David wrote: > It's a corporate state. > > Owning a share entitles the owner to access to life-support, medical care, > and education for children, and a share of the company's profits (the > declared dividend is about $50K/yr). Citizenship is by owning a share, > plus > completion of 8 years of national service (some people who go into certain > fields (star ship pilots, for instance) do 12.) starting at 17 to 19. The > first two and half years of that service are education and screening to > get > people into suitable tracks. (Which are largely technical, but not > entirely. The Junction Service schools turn out poets, painters, and > politicians, as well as engineers, pilots, doctors, techs of all sorts, > and > business admin types.) Selection for, and completion of, certain programs > (basically things that would get you a college degree) entitles the > selectee > to a half-share bonus; those with an extended service requirement can get > a > full-share bonus. the shares are transferable, so someone can buy > residence > rights (but not citizenship, unless they do service). Children of > citizens > receive a share at birth, which is held in trust until completion of > national service. At death, one of the owner's shares is destroyed.
The more I think about it, the less I understand it :-) Is it possible to sell "the one share" which provides the basic entitlements, perhaps while or after emigrating? If so, all sorts of weird schemes and situations become possible (see below). If not, there are two fundamentally different types of share: * The first type is created when a potential citizen is born, first "held in trust" (who gets dividends and voting rights on those, BTW?) and then held by that citizen, until it is destroyed at death. Not really a share, more a (non-transferable) social security entitlements package. * What happens if a citizen/shareholder leaves the share (and voting rights?) with a partner and then leaves the system, never to return? Does the share get destroyed at some time, or will it remain a graveyard share forever? * The second type can be earned by civic service, then traded freely. It pays a dividend in both money and other entitlements, which could be translated as a minimum dividend with built-in insurance to cover medical and education bills. Notably, the insurance premium does not depend on the risk, which is quite unusual for true free market economies. * Assuming a constant citizen population, the number of shares goes up with every generation, since there are new shares with each crop of national service graduates. Either profits go up year after year, or the value of basic shares goes down. * Also, if a large block of second-type shares comes to the market (an investor reconsiders, say), a real lot of people could buy residency at the same time. * Does the state get to 'veto' the residency for undesirable buy-in shareholders, or can one literally buy oneself into residency? (What are the extradition treaties for non-citizen residents, BTW?) * Do you have to own your residency share clear and free, or is it possible to purchase it and then mortgage it as collateral for the original purchase price? If the two kinds of shares are the same, such strange things get ever easier. _______________________________________________ GurpsNet-L mailing list <[email protected]> http://mail.sjgames.com/mailman/listinfo/gurpsnet-l
