Why Welfare has suceeded- and why it's still not time to kill it.
Day 2,477, 12:04
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Published in Denmark 
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by
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by pho3nix
For a long recap; read my last two articles on the Welfare program. To make a long story short: Welfare has been about markets not working, the state having too much money and us investing said money in the general population. The results? Well, here it comes:
Are the markets still broken?
The Welfare program itself was designed to take care of markets failing. In general markets were failing left and right back in that day, but "recent" changes has somewhat changed the economic world we operate in today. That, and a lot of global wars I guess.
When we first kicked off the programs we had a two-way problem in that people weren't being paid enough and goods were too expensive in relation to people's disposable income. This struck most of society. Newbies couldn't eat, the middle class couldn't sell their goods and the upper class couldn't find employees and/or people to vote for them. So let's have a look at the markets.
Will buy gold for $$$
The monetary market has been de-nationalized, and now all players globally have to compete with gold prices to sell and buy currency and gold. A bigger market means more competition, and should mean more fair prices. In general, I'd have to say that Gold has become a more stable currency. There's still plenty being pumped in, but the prices of stuff really tells the tale. If you didn't bring your credit card, don't even bother. Still; as a rookie you get more bang for your hard earned gold now than you did before. So that's good.
More bang for your buck
The goods department has had it's ups and downs. Some problems still exist, since lower Q-goods are more or less non-existant in Denmark. The real compeition is either in the extreme low Q segments and the upper Q segments. As a businessman I can tell you that compeition in the Q5 segment of both weapons and food has become quite stiff. Selling stuff isn't that easy, and the prices are constantly being pushed low. In other words, rookies once again are the winners here. You get more food and more bang for your buck. Mission accomplished.
Decent wage for decent work
The wages is perhaps the segment which has come out waaay on top. Back when the program started, a Welfare-employee earned ~500-700% of the average market salary. Today that number is reduced to ~50-70%. Again, the rookies are the ones getting the big turnouts for this change. You don't have to be an expert to get a decent wage.
Problem solved?
All in all, I believe the core problems associated with the Welfare program have been adressed. The problem remains the same however, we still lack the player base in order to maintain a fully functioning society. The rookies aren't piling up, despite the markets recovering. That seems to be the real problem. That also is a problem we only can solve with our own two hands. Only through active recruitment can the community grow, which might turn into a double edged sword. Most rookies do not understand the cooperation between Germany and Denmark, and once they realize they have a majority against them yet another door is closed to them.
Don't get me wrong here. I was there when Germark was founded. I was actually there when we wrote the first constitution, and I helped re-write it. Twice. I really enjoy the cooperation we've had with our German brothers-in-arms. But perhaps we're trading safety for stagnation, and I don't really see a strategy for getting out of it.
What I do know is that we need to maintain the warm blanket that is the Danish state. We're firmly in control politically from PTO's, there's more or less a system where we all agree by default - and the political disagreements are (at best) kept to the sidelines.
I think we need to talk IRL.
That's where the players are. That's where we need to go. I'm honestly surprised we're not more university students in here. I'm surprised we're not being used by people as a sandbox alternative to the real world. Because this game isn't about tricking an AI at quizes, as most political simulators are really about. This game is about players cooperating over long periods of time. It's about real politik in a much more realistic sense than most other games can offer.
And then there's the credit card part, but I guess we really can't do anything about that. We need to find writers, we need to find politicans and priests. Businessmen and military strategists. Perhaps the street outside our window would be the obvious place to start?
This is what Denmark needs. More of you amazing people that stick around, despite being hi-jacked, bullied and broke. You are great role models for a new, stronger Germark.
Are the markets still broken?
The Welfare program itself was designed to take care of markets failing. In general markets were failing left and right back in that day, but "recent" changes has somewhat changed the economic world we operate in today. That, and a lot of global wars I guess.
When we first kicked off the programs we had a two-way problem in that people weren't being paid enough and goods were too expensive in relation to people's disposable income. This struck most of society. Newbies couldn't eat, the middle class couldn't sell their goods and the upper class couldn't find employees and/or people to vote for them. So let's have a look at the markets.
Will buy gold for $$$
The monetary market has been de-nationalized, and now all players globally have to compete with gold prices to sell and buy currency and gold. A bigger market means more competition, and should mean more fair prices. In general, I'd have to say that Gold has become a more stable currency. There's still plenty being pumped in, but the prices of stuff really tells the tale. If you didn't bring your credit card, don't even bother. Still; as a rookie you get more bang for your hard earned gold now than you did before. So that's good.
More bang for your buck
The goods department has had it's ups and downs. Some problems still exist, since lower Q-goods are more or less non-existant in Denmark. The real compeition is either in the extreme low Q segments and the upper Q segments. As a businessman I can tell you that compeition in the Q5 segment of both weapons and food has become quite stiff. Selling stuff isn't that easy, and the prices are constantly being pushed low. In other words, rookies once again are the winners here. You get more food and more bang for your buck. Mission accomplished.
Decent wage for decent work
The wages is perhaps the segment which has come out waaay on top. Back when the program started, a Welfare-employee earned ~500-700% of the average market salary. Today that number is reduced to ~50-70%. Again, the rookies are the ones getting the big turnouts for this change. You don't have to be an expert to get a decent wage.
Problem solved?
All in all, I believe the core problems associated with the Welfare program have been adressed. The problem remains the same however, we still lack the player base in order to maintain a fully functioning society. The rookies aren't piling up, despite the markets recovering. That seems to be the real problem. That also is a problem we only can solve with our own two hands. Only through active recruitment can the community grow, which might turn into a double edged sword. Most rookies do not understand the cooperation between Germany and Denmark, and once they realize they have a majority against them yet another door is closed to them.
Don't get me wrong here. I was there when Germark was founded. I was actually there when we wrote the first constitution, and I helped re-write it. Twice. I really enjoy the cooperation we've had with our German brothers-in-arms. But perhaps we're trading safety for stagnation, and I don't really see a strategy for getting out of it.
What I do know is that we need to maintain the warm blanket that is the Danish state. We're firmly in control politically from PTO's, there's more or less a system where we all agree by default - and the political disagreements are (at best) kept to the sidelines.
I think we need to talk IRL.
That's where the players are. That's where we need to go. I'm honestly surprised we're not more university students in here. I'm surprised we're not being used by people as a sandbox alternative to the real world. Because this game isn't about tricking an AI at quizes, as most political simulators are really about. This game is about players cooperating over long periods of time. It's about real politik in a much more realistic sense than most other games can offer.
And then there's the credit card part, but I guess we really can't do anything about that. We need to find writers, we need to find politicans and priests. Businessmen and military strategists. Perhaps the street outside our window would be the obvious place to start?
This is what Denmark needs. More of you amazing people that stick around, despite being hi-jacked, bullied and broke. You are great role models for a new, stronger Germark.
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as always a great article from you o/