[SUBMITTED] Meat The Neighbours

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Second Draft:

My attempt at an issue for non-capitalist nations. Not perfect, I admit. Feedback would be gratefully received.

[title]Meat The Neighbours

[desc]State-level agricultural organisation and socialist worker toil has paid off: @@NAME@@ is producing high quality beef, pork and goat meat that is internationally recognised as being exceptionally delicious. So much so, that those foreign capitalists are sniffing around to see if they can have a cut of the action.

[validity]socialist nations with strong economies, beef production and meat-eating

[option]"Thing is 'comrade', what you've got here is a prime product which is in high demand across the world," says @@randomname@@, the CEO of Cold Capitalist Logistics, giving you the hard sell. "We're not asking you to abandon a governmental system that is clearly giving great results, we're just hoping that you'll let us help deliver your product to the global market. The cash coming back to your coffers will help fund your commie agenda. That's a good thing, right?"
[effect]@@DEMONYM@@ beef is enjoyed everywhere in the world except @@NAME@@
[stats]more economic freedom, corruption and beef production

[option]"Wait, we do the work, and you pocket the profits?" asks local farmer @@randomname@@ somewhat incredulously, as @@HE@@ slides on an elbow-length rubber glove in a worryingly menacing fashion. "Way I see it, the people doing the work should be rewarded in proportion to the wealth they generate. Basically, let the proceeds of the sale filter back to a company of folk in charge of the operation, who can then use that money to employ some workers, and those workers can use their now personal wealth to buy and trade freely, while the various processes that are incorporated in production can compete against each other to provide the best selling product for the lowest prices. I'm sure I've heard of a system like that before..."
[effect]retail rather than revolution was the end of Communism in @@NAME@@
[stats]nation goes capitalist, and associated effects

[option]"The purpose of state agriculture is not to feed capitalist nations!" yells horrified Marxist @@randomname@@, making a note to report the previous speaker to the Committee On Un@@DEMONYM@@ Activities. "The produce of @@NAME@@ should meet the needs of the proletariat. If we produce too much for @@NAME@@, then we should send it freely to other socialist countries to aid the global revolution! This is what Communism is about: the pursuit of a efficient and fair society worldwide, not the generation of filthy lucre!"
[effect]gift hampers filled with delicious beef jerky are sent to newly communist nations
[stats]international aid goes up

[option]"Actually, looking at the numbers, I'm wondering about our overall agricultural strategy," murmurs statistician and economic planner @@randomname@@, skinny fingers tapping at a calculator. "The ratio of land and labour use to calorie output is very poor for meats of all sorts, and we would be far better off with arable farming alone, and a meat-free national diet. Freeing up workers from food production would let us reassign them to other more modern industries, such as electronics and tech production. This is a chance to show the world the strength and efficiency of a properly run planned economy..."
[effect]citizens identify less with the hammer-and-sickle and more with the touchscreen-and-phone-charger
[stats]nation becomes vegetarian, less economic freedom, less farming, more IT.

First Draft:

My attempt at an issue for non-capitalist nations. Not perfect, I admit. Feedback would be gratefully received.

[title]Meat The Neighbours

[desc]State-level agricultural organisation and socialist worker toil has paid off: @@NAME@@ is producing high quality beef, pork and goat meat that is internationally recognised as being exceptionally delicious. So much so, that those foreign capitalists are sniffing around to see if they can have a cut of the action.

[validity]socialist nations with strong economies, beef production and meat-eating

[option]"Thing is 'comrade', what you've got here is a prime product which is in high demand across the world," says @@randomname@@, the CEO of Cold Capitalist Logistics, giving you the hard sell. "We're not asking you to abandon a governmental system that is clearly giving great results, we're just hoping that you'll let us help deliver your product to the global market. The cash coming back to your coffers will help fund your commie agenda. That's a good thing, right?"
[effect]@@DEMONYM@@ beef is enjoyed everywhere in the world except @@NAME@@
[stats]more economic freedom, corruption and beef production

[option]"Wait, we do the work, and you pocket the profits?" asks local farmer @@randomname@@ somewhat incredulously, as @@HE@@ slides on an elbow-length rubber glove in a worryingly menacing fashion. "Way I see it, the people doing the work should be rewarded in proportion to the wealth they generate. Basically, let the proceeds of the sale filter back to a company of folk in charge of the operation, who can then use that money to employ some workers, and those workers can use their now personal wealth to buy and trade freely, while the various processes that are incorporated in production can compete against each other to provide the best selling product for the lowest prices. I'm sure I've heard of a system like that before..."
[effect]retail rather than revolution was the end of Communism in @@NAME@@
[stats]nation goes capitalist, and associated effects

[option]"The purpose of state agriculture is not to feed capitalist nations!" yells horrified Marxist @@randomname@@, making a note to report the previous speaker to the Committee On Un@@DEMONYM@@ Activities. "The produce of @@NAME@@ should meet all the needs of @@NAME@@, and we should neither import nor export trade goods. This is what Communism is about: the pursuit of an optimally efficient and fair society, not the generation of filthy lucre!"
[effect]holiday souvenirs are illegal
[stats]nation becomes self-sufficient, trade barriers go up, export-based stuff goes.

[option]"Actually, looking at the numbers, I'm wondering about our overall agricultural strategy," murmurs statistician and economic planner @@randomname@@, skinny fingers tapping at a calculator. "The ratio of land and labour use to calorie output is very poor for meats of all sorts, and we would be far better off with arable farming alone, and a meat-free national diet. Freeing up workers from food production would let us reassign them to other more modern industries, such as electronics and tech production. This is a chance to show the world the strength and efficiency of a properly run planned economy..."
[effect]citizens identify less with the hammer-and-sickle and more with the touchscreen-and-phone-charger
[stats]nation becomes vegetarian, less economic freedom, less farming, more IT.

[Australian rePublic]

Props for combining many topics on the list into one. This my friend is why you're an editor! I wonder if you could kill a third bird, or rather fish, with this same stone, by adding trout fishing to the list

When I fisrt read the title, I thought this was about cannibalism.
Also, banning imports and exports would have more of an impact than no souvineers, there would be widespread shortages and widespread surplasses all the time, and nothing the nation can do about. Also, tourism, when tourists come to you, is considered an export, same with education, when students come to you. Is that kind of export banned to

[Bears Armed]

When I first read the title, I thought this was about cannibalism.

Same here, and I was worried that it might make my own idea for another 'cannibalism' issue unworkable.

*<sighs in relief>*

[Medio Centroamerica]

I like it. You did good.

[Candlewhisper Archive]

Also, banning imports and exports would have more of an impact than no souvineers, there would be widespread shortages and widespread surplasses all the time, and nothing the nation can do about. Also, tourism, when tourists come to you, is considered an export, same with education, when students come to you. Is that kind of export banned to

Absolutely, there'll be huge impacts. But the stats can describe those, the effect line is mostly meant to show how humorously extreme this is.

[Australian rePublic]

Also, banning imports and exports would have more of an impact than no souvineers, there would be widespread shortages and widespread surplasses all the time, and nothing the nation can do about. Also, tourism, when tourists come to you, is considered an export, same with education, when students come to you. Is that kind of export banned to

Absolutely, there'll be huge impacts. But the stats can describe those, the effect line is mostly meant to show how humorously extreme this is.

I might just be me, but I think that you should mention the other consequences somewhere

[The Grim Reaper]

If NATION refuses to either import or export goods (third options), that means one of two things - that the state is reallocating labour from surplus industries to demand industries (i.e. option 4), or that the state is actively letting a surplus go to waste, which isn't really lampshaded at all.

In other words, both the third and fourth imply the same course of action, albeit with different narrative focuses. I think they overlap.

My personal suggestion would be to make the third, instead of implying reducing a surplus, to endorse the state redistributing the surplus as foreign aid to socialist allied nations. A role-reversal of the controversial Holodomor, where agricultural command was used to do the opposite (starve out opposition). By no longer implying balancing the national checkbook, you remove overlap from option 4, while also keeping an explicit rejection of global capitalism & the end of importing/exporting.

You could do this by just editing the second clause in the second sentence of dialogue ("The produce of @@NAME@@ should meet all the needs of @@NAME@@, and we should neither import nor export trade goods." to "The produce of @@NAME@@ should meet the needs of the proletariat. If we produce too much for @@NAME@@, then we should use it as aid for the global revolution!).

[Candlewhisper Archive]

You're right, option 3 changed.