27-08-2004 17:58									#331
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The Great Escape
From the Diaries of Liberty President Velociryx

The election was won by the slimmest possible margins….a single vote, and thus, I, Velociryx, became our island’s first president.

A minority president, if ever there was one.

Because of our recent tragedy, only a handful of voters actually turned out, and the deciding vote was cast by none other than Solo, who had to radio his vote in, on account of still being afield, and leading the survey effort.

Minority President or no, Liberty has her government.

The first order of business, then, was to build myself a desk. This was accomplished by bartering for a few packing crates, and borrowing a contraband axe to make some legs for the table out of a tree not far from the QuarterMaster’s Hut.

For the present time, this will serve as my “office” and it has the added advantage of freeing Lud to go afield as well, and begin cataloging the native plant life, and coming up with some strategies to maximize the synergies between the native plants and the ones we brought with us in the form of seed packs. His growing body of expertise in this area will serve our planter-capitalists very well in coming months, I am certain.

So…I’m the ditch-digging Presidential custodian of the QuarterMaster’s hut.

Not much privacy, but then, with only six Geodesics constructed, I’m certainly not alone in that regard.

Also, it seems that the Kidicious One grew tired of sitting offshore taunting us, and he and the bulk of his officers headed back to the mainland.

Of course, we know only too well that they could return at any moment, and as always, speed is of the essence.

The first thing I did was sit down and pen some notes for myself and those who come after me, outlining my general thoughts about Liberty, her chances, and her government. One part hopes and dreams, one part musing and charting a course for the future, and one part idle rambling, I guess.

Whether it proves to be of any value or particular use to anyone is a thing yet to be decided, but I’ve decided to include those notes here, exactly as I wrote them:

Notes on Liberty, her government and her future:
We have before us a chance to make a new start. A chance to prove that the market principles we believe so strongly in can be tempered from their sometimes destructive tendencies by our democratic ideals, and it is my belief that this is an utterly unstoppable combination of forces. The openness of a truly democratic society (one that does not make any effort to restrict the personal liberty and freedoms of her people, save for the minimum necessary for a well-functioning society, coupled with the burning vitality of the market system….these will be the twin engines that power and drive our success in coming years.

That we are all connected is beyond doubting. And it is this connectedness that makes us beholden and accountable to each other to a degree. Granted, not to the same degree as the familial bond, for example, but resting somewhere comfortably below that is our national and societal connection to each other.

Thus, the People will control the government and define the market, and the Government will regulate the Market and codify the code of law for the People, and the Market will allocate the resources and be the wellspring of wealth for both the People and the Government. All interconnected. All intertwined and beholden to each other.

On our first day on the island, we developed a phrase. “Nobody goes hungry.” It is, sitting by itself on the page, a simple phrase, really, but that one simple phrase can help to define us, and it is this government’s pledge that we will do all we can to not only regulate the cyclic imbalances of the market, but also to ensure that those imbalances never cause any inhabitant of Liberty to fall below a pre-determined threshold of comfort and affluence, with our stated (eventual) goal being that the poorest of the poor on Liberty are at least as well off (with their basic freedoms intact) as the folk of Kidatopia, where fairness is mandated and freedom and liberty are illusions designed to keep the masses from revolting against their masters.

Further, I pledge that, during my time in office, if ever there is an occasion when one of our citizens must go without food, then I will be the one to do so, giving what food I have to the family in question and taking their place thus.

We lead by example, or not at all. We sacrifice, not only for our personal gain, but for the benefit and well being of those who put us into positions of power and trust. To do otherwise is not only grossly irresponsible, but it is the first step toward depravity.

Further, I pledge that one of the Geodesics I have brought with me to the Island will forever remain a “haven.” As the most advanced and comfortable living space on the island (both now and for the foreseeable future), this abode will serve as housing for person(s) or family(ies) who by way of misfortune of ANY means, finds themselves without a place to call home.

They shall have one, and thus, I extend the original phrase to “Nobody goes hungry, and no one is without shelter.”

And so it begins.

Today was a day of firsts in a lot of ways.

First day on the job.

First batch of “Executive Orders” and governmental appointments.

All sorts of groovy stuffs.

No major accidents to report today, so Mrs. Flubber had a fairly easy time of it, although Mini-Flub gave everybody a scare when a coconut rolled off a workbench and knocked him in the head.

He screamed to the high heavens, but was, in truth, more frightened than harmed.

Hard headed little fellow…that will serve him well….

It was also the first day that our capitalistic leanings became apparent, and Master Flubber led the way in that regard, recommending that we try “capitalistic food gathering” just to see how it went, and it was an experiment greeted with excitement and enthusiasm by all, and turned out some interesting results.

Everyone on Liberty, save for Solo and his band of surveyors, still afield doing work for us all, participated in the “experiment” on a certain level.

Two islanders opted not to participate, in order to test the “nobody goes hungry” paradigm, and for the afternoon, we established a twenty percent rule. One (fill in the blank with food item gathered, collected, or caught) in five would be given over to the government as a tax for today.

Mara and five volunteers continued work on the Geodesics, and again, for today, they were put on the “governmental payroll” and promised that they, along with the two non-participants, would not go hungry.

Flubber headed out with his fishing crew, whose ranks had swelled remarkably at the mention of the experiment, when he added a new wrinkle. Any person making use of his boat or equipment had to give him a cut of the catch, also amounting to one in five.

This caused some people to grumble at the “unfairness” of it all, and several decided to attempt to fish from the shore instead.

Several others, however, remembering the richness of the past two days catches, signed onto the boat anyway, and off it went.

Then we had legions of gatherers and pickers, scouring the island for delicious treats to eat. Climbers and presenters, who made impromptu deals with others on the island to assist in various ways with food harvesting and preparation (in exchange for some small consideration, of course)….the whole thing was a dizzying wonder to behold, and we learned a lot from the day’s experiment.

The first thing we learned was that when you give people a goal like that, they can REALLY get a lot done. Whole stands of trees were picked bare in a single day! Second thing is that people will broker their own deals, with no outside intervention needed. The artistic guy who offered to carve Pineapple and other fruits into decorative shapes in exchange for a few fish for his family was but one example of the numerous “side markets” that spun off all on their own from today’s game.

Let’s see…what else.

Well, we learned that fishing sucks from the shore. The average catch of the guys on the shore was only two fish each. On the other hand, the crabbing was much better, and this augmented the take somewhat.

On the boat, the average catch was eleven. Minus one for tax and one for Flubber, and the folks on the boat made out heads and shoulders better than the poor sods on the shore who thought it “unfair.” Well, they’ll be dining light on account of their short-sightedness.

One dozen people fishing from Flubber’s boat gave him an even dozen fish for his role of Skipper, ensuring that his family would eat well indeed, and have plenty left over.

Ten people on the government “payroll” today, including Mrs. Flubber (who actually declined government food, secure in the knowledge that Flubber would bring home more than enough), left us with eight mouths to feed, and by the end of the day, we had a dozen fish from Flubber's boat crew, four crabs, sixty-odd assorted fruit items, some of that yummy broadleaf thing I enjoy….plenty!

Some of the seaside fishermen who had sorry luck came to the QuarterMaster’s tent looking to augment dinner, and we had plenty to spare for them too, AND some leftovers besides (this tells me that perhaps the tax was too high, but not bad for our first run).

In all, it was very educational, and it was good fun watching some of the late afternoon deals as men burdened with a heavy sack of crabs would stand ‘round dickering with impromptu banana merchants and such, brokering deals and making fortunes.

Perhaps the biggest hit of all, however, was watching the non-smoking guy.

I didn’t learn his name, but one of the things that non-smoking guy brought to the island were several dozen cartons of cigarettes.

When he made this known, suddenly the island had its first “hot commodity” and non-smoking guy proved to be a savvy trader, ending up with a bigger stash of food and other equipment than almost anybody on the whole island, selling his smokes off by ones and twos, in exchange for a staggering array of other items.

Good show. Smart lad.

I went to bed that evening with a full belly and a smile on my face. Thirteen Geodesics up and running, lights on in eight, and power for the two stereos we have on the island, so more music tonight.

We’re makin’ it work.

Already there have been requests and inquiries for land, but we must, at least for the moment, hold off on that. Until Solo’s surveying expedition returns with results and we can study the map more carefully, we won’t really know what we’ve got to work with.

Nonetheless, based on today’s experiment, I’d say things are going well indeed.

-=Vel=-

Last edited by Velociryx on 27-08-2004 at 20:55

	27-08-2004 23:58									#332
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citizen LoA has a concern - we arnt moving fast enough towards a free market and still have not established the controls necessairy for a free market to be established - property rights, and a govt backed money system. i think we are progressing too slowly - this 20% tax hurts many people, and the reason we cant move forward and why people are starving is because noone owns any property yet, so they cant make any money.

give the people land.

	28-08-2004 00:16									#333
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quote: Originally posted by Lawrence of Arabia citizen LoA has a concern - we arnt moving fast enough towards a free market and still have not established the controls necessairy for a free market to be established - property rights, and a govt backed money system. i think we are progressing too slowly - this 20% tax hurts many people, and the reason we cant move forward and why people are starving is because noone owns any property yet, so they cant make any money. give the people land.

Ok, property rights are a control, and people can't eat without property. Man even LoA is getting commie.

	28-08-2004 00:24									#334
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quote: Ok, property rights are a control, and people can't eat without property. Man even LoA is getting commie.

of course they are a control - they prevent people like you from taking what i own away from me. they protect me from you.

	28-08-2004 00:25									#335
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Indeed....and that's the plan, but our surveyor is still surveying so we divide the plots of land into equal sized parcels and have some sense of organization when doling it out (to prevent boundary disputes and such).

That's an important first step toward getting the land in the hands of the people.

And the 20% tax thing was only for the course of the day's food gathering experiment...which makes us one of the first governments in history to propose a tax and then actually repeal it when we were done!

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 00:43									#336
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Casual Informal Government Session (CIGS)

The Scene:

A behind-the-Quartermaster’s-Hut-BBQ, with Velociryx, Flubber, and LoA having dinner and Coconut/Banana blast juice (a new island concoction) together.

It’s not a terribly private place, but everybody is so exhausted after having put in another hard day’s work, that there are actually only a handful of interruptions. Prior to the dinner, the following itinerary was drafted to help guide the dinnertime conversation:

Things we need to decide upon, and soon:

1) National Currency….what is it? Backed by what (if anything)?

2) Methodology for giving away/auctioning land? (foot-race and flag planting, public auction, silent auction….what?)

3) Property rights defined

4) Banking System organizational structure

And of course, it would be unwise to switch to Free Market without having a Rec Commons built, nor during Perihelion….what to do, what to do?

	28-08-2004 00:43									#337
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quote: Indeed....and that's the plan, but our surveyor is still surveying so we divide the plots of land into equal sized parcels and have some sense of organization when doling it out (to prevent boundary disputes and such).

whoa whoa whoa - equal plots of land? the libertarian in me is strongly AGAInst this proposal. what we do is sell land to people who have money, and then they will create companies and hire people, so other people have money, they can buy their plots of land, the people who own companies can increase their size, and thats how the market works - we also need a banking system to set up loans and interest.

	28-08-2004 00:45									#338
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You misunderstand me....yes...we're surveying the land to make organized plots.

No, not everyone has to buy or get the same amount. If we do some type of auction, there'd be nothing stopping a person from spending lavishly to buy up several adjacent plots, but for the sake of organization, it does make sense to break the lots down into same, or similarly-sized parcels.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 00:48									#339
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Actually, I would be in favor of a hybrid approach.

A "Homestead Act" whereby one acre lots were simply given away by the government, with the provision of building some type of dwelling on them to live in for no less than five years, and then selling/auctioning other lots (either individually or as a "set" for development purposes.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 00:53									#340
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The reason, by the way, I would favor this type of hybrid approach is that, at present, about the only "collateral" our citizens have are the items they brought with them, many of which are rather transitory (or outright consumable) in their nature. Thus, they make relatively poor collateral for loans (earlier I mentioned a system of "Pawn Shops" as a primitive banking system for this very reason...they deal in assets similar to the ones our people actually HAVE).

However, by giving plots of land away, we create instant solvency among the island's inhabitants, and suddenly they have *collateral.* Hugely important from a risk perspective for our nascent banking industry. Without the land, if they default on a loan, we have no recourse, but if we give everybody something to work with, then the banking system has a measure of protection too.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 01:21									#341
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Currency - I don't have the first clue what we should call our currency, or what it should look like, or ANY of that...of course, we don't have the press just yet, so for the moment, perhaps we could put one of the laptops wherever the "bank" will be and the money supply could be entirely electronic. That'd kinna kick....

Property Rights - I'm thinking the fewer restrictions we place on what landowners can do with their land, the better. Beyond that, I have nothing in particular in my mind.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 01:50									#342
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quote: Originally posted by Velociryx You misunderstand me....yes...we're surveying the land to make organized plots. No, not everyone has to buy or get the same amount. If we do some type of auction, there'd be nothing stopping a person from spending lavishly to buy up several adjacent plots, but for the sake of organization, it does make sense to break the lots down into same, or similarly-sized parcels. -=Vel=-

So you are going to allow someone to buy all the land or not?

	28-08-2004 01:54									#343
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It's not a matter of "allow" or "disallow" - there's no citizen on the island who could AFFORD to buy all the land, so it is a question that does not need an answer.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 02:24									#344
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quote: Originally posted by Velociryx It's not a matter of "allow" or "disallow" - there's no citizen on the island who could AFFORD to buy all the land, so it is a question that does not need an answer. -=Vel=-

You don't know how much money people have. What do you have 4 or 5 people? Someone is bound to atleast own all of the best land, and if you divide it up the richest guy just has to buy the others out. He can wait until they are hard up enough to have to sell cheap.

	28-08-2004 02:48									#345
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Well, that's the beauty of this experiment....we'll see how it plays out directly....

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 03:12									#346
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quote: Originally posted by Kidicious You don't know how much money people have.

yes we do-- none

Bids would be in useful things like fish or bananas

	28-08-2004 03:15									#347
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Also considering our small labour pool, we probably have more land than we have the capability to use it at present. Owning extra land might be of no benefit and might be a detriment if the government imposes some form of property tax

	28-08-2004 03:22									#348
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Exactly, and well said, Chief Justice Flubber.

We ain't GOT no money (and by your own admission, neither does Kidatopia "no need of currency" comment earlier).

What we *do* have is a few tools smuggled out of Kidatopia, assorted personal effects, a trio of laptops, one fishing vessel, some prefab housing, seeds, 9k watts of power that aren't working yet, and one pet dog.

I think it's fair to say that nobody here is exactly swimming in wealth and affluence, and certainly incapable of owning (much less doing anything useful or productive WITH) the land that makes up the whole of the island.

One thing we DO need though, is an Exec. order barring any non-national from owning land on Liberty. Long-term lease, maybe (IMO, case by case basis there), but outright ownership of what little land we have....I'd be dead set against that (drawing this from the tiny island of Saipan, btw).

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 03:24									#349
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and by the way, to the folks following the thread, does the "story element" of it get a or a ?

I ask because if it's not particularly engaging or entertaining to anyone, I can just as easily stop.

-=Vel=-

	28-08-2004 09:12									#350
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quote: Originally posted by Velociryx and by the way, to the folks following the thread, does the "story element" of it get a or a ? I ask because if it's not particularly engaging or entertaining to anyone, I can just as easily stop. -=Vel=-

Story.
Capitalists trying to make a utopia.

	28-08-2004 11:24									#351
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Story - .

	01-09-2004 17:32									#352
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Bump .

	01-09-2004 17:37									#353
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Thanks for the bump! Been workin' on the next segment to the story....not done yet, but this serves as a reminder for me!

-=Vel=-

	01-09-2004 18:11									#354
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Next segment proved to be too long, so I broke it in half....here's the part that's been fleshed out already....

From the Diaries of Liberty President Velociryx

Progress and Potato Chips

Things moved more slowly after election day.

Now…some might say that it was the new government’s fault. Behold the power of Red Tape, and all that…but in truth, I don’t really think that was the case.

No…the fact was that in the first couple days, there was an enormous rush of enthusiasm, and lots of quick and easy things were done. After that, the realization of what a truly mammoth undertaking this would be started to sink in, and people rolled up their sleeves and got down to business.

And that’s what we’re all about, here on Liberty. Getting down to business. Rolling up our sleeves and going to work. That’s what we do here.

Now…I’d like to tell you that I spent my “fair share” of time outside digging drainage ditches and assembling windmills and stuff, but in fact, I only got a smidgeon of that sort of work in. Still, the work I managed to do, I was right proud of. I like the notion of bein’ the “Workin’ Man’s President,” and getting out there right alongside everybody else who’s busy trying to get this place on a paying basis.

Sadly though, planning our next moves to maximize our chances of success took up significant portions of my time. Only so many hours in a day, and I got no choice but to live by those constraints, at least.

So there was that.

Planning, getting stuff ready, drafting Executive Orders, keeping in touch with the various Department Heads who were handling various aspects of our continuing organizational efforts (lots of time spent with the Chief Justice and Veep, hours of conversations with DK, who was practically chained to the shortwave as we kicked into high gear, and one ear kept constantly glued to the radio to keep in touch with Solo.

Of course, from the perspective of Kidicioius Prime, none of that amounted to a hill of beans worth of work compared to digging those ditches, but I think most everybody else saw it as a more productive, more valuable use of the President’s time.

So there was all that, and I must say that at the end of my day (which, by the way, usually didn’t end until sometime after midnight, when the ditch digging crew got to retire as the sun was beginning to set low….a thing I found myself envious of at times), I was every bit as exhausted as the rest of the folks on the island.

And our work was paying off, too.

All the Geodesics were built during that following week. All three windmills put into service AND cranking out juice….9000 Watts of power…a surplus, actually. Pity that we had nothing to store that excess IN, but ah well.

The library officially opened for business (and Flubber, LoA, and I played a bit of MP EU2 one night after we’d finished working), and….the Chips arrived.

That was a day of great celebration, let me tell you! A shipment of chips in a variety of flavors, tasty and delicious, the packing material doing an admirable job pulling double duty as said chips were consumed…oh yeah, we felt like we had really arrived on that day, let me tell you!

And even better, the tools I had ordered….apparently our benefactor in Kidatopia had intercepted that shipment, and simply rolled it into his own, so the rest of the stuff I had been expecting arrived with the chips.

Best of all, one of the crewmen aboard the ship was actually a technician who knew how to assemble the printing press that had been sent piecemeal to us, mixed in with the chips. He petitioned for, and was immediately granted citizenship, helped us unload the equipment, and haul it to the QuarterMaster’s hut.

Ahhhh yes.

Progress was sweet indeed.

I remember laying on my makeshift cot that evening and drifting off to sleep with a satisfied smile on my face. We were making this thing work.

Oh true…there was a ton of stuff to be done yet, but we were getting there.

And in that half-asleep place, a realization hit me.

One of the quirky inconsistencies I had been mulling over about the concept of “fairness” in Kidatopia.

The guys on the fishing crew were a perfect example.

We had one boat.

Flubber’s boat.

No more, and no way to get more.

Since it was Flubber’s boat, he could do with it whatever he wanted, including charging “rent” to those fishermen who wanted to use it.

Fine and dandy.

A “fair” (meaning average, or normal) day’s “work” at fishing from the shore (which was the standard method of carrying out that particular activity, and the only option that would normally have been available to us) was two fish a day.

The average catch on Flubber’s boat was eleven, with Flubber charging one fish in five as a rental fee.

So…Nine fish if you paid rent to use Flubber’s boat…which was almost five times better than what could be had by fishing from the shore…or two if you didn’t feel like being “exploited.”

Yeah.

Needless to say, I went to sleep chuckling that night.

The next morning, there was lots to do….the press was rapidly approaching a finished state, and I asked Q if he could come up with some designs for our money…the coin of the realm, as it were. Looking forward to seeing what he does with that.

Solo radioed in, and said that the survey work was nearly complete, and as soon as he gets back, we’ll spend some time pouring over the results of that expedition and figuring out what our next move will be.

Things are really gaining momentum now….exciting times to be on Liberty.

Exciting times indeed….

-=Vel=-