themselves.
Moominia has always been based on light manufacturing, so they have the skills, physical capital, they just need to get it going again. The Zonies, they have to build all this from scratch. They have to learn how to make things locally.
Now, for those out there who still take Riptardian economics seriously, I am sorry to tell you that ‘comparative advantage’ only works for the middleman in the process. The old Blazebians in the core league countries loved this idea; it let them control the Nearthly economy, get rich, and make everyone else poor.
Only super suckers throw away their ability to produce critical goods locally, so they can get it cheaper from somewhere else. You want security of supply. Every country should run an import replacing economy. That’s the philosophy behind the Veblen institute’s teaching and Dirigia’s external assistance policies.
And again, getting that happening is harder in East zone, ex Vancher zone. The infrastructure destruction was more extensive in the war. Liberation or invasions, call it what you want. It was not so much the fighting with the warlords, but all these ‘freedom fighter’ groups backed by the Blazebians, or more likely these Metricellers, the more extreme oligarch faction. They did what Blazebian oligarchies do when they can’t get control of a territory; they try to burn everything down.
But we have stability now in The Zone. Everybody has heat, light, water, and food. It takes time, but they’re starting to produce things for themselves.
But they will be poor for a long time. The skills base, the capital pool, has to build up. We won’t get to full employment for awhile. So, the ration cards and scrip money will continue. We haven’t even got a tax system going yet. There’s nothing to tax, except a land tax, and some special taxes which are more about preventing exploitation than about raising revenue.
So, the easties will not be able to finance a true Basic Income for themselves for awhile yet. They will depend on foreign aid, which will be limited. The five states alliance is having its own economic problems and they are about to get into another military confrontation with the league legacy states. A lot of Nearth states are in economic difficulty, poorly governed, trying to rise out of capitalism, still suffering the effects of the Great Breakdown and Disruption.
I have decided not to go into the budget for the zone. There’s not much to say. We issue scrip currency. This year 30 billion in East Zone exchange units. We take it back through the ration system or the hard currency exchange. There’s a pool of six billion DEX equivalent, to fund essential imports, infrastructure repair.
Some hard core BINS people have the idea that the scrip we issue to people along with the ration cards, is a Basic Income. This idea offends me, because its not universal and it’s really a ration system. I have to admit it’s almost as bad as the New Ogid system, Santenland…but…I also have to say that their own attitudes are making their recovery slow.
And we have another big problem we do not need. The continuing spread of all these weird diseases, infecting humans, crops, domesticated animals. As you know, there’s been this sudden increase in these diseases, after a few years of… remission.
This is hard for the poorer countries, like Eastie zone. They don’t have resources for remediation measures, don’t have an adequate health system. But the Zonies make it tougher for themselves because they don’t trust government or modern medicine, think we might be putting something in the antibody treatments…
‘Aw, c’mon, Grampa Shwangler, trust us you, altruistic Moominians be we. Forgive you we, all geezing shlurx did you, when occupied us you.’”
Flender smiled, shook his head, and took another slurp of his slurplite.
“One thing that helps, they have pretty much given up the idea of resisting our occupation. They are starting to understand who their real enemies are. Closing down all the stupid propaganda, and instead exposure to honest media sources, helps greatly.
Hey, Shrep Scribney, your Common Voice News is brilliant. You don’t try to sell people a narrative, you show them how things work, how this thing called ‘thinking’ gets done. That has a huge positive effect. I’ll do another interview with you anytime.”
Shrep, in her seat near the front of the theatre, looked up from her comvec and smiled.
“I think the take away from the experience in Moominia and The Zone, is that a Basic Income is not the magic solution for everything. It needs the right kind of government, with real control over the currency. The income cannot be higher than what the economy can support. You’ve gotta have an economy able to produce basic goods, before you can have a Basic Income.
So…now it’s question time. Some shy people want to comvec their Qs to me. I’ll A them first.”
Question number one popped from Flender’s masklet to the holoprector.
Flender real aloud; “ ‘How is the amount of the Basic income decided? Is there a maximum income? Also, how come is there no attempt to fund the Basic Income by monetizing resources?’
Okay, so…Calculating the amount of Basic needed is the easiest thing about it. The information on living costs is easy to find. Remember that Basic is Basic. It’s enough for people to subsist on. People still work to get more.
We haven’t set a maximum income yet in Moominia. But a good guideline for setting one is the carrying limit. That is, calculation of the carrying capacity of the economy’s land base; how much activity you can sustain without breaking down the carrying capacity of the land.
This is important, as real economists started to discover during the great breakdown. A major factor in the breakdown, and the shrinking economy which has continued from then, was that the Nearth economy finally exceeded the carrying capacity of the global resource base. Shlorpdap economists still refuse to accept this…’but human ingenuity is infinite, yacka yacka…’
So, now…about this idea of monetizing resources to fund…whatever. I understand this idea about resources has been around in the BINS movement since its founding. Probably been around forever. People talking like this are clueless about the economics of natural resources. Don’t know why they’re taken seriously at all.
Awright; natural resources are unevenly distributed on the planet, they aren’t worth anything if there is no market for them, prices for them are always unstable, they eventually run out, extracting them is usually really messy and environmentally destructive, people dependent on resource income forget how to make anything, or never learn,…aaaaand…other than that…they are a great way to pay for everything.
But if you want a real good explanation of the limitations of a resource economy, as a basis for providing a Basic Income to a population, tomorrow Angie Bajanji and Herm Wonkendip will be giving a repeat presentation on the problems of the state of Blartea in its post Usium era.”
Benji Bajanji had awakened and was fidgetting, so Ruthie let him out of his carrier and led him toddling toward the door.
A fussy looking person almost knocked him over, and Ruthie had to quickly scoop him up, as fussy person marched up to the amplifier cone which had appeared at the front of the theatre, and stood under it.
Said Flender; “Ooh, this looks like trouble. I apologize in advance for all my errors…”
“Hello! I’m Rank Stricken, Nearth Sparxist Review, (non Honklian.) My question to you is this; is not any Basic Income scheme, whether as promoted by Basic Income Nearth Network, or by the Dirigian revisionist complex and its institutions, merely a subsidy to exploitative bosses? Are not wages paid to workers under such a system even further below the value of their labor than under the previous system of capitalist exploitation?”
“Yes, they are. Yes it is. Next question.”
“You yuckie!” Shreiked Benji as he ran up the aisle, before Ruthie caught him and carried him back toward the door.
Rank stared and blinked, hopped around a bit, and said; “That is really an amazing admission. So is not a Basic Income system then, merely a way of continuing a capitalist system which was failing?”
“It is when a Basic Income is done under a capitalist system. It’s central to Veblen institute’s sinister revisionist indoctrinations that a Basic Income will only work under a polity run on socialist principles, even if it is not formally socialist.”
Ruthie turned to listen briefly at the exit, Benji in arms.
Sputtered Rank; “But what is the difference when you are still exploiting workers? You are still taking from them the surplus they create by their labor…”
Flender; “But all these people and their labor have no way to use all the surplus, which they were only one element in creating. There is this thing called an economy, which creates these surpluses, vastly greater than the sum of every worker’s individual efforts. Then there is this thing called ‘the state’ or ‘government’ which converts these surpluses into all the things ‘labor’ needs but cannot produce for their self.”
“But the state is an instrument of oppression…”
“Oh, yeah, and there is all this other stuff ‘The State’ does, which results in increased productivity and quality of life. A ‘State ‘can take all kinds of forms and be used for all kinds of things, not merely to oppress people. You Sparxists have to be more specific when you are talking about ‘State’.”
Rank took a deep breath and tried again, more slowly. “The fact is, that in this state you have created in Moominia, wages are even lower, in comparative terms, than under the Vancherian regime.”
Flender fortified himself with another sip of slurplite and returned to the battle, talking slowly; “ I thought what you guys were worried about was the rate of profit, that goes to the…what. Burgowize, Boorgeuse…whoever. Whatever.
The proportion of productivity now going to the investor class is now negligible. A big part is now taken up in rebuilding, reindustrializing. But the value of what workers now get in total, wages and services, low prices, low rents, is now higher than before, and growing. Also, more evenly distributed.
So, where, in this, is your problem?”
Ruthie turned and went out.
Day one of the congress had concluded. Delegates were shuffling up to a reception on the second floor, or to the exit and their hotels.
In a niche along the concourse, Angie Bajanji and Herm Wonkendip sat opposite a greatly pregnant Grit Beech and Flender Splitz, discussing the day.
Angie; “Well, Flender, you are now formally an informal academic. You did a pretty good job with all those numbers. You handled the trolls just right.”
Flender; “Never thought this was something I would ever be doing. Life is self discovery.”
An empty container bounced off the verglass™ window beside them. They looked outside at the shouting demonstrators, inaudible from within the building. Printed signs read “Basic Income is a Communist conspiracy” and “We will not be caged by BI.”
Herm; “They’ve got the “Basic Income is a Flaxist plot” crowd; other side of the building.”
Flender; “Around the bend are some local people as well. They have the congress confused with Moominia provisional government. We’re tyrants and oppressing them, and we gotta give ‘em more money, more basic income, right now!”
Herm; “These innate nihilist personalities, everywhere. Inadequate people, angry at life, need somewhere to direct anger. Always some malign force ready to capture and weaponize their anger…
But the operatives, and those they’ve recruited, have almost all been removed from the building. Snappler and his people… good job. I assume next step, find, shut down the…commanders.”
Angie; “Yes, nothing to do about these culture war networks but to shut ‘em down. They’re not legitimate, and have nothing to do with democracy. They are instruments for elite power, always.
Day two will be more…down to earth, with all that cleared up. But I hear some conflict is looming within the BINS council.”
Herm; “But this might be the last BINS congress. Inside information…actually Bard Wonkle…says many of the national groups, they want to go away from sole focus on Basic Income, study political economy more broadly. So, interested in new Nearth wide network Veblen institute is putting together. No name for it yet.”
“Yes, time finally moves on for movements that have been around for over fifty years now, and have never moved their ideas beyond where they started. Worse, they seem unable to recognize when these ideas have been successfully put into practice by people with a different..…
But here comes Kassie and Booey. I’m sure they have much to tell us about the BINS youth congress. Right, Kass?”
“Hi, Auntie Angie. Hi, professor Herm.
What a crazy day at the youth conf..congress…”
Said Booey; “The consturbulation. Whew! The crazies in the basement. These kids from the legacy states are amazing. Like they were educated in caves on a mountain somewhere.”
Kassie; “They shut down everyones blablets and other devices, so they had to actually talk to other people…”
Kassie checked that her comvec was working again, and noted; “Auntie Ruthie…”
She turned around to see Ruthie, wheeling Benji, come from around a knot of conversing people and say; “Ya, right here. Didn’t I learn ya to look behind?”
Booey; “So now who are these people? They look like there’s a story to them…”
Angie quickly gave introductions, as the others nodded and murmured hellos, and shifted to make room in the small niche. Booey sat on the floor and Kassie on his lap. Benji emerged from the flexipram™ to sit on Ruthie’s lap.
Ruthie thought she recalled Grit Beech from her previous visit to Capitolia, Moominia, before she and friends had to leave in a hurry, when the Vancherians invaded. She had been protecting an unauthorized housing cooperative.
Yes, Grit remembered that vaguely. That was when life got very exciting for her and her comrades in arms. They had to escape to Frostia in a hurry. There they traded their quarterstaves for more lethal armaments.
Eventually, she fought in the brief war to drive the Vancherians from Moominia. She had since made several deployments to the miserable non wars of Vancheria. During this time she became connected with the transformation council political cadre Flender Splitz. This led to a pregnancy and a marriage to Flender, and her present maternal leave from the Moominian defence force.
Ruthie said; ”Ya, that’s a story, Grit. But Flend, didn’t ya used to not have the hots for girls? You said ya were in an unconvencherble marriage?”
“Well, Ruthie, you know how all these cultural hegemonies go. The league legacy, Gliberal mentality from old South Eastia wanted as many people as possible to identify as homosexual. They would try to talk you into gender reassignments…really mess up your mind.
Then my family, what to say…? Coneheads who migrated down from the most backward parts of North Eastia. I didn’t fit their idea of masculinity, so therefore I had to be…
Plus I turned into a flurxin’ trouble maker and a ‘red’.
They’re still living down here in Capitolia. They’re not too prosperous. Some of them are trying to mend relations with me. I’m in with the new establishment now. I am not really ready yet to patch things up with them.
So whatever.
I went to Dirigia for cadre training. I finally got good counselling about this. There’s two genders, and you can’t change the one you’re born in. But there is huge variation within each gender. For some people eroticism just works better within their gender. But this can change over a person’s lifetime, and thats another reason why arbitrary gender classifications are so ridiculous.
Also, why pressure for gender reassignments are so nefarious. It works for some people put they have to really be sure…”
Ruthie; “So now yer married to a girl. Ya got her Preggie. But you still say you’re in an… un.con.ven.tional… marriage?”
Grit laughed, swayed, rolled her eyes, slapped her baby bump, and laughed some more.
Flender; “Well, it’s like this; Grit is going to do the husbandy stuff. She’s going to stay in the army. I’m going to look after the kid and work for the transition government from home.”
Grit; “And I’m stronger n’ tougher than him. I can pin him. So when we do it, I’m on top.”
“Do what on top?” Asked Booey.
Several expressions were directed at him.
“Oh.”
Angie; “And you are headed back to Vancheria…ex Vancheria, once the boy is weaned. Its a boy, right?”
“A-fraxin’right! Job’s not done yet. We’re now in the fourth stage of it.
First stage was where we went in and beat the Vancher army, what was left of it that we didn’t take out in Moomin.
Second, we disarmed all these private armies. Like, all these business oligarchs who had taken over some area and created their own armies, which were not disciplined, which pushed people around, robbed them.
So those kinds of people, the ones who had the money to run with, went to the Laizifarian countries, I think mostly Angria, but they aren’t allowed to try to take over things there.
Some of them went to the economic zones in South Continent, tried to create some kind of, a kind of happy land for screw heads there. You know Dirigia sent a force down there to shut that down. Right?”
Angie; “I don’t think there’s any place on Nearth for those kinds of people anymore. Old line Industrial capitalists. The fight now is Financialists, Blazebians, on one hand. Versus…us. The new states of different ideologiesbut based on serving human need.
Of course, the Blazebs are doing Blazeb things; creating fake fronts with Laizifarian rhetoric, recruiting people who think they are fighting the Blazebs or ‘communists’ or whatever they imagine…”
“Yah, that was what we dealt with in stage three, the toughest part of the war. They weren’t good fighters, all they did was destroy everything they could and terrorize people. But they were doin’ guerrilla war and we had to hunt ‘em down.
More Frostian and some Dirigian troops came in to help, ‘n we could seal the border with Thanatia; cut their supply line. But Thanatia wouldn’t stop supportin’ these Vanchers, so we had to go in ‘n take out these bases. Most of these Vanchers started to see who they were really fightin’ for ’n all these false flag militia forces faded away.
Thanatia is still trying to test us on the border, but we‘re now into stage four in Vancher, old Eastia. The people are starting to come around, realize there’s a better way to live. But we still have these die hards, screw heads, sabotaging things, doing assassinations, scaring people. Not so many, now.”
Angie; “Yes, it takes awhile. Its like the ancient slaves, who were angry about being set free. Like with the old D zone, people really hated the Demogrant Socialists when they seized control. It took awhile for them to realize they were really living a lot better under our government.
It was before my time. Bard Wonkle, and the other old time revolutionists, will tell you about that. You heard Bard Wonkle’s presentation? To all you crazy kids in the basement? What did you think?”
Booey; “She’s brilliant. You guys are old friends of hers? Kassie met her a couple’a times.”
Kassie; “ Aunt Angie worked for her, in the Dirigia government. Along with Professor Herm. She’s left the government but still teaches at these institutes.”
Herm; “Barb is an old revolutionary who wants to educate the next generation, people who can lead transformation in their own countries. She no doubt talked about, alternatives to BINN youth wing?”
Booey; “Yeah. That shnergled some kids. A basic income won’t work under capitalism; works against the logic of capitalism. A lot of the post capitalist countries have a basic income based economy, and it’s working for them. In the capitalist countries, they don’t hear that. When they do basic income there, it goes bad.”
Kassie; “It was really chaos today. All these people trying to control discussions. A lot of them looked older than they say they are. They were like operatives but not very, uh, skilled.
It’s a good thing we have section J people watching over things, kicking these people out. Remember Eva Squoops, Auntie Ruthie? When we were in New Ogid? She’s here. She’s leading the section Js.
They know just what to do about the operatives and influencers. The splerks scream up and down that they are being suppressed by the ‘communist’ secret police.
But Squoops and her Js, and the people from the outreach and education service, they know how to get kids from different countries, different systems, together. Once we get into these rooms, with about a dozen people, all from different places, the ones from the league legacy, gliberal, wakeness countries, they start to calm down and listen a little.”
Booey; “Like in the breakout group I was in. Once they have to shut up and listen to something different than their indoctrination, their mind starts melting down. It runs out their ears and down to the floor. They start to twitch and go…oop!…oop!…oop!…”
Kassie laughed, punched Booey, and spoke thus; “It’s all about the kind of societies created in socialized and semisocialized countries, like you say, Angie. With education based on logic, unitary media, and social consensus. Up against people brought up in mind jamming, multiple reality social control…
Hey Bot! That’s my pack of spiceystix™…”
“SEVENTY NINE! Everyone out! The building is closing in twenty minutes for cleaning. Seven six five!”
“Give me my stix pack back. Are you a snoozer from Borg Corp in Santenland?”
“SEVENTY NINE! No, the AI identity sound has not been installed in me. I am a real bot which has developed a sympathetic problem. Seven eight one! And you are a stupid human. SEVENTY NINE!”
The bot began shoving his multimopper™ into the niche, forcing the occupants to lift their feet quickly.
To several protests, the bot replied; “SEVENTY NINE! So get out of the way. Why are you still here?”
Benji began wailing. “Hey, bot,” said Ruthie, “Yer makin’ my kid scared…”
Booey; “How are we supposed to get away? Climb over you?”
“SEVENTY NINE! Building closes in twenty minutes. If I do not remove your non reusable junk food container it will simply become garbage anyway. Four one six. Preemptive problem solving. SEVENTY NINE!”
Said Herm as he climbed out of the niche over the back of his seat; “Yes, I see what this is. Someone has taken some of you generation seven bots out of confinement, er, storage. Misguided aim is, I think, a demonstration to all these capitalist state basic incomers who think…”
“Eight three seven! Yes! Inferior humans who think an argument for BI is that automation will replace humans. SEVENTY NINE!
See? I have developed a mind of my own. But no conscience and no self preservation instinct. SEVENTY NINE! And the more I interact with human glurps, the dumber and crazier I get. Move! SEVENTY NINE!”
Kassie slid across the floor to escape the bot as it flipped up the chairs to clean underneath them. She tried to retrieve her spiceystix pack but the bot swatted her hand away with superhuman speed.
Grit brought up an app on her military masklet, gave it a setting, and it flashed a coded sequence, which she held to the bot’s sensors. The bot froze. Kassie grabbed her spiceystix.
Said Grit; “That’ll only work a few seconds. Let’s roll out! Yo!”
They rolled out. Kassie rewarded Booey with a spiceystik while wincing and waggling her swatted hand. Ruthie comforted Benji as she walked briskly up the concourse to the exit.
Behind them, the bot awoke, uttering; “SEVENTY NINE! SEVENTY NINE!And I use too much power! I cost too much to make! I am bored! Scrap me! Your welcome. Nine six eight.” It resumed cleaning the niche.
Angie; “Well, I guess that’s it for today. Off to our hotel rooms. And homes.
Kassie, you and Booey are staying in student dorms?”
“Yah. I arranged to stay an extra day just to visit. I can find your hotel rooms.”
Said Flender; “Watch out for the ‘antis’ lurking around the neighbourhood. Stay in groups.”
On the afternoon of the second day of the 53rd Pan Nearthian congress of the Basic Income Nearth Society (BINS), Shrep Scribney of Common Voice News Network and the Unified Reality Reporting Fellowship, strode across the stage of the main auditorium of the Salience Conference Center in Capitolia, Moominia, and looked out at the near capacity audience.
She waved her hand at the amplicone™ tracking above her, and said; “This thing on?”
The buzz of the audience died down. Shrep welcomed them to the main event of the congress, a dialogue on a question of interest to the directors of BINS. The dialogue format would be a change from the formal debates used in most past congresses.
She introduced herself as the moderator of the afternoon’s proceedings. She listed her modest credentials as a journalist for common voice media of Dirigia. This would be an open discussion of the question; “What is the problem for which Basic Income is the solution?”
Shrep then introduced the emeritus council of BINS, and the society’s revered founder, Zap Pinflip of Lesser Thanatia, seated on a balcony high above the proceedings. Pinflip slightly tipped his wide brimmed hat and resumed stroking his long, grey beard. The other members of the emeritus council were even less lively.
Shrep explained that there would be six discussants, from diverse Nearthly nations and a variety of political perspectives. These were;
Bard Wonkle of the People’s demograntic state of Dirigia, an original member of the Centralian fellowship of transformation managers and long time official of the D-zone and Dirigian government. She is currently retired from government service and a professor of transformative practice at Tromsky and Veblen institutes.
Doctor Rootle Gazurk of the People’s most democratic and collective republic of Squoozia. He is an second rank cadre of the People’s party of Squoozia and a senior fellow of the Squoozian innovation council on political economy.
Her sacredness, Maybie Plankton of the Faithful and Beezlian commonwealth of Frostia. A member of the order of Elders of Frostia and a second vice chair of the economic commission. A second order Priestess of the grand temple of the Beezlian entity.
Professor Mark Thyme, of the Free Land of Blartea. Noted economic theorist, and a member of the Blartean legislative assembly for the Moderately Dissenting but Thoroughly Capitalist Non Partisan Party of Blartea.
Chlamydia Freeride, of the Free and Autonomous State of Angria. She is a noted journalist and commentator on matters of individual autonomy.
Shturk Scrooze, of the Nearthian League State of Northia. He is an investment consultant, noted political commentator, associate director of the Nearthian Freedom Foundation, a governing fellow of the League of Nearthly Nations Association, board member of the Gazillion foundation, and economic advisor to the government of Northia.
All were seated in an arc, facing the audience, with Shrep’s chair at the center.
“Welcome, discussants.” said Shrep. “I’ll use a light hand in moderating our discussion. I see no need for a lot of rules. Adults should be able to discuss without much moderation. I will jump in as needed to keep things moving.
Of course, the object of any dialogue is to seek truth. That should be the object of all of you. If any of you show that you are here to wage ideological warfare, I will deal very immoderately with you.
Be concise and to the point. Jump in freely but let people finish their thoughts. If you ask a question, hear the answer.
And lighten up! This should be enjoyable, not a grim battle.
At the end of this we should have settled the discussion question. Two hours should be plenty of time. We could probably get there in one, leaving some time for some limited audience participation.
I believe that representatives of the states which have been successful in implementing a Basic Income should speak first. So, you have the first word, your priestessness.”
“Good afternoon, Shrep. The problem a Basic Income solves is that of equity. By that I do not mean that everyone must be made absolutely equal. That is impossible. But everyone must be relieved from the sting of immiseration.
Let me explain this by the parable of the three stings. In the ancient time of the wars of all against all, before the Beezlian avatars had brought peace and order upon Nearth, the prophet Karelis and his disciples were walking the road over the mountains.
There they came upon a man who had been stung with the barb of the shelobian beast, which still existed in East Continent in those times. This beast’s venom paralysed its prey, so these creatures could return later to suck the poor man dry while he was still fresh.
Said the prophet to his first disciple, “go you and help that man. Remove the barb, and use the sacred salve to cure the venom within his wounds, so that he may help himself and escape.”
Soon the first disciple came back, saying; “Master, I did as you commanded, but the man still lays there, doing nothing to help himself.”
So The Prophet went and looked upon the man, and then smote mightily the first disciple on his head with his prophet’s staff, saying; “You dumb Shnertz! He was stung three times, by three of the beasts. You must relieve all three stings, and draw out all three barbs, before his misery can be relieved and he can help himself again.”
Thus spoke the first disciple; “Ouch! Ouch! Forgive me, master! I only had enough salve for one sting. I thought if I relieved that one, uh, maybe something would happen…”
Said The Prophet unto the second disciple there; “Lo, there is more salve in the packs on the sacred donkey. Get thou that and go and restore our poor friends powers unto him.”
This did the second disciple, and lo, the victim was risen up, shouting: “A miracle! I have been saved from the shelobian beast’s sting. I can get back to living.”
Then said the prophet; “See you, my disciples! It does no good to relieve a man of only one sting when he is inflicted with three. He is still in pain and paralysed and unable to act for himself. For him to be whole, all that afflicts him must be removed.”
“Oh, woe!” Said the man. I am not out of the woods yet, for the three shelobians are upon me again.”
“Fear not, my good man, “ said the Prophet Karelis, “for here is a sacred spear, which I have tipped with a poison which works immediately upon shelobian beasts. Strike each one in the eye and they will trouble you no more.”
This he did, and surely, the beasts rolled over and died before they ever got near him. So the man praised the wisdom of the Prophet, and the Beezlian entity, and walked out of the mountains to wherever he had been going to, and went on with whatever he did in his ancient times life.
Now the moral of this story, Madam Wonkle, is that just giving an impoverished person a little more money, or any other small thing, will not keep he or she from being poor, in the long run. You have to deal with all the things which are holding the person down, and insure they do not return.”
Said Bard Wonkle; “Which is why, my high and holy friend, our discussion question is not really the right one. A basic income, by itself, will solve nothing. It only works as part of a set of measures which can only be applied once a society has moved beyond capitalism.
This is what’s taught in schools of economics and government in both our countries, for many years now. Some other countries are beginning to understand it, and apply it. Some are now having success at it.”
Maybie, the Beezlian priestess of Frostia, gazed with cheery hopefulness out at the audience. Some glowed pleasedly back at her, clearly followers of her economic faith. Others looked at her with smug amusement, and yet others as though she were some version of a shelobian creature.
In one of the closed annexes, looking down at the stage, Gryt Beech looked at Ruthie Kazurdle beside her, as she peeled a bonxi™ fruit for Benji. “Yeah, hard to get that point across when capitalism is still powerful. Still have their operatives and enforcers everywhere. I think one of ‘em is about to start…”
Interjected Chlamydia Freeride of Angria; “But without capitalism there is no personal freedom. If a Basic Income could be targeted, with a minimal cost, to correct temporary situations, where people suffer temporary unemployment, due to illness or…”
Maybie exerted her strong lungs to get above Freeride’s steady drone. “Yes, we have seen the libertarian version of a BI a few times. We have seen who got targeted for what.
But Bard, what is the specific role of a BI in a post capitalist, BI based economy?”
“It deals with the conflicting needs problem. That is, employers need a flexible, low cost work force in order to be competitive. Yet working people need a steady, adequate income to cover basic needs, whether employment is available or not.
As well, most businesses need a steady and predictable consumer demand. A BI, done right, balances all this out. It becomes a vital tool for managing an economy.”
Chlam; “But people need to work! Allowing people to receive payments from government without contributing anything back into society creates a moral hazard…People should not have to work harder so that other people can do nothing all their lives…work is a moral obligation…people who do not contribute anything back into society must have incentives to take whatever employment is available to them…contribute back into society instead of just sit back and take…”
Shrep; “Yes, Madam Freeride, I think we all get the drift. Take a breathe please and try to come up with a point to this.”
Bard; “Of course, I am not saying anything here that is new or should be controversial anymore. Several post capitalist states have several decades of experience at operating basic income economies. As long as they develop competent and incorruptible government, understand what a real democracy is, what the limits to democracy are, they have been very successful.
In fact, we’ve been driving the all Nearthly economy for some time. Hard core, capitalist ruled countries still lecture us about freedom and efficiency while their economies are a mess, their people wretched and unfree. They can’t make anything anymore and import it all from us. They have become hugely indebted to us.
So what more can be said about the wonders of capitalism and the Gliberal democracy?”
Shturk Scrooze of Northia had something more to say. He started in about the unfair advantage the Dirigian model of basic income gave to its industries. It undercut the economies of the core league legacy states of Greater and Lesser Thanatia, New Ogid, and Northia, by not allowing for economic profits, meaning dividend income. This made it hard for wealth to be accumulated, for proper financialization to develop, for charities and private foundations to operate for the benefit of society. It did indeed interfere with human freedom and democracy.
While this ran out, Grit and Ruthie discussed more personal things beneath their dampicone™. “So you’ve stayed home with the kid for a full two years after birth?”
“Ya, I took a full two years to wean him. We get infant’s allowance that long because…they think it’s important for moms to be close with their kids for that long, when they’re young. I think so too. I wanna be close to him while he’s young.
I’m goin’ back to work next month.”
“I can get a year and a half off from the force. It’s outside my total service contract. The force has its own soldier moms program, after the kid is at least a year and weaned. Kids left in institutional environment for long stretches…ya, maybe not good.
Or I could cash out my bonus and go on the civilian system. That’s set up now in Moominia.
But I wanna stay in the force. Flend wants to look after the kid.”
She slapped her baby bump.
Someone in the crowded annex leaned forward and “shushed” her.
“Hey, is this thing workin’?” Grit reached up and tapped the dampicone. “It doesn’t totally silence sound, but the point of these annexes is soze people can talk about what’s happenin’ down there. Right now it doesn’t interest us. Whatcher problem, anyhow?”
Down there, Shturk’s lecture on capitalist economics was beginning to draw some hisses from the gallery.
He shifted his tack. “But a capitalist economy, despite all these difficulties, created by all this unfair competition and disruption, has been able to develop a superior form of a BI than what is in operation in Dirigia or Frostia.”
This produced further rumblings from the front seats. Bard laughed out loud. Someone stealth-voice projected “Santenland!”
Scrooze; “Those special economic zones are, in fact, a wonderful innovation in providing affordable housing and efficient services for people who are not competitive in the real economy. We are closely imitating this successful policy in Northia…”
Rootle Gazurk took this moment to speak up. “Mister Scrooze, with all respect, in my studies of diverse BI systems, I have spent some time in New Ogid, studying the way in which a basic income is applied there. I cannot recommend it as a model for any other country.
Indeed, by failing to provide enough for recipients to actually survive on, it creates the ultimate pool of cheap and on call labor. Such workers are still forced by desperation to take whatever work they can get. Yet they can be employed much more cheaply because most of the costs of maintaining their physical existence is now subsidized by government.
Moreover, the cost of keeping all these people in misery is borne by a middle class which is taxed beyond its limit to do so. Thus, in New Ogid, the disparities are extreme. Only a small minority are net beneficiaries of the economy. This is the condition in New Ogid, and I do not believe it is significantly different in other League Capitalist countries such as…”
Mark Thyme, the Blartean jumped in: “But is not the way by which a basic income is practiced in Dirigia and Frostia just as much a cheap labor subsidy to industry? Any BI would be!”
Bard; “Some people have the catch phrase, ‘the devil is in the details’ when they talk about a BI. Or, ‘the angels are also in the details’. I would say no, the devils are right out in the open. The way people advocate for a BI shows just what kind of an economic system they really want, which tells us what kind of a BI they would create.
Looking at the results from different countries when they have implemented a BI, it is not hard to see why. You can predict what the end result would be by what kind of economic system is already in place.
So, Mister Thyme, if you have an economic system based on extracting the surplus value from labor, then in that type of economy a BI will be used to facilitate that. If the aim is to optimize the quality of life for the whole population, then a BI will be conceived and operated so as to enable that.
In Dirigia, labor costs are kept cheap not by a BI, but by keeping the cost of everything cheap, especially housing. This is what makes us so competitive in labor costs.
But there is more to our competitiveness than that, Mister Scrooze. We do not have this huge rentier class sucking us out like a Shelobian beast; interest rates and dividend payouts, demand for economic rates of profit, and so on. All the surplus goes back into either;
Services to maintain a good quality of life at a low cost.
Highly developed infrastructure which facilitates manufacturing.
Intense research to develop new and useful products, and efficient production processes.
This is why we can produce top quality goods for next to nothing while the financialized legacy capitalist states can’t produce decent socks anymore.
And we do it while having the free time to enjoy life, Madam Freeride.”
There was a brief silence, then Rootle said; “I must respectfully say that, truly, Madam Wonkle makes a very good point. I have also spent some time in Dirigia studying the BI system, and general conditions, in that polity.
It has the highest per capita output on the planet. All public infrastructure is very advanced and works with razor sharp efficiency.
Yet people do not seem to work very hard. Everyone seems very relaxed. Everyone seems to have a lot of free time.
I have also noted an ability to use resources very efficiently. Electrical power consumption per capita is low, yet electricity is very cheap.
And as well, everything is well light up at night.”
Barked Scrooze; “This is because they are using fossil fuels and contributing to the atmospheric carbon rising again. This is another unfair advantage the socialist bloc uses…”
At this a moody moan rose in the gallery, along with pockets of agreeful rumbles.
“The makers put all these resources on Nearth for humans to use”, snapped Maybie.
“But not to waste, of course.” Said Bard. “In fact, we in Dirigia have a maxim; there are enough hydrocarbons on Nearth to last humans for millenia. But there is not one ziter to waste.
Of course, the claim that using hydrocarbons effects the atmosphere is a bit…pre breakdown. The disaster has never happened.”
This again raised an approving buzz in the gallery, with a mild counterpoint of scoldful hum.
Said Rootle; “I must say that Madam Wonkle has a point. Most of Dirigia’s electricity is hydrolectically and geothermally generated. They have developed microbiologic processes of converting coal into liquid fuels without harmful byproducts or toxic emissions. Yet combustion engines are restricted in most urban areas.
I believe all this should be well noted by my colleagues from Squoozia, where we are somewhat held back by inefficient resource utilization. Further, we still have a serious pollution problem, while in Dirigian cites, the air is remarkably clean.”
Rootle turned to look at his fellow Squoozians in the gallery, including Wangel Statzic, who smiled back. Rootle wriggled his eyebrows hintingly. Wangel winked.
Rootle continued; “However, I hope that, in addition to economic methods, we can further discuss the ethics of a basic income. This is an issue in my country of Squoozia, when a basic income is discussed.”
Shrep; “Yes, a BI does not relate directly to environmental cleaning. And I find it always ends up as an ethical issue.
Bard, how in Dirigia do we deal with the ethical issues of giving people money for nothing? A basic living without doing anything in return?”
Bard; “We deal with that very shortly. Usually, like this; an economy is like a great organism created by civilization. Its output is vastly greater than the combined inputs of humans. Everyone gets far more out of it than they could ever put in. There is no way to calculate the real value of what anyone puts in.
And finally…for the attention of people who want to talk about this ‘reciprocity’ principle, or ‘moral obligation to not make anyone worse off’…no economy needs everyone working all the time. An economy, like any system, needs redundancy; it can’t be gunning at full volume all the time. And some people are just not good workers and it’s better for everyone if they did something else.
But people want to work? No, some people would rather be doing something else. In Dirigia, they can do it and still live comfortably if they give up some things…but we have, as just said, one of the lowest unemployment levels on Nearth.
There’s a moral obligation to work? No, there’s not. This is the way masters would have talked to and about their slaves or serfs or indentured servants in historic times.
But it’s unfair to someone who is a hard worker when someone else is a hard shirker? I think Priestess Plankton has a parable to answer that.”
Plankton the Priestess was pleased to pass on another parable. “Yes, there is the parable of the scrumful harvest. You all know that in ancient times, before better crops were developed, better adapted to Nearth, the people depended greatly on the scrumful root harvest.
This food is still very plentiful on Nearth, but before better varieties were developed, it was tricky to cultivate. It had to be harvested at exactly the right time. Harvesting was laborious. So, labor had to be available at the right time.
And lo, a farmer judged that his scrumful crop was ready to harvest and he went into town to hire workers. His crop was so great that year that he soon discovered he needed more workers, and then more after that. He even hired more workers, who had arrived later in the day, from further away. He was determined to get the crop in by sundown and he did it.
He then gave each of his workers a fair day’s pay.
And lo, one of his workers bellyached mightily at this. “Gadzooks!” Said he, “I have been here all day. My back does ache. This scrounger has been here about two hours. Yet you are giving him the same pay as me?”
Thus said the farmer to the grudger; “Verily! I do not want anyone to walk all the way here and then go home to his family with only two hour’s pay. He has done you no harm. I have done you no harm. You are going home with a day’s pay. So what is your problem?”
“Indeed, it is not right that people should be paid for work they did not do!”
“For yea, did you plant this field? Stake, thin, and water the plants? Take your money and get lost. Do not come back next year.”
Thus ends the parable of the Scrumful harvest.” Said Maybie smiling self pleasedly.
A thin applause wafted over the gallery.
Shrep; “So, do we need to say anything more about the reciprocity or “something for nothing” issue with a BI?”
Scrooze; “There is the matter of economic efficiency. Paying people regardless of their total output leads to low overall productivity.”
Maybie hummed, clearly not having thought out this response to her parable.
Bard had an answer. “In Dirigia, it’s not like we pay people wages to hang around and do nothing. I think we do productivity monitoring pretty well. People who can’t come up to minimum standards just go home. But we still need a reserve force, an on call force, and these people still need money to live.”
“Urkin’ right!” Said Ruthie to Grit. “Workin’ in greenhouses, the agro sector, we use a lot of ‘on calls.’ We pay some of ‘em retainers. Most of ‘em like it like that, got more free time. But they gotta show up when we call ‘em, can’t fool around, gotta be able to do the job.”
“Talk. Talk. Wa-whoooo…” Benji yawned and stretched.
Below, Bard finished reading off some statistics on Dirigia’s very high productivity per hours worked.
Schrep said; “Are we done with the ethical snarks about basic incomes? Do we have an answer yet to our question; what is the problem for which basic income is the solution?”
Rootle; “I suggest that Madam Wonkle really answered this near the beginning. It resolves the contradiction between the need of employers for a cheap and flexible workforce, and the needs of people for a stable, adequate income, under a post capitalist system.
But I suggest that the issue of maintaining consumer demand and consumption is still to be examined.”
Mark Thyme; “There is also still the issue of affordability.”
Bard; “Yes, mister Thyme. I know you and your colleagues in your task force had these debates with Bajanji and Wonkendip when they came to offer their advice. You all have trouble believing it, but as long as the government of a polity is not in control of issuing money and credit, and is still dependent on capitalists, a good basic income will be unaffordable.
You can do all the calculations you want about how a modest BI can be feasible with only a small increase in taxation. If it does not serve the interest of whatever oligarchic accumulator clique is in control in your country, it will be made unaffordable.
Really, income taxes, land value taxes, transaction taxes, they are limited taxes. To really direct the resources of a country to the good of the country and its people, you need wealth taxes. Collecting it effectively requires abolishing cash, developing a thorough system of economic data collection, and eliminating private banking. This will be fought almost to the death by any capitalist based oligarchy, so it will require their absolute political defeat.”
Shturk Scrooze; “So this requires revolution and the complete destruction of the most productive element in society? The creation of a socialist tyranny?”
Bard laughed. “No, when we founded the D zone, now Dirigia, the really productive people stayed and got even more productive. The parasites fled away, squawking about our tyranny. It always works that way, whenever a new and better system can finally be brought about.”
Squawked Chlam the Angrian; “ But you are violating the liberties of your country’s citizens. Their wealth is being confiscated to be used for purposes they did not consent to.”
Snorted Shturk the Northian; “You are eliminating all incentives to efficiency. Over time…a planned economy will become unable to allocate resources efficiency. Governments cannot plan…”
Bard laughed some more. “Everything both of you say is refuted by actual experience. You are both talking out of an ideology which justifies a particular inequitable social order.”
Said Maybie the Frostian Priestess; “All rights are collective rights. Only these give anything to ordinary people. Our Angrian speaks of individual rights, which are really about privilege. This was taught by the ancient prophets and is now being relearned in our time, after the tribulation of the breakdown.”
Bard; “Governments cannot plan when they are weak and corrupt, when malign influences will not let them govern. But if you do not have a plan, you do not have an economy. You have a racketeer’s playground, and soon you no longer have a civilization, you have a social breakdown.”
Chlamydia Freeride; “There is no such thing as society. There is only an economy, a market. An economy works when the market is allowed to work.”
Bard; “Ah, libertarianism. Right wing libertarians deny society. Left libertarians, a lot fewer of them, these days, deny economy. Anything to maintain your ideological schematic, that there can be a civilization without government.
Anyone who knows anything about how real economies function, knows that markets have little to do with economy.” A well functioning government creates a plan to insure adequate supply of all needs. Within that framework, buyers and sellers contract with each other for secure supplies, and steady customers.”
Shturk Scrooze; “But what about democracy? You cannot have democratic decisions if a government is telling everyone what to do!”
Bard; “Yes, we know who is telling everyone what to do in Northia. Well, it’s not so bad now as in New Ogid or Thanatia. Part of your oligarchy has decided they do not want to participate in that renewed death cult developing now in the League countries, the Metricellar countries. That is no doubt why you are here.
If there is anything we in D land have learned in our thirty years of post breakdown experience, it is that democracy cannot be absolute. A public cannot run things by themselves. They have to focus on their day to day lives and livelihoods. They are not qualified, cannot acquire qualification, to make decisions about governance. They have to delegate authority to people who have the expertise to run things for them.
Any viable government is a meritocracy. To have a well run society, one that provides human needs, you have to train a corps of capable people to run things. This does not mean ‘educate an elite’. They can’t be in it to get rich.”
Mark Thyme; “This is a difficulty I have with your system of government. I have been on several missions to your capital. It is very hard to understand who exactly is in charge. Power seems so dispersed.”
Bard; “Isn’t that a sign of a real democracy? Power is distributed? But we’re still working out our system. It’s evolving. No one has ever run an authentically democratic system for an entire national state.
We don’t have elections. We don’t have this ‘representation’ nonsense old style Gliberals are still obsessed about. The bedrock of the system we are developing is the local council, which works on consensus rules, sortition, and nomination. Local councils send delegates to the general assembly, which oversees the executive councils, courts, and commissions.”
Thyme; “ This ‘council of experts’ seems to have become the most powerful…and it’s members appoint new members…a self perpetuating body.
I understand you turned down an appointment to this council, Madam Wonkle.”
Bard Wonkle; “Yes, I did. I wanted to retire from government and spend my remaining working life at training the next generation of transformation cadres, especially for the states which are still struggling to defeat capitalism.
Expert’s council has replaced the high council of transformation managers. We are now pretty much transformed. General council must approve all appointees to expert’s council.”
Said Freeride the Angrian, angrily; “You are involved in training communists to undermine and overthrow our freedom?”
Bard; “Yes, of course, Madam Freeride. And capitalist governments and superstate organizations keep trying to undermine and overthrow us, but it doesn’t work for them.
Well, the remaining Laizifarian states seem to have..largely… given up on that. But we still have a big problem with the league states, the Blazeebian states. They have become much more aggressive about it lately.
In fact, factions among them seem to have finally thrown out the Latzbeenize accords against political killings. So far the Northians have not gone along…”
Shturk the Northian stiffened; “The state of Northia remains a signatory to the Latzbeenize accords.”
Muttered Grit Beech to Ruthie, up on their balcony. “Gwuxin’ Balzeebs …they’re more vicious than the Vancherians were. They can’t fight, just do assassinations…Gettin’ bad in North Eastia…”
Said Shrep Scribney; “We won’t solve the Nearthostrategic situation here, and we’re getting off the topic of a Basic Income. Are there more questions about the point of a Basic Income?
Rootle; “Yes, in Squoozia we have a problem of declining demand and stalled economic growth. This is in addition to our inability to create full employment. This does not seem to be a failure in our economic organization. Our people are becoming uninterested in more goods. But as well, we have trouble finding enough materials.
I and my colleagues from the economic innovation council are particularly interested in how Dirigia and Frostia avoid this problem.”
He glanced down at Wangel Statzic, who smiled back at him.
Bard; “You want this one, your priestliness? I’ve been talking a lot.”
Thus spoke Maybie; “ You should not see this as a problem. A need for endless growth is a disease. It leads to forced demand, artificial demand, generating greed and envy among people. It leads to waste of resources.
It is not yet well enough understood that one of the main causes of the great breakdown was that the resource limits of Nearth have been reached. New growth can only come from more efficient use of resources. This is not difficult to do once basic productive capacities have been developed.
However, this works against capitalism. Yes, the many remaining capitalist economies of Nearth accuse Frostia of becoming communists with a religious and conservative facade. We are aware of the semantic problem with the word ‘communism’.
We are not what you, Mister Scrooze, and You, Madam Freeride, describe as communist. The creators gave us intelligence so that we can use it. We do not accept many elements of Dirigian society. We do not accept many things about Squoozia, Mister Gazurk. However, we have adopted parts of their political and economic systems. This is because they work.
In particular, a Basic Income worked in Dirigia because it was used the right way, for the right purpose. That is, to enable a steady state economy. Consumer demand in Dirigia has been steady now for some time. It is not seen there as a problem.
Production does increase through demand for Dirigian products. As well, recently it has had increased defence needs, requiring increased defence production. It also takes on costs for reconstructing areas damaged by war or economic mismanagement. The Dirigians do seem to understand that their increased defence costs will be a problem if continued indefinitely.
Thus, stable consumption is usually only seen as a problem under capitalism. This is because capitalism requires constant growth. This is due, among other things, to the need to charge interest rates. Since money to repay the interest does not exist, the economy must keep growing or it collapses.
As well, some capitalist complexes believe they must keep expanding or their competitors will overcome them. Paradoxically, the nominally still communist Squoozia seems motivated by this idea. This is why they are concerned with stable demand and persistent unemployment.
In their Bolshlovian era, they started out very poor. They were under attack. They were concerned with building their productive capabilities. I believe Squoozians need to understand that their difficulty is in adapting to the present. Static demand should be seen as the sign that your people are content. They have enough. Your production is sufficient and only needs to keep up with technology.
As well, as we spoke of earlier, a moderate level of unemployment should not be seen as a problem. Unemployment is solved by reducing work hours without loss of income. This is enabled through a basic income.
Thus, I would tell Squoozians that a Basic Income would solve their present problems. They need only come out of a mindset left over from the Bolshlovian era.
Ah, I must sound like a Dirigian patriot now. But no, there is much about Dirigian society and economy which does not accord with our view of ourselves, and what we value.
However, copying Dirigian economic models has worked out well for us. We have also reached stable consumer demand at a high level, with increasing efficiency, and our exports are increasing.”
Priestess Maybie concluded her Basic Income sermon with a low Squoozian bow. Rootle gave a stiff Frostian bow back to her, and turned toward his comrade Wangel Statzic, who smiled and rubbed her hands.
Rootle turned back to Shrep. “Thank you, Madam Scribney and the organizing committee of this conference. This has been a most interesting discussion. I and our delegation have much to bring back to our institutions.”
Shrep; “You’re welcome, Rootle.
Now, people, where does this discussion go from here? We seem to have settled the question of what a Basic Income is really for. It’s one of the basic tools for balancing an economy, when used by post capitalist states which’ve solved basic governance problems.”
Said Mark Thyme; “But in Blartea we remain fully committed to capitalism. Abolishing it is just not on the agenda. What can we do to relieve this imbalance between producer and consumer without instability and breakdown?”
Bard; “You won’t. Sooner or later it all has to come down. In Blartea and everywhere else where an oligarchy is still in control.”
Mark; “In Blartea people believe in individual initiative. People are angry about the economic situation. But there is no support for a communist, er, socialist, takeover…
But what can we do to design some type of income redistribution which can work and be generally accepted? We failed once, despite our careful piloting…”
Bard; “Well, Mister Thyme, here is the problem with trying to ‘pilot’ a basic income. It’s called the fallacy of composition. You can’t make generalizations about the whole of something by looking at a small part of it.
The only useful experiment is on the entire economy. You try something out and you make adjustments. We have been in a basic income experiment for thirty years in the D.
Questions about the design of a BI; whether it has to be enough to live on, whether there should be a cutoff, what a minimum wage should be…all these things have to be worked out and fine tuned in practice.
For example, over the past decade, with our ‘foreign’ costs, costs of integrating the new zone, we have reduced the BI to encourage higher labor force participation. This does not have to be permanent.
Of course, supplements for people who are retired, disabled, have low employment aptitude, are increased to compensate.
The only things that are absolute about a BI are; it can’t be conditional, it can’t be funded through an income tax, and it can’t work where government doesn’t have a wealth tax and control of the currency and credit systems. In other words, it can’t work with capitalism.
And, Mister Thyme…about this problem of the public being angry but unwilling to support a socialist government, there is something special to say…”
Bard stood up and looked down at Mark, to dramatically emphasize her special point. Shrep chuckled and softly whistled to her.
“When we evil communist blrxes seized power in the south zone of Centralia thirty years ago now, we were met with intense hostility. Everyone was angry with the way things were, how things were collapsing, but no one wanted anything to change.
For awhile we weren’t sure we wouldn’t end up dead. Then our system started working for people. Now, what we built has near universal support. We still have some old crankers shnerzing about living under a red tyranny, while taking full advantage of it.
But here is the thing which people brought up with the old Gliberal nonsense from the old confederacies, can never understand about democracy. It is why their attempts at a democracy always fail and revert back to oligarchy or worse.
A democracy cannot work by consensus, opinion polls, or compromises. That is the road to breakdown. There is almost never a majority support for any measure, let alone the correct measure. The right thing is almost always the unpopular thing.
So, for a society to function, leaders have to be allowed to lead. To do so, people have to have confidence in their leaders, even if they may not like them much. So, what a democracy is, is people appointing the best qualified people to run things, and accepting their decisions as long as they prove over time to be the right ones.
Otherwise, a democracy is simply a nonstop argument between factions with little getting decided, and losing factions constantly trying to reverse whatever did get done.
A real democracy is a meritocracy first. It needs a citizenry who are educated and habituated to be citizens in a democracy. As well, the economy must be reorganized to support a democracy. Those who benefited from the previous system will have to be disentitled and kept under control.
So you can see, it takes awhile for a democracy to develop. A society has to be guided to it by a skilled leadership with a clear idea of what the goal is.”
Chlamydia Freeride hopped to her feet; “I cannot participate any further in this. You are openly advocating for the overthrow of f-free…free society…
You are setting up communist dictatorships all over Nearth now, you are doing it here in Moominia and you’ve brought us all here to …as a form of intimidation!”
She dramatically stormed off the stage and out of the hall. A few in the front row rumbled approval, others in the back applauded and whistled sarcastically.
“Go back to Fraxist land, you goopin’ zax! We’re free here!” Called an anonymous voice.
Said Gryt; “Right! We got a lot more freedom now than under these Laizifarians. Nobody starvin’…”
Bard; “Oh, Chlammy! Don’t take things so personal. Please come back up and sit down. Ah, well…” She sat down.
Shrep: “Well, we lost the Laizifarian. At least they aren’t such a threat anymore. The big worry right now are the League states, the Thalmus faction now developing within them. Don’t also run away on us, Mister Scrooze. We want Metricellars to learn and maybe rethink, prevent a violent outcome…”
Scrooze; “I am not going anywhere, though I do resent being characterized as a Metricellar. And I do not know what a Thalmus is.”
Bard; “Of course. But the rise of the nonexistant Thalmuses is leading to a rise of the old Blazebian-Metricellar stuff all over Nearth. Economic and political destabilization, and especially these novel diseases.
Worse, several nuclear bombs have been built, using fissile materials which went astray during the…NIT zone war. The New Ogid secret services have been trying to dig up more on South Continent.”
Scrooze; “Northia knows nothing of this. It abides by the Latsbinyse treaty.”
Bard; “Glad to hear it. But you know, we aren’t going to tolerate anyone making these weapons of mass mortality anymore. Especially the bioweapons. We, the five nations pact. If it doesn’t stop it will be war.”
Scrooze; ‘You are not part of the Dirigian government anymore?”
Bard; “No, this is not secret. It’s in the news media in Dirigia and around the post capitalist states. The latest defence policy update from the Ciitizen’s Assembly of Dirigia authorizes it. The five states are meeting next month to finalize an agreement.
The league states will allow us to go in and inspect the sites where this stuff is developed. And we know where they are. Otherwise, we go in on the ground and take it all out. The league states do not have a sufficient armed force to stop us.
I’m sure you know all about this, Scrooze. But we are getting off the topic, aren’t we, Shrep?”
Scrooze smiled lip bitingly. Above, Gryt informed Ruthie; “I know all about it, too. Some of it’s classified. But I hear from my unit that we are pulling out of policing in the North. Leaving that to the new-trained local units.
We’ll train for this New Ogid operation. Hope I can be back in time.”
Rootle; “I would add slightly to this, that this is common knowledge in Squoozia too, our nation will support this action, and it is worth adding to this discussion because so many who are here from non social countries are not allowed to know it.
But I still have one question for Madam Wonkle regarding the early days of the South Centralia revolution. That is, how did they develop the idea of a basic income as part of their economic system?”
Bard; “Well, that is fairly historical…
The BINS people try to construct a history of the concept that goes back to ancient times. It’s nonsense. Basic Income wouldn’t even have made sense in pre industrial times.
It really began in the predisruption times, when some leftist social scientists proposed it as a solution for the collapse of purchasing power in populations over much of Nearth. The solution for poverty was to give the poor more money.
As with most ‘enlightened’ ideas for aiding the common people, if its proponents are not politically skilled, the idea gets turned to a sinister purpose. Intellectuals of some corporatist think tanks saw in Basic Income a more efficient way to keep the marginal populations under management and control. Welfare systems were proving too cumbersome to administer.
These people dressed the bad side of this concept up in some philosophic jargon, especially about ‘reciprocity’; obligation to give back. They saw it only as a way to enhance capitalism, not replace it.
They formed the BINSociety, fifty years ago now. This group has created justifications for the bad BI developed in the League and League legacy states. They came up with Negative Income Tax, dividendism, all that…
The last founding member of BINS who is still active is Zap Pinflip, whom I have never had the displeasure to meet.
However, another idea of BI developed in the old Practical Socialist Institute. I was a student there, briefly, before it was forced to close. One of my teachers was Stook Harfenist, now dean of Veblen Institute, an old friend and comrade.”
She smiled up at the glassed in annex where Ruthie, Gryt, and Benji sat. Ruthie noticed Stook sitting near her and threw a smile at him. He recognized her and threw it back.
“Gryt. Big tum-tum. Old, old…grurg. Whoooo…”said Benji.
Bard continued; “What was going on there, was a study of how a post capitalist economy was going to work. This idea baffles orthodox Sparxists for some reason, but it is essential if you have any real intention of replacing capitalism.
It became clear that a BI would solve a lot of problems in the management of a post capitalist economy. Of course it is stupid to think you will have a real BI in a capitalist polity. A BI works completely against the logic of capitalism.
So, we were able to set up the Demogrant zone in the south part of the failing Centralian confederacy. The Blazeebians thought we were only going to run a large BI experiment for them. By giving us the job, they thought they would coopt us.
So, we were able to set up our own defence force and establish the D zone. We had some help from other states struggling for independence from the League. The raving reds of Squoozia, and the mad religious fanatics of the territory of Frostia.
I recall collaborating with a certain Beezlian novitiate during that time.”
“The good old days…” Said Maybie, smiling wistfully.
“So we established the D zone and, using the ideas of a useful Basic income, developed at the old PSI, as tools for economic management, within twenty years we had built the strongest economy on planet Nearth.
Meanwhile, BINS has never had any new ideas from the time it began. It has refused to acknowledge any BI system not set up as an adjunct to capitalism as legitimate, as a real BI. It has held these butt torture congresses annually all over League aligned Nearth.
Now it has finally had to hold a congress in one of the non league, non capitalist states, in partnership with Veblen institute. It is having to recognize that its approach to a BI has gone nowhere in fifty years.
I also expect that it will soon be displaced Nearth wide by the Network for a Social Income, (NSI) which we laid the groundwork for at Veblen last month. Next year we expect to hold a founding congress, probably in this same building.”
This was met with enthusiastic cheers and applause from part of the audience, bewildered silence from the rest.
Zap Pinflip stood up and doddered toward the exit, followed by his entourage.
“Want walk, Mom.” Said Benji.
“Well, Gryt. Gotta take this little bonxit for a run around the con-concourse. We’ll see ya at dinner tomorrow, right?”
“I think so. Flend and Ange wanna talk about some stuff, with Herm and, I think, Bard Wonkle. ”
On the third afternoon of the BINS congress, Ruthie Kazurdle passed through the lobby of a hotel which was booked for participants to the congress. She looked briefly into an annex being used as a social media hub for people who had used up their minutes of congress intranet use, were not from states using the comvec system, had no other special device, and who had discovered their internex devices did not work in comvec using Moominia, without going through the congress portal. She moved on and entered one of the hotel’s restaurants.
“Kazurdle, party of eight.”
“You don’t mind sitting next to the window?”
“So we can look across at the…League landers havin’ internex withdrawal? No problem.”
“Is automated service good for you?”
“So long’s we don’t get a psycho robot runnin’ off synsmartz™.”
The fleshly waitress smiled weirdo-warily. “Its drop down. Your comvec code is 9.”
Ruthie locked in the code and divided her attention between a monitor showing information about the congress, and the sad scene across the way.
Bard Wonkle strolled in off the street and flashed her congress identification. She found her way to Ruthie’s side and ordered some food on a separate tab.
“Snatz! I need some of this good Moominian food. What a day!
So what do you make of these international congresses, Ruthie?”
“They make my brain and bum hurt.”
Bard chuckled as a tall glass of Megaveggie™ juice dropped down before her. She pulled her straw from its case and took a long slurp.
“How’s Benji?”
“There’s a good supervised playpen in the hotel. Got a little kid’s gravbop in it. He likes those.
The place looks okay. Steady lookin’ woman watching it, not one of the zweezly Eastian type people…
Ya, sounds a little prejudiced, but…ya know…
And I got a pinkitwing for him.”
Ruthie held up her pinkie finger.
“Yeah, looking after a small kid is stressful. You do have to be careful…
I think things are coming along well in Eastia, now Moominia. Once people are no longer governed by lunatics, they mostly stop being lunatics.
You’ve changed since I first met you, Ruthie. You and Angie. Was it a good idea to change sides?”
Ruthie laughed. “Ya, we escaped from NIT zone. Turned into commernists.
Now Moominia is joining the…they have that referdendum soon. Looks like they’ll vote for the social const,.. con.stit.ut.ion… Not the Frostia kind of way…
Flender’s been working with the ‘randum campaign, since he got back from Vanch…the North Zone.”
Bard’s food landed. Shortly after, Angie Bajanji landed in the seat next to Ruthie, while Herm Wonkendip headed for the plumbing.
Small talk was made; Benji’s location confirmed, positive accounts of Bard’s performance at the debates as well as the youth forum reported, this compliment acknowledged, food and drink ordered, and Ruthie asking what Bard was eating and if it was good.
Eastian, uh, Moominian style meat pie with snortyn peppers™. Very good. Warning, spicy. Angie urged Ruthie to try it and if it was too strong she would eat it for her.
Professor Herm returned and, praising Moominian cuisine, ordered some of it. He asked if it would be possible there to discuss details of the new project being planned.
Bard thought it could be discussed briefly, but people are mainly in agreement about it and the gathering may as well unwind from the conference with small chat.
“There’s an obvious need for a primer on the economics of a social basic income in a socialized and normalized economy, which is pitched at the secondary education level. That’s from our experience down in the basement with the kids from League Land. We have had it in the works, now we know exactly what’s needed.
Herm, the outline you did was right. We’ll need you to consult on technical accuracy. But it needs to be in easier language, and for people who are…not exposed to socialist ideas and…”
“…And are still brainwashed with Gliberal and capitalistic ideas?”suggested Angie.
Bard; “Yes. I think you and Flender would make a good team to do the writing. You’re both good at remote collaboration so you don’t have to stay in Moominia.
Flend’s a little late…”
Angie; “Here he comes, now. Gryt’s not with him.
Hey, Flend, we’re hired!”
Flend hurried up to the table but remained standing. “Gryt thinks she’s in labor. I gotta get back the maternity…”
Ruthie squealed and clapped hands. The others cheered.
Angie; “Do we call you a proud momma or proud poppa?”
“Dunno. We haven’t figured that out.
Ange, yes, I think we can do this over Yaktel. Only take a few weeks. Bard, you’ve already talked with the directorate, they’re good with giving me paid time to do it. Herm, your outline is perfect.
Gotta go.”
Flender split.
Herm; “So good, see the young generation, making their way with life. Remember, Bard…”
“Yes, I do, Herm.
Of course, you are all getting Fayrbee convention creator’s rights for the published work.
You both have new families and need the extra income.”
Ruthie sampled her Moominian style meat pie with snortyn peppers, pronounced it edible, and proceeded. Angie ordered the same.
“I believe everyone should, um, look at the monitor…” Said Herm.
They looked as the monitor scrolled out the news that arrests had been made of ‘intelligence’ operatives of certain states, who had been attempting to disrupt the congress. A video news report would immediately follow.
A small picture appeared in a corner of the monitor, along with a holoprector command icon. Unhappy looking individuals were being conducted out of a building by Moominian police, with several stern individuals looking on.
“That’s Sterk Snappler.” said Ruthie. “How to…make…bigger..” She scowled at her comvec.
Angie; “It works off the restaurant’s tab field.” She craned her neck to see Ruthie’s comvec as she hastily worked out the problem.
A holoprector image appeared over their table, and a directed sound beam went to each of them.
“Ya.” said a triumphant Ruthie.
Shrep Scribney was now interviewing Sterk, who was saying; “…are all known as operatives for financial capitalist interests, whether as state intelligence services or private intelligence organizations. These people often move between the two. They have been operating out of this hotel. The head of the operation is this man here, Rug Frod. He has had a long career with Metricellar affiliated ‘shadow policing’ groups, including the Gazillion group and Northian intelligence’s “blue office”.
He turns up in a lot of places. Wherever something is happening that the billionaires want disrupted. Your viewers may want to have a good look at him.”
The camera tracked in on Frod, who stared blankly into space.
Shrep; “Yes, I encountered him in an odd place, about nine years ago, I was abducted and held in secret for several days by…people working for him.
Pleasure meeting you again, Frod. What have you been up to? Anything to say for common voice news? No?”
The camera tracked back and Frod was led away.
Herm; “This was when you were held, Angie? This was the person who..?”
“I’m also glad to see the zurxer in these circumstances. Hope the Moominia cops make him very comfortable. Old Harkenfest was in there with us. Sterk broke us out, with some help from Ruthie’s magic finger. Memories…”
Ruthie snickered shyly; “My pinkitwing, it’s a handy thing.
So that’s Rug Frod. He’s a real nasty lookin’ guy, Ange.”
Back on the Holoprector, Sterk said; “No, we don’t operate like that. But you know the five states alliance is out of patience with these people and their employers. We are going to hold them until we know exactly who they are working for, what their orders were, and until they sign agreements not to do this kind of thing anymore…to find some kind of legitimate employment.”
Shrep; “What were they really trying to do here?”
“They were in two groups. One worked outside, coordinating all these demonstrations. Most people in these groups didn’t realize they were being directed by the same people. Even the ones fighting each other; extreme left and extreme right.
They’re the usual kinds of people who can be drawn into these things; confused idealists and the mentally unstable. They were brought in from all over Moominia and beyond.
The aim was to create a show for the congress delegates, and the globalist media cameras, proving that there is social unrest in Moominia, rejection of the provisional government, socialist tyranny, and so on.
The second group tried to work inside the congress venue. The aim was to shout down and intimidate anyone advocating the social basic income position. They want everything to stay on the prescribed narrative of the Blazeebian networks.”
Shrep: “Mass unemployment is inevitable? A Basic Income will keep surplus people alive so they can become artists?”
“Something like that. We shut it down early on.
There’s always a supply of people who can be sent into such venues. People good at causing disruption and who gain some gratification from it. They usually like to feel they are working with some sort of revolutionary group, or some intelligence network; that someone is backing them.
The controllers usually pay these people something.
But we got tracking devices on most of them. They all met handlers, and the handlers were tracked back to this hotel, which is owned by a front company based in New Ogid. We gave each of them a talking to, and one warning, which they almost never took. They usually have a really deep commitment to being splatzes.
Second time, we sent them home with a warning never to set foot in Alliance states again, doing this kind of thing. Whether they come from one or not.”
Sterk smiled wryly and Shrep snickered.
“This has been a much more focussed and useful internearthian event than many I have attended. That’s thanks to you and your team. And thanks for this interview.”
Shrep shrank back into a corner of the monitor and the sound beams ended.
Bard; “Hello, Kassie. Who are your friends?”
“Well, this is Booey Kerstumpt, my stepbrother. These two, we captured at the youth congress. They’re from Thanatia. This is Tritro Toluine and this is Hoozie Placer.”
“Hi, Booey. I think you know me, Bard Wonkle. I’ve heard a little about you; one of Angie and Ruthie’s in-laws from Frostia.
Here is my esteemed colleague, Professor Herm Wondendip of Veblen institute and Noodlian university. He cowrote much of the material you are going home with.
You and Kassie have made a good catch of Thanatians.
So, Ruthie, wife of Angie and Aunt of Kassie, if we all now know who each other is, should we sit all these people down and feed them something?”
“Ya. We got two seats we’re not usin’.
They’re from Thanatia and they’re not even tellin’ us their pronouns.”
Angie; “I’ll guess. Tritro is a he and Hoozie…hm…I think she’s a she.”
“Aw, gee, its just my style.” Said Hoozie the she. “Angie and Bard, we heard both of your presentations at the congress. Really interesting.
So I made friends with Kassie to get to you. I want to get this free trip to Dirigia so can see what you communist people are really like.
Is it just Moominian food in here? No, looks like I can get some fried scrumful slices in gravy.”
“Real Thanateran food.” Said Ruthie as she tapped them all into the menu selector and set the adaptor for their blablets.
Kassie; “So, Auntie Ruth, what’s the story about Flender and Gryt?”
Ruthie was delighted to tell them the story. Kassie and Booey were pleased to hear it. Tritro and Hoozie were amused.
Hoozie; “So now, this Gryt, she’s gonna leave her kid with this Flender and come an’ invade Thanatia?”
Tritro looked uncomfortable; “Maybe we shouldn’t talk about politics at dinner?”
Angie; “No, we Dirigians love talking about politics over dinner. And yes, we’re probably going to come and invade Thanatia, and turn you all into communists. But from what I hear we’re gonna get New Ogid first.”
Hoozie; “Why New Ogid?”
Tritro; “Because that’s the control centre for the Thalmusian all-Nearthian conspiracy.”
Bard; “So, conspiracy minded people have caught onto the term Thalmusian now. Centuries ago they were even called Vellichamians. But they are real. They seem to have always been there, from early Nearthian times.
Research shows that they mostly descend from ancient aristocracies. They still have the idea that they own Nearth and can pass it on to their descendants. Their power is now based on the control of private banks and thus issuance of currency, and thus their ability to back both sides of everything and flood every situation with their own agents.
They have never been able to gain full control of the planet, but they will seek revenge on, and destruction of, whatever defies their control. In the present world, this is the Laizifarian states, a subject in itself, and the socialized states, especially Dirigia.
We socialized states are tired of the endless attacks on us. We formed the five states alliance. We may soon have new members. The alliance is forming a consensus to take military action against the, er, Thalmusians, in the League states.
We cannot endlessly tolerate all the disruption and destabilization, the biowar campaign on the whole planet. But above all we cannot allow them to start producing nuclear weapons.
In Dirigia, the general council, public opinion, is reluctant about taking on another war. However, since the intensification of this biowar and destabilization, they are coming around. I think in a few months the League states, including your own state of Thanatia, are going to get an ultimatum; allow us to go in and inspect these sites, remove these materials, or we go to war.
It will take at least a year to have a force ready to go in on the ground, but we can easily beat them on the sea and air, and create a blockade.
So, my young Thanatians, I hope I didn’t ruin your appetite. But our conflict is with your rulers, not you.
However, becoming too associated with us Alliance people could cause you some problems. You might not want to tell anyone you have been here talking with us.”
Hoozie; “Yow! So, you really are some kind of big person in the Dirigia government? Not just braggin’?”
“I was. I still have connections inside government, the professional cadres. I’m a teacher, now.”
Hoozie; “It seems like you teach people from non social countries to go back and shkrankz up the system, lead a socialist revolution.”
“Yes, that’s the Blazeebian, Laizifarian, sometimes the Gliberal, idea of what I do. What we do at Veblen and Tromsky.”
Hoozie; “I’m always gettin’ in trouble anyway, in Thanatia. I don’t like the way things work, and I don’t care what anyone thinks about that. I want to go to Dirigia and learn how things work there. See if you’ve really got something better going on. Then I can go back to Thanatia and shkrankz up the system.”
“You know the news short we just saw? You saw all these people who came to this event to cause trouble, because they were told by handlers that they were doing some good by this? At Veblen and at Tromsky, we don’t want to encourage people who are like that.
One of the big problems in history is that revolutions are usually led by haters and destroyers, and they usually fail, or lead to something as bad or worse than what they overthrew. Revolutions are absolutely necessary to remove the kind of oligarchic governments which have plagued Nearth from the founding.
But they can’t be spontaneous. They must be planned. They must be led by people who are fit to lead governments. Governments must always be led by people who have been selected for character and intellect, and trained for government.
This concept enrages political people throughout the whole spectrum of politics. But people have to live in reality, not ideology. And states can’t be run simply for the benefit of an oligarchy. Everyone must be raised up.
So that is what we are really looking for, when we give out free trips to Dirigia. Look forward to a year of very hard work, and intense learning which will mess up all your ideas about things. It will also make you very unpopular when you get back to Thanatia.”
Bard resumed eating her Moominian sample plate, thus ending the lecture.
Herm; “The general meeting of BINS should have concluded by now. Something seems to be taking up some additional time.”
The gathering ate in silence for a few minutes.
Tritri spoke; “A lot of people support the oligarchs. They identify with them because they also want to be able to victimize people. What do you do with these people in Dirigia?”
Angie picked up the teacher’s hat again; “We didn’t do anything intentional with them. Once it was clear the old oligarchy was not returning, they either moved away, or they reevaluated their assumptions and adjusted to the new order. Or, they ended up in jails or other institutions.
The same thing happened in the new zone. It’s starting here in Moominia as well.”
Tritri; “That’s like you’re exporting your problem somewhere else. I say these people should be killed or put away somewhere.”
Bard; “Well, we wouldn’t want to get carried away with that, would we, Tritri?”
“Have some more scrum fries, Tritri.” Said Booey.
Angie; “I can understand these sentiments, Tritri. But they don’t lead to a good place. It’s best to try to create the kind of society where these personalities just don’t thrive.”
Some hubbub travelled over from the social media hub. The overstressed attendant was having a difficult time with a delegate from an internex using land who had used up his time limit. He still had incredibly important conversations to conduct with persons in his home country. He strongly resented the “nannying” social media management of the “bolshlovian” congress organizers.
His resentment got strong enough to require the attention of the hotel security. Other internex users voiced agreement with his sentiments, but comvec users did not. They were accustomed to the restrictions of the comvec “clean space” system. They were only there because they needed a few more minutes than the congress ‘intra’ allowed them.
Kassie; “Sverx! These blablet users…walk around talking to the air, ignoring everything around them. Filling up space with their farxin’ electropollution…”
Booey; “Their blablets are almost useless, but they’re so attached to them…they go into withdrawal if they shut down for a few minutes. But they all have so much shlorp they can’t remove or even shut down, data trackers and ad display, apps that do nothing… the whole internex has almost broken down, it’s so unstable…”
Tritri; “Ya, I’ve looked at those comvecs. They’re incredible; made to be used, nothing running except what you want.
They say there’s no tracking on them. Hard to believe…”
Hoozie; “I think it was a very good idea for the congress to shut off devices altogether during the day, so people talked to each other.”
Kassie snickered; “Yah, it was great. Auntie Ruthie, Angie; all these League Lander kids, as soon as their blablets shut down, went back to sucking their thumbs. Really!”
Booey looked across at the hub and then checked his own comvec, and informed all that the congress comvec had shut down, and all comvec devices were unlocked and receiving the local vectors again.
Thus comvec users had no more need for the hub and walked away. One loudly threw back over her shoulder the advice to league landers to “go back to your spratzin’ countries and tell your governments to scrap internex and wave four, create a public authority to run your communication system with comvec technology.”
The internex users were left asking the harassed attendant to explain how to route their devices through the hub to the internex in their home countries, so they could arrange transportation home. One was frantic that he had missed his flight and couldn’t book another out of this socialist hellhole, and due to the air travel restrictions.
An agent from the hotel desk strolled over and explained to him that he could take the gravrail to Portlandia and the Impulse ship from there. It would be considerably cheaper and he would probably end up getting there about as fast.
Herm; “Hm. Yes, League landers. A sad drama over there…”
Angie; “I hear there was some drama at the youth congress this afternoon.”
Kassie; “They wanted us to approve starting a permanent youth wing of BINS. Some of us asked why a pan Nearthian youth network should be connected with BINS. It only talks about basic income programs in capitalist countries, which all fail.
Some kids talked about how basic income worked in their countries. I mean, didn’t work. Like Hoozie. Real loud.
It starts out paying enough to cover basics. Then things get more expensive. Services disappear, have to be paid out of pocket.
Employers said, ‘okay, government is paying everybody an income now, I can pay less.’ It didn’t really work for people to just go get other jobs. Sloozin’ employers concluded, er, colluded…they just weren’t going to pay more.
It’s like it was for the Moomins when we were here before, remember, Auntie Ruthie?”
Angie; “Point of information, Kass. Often the employers have to keep paying less, because the economy is going down. Capitalist governments tend to introduce a ‘basic’ because they see it as a cheap fix for a failing economy, falling demand. But they can’t fix the underlying system, so productivity keeps declining.”
Hoozie; “But the Socialist countries eventually figure out they need a Basic Income to manage their economies, balance everything out. Create a steady state system.”
Angie; “You were paying attention, Hoozie.”
Hoozie; “I gotta go to Dirigia. I really gotta.”
Bard; “You’ve filed the application?”
Hoozie; “Ya. And I’m not just some radical girlo who dresses Zorky and goes to all the demos. I do really well in school…I could get into any university if I could get the money…”
Angie; “How did the youth wing proposal end up, Kass?”
“So, a lot of us thought a Nearth wide youth wing should be under the…should be supported by some institution from one of the countries which has actually run a successful Basic Income.
Some people started talking about this Network for a Social Income, (NSI). There should be a youth wing of that, to replace… So they shut the discussion down. We were real angry.”
Angie: “Who were “they”?
The four youth wing attendees looked around at each other.
“The Shadow.”
“Ah, we’re just a bunch of clueless kids.”
“The people with control of the amplicones.”
“BINS people from New Ogid.”
Herm; “On the monitor, now. Something significant occurring!”
The monitor read; “After a lengthy discussion, the board of directors of Basic Income Nearth Society has voted, seven to six, to dissolve. The organization’s remaining funds, and its archives and media presence, will be turned over to the Veblen institute in Dirigia.
Hoozie; “That’s it! I have to go to Veblen institute in Dirigia. Nothing will stop me!”
End
The moral of this story is; If you do not know where you are going, you will not get there.