[PASSED] Social Assistance Accord

[Volatilis votum]

It's not that difficult to recover from a Social Justice resolution. I did it with two issues.

My economy is 0/100.


There is no recovery.

[Xanthal]

My economy is 0/100.

OOC: That's actually impressive. I don't think I've ever seen a country with an economy trend reading of zero before.

[Volatilis votum]

My economy is 0/100.

OOC: That's actually impressive. I don't think I've ever seen a country with an economy trend reading of zero before.

Piece of advice, never outlaw private business.

[Xanthal]

Piece of advice, never outlaw private business.

Xanthal's economy has been hurting a bit as its program of economic liberalization has progressed. It's still strong, but I'm watching it warily at this point. NS is pretty dynamic; you can hurt a socialism-based economy by giving more power to free enterprise just as much as you can hurt a capitalism-based one by restricting it. But I digress. Let the cries of indignation and self-righteous rebukes resume. :P

[Volatilis votum]

Piece of advice, never outlaw private business.

Xanthal's economy has been hurting a bit as its program of economic liberalization has progressed. It's still strong, but I'm watching it warily at this point. NS is pretty dynamic; you can hurt a socialism-based economy by giving more power to free enterprise just as much as you can hurt a capitalism-based one by restricting it. But I digress. Let the cries of indignation and self-righteous rebukes resume.

Any idea how to get my economy back on track? Well, build one? I started out with a 4 believe it or not.

[Warzone Codger]

There are also flow on effects. My need to fund this resolution lead me to reject payments to pensioners (In issue answering), which unintentionally dropped my civil rights!

>_>

[Connopolis]

(1) All member-states shall develop Unemployment Insurance funds - in accordance with each nation's pre-existing Social Security system (excluding the lack thereof, or systems that do not meet the protocol of this resolution) - in which capital is collected from either state mechanisms, private enterprises, or a combination of the two, with the intent of temporarily sustaining individuals who are without a sufficient income, and their dependents.

Please not the enlarged texts, those of you who think that you are being forced to set up another social security program. If you don't already have social security, then obviously there will be monetary funding needed to comply with this resolution, however.

Yours,

[Urgench]

(1) All member-states shall develop Unemployment Insurance funds - in accordance with each nation's pre-existing Social Security system (excluding the lack thereof, or systems that do not meet the protocol of this resolution) - in which capital is collected from either state mechanisms, private enterprises, or a combination of the two, with the intent of temporarily sustaining individuals who are without a sufficient income, and their dependents.

Please not the enlarged texts, those of you who think that you are being forced to set up another social security program. If you don't already have social security, then obviously there will be monetary funding needed to comply with this resolution, however.

Yours,

Indeed and the protocol of the resolution is that funding for unemployment assistance must be raised either by the state or by private business initiative. Your Excellency should read your own resolution.


Yours,

[Connopolis]

National sovereignty is of course beside the point in this context. However the very fact that this resolution is being accused of socialism is a symptom of the fact that it is composed on the faulty premise that there are only two ways a nation may solve the problems associated with poverty caused by unemployment; via the state and redistributive policies on the part of central government or via the agency of private enterprise.


The entire paradigm upon which this resolution is constructed imagines a world in which only the state or private enterprise is capable of providing the solution to a society's problems. This is the left/right axis politics of the mythical Real World, in which politics inspired by socialism and capitalism wage ideological war on one another. This legendary ideological war is in itself an utterly sterile and futile hypothetical exploration of political theories which are themselves sterile, primitive and completely incapable of solving any society's problems. But besides this it is ridiculous of the authors of this resolution to presume that this left/right axis informs the politics and social organisation of every member state of this organisation.

Indeed in thousands of member states this legendary ideological dichotomy has never existed and resolutions which use this dichotomy as the basis of their approach to problem solving are therefore entirely anachronistic and incapable of accounting for the political and social realities which pertain in in a vast number of WA member states.


If this resolution is accused of socialism by member states in which the legendary left/right axis is not in fact a legend, but a real aspect of their political culture, it is hardly the fault of those nations in question, it is the fault of the authors of this resolution for failing to realise that there exist other methods of problem solving than the use of centralised state authority or the ingenuity of private enterprise.



Yours,

With all due respect ambassador, might I ask where I hinted this resolution related to any position on the political spectrum, aside from the occurrences where I refuted the declarations of socialism and authoritarianism? I am well aware of the fact that nations exist in which they function on uncommon social systems, such as that of your excellency's homeland. Granted, I did provide this clause for outliers:

(1) All member-states shall develop Unemployment Insurance funds - in accordance with each nation's pre-existing Social Security system (excluding the lack thereof, or systems that do not meet the protocol of this resolution) - in which capital is collected from either state mechanisms, private enterprises, or a combination of the two...

Therefore, you needn't sustain individuals through state and/or private mechanisms, but they must be functioning to the point where they may provide benefits at any given time. The dolguk are an example of a scenario in which "benefits" are being provided in order to sustain the needs expressed here:

(2) Individuals shall recieve these benefits under the following circumstances:

[...]

(3) Enough Unemployment Insurance shall be provided to accomodate for the beneficiary, as well as all unemployed dependents legally residing within the beneficiary's residence; the beneficiary and unemployed dependents must recieve enough to obtain basic necessities, such as water, nourishment (sufficient enough to sustain the individual's health), rent/housing, and fundamental utilities, such as energy and plumbing.

Which, I can assume, that most non-state/private entities would do if their intent was to sustain the individual. I apologize for referencing your social system so often, however, it does clearly exemplify this resolutions applicability to outliers; I assume the Dolguk do provide sufficient income to provide for its kin, and would therefore be in compliance with this resolution, so long as the centralized authority/multiple sub-authorities of Urgench compiled a fund as a precaution, as it should be assumed that the Dolguk itself could face difficulties, could it not? Also, I thought I should point this out; this clause clearly indicates the role of the two funding mechanisms described:

...with the intent of temporarily sustaining individuals who are without a sufficient income, and their dependents.

This clause serves the dual purposes of preventing the involuntarily unemployed from acquiring addition benefits, should they already have an income, and allows member-states to withold benefits should there be an acceptable non state mechanism funding the individuals already. So, Your Excellency, as you can see, this resolution does not reflect a drafting process based on the left/right political axis, as can be assumed from this, as well as my constant agitation caused by accusations of dominantly socialist/capitalist tendencies.

I hope I clarified any misconceptions, and would be glad to further clarify, should you ask.

How droll. As an actual Socialist, I voted against this measure because it is force-feeding capitalist palliatives down the rest of the world's throat and thereby perpetuating global wage slavery. But apparently education levels around the world differ as well as economic inequality...Enjoy your clean and safe beverage provided for you by the proletariat, guvnah.

Peace from Wu Wei Shan

This resolution is many things; it can be argued that it is controversial, or that it leans slightly to the left, however, I assure you that this resolution is anything but capitalist. Not to disrespect capitalism, but this resolution clearly does not support capitalism, as it's independent of trade policies. It could be argued that it breaches certain ideologies of capitalism, but not to the extend where trade/economics are significantly effected.

Yours in minty freshness,

Your excellency, I believe this should cover your snide snipe at my perception of my own proposal...

Yours,

[Libraria and Ausitoria]

May we express our delight in the passage of this proposal?

My economy! It's already collapsing under this crap! *glares at people*

Yes, our economy collapsed to very strong (from something like frightening) after we instituted unemployed welfare. But we think the people are happier as a result.

[New Nassrau]

AAAH... my economy got bumped down a level!
I now see a magic 2% on welfare spending AAAAAAHHHH!!!!!!

[Arivali]

My economy dropped 14 points, from strong, to good, just barely above reasonable. I just recently recovered from a recession, and now you've given me another one.

Tell me, how do I pay for this when no one has a job to pay taxes? Would those of you who had to have this passed like to pay for it for me?

[Knootoss]

Being told that the "new" unemployment benefits will be able to help the newly unemployed is utterly perverse. That said, is there a repeal being drafted yet?

[Krioval]

The best part is that our economy took a hit not because we had to institute unemployment benefits, but because of the cost of the added bureaucracy needed to demonstrate to the WA that we do, in fact, offer those benefits. We are concerned that economies less robust than that of the Imperial Chiefdom may be most strongly negatively impacted, and that the employment situation in those locations may be made worse as a consequence.

Henrik Søgård
Imperial Chiefdom of Krioval

[Xanthal]

The best part is that our economy took a hit not because we had to institute unemployment benefits, but because of the cost of the added bureaucracy needed to demonstrate to the WA that we do, in fact, offer those benefits.

Why not just let the gnomes do it? :P

[Krioval]

The best part is that our economy took a hit not because we had to institute unemployment benefits, but because of the cost of the added bureaucracy needed to demonstrate to the WA that we do, in fact, offer those benefits.

Why not just let the gnomes do it?

OOC: Really, I was just noticing the silliness of having an economic impact from this resolution despite Krioval spending 5% of its budget on welfare, 14% on healthcare, and 25% on education. Based on that, Krioval was almost certainly (from a stats point of view) spending its money on social programs specified in this resolution, and yet felt some sort of stastical impact - thus my IC claim that the only difference was bureaucracy.

IC:

Really, Excellency, it's best to keep the gnomes outside of one's borders. Their unions are murder...for the bottom line, that is.

Henrik Søgård
Imperial Chiefdom of Krioval

[The Eternal Kawaii]

Being told that the "new" unemployment benefits will be able to help the newly unemployed is utterly perverse. That said, is there a repeal being drafted yet?

We hope so. Our economy is still a "Capitalist Paradise" thanks to the Legalize Prostitution debacle; not that we mind the rating but the way we're getting there is riding roughshod over our nation's culture. How much more meddling are the IntFeds going to do here before the WA has had enough?