Gloria - Even Utopia Needs Maintenance (New Thread)

[LD]

Red means on the party's list.

Dramatis Personae

The Agronomist - 71, Owner of the Agrocology, chief source of Gloria's food. See Agrocology

Esther Buonova- 27, an exceedingly rich heiress requested the aid of experts for an anthropological study of the Slake. See Virtues

Wendyl Cheng 29, - Famous actor and Castratti formerly of the Clique. Performs at the Gherkin...solo (!)

Lord Eustace Cotton - 31, cotton, and he is also interested in extreme inventions that often do not work well.

Crazy Crow - 78, Crow is an eccentric wealthy old man who boasts a six-foot long beard. He sits cross legged, one foot drooping off the side of his cart and listens to petitions for loans from sunrise until noon-time every day. In the afternoon, he meets with the most promising of the recipients.

Penelope Cuiraiss - 32, the Currency Crafter manages the most successful of many firms that arbitrage among the bank currencies. She bundles "packages" of currencies that she values and sells on a forward-looking futures market. She works closely with the Shimmer Psychic, Cassandra Pavlova, who owns the chain Better Predictions and who lives in Titus Tower VII: Waterfall Park.

Titus Empyrean - 63, Inventor, Magnate, Visionary. Founder of the Empyrean Stock Exchange. Real estate developer. Read Section on the Empyrean Stock Exchange.

The Floater's Rogues - Adventuring Group.

Professor Maurice Gillickuy - 41, for a brief time of the Radicality Department at Tientan University, taught a seminar class on Trolism, but when Gillickuy and the Dean (who came from the Rationality Department) had a falling-out over teaching styles, Gillickuy transferred to a third-tier university in Gloria.

Mars Ilimden - 65, CEO of ILC (Ilimden Trading Company), lost much of his inheritance thirty years ago during the waning days of the great "stone animal friend" pyramid scheme trading and collecting scam. He now manages the company very conservatively. ITC operates massive stock operations, trading in cattle futures and property.

Illych, Jaworski, & Krom - Founded by three ex-adventurers, this bank is a rough-and-tumble place made out of wood. It boasts a big bouncer by the door who also acts as a collection agent. Their slogan is "Few Questions Asked; Low Interest Loans... But We're Interested in Full Payment"

Andrew Melonmonseuir - 36, of the Melonmonseiur Plantation. Suffering from a rare disease.

Lord Harold Nikel - 34, Shoe baron.

Cassandra Pavlova - 41, the Shimmer Psychic who owns the chain Better Predictions and who lives in Titus Tower VII: Waterfall Park.

Monique Petrova - 32, Entertainment District Agent.

Majordomo Eriik Schnell - 36, Chief of Security at the Highest End Bank, Shimmer.

Evelyn Stack 25, - Grain Merchant on opposite side from the Agrocology. Runs a hydra-headed business (many small landowners all invest as agreed to buy large equipment). Only daughter of the brilliant Robert Stack and his wife Hermione Stack, who perished in a tragic building collapse.

Sander Thomas- 53, Captain of the Watch. Sander is married to a noblewoman, the Lady Gwendolyn Wexley, a beauteous green eyed lady who met Sander the Summer after he saved the Illuminated Mayor's life. They have one child, a daughter who is 17 years old and who currently attends University in ____.

Mademoselle Turnipseed - 27, Turnips.

T.I.M., The "Incredible" Marquis - 75, made his money by creating and popularizing the Truth Markets about 40 years ago. The Truth Markets are places where people's reliability and honor is bought and sold and wagered upon.

Industry and Commerce Committee:
            - Bond Baron and religious luminary of the Faith, J.P. Mormon;
            - The Shimmer Duke (J.D. Shimmerfellar);
            - The Shimmer Duchess;
            - The Shimmer Lord;
            - Mr. Magic with the smile that launched a thousand advertising campaigns;
            - Sir Sugar;
            - E.E. Harriman Jr., the Shimmerrail King, and former Ambassador to Tikal in the Land of the Libertarians;
            - Godfather Cain the Pizza Prince;
            - Lady Spice the Zealot Mistress of an orphanage that grew from 23 foster children to now raise legions of orphans to become productive members of society through learning and selling articles of seamstressry, woodcarving, and gear-shaping;
            - Newton Grinchrich the housing consultant;
            - The Golden Importer;
            - T.I.M., The Incredible Marquis, presiding as this month's chair.

[ic=Tientan]

Wendy Qwaven, Professor at Tientan University. An expert in large-crowd psychology,

Tybald Glissifur, an eccentric professor who specializes in expanding markets and who studies the sociology of the Socialist lands. He often goes on trips to the North, and some slanderous accusations state that he has gone-native and is not trying to indoctrinate his students into vile Socialist learning.



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[LD]

There certainly are class divisions. The old money v. new money divide as discussed above exists. Although taxation is sparse, other controls on the agglomeration of wealth exist.

Gloria encourages investment and spending, so the rich either buy gadgets or they hire servants or they start new businesses. The rich in Gloria don't save in anywhere near the amounts that people in the real world save...because they are culturally acclimated to not giving large inheritances (since those are frowned upon) since their children must work.

Because the money is always circulating, there are less problems with huge wealth disparities. Gloria is a land of action and progress rather than stagnation and accumulation.

Regarding Education-
1. There is a lot of self education and education from parents to children; however, Gloria residents do know about the value of division of labor so they realize there is a large benefit in not doing-it-yourself.

2. There is no public school system per se... but see 5.

3. There are many many private tutors. The private tutors are preferred to the private schools because they can provide one-on-one instruction. Private schools can range in class size and in quality.

4. People hold fast to the belief that education is important in self-advancement and although the facilities may be of lower quality in poor neighborhoods, they still gain education. The schools have older editions of books, but they still have books. The motivation to learn exists even though the materials and the teaching methods may not be the most expensive.

5. Charter Schools The children who have private tutors have an advantage in that they have a greater chance to learn. The children in private schools are generally equal. The children who are at a disadvantage are the children whose parents have mental defects or who choose to work rather than to support the childrens' learning. This is where Gloria's Charter schools come in.

The Compassionate Conservative branch of Gloria's elite does believe in philanthropy. They don't want to suffer a proliferation of ingrates due to bad blood and poor parenting. So, they have founded meritocratic schools where students compete to stay in the educational pyramid. The schools start with 1000 students who attend for "free". The students pay their way by sweeping the halls and by completing tasks like sewing pouches or by scavenging scrap from trash heaps. Each year a certain amount of students are winnowed out of the herd until by middle school there are only 850 and by high school there are only 725. The competitive nature of the schools encourages the students to work hard.

Students who drop out enter regular private schools where they also work for their learning, but where they have to pay larger amounts and work longer hours--they gain valuable skills by working more--just not white collar skills. Or the students who drop out end up in a trade school or an apprenticeship; trash collector and trash sorter are respectable, if not well sought-after occupations. There is no auto-sorter or robots outside of the colour-work creatures...yet... Scientists may very well soon invent new machines that risk the creative destruction of jobs and that may lead to social problems.

6. Trade Schools and Apprenticeships are very important. Most Glorians have a mentor.

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Myriad Stock Markets

[ic=Penny Stocks]
The Penny Stock Issuances and Penny Stock Markets
-By paying even a penny, individuals can help fund a project. Penny Aggregators facilitate the issuance of Penny purchases and the annual distribution of dividends. Distribution is annual rather than quarterly due to the low possiblity of returns. Sometimes dividends are paid in commodities rather than Half a Pennys because the exertion to create Half a Pennys would make the project economically unprofitable.
    -The Humble Slake (Promising long-term investments, the Humble Slake has given standard income to families for hundreds of years, compounding interest and reinvesting dividends for an eventual payoff. Some parents encourage their children to invest at the Humble Slake when they are age 2 to 5 so that each of their pennies turn into a pound by the time the child reaches age 60. Of course, if the child dies before reaching 60, the survivors do not gain the income.)
    -PENNY MADNESS (A standard Penny Stock Market)
    -Bundler's Joy (A standard Penny Stock Market)
    -SRM - Standard Return Market (A standard Penny Stock Market)[/ic]

[ic=Truth Markets]T.I.M.'s Truth Markets, the Truth Markets
T.I.M., The "Incredible" Marquis made his money by creating and popularizing the Truth Markets about 40 years ago. The Truth Markets are places where people's reliability and honor is bought and sold and wagered upon. Many viewed them with suspicion when they first opened, seeing them as easily gamed by piling on accusations in a court of law. The Markets have proved even more stable than the Stock markets, however, since many false accusers are often found out and punished by having their own truth stock fall.

One thing that cannot be done on the Truth Markets is that no short selling is permitted. 20 years past, the Disreputability Scandal hit the markets where an alliance of several people agreed to drive their own respectability down by creating crimes while their friends enriched themselves. The friends then allowed the disreputable ones to live at their homes on their largeese. With no property to seize, no one could sue the disreputable ones and they profited at the expense of the market.

T.I.M. at the time took the frightening, and some said "Socialist" step, to outlaw short selling to prohibit future occurances of this dilemma. Over time, the restriction has become respected as a firm guard against rampant "Libertarianism" and an honest attempt to protect the integrity of the Market.[/ic]

[ic=Commodity Exchanges]
The Seaport Commodity Exchange
At the Seaport Commodity Exchange, Investments may be made in crop types; farmers and their representatives come from miles around pitching their particular geography and explaining why businessmen should invest in their land. Investments also, of course, go into Shimmer technologies, and in shipping ventures. A few adventuring companies have also made names for themselves, and are publicly listed- they are funded by businesspeople and out-kitted, then they distribute profits amongst their investors.[/ic]

[ic=Stock Exchanges]
Enterprise Stock Exchange (The Good Red Lady)
Painted in the forward-looking colour red, the Enterprise Stock Exchange, or the Old Red Lady has been the old standby in Gloria. Rising from the ashes of the burned Arterial Stock Exchange several hundred years past, the Good Red Lady sees the lion's share of stock listings. It is governed by a Board of Governors who include many famous luminaries and inventors. It despises the NGSX and ran an advertising campaign a few years back advocating: "Better Red Than Dead-Bereft of Investors", often shortened to "Better Red Than Dead.".

NGSX (New Glorian Stock Exchange)
General Stocks are listed on this relatively new competitor to the Enterprise Stock Exchange. The founding cabal of the NGSX claimed that their new exchange would break the Enterprise Stock Exchange's monopoly and this new one's lower rates charged to listing companies would lead to higher profits. The main drawback of the NGSX for the common people is that its transaction fees are rather high. Independent Traders rather prefer the Enterprise Stock Exchange.

Other Glorian Stock Markets (not in the City)
There are also notable competing Stock Markets in the city of Kierkegaard (Individualist's Market) and in the cliffs of Tientan (The Air Market).
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[ic=Empyrean (Celestial) Stock Exchange]
Empyrean (Celestial) Stock Exchange

History
The former Celestial Stock Exchange was renamed the Empyrean Stock Exchange when the World's Richest Man, Titus Empyrean, purchased the exchange for the highest sum ever spent by a single entity in Gloria. Before Titus purchased it, the Celestial dealt not in predictions, but in currencies. It was the greatest of the Currency Markets, but now, currency is a minor part of the Stock Exchange. The movements of bank and corporate currency fluctuations are too rapid and the market is too picayune for it to be worth the investment of Shimmer and predictors' labour--that business is left to smaller concerns, with the exception of tracking the largest currencies from the largest banks.

Ownership
Titus Empyrean, the owner, is considered one of the world's shrewdest businesspeople and it is rumored he is the world's most powerful man. Yet, he is rarely seen. It is said that he has a debilitating fear of open spaces and of sickness and murder by business rivals and that he spends his days ensconced in a tiny room filled entirely with feathers. He communicates with the outside world and purchases provisions entirely by Color-Work Creatures who deliver his desires. There are some who say Titus perished several years before, but a stream of prostitutes to his quarters and the stories they tell tends to insinuate that the man yet lives.

Description
The Empyrean (Celestial) Stock Exchange is a  bit different from the common Commodity exchange. The Empyrean Stock Exchange is more cerebral, more abstract, more philosophical. The Empyrean Exchange trades in predictions. Some believe its Seats can shape the future through use of Shimmer.

The Exchange sits on massive trigrams-- carved from stone as deep as a tall-ship mast. The stone was quarried and hauled from mountains to the city's east. At night, the molds glow with the after-light of prior filled shimmer-magic. The trigrams are moved when needed, rotating on a turntable that slowly, but reliably can be cranked around and around by a team of elephants and Color-Work creatures.

The entire structure, from the color-work creatures at its base, to the trigrams themselves, to the magic and light at their summit, glows with neon lights as the trades conduct- every night from darkfall until daybreak.

The predictions that are traded in can only be afforded by the richest of Gloria's citizens. Whether or not a storm will ruin the crops in coastal regions can be effected-- people buy and sell possibilities during set bidding periods of days, weeks, months. The winning bid will then shape the prediction of the Seats (or the traders/mystics who operate the massive trigrams and who manage the Exchange's massive stores of excess shimmer), and often-- the wish will happen; or else there will be a refund.

The large magical trigrams are reputedly the strongest in all of Gloria.[/ic]

[LD]

Note To Self:

Concepts to Keep in Mind

Protect - Fight
Create - Destroy
Acquire - Deny
Alter - Maintain
Discover/Retrieve - Secret/Hide
Think - Act


Agitation - Fighting, Subversive, Terrorism (Protect - Fight) (Create - Destroy)
Analysis - Diplomacy, Thinking, Negotiation (Think - Act)
Exertion - Feats-of-Being (Think - Act) (Alter - Maintain)
Exploration - Discovery, Fetching Goods (Acquire - Deny) (Discover/Retrieve - Secret/Hide)
Investigation - Mystery, Discovery (Discover/Retrieve - Secret/Hide)
Progress - Creation (Create - Destroy) (Alter - Maintain)

Alignment
=Old Ideals
=The Current Ideals
=Acceptable, but Odd Ideals
=COMPLETELY UNACCEPTABLE IN GLORIA (EVIL)

Compassionate Conservatives (Charity)	Progress By Any Means	Social Darwinists/Libertarians
Mkt. Oversighters	Virtuous Small Enterprises	Free Market
Socialists	Moral Prescriptionists (Faith of Righteous Faith)	Moral Absolutists (Faith of Reason)

[spoiler=OLD]
Jeffersonianism Small Business/Agrarianism remains in the middle.
Carnegie is in the "Moral" category because of his charity work establishing a library system.

http://www.law.nyu.edu/ecm_dlv/groups/public/@nyu_law_website__journals__journal_of_law_and_liberty/documents/documents/ecm_pro_060883.pdf On Hayek[/spoiler]

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