by Sam Lippert
“I know (sniff) Captain (sniff), and during the day, when you are all awake, even when you are not talking directly to me, I can listen throughout the ship and it helps. But now...” the AI paused. “Not only are you all sleeping, but you are in places I am not allowed to go without permission.” The sobbing began again.
“Would it help if I left the switch open tonight?” Nathan saw the disembodied head nod, just a little.
Daniels let the AI continue to have access to his private quarters for the night. He did not know that a similar conversation had also occurred on the deck below.
* * *
“The most important thing to remember is that on Rand property rights are sacrosanct.” Nathan took a swig of his now favorite Nexus micro-brew. The crew were sharing a drink after one of Omany's fabulous dinners, and the talk had quickly turned to their destination. He continued, “The Randian constitution names the right for an individual, or group of individuals to be secure in their personal property first. The government of Rand, such that it is, can use no means to separate a person or group from their property. This means no public rights of way for roads or utilities, but most of all, no taxes.”
“Wait a sec, the 'rights of way' part I understand, but how does this property rights thing mean the government cannot collect taxes?” Remi, being the future leader of two empires, found it incredible that there was any society where the government was unable to collect taxes. “Currency, since its very inception, is issued by the State, solely for the purpose of providing a means to collect taxes! That is a fundamental of MMT: 'Modern' Monetary Theory!” The Princess paused for a drink and to let Daniels continue.
“That's the point, my dear,” Nathan grinned. “The currency on Rand is pure gold, and is not issued by the state. The metal, by its very nature is property, and cannot be touched by the government. So, no taxes.”
“How can a government function if it cannot collect taxes?” Nola asked. If she had a planetary network available she would be answering the question instead of asking it. Although the feelings of extreme loneliness had abated somewhat, she was still having trouble getting used to being reliant on locally stored information.
“Not very well, truthfully,” Nathan answered. “That's the point. The Libertarian/Objectivist founders of Rand were very distrustful of 'government' and everything about the Randian constitution is designed to severely limit its power. Sadly, since the government cannot collect taxes, what little funds it has available comes from donations, primarily from the very wealthy. This makes the government more responsive to the needs of the rich than to Rand's multitude of poor.”
“Multitude of poor?” Remi looked confused. “Rand was founded by people who had managed to accumulate substantial wealth prior to migrating. Furthermore, the emigration contract required was written in such a way as to ensure that the founders were all essentially equal in wealth. Where did this 'multitude of poor' come from?”
“I think I can demonstrate,” Omany offered. “When I learned of our destination I made inquiries at a number of antique shops on Nexus and was able to find this...” The high priest pulled out an extremely old and worn board game, placing it on the table. “This game originated on Old Earth in the early twentieth century, and is a good, if rather simplistic model of a 'free market' economy, with no government intervention, such as is found on Rand.” The old man began to set up the board, which consisted of a perimeter of rectangles, most of which had colored stripes across the top.
“Although the game was originally developed to show the pitfalls of greed and unrestrained capitalism,” the priest continued, “By the late twentieth century that message had been lost, and in fact, reversed. The game became synonymous with what was considered good business, reflecting the greed and 'winner take all' culture that developed first in North America, later spreading to the rest of the world.”
“We will each start the game with fifteen hundred credits. Dice are rolled to determine movement around the board. Most of the spaces on the board may be purchased and once purchased subsequent players landing on the space must pay 'rent' to the owner. If a player owns all of the spaces of a given color they have a monopoly and rents for each of those spaces are doubled. With a monopoly a player can then begin to 'improve' their property by paying to build houses and hotels. As you can see on the 'deed,'” Omany held up a card. “Rents increase astronomically with improvements to the property. There are other cards containing random events that add some variety, but basically that is the game. We play until one person has all of the money and the other players are bankrupt.”
After the first hour of game play, Omany was clearly showing more business acumen than one would expect from one who eschewed material wealth. Through cunning trading and spot on dice rolls, he had managed to obtain all of the properties on the most expensive corner of the board, and had improved those properties with three houses a piece. This proved to be disastrous to Nola when she landed on one of his green properties.
Omany requested his payment. “That will be six hundred credits, young lady.” The AI's features were becoming even more distinct. Her nose had more definition, with freckles on the bridge. And her red hair was now nearly three centimeters long.
“But I can't pay,” Nola whined, a distinctly odd sound to be coming from a computer. “I only have two hundred credits, and all of my property is already mortgaged.”
“Then you are bankrupt. The first victim of unregulated capitalism. You turn all of your money and property over to me, and you are no longer in the game.”
With the acquisition of the AI's property, Omany was an even more formidable force, now owning two full sides of the board. He continued to siphon cash off of Nathan and Remi, making improvements to his property. Nathan had built a small empire of his own, the basis of which was the corner of the board containing both the least and the most expensive properties.
Forty-five minutes after Nola's demise, Remi landed on the most expensive space on the board, which Nathan had improved to a hotel.
“That will be two thousand credits, my dear,” Nathan said with a wicked grin.
“Two thousand credits? That's outrageous!” The Princess grabbed the deed out of Nathan's hand and examined it, to verify he was telling the truth. After the verification, she sold her three remaining houses, then mortgaged the properties they had been on. Then counted out her credits into Nathan's hand.
“That's only nineteen hundred eighty credits,” Nathan said, with feigned seriousness.
“Can you let the twenty credits slide? On the next turn I will get paid two hundred credits, and I will be able to finish paying you.
“If it were just the two of us, Princess, you know I would. But, it wouldn't be exactly fair to the old man if I were to ignore the rules. I guess you are bankrupt, and I get all of your mortgaged property.” Remi calmly handed her property to Nathan. If there was anything she was not, it was a sore loser.
“I hope Omany kicks your ass,” she said to Nathan with a smile.
Fifteen minutes later, Nathan was bankrupt.
“You know, old man, what I have been seeing on Rand over the last twenty years makes more sense now. There was a definite dynamic in this game. We all got off to a slow start, gradually acquiring property and building our position, but eventually a 'tipping point' was reached where some players could no longer compete, while others developed larger and larger business empires.”
“Go on,” Omany said.
“When I first visited Rand, with my mentor, there were a few medium sized businesses, but by far the planet was dominated by family operations, most of which had been passed down through generations. Over the years since, the small businesses have been bought up or put out of business by the larger conglomerates, until now they are few and far between.”
“Yes,” Omany offered. “For the first few centuries or so, the economy of Rand seemed stable, which gave credence to the L/O ideals of its founders. It is believed that unusually long
period of stability, without intervention, was due to the fact that the people started out about as close to financially equal as could be achieved. But in the end, without some form of regulation to stop it, an economic upper class will always develop, and the wealth of a society will flow from the masses to the limited members of the upper class. Just like in the game.”
“Forgive me, Omany,” Nola interjected. “But this game is a rather simplistic model. How can any conclusions be drawn from it?”
“The simplicity of a model does not diminish its accuracy,” the old man replied. “The best models distill the essence of what they are modeling, with their accuracy determined by how well they predict real-world results. Nathan has given us observational data with respect to Rand. By examining human history we can find much additional data as to the accuracy of the model, including on Old Earth in the 1890s, 1920s and 2010s, the first two being what inspired the game, and the third can be partially attributed to the popularity of the game.”
“Wait a sec,” Nathan, like the rest of the crew, was baffled. “How could a game that so effectively models the major pitfall of unrestrained capitalism have been the part of the cause of such an economic disaster?”
“Although the game had enough initial popularity to be licensed by a major game manufacturer, there was the need for active marketing to increase sales. The company chose to market the game emphasizing the glory of winning, as opposed to the message of the disastrous effects of the winning conditions. By the late Twentieth Century it was the most popular game of all time, and the 'win at all costs' and 'greed is good' attitude that went along with the marketing of the game became endemic in the culture of North America, directly leading to the economic problems of the 2010s. The theme has played out in many other cultures both before and since as well.”
* * *
“What kind of planet has thirty-four spaceports?” Nathan had walked into the control room to find a frustrated Princess with paragraphs of text on every view-screen, along with various print-outs scattered around. Of course, he had expected this when he had been summoned. He knew what a herculean task he had assigned to her.
“Only thirty-four now, eh? That's less than half what it was last time I was here.” Daniels scooped up a stack of papers from the pilot's seat and sat down. “I'm guessing from the tone of your voice, the task isn't going well?”
Her answer was preceded with a glare. “Like that is any surprise to you Captain!” There was definite ice in the way she spoke that last word. “I am heartened by the fact that you actually expected me to review more than sixty-eight contracts, each over one hundred pages long! Is this contract business really that important?”
“The right of contract is taken very seriously on Rand.” Nathan explained. “For this reason there are no implied contracts or verbal contracts. Everything is in writing, and the contract contains all rights and obligations of both parties. Contracts are also iron clad. You wouldn't want us to choose a spaceport where the contract requires all female crew members to spend the night as part of the port owner's harem, would you?”
“No self-respecting port owner would...”
“Be careful with blanket statements like that, Princess. I have seen a lot of insane things buried in Randian contracts. Of course, you can usually get the most egregious clauses removed with a little negotiation, but you have to know it's there before you can negotiate its removal.”
“I understand what you are getting at, in principle, but twenty of these thirty-four contracts are identical!” Remi sighed. “If it weren't for Nola's help I wouldn't even know that much yet, as I would still be reading most of those twenty. How did you ever manage without help?”
“Whenever possible I would do business with the same port each time, that meant I only had to review one contract for any changes that had been made since my last visit. Unfortunately, that port has since been sold to one of the conglomerates, so it's time to find someone new to do business with.” The captain paused briefly, then continued. “You can set aside the identical contracts, as those are spaceports owned and operated by a single conglomerate.”
“Hooray for Captain Obvious!” Nola chimed in, beating Remi to the punch by a millisecond or so.
“It's wading through the remaining fourteen that is giving me fits. I mean, seriously, a planet just doesn't need more than one or two spaceports!”
“I agree, as long as those spaceports are strongly regulated. Without either competition or strong regulation the ports would start to levy fees that would make it really difficult for independent traders such as us. Sadly, the consolidation on Rand is going to lead to just that situation, since the government doesn't believe in even the tiniest bit of regulation. This may be the last time it is worth it for the Nola to come here.”
“Surely it doesn't take thirty-four spaceports to provide the proper amount of competition? I mean, the fact that twenty of them appear to be run individually but by the same company, when it would make more sense to consolidate, indicates there is something else at work.”
“Very observant, Princess!” Nathan congratulated her. “It has to do with property rights, and it will be easier to explain once we land. For now, I would say pick a 'port near one of the major cities, and make sure the contract doesn't have anything overly objectionable in it.” Daniels stood and made to leave.
“So, a clause requiring the Captain to be naked during all meetings with the dock master would be okay?” Remi chided.
“Of course! Nothing objectionable about that!” Nathan grinned and headed to the gym, just in case.
* * *
It took the better part of a day, but Remi eventually found a 'port with an agreeable contract. The contract stated, for cargo ships, a basic fee of ten percent of the sales value of any cargo off-loaded or loaded in the port. Nathan was able to negotiate this fee down to seven percent, which he deemed much more acceptable, by bluffing. He patently stated he would be more than willing to take his business to the conglomerate owned port less than fifty kilometers away, where the fee was only five percent. This most certainly was not the case, as Nathan would have paid the ten percent, if not more, to avoid doing business with one of the conglomerates.
Other than the dock fee, most of the rest of the contract consisted of indemnity clauses, and those clauses amounted to 'if anything happens to your ship or your crew while you are in port it is your fault, not ours. Enjoy your stay.' Of course it took close to eighty pages of very fine print to say that, as virtually every conceivable mishap was spelled out.
The spaceport was small, as were most of the ports on Rand, having barely enough room to handle half a dozen ships if they were Nola's size, considerably fewer if the ships were much larger. This particular 'port had been in existence since the founding of the planet, built on a grant of land that was made to every settler of Rand, in exchange for the settlement fee, and had been family owned ever since.
Once the Nola was down, Nathan and Remi prepared to disembark in search of cargo. The first oddity that the Princess noticed was Nathan leading her to the airlock, instead of the cargo ramp. Before entering the lock, the captain removed two breathing apparatuses from the wall, handing one to Remi.
“What are these for?” Remi asked. “Rand is known to have a standard oxygen, nitrogen, carbon-dioxide atmosphere.”
“Princess, your Environmental Ministry ensures the atmospheres of the the worlds of the Kalifet Empire are kept in near pristine condition. Other than that you have spent your entire life either aboard various ships and space stations, on planets with similar environmental regulations to your Empire, or (very recently) on planets that were pre-industrial. Your lungs are simply not prepared for the atmosphere of Rand.”
The pair donned the breathers, and cycled through the lock.
The need for the breathers was immediately apparent, as the atmosphere was thick with smog.
“Why all of the air pollution?” Remi asked, her voice distorted by the breather.
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br /> “As you know, every newly settled planet goes through stages of growth as it is populated. The first settlers live very primitive lives, restricted to the technology that they were able to bring with them. As the population of the planet grows, the civilization moves through the same stages of technological development as Old Earth, albeit at an accelerated rate, this includes a period of time where fossil fuels are used for energy, until the planet has the ability to exploit clean energy sources.” Nathan paused.
“True, but the use of fossil fuels is necessarily short, because of their environmental impact. The culture generally transitions to clean energy within fifty years or less, certainly before pollution like this,” Remi waved her hand around to emphasize her point, “develops.”
“That is quite true of a planet with a strong central government. However, without government regulation the true cost of fossil fuels: environmental impact and health costs, are externalized, leading to their use being artificially cheaper than clean energy solutions, where all of the costs are internalized. Given this situation there is no incentive to switch to cleaner energy sources until fossil fuels become so depleted that their scarcity drives the price up substantially.” The pair began walking to the gate of the spaceport. “Unfortunately Rand isn't there yet.”
“But if the people care about the environment, won't they stop patronizing the polluters?”
“That's what the L/Os, with their near religious belief in the 'free market' would have you believe. It might be the case when it comes to small business, but once conglomerates develop choice is restricted, if not eliminated entirely.” Nathan paused.
“Remember in the game how as Omany controlled more and more of the board it became harder to avoid being his 'customer'? That's where things are now on Rand. Even a L/O will tell you that conglomeration reduces the effectiveness of the market, but without a strong central government, who is going to break up the conglomerates?” At this point the pair had reached the gate.
“What about the communities? Can't they act to reduce the pollution?” Remi, in training to one day act on behalf of a strong central government, could not wrap her head around the way things were on Rand.