Rallying Point: Liberty Island - Refugees from Kidatopia, report!

[Flubber]

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

[Flubber]

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

[Velociryx]

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=-

[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=-

[Kidlicious]

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.

[aneeshm]

Story - .

[aneeshm]

Bump .

[Velociryx]

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=-

[Velociryx]

Next segment proved to be too long, so I broke it in half....here's the part that's been fleshed out already....

The Great Escape
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=-