3rd Draft
[TITLE] In Stitches
[DESCRIPTION] Educators in the rural reaches of @@NAME@@ have long struggled to convince parents to enroll their children in school, with many families sending their kids out into the workforce instead. Children as young as five are apprenticed in the delicate but extremely labor-intensive craft of traditional @@DEMONYM@@ @@ANIMAL@@ Rug-weaving, and it seems they simply have no time for school.
[VALIDITY] Child labor permitted, significant Basket Weaving industry, no wild children, no vat children
[OPTION 1] "We try to convince them, but these parents just don't understand that education is the only means to guarantee a decent life for their children!" fumes @@random_name()@@, head teacher at Future @@ucfirst(PL(ANIMAL))@@ Elementary. "Have you ever tried convincing somebody to take a benefit a decade down the road instead of a @@CURRENCY@@ in their pocket here and now? They don't even have the education to understand that trade! You must mandate that all children attend a proper school henceforth, and eliminate these absurd exceptions for work!"
[EFFECT 1] starving students can speak eloquently about their hunger
[OPTION 2] "I understand that if I send little @@random_firstname()@@ off to one of those schools, @@HE@@'ll never learn th' art, and won't be able to make a livin'" frets @@random_name()@@, shoving a needle and thread into @@HIS@@ child's hands. "We don't have factory jobs 'round here, and we need th' income to put food on the table. You want children goin' to schools? You need to support us workin' families with subsidies and extra benefits paid for by those rich folk up in the cities!"
[EFFECT 2] urbanites gripe about ivory-tower intellectuals out in the sticks
[OPTION 3a] Validity: Capitalist "They don't have factory jobs? That's where it's all gone wrong!" booms the horrified voice of industrial fat cat @@random_name()@@. "Instead of giving money to those lay-abouts, you should finance a job-creator like myself! I'll set up a new factory making rugs the easy way, and we'll get ten times the output at a fraction of the cost! With all that time saved, you can send them to school when the workday is done."
[EFFECT 3a] every hundredth rug comes with a free child's finger rolled up inside
[OPTION 3b] Validity: Socialist "They don't have factory jobs? That's where it's all gone wrong!" booms the horrified voice of co-op chief @@random_name()@@. "Instead of giving them money for nothing, the state should finance creation of proper jobs for these citizens. We can set up a new factory making rugs the easy way, and we'll get ten times the production for a fraction of the labor! With all that time saved, we can send them to school when the workday is done."
[EFFECT 3b] every hundredth rug comes with a free child's finger rolled up inside
[OPTION 4] "Why is everybody trying to get rid of the old ways?" reads a hand-written letter from elderly life-long rug-weaver @@random_name()@@. "Schools, factories, welfare from some far-off city... all of this distracts from the traditions that we've followed for generations. Recall your so-called 'educators' and your reformist carpetbaggers. Let local people take care of their own affairs, and pursue their own cultures, here and all across @@NAME@@! We know ourselves best."
[EFFECT 4] citizens find themselves separated by a common language
2nd Draft