As stated in the Entry “Abolition of Rents and Mortgages,” the Totality owns the land within their country on the basis of National Sovereignty. They in turn entrust the Command Responsibility of looking after the land to the Council State because the Council State has the resources and manpower required to fulfill that role. The Self may own a plot of land and/or the buildings atop it by purchasing it from the Council State. Alternatively, the Council State may allocate the land and/or buildings to the Self as part of their Vocation or award the land and/or buildings as a Prize.

Until that plot of land or adjacent building is transferred to a Self as their Personal Property, the Council State must ensure that a portion of its State Budget be allocated toward land development and construction projects. For the former, this entails maintaining a proper balance between conserving the surrounding countryside and converting it into redeveloped plots of land. The Council State should have its own rules and regulations regarding the usage of undeveloped lands. Even if there is a geographical area rich in natural resources, it may be wiser to preserve them for future generations and making do with what the Totality already has. Conversely, the redevelopment of landscapes should be conducted with the Implicit Intent that said redevelopment will improve the livelihoods of those affected and maintain their sense of Authentic Dasein.

That brings us to the latter, which includes the installment of infrastructure and the construction of buildings. The construction project of a single-family home for instance will require the necessary infrastructure such as electricity and water, in addition to others such as waste disposal and HVAC (Heating, Ventilation and Air Conditioning). All of this and more will need to be built alongside the construction of that house before it somebody can claim it as their Household. A likewise set of considerations can also be expected in the construction of buildings intended as the Productive Properties of future Enterprises. The Council State should also have its rules and regulations regarding how Productive Properties are to be built and the working conditions which are to be adhered by the Enterprises that will someday operate them. That applies for the surrounding infrastructure around the Productive Properties as well as any roads or railroads that may need to be constructed to facilitate potential economic activities.

The construction of infrastructure and the adjacent buildings is to be done with the future in mind. The Council State, when redeveloping land for construction projects, should try to maintain another balance between letting urban areas develop organically on their own and guiding their development along regulated urban planning methods. A good example of this model involves planning the road networks in the major cities and metropolitan areas. The most ideal street layout is one where vehicular traffic, mass transportation systems, and pedestrians are able to travel without either excessively disrupting the others’ movements. The layout will be more intricate than a basic grid-based street layout, where major streets are accompanied by adjoining avenues and junctions capable of accommodating mass transportation, bicycles, and pedestrian traffic.

The manner in which the road networks are organized can impact future construction projects. It is possible to envisage the Council State deciding to build new monuments or facilities, only to realize that it cannot due to the limitations of earlier decisions in designing the roadways. There still needs to be ample space between vehicle traffic, pedestrian traffic, and the buildings themselves. Integrating it into the broader framework of MTEP (Mission-Type Economic Planning) can go a long way in developing the VCS Economy and shaping the long-term manner in which it establishes new sources of Arbeit and Geld.

Even so, one has to stop and wonder why this Author has decided to make a brief discussion on general principles from landscaping, urban planning, and civil engineering. After all, what does land redevelopment and construction projects have to do with the Council State’s funding of those economic activities? How are these activities applicable to the LER (Life-Energization Reciprocity) Process and how do they get registered in the Life-Energy Reserve? Why should they even be mentioned to begin with, if the initial assumption was that this Entry was going to be about how the Council State invests part of its State Budget into those same activities? And what does all of this have to do with the Productive/Personal Property-as-Power, Production for Dasein, and Student Government of the SSE in particular?

Temporary Sources of Arbeit and Geld

Whenever Arbeit and Geld are being registered in the Life-Energy Reserve, it is important to realize that not every form of economic activity is going to be permanent cycle of Arbeit-into-Geld and Geld-into-Arbeit. Sometimes, a given economic activity might temporarily create Arbeit within a limited span of Zeit (Time), thereby limiting its ability to generate Geld. Land redevelopment and construction projects are two obvious examples of this particular phenomenon. The rate at which Arbeit is contributed to the Life-Energy Reserve is limited to the actual redevelopment or construction itself.

Consider the case of land redevelopment. The Actual Arbeit in that endeavor will primarily be coming from taming an undeveloped area turning it into available plots of land. Once the undeveloped area is cleared, the Enterprise involved will stop creating additional Actual Arbeit from that specific endeavor. The only exception to that rule is the subsequent efforts to provide general maintenance, like preventing those plots from being reclaimed by nature. But apart from that obvious exception, the original source of Actual Arbeit will cease.

The same can be said for construction projects as well. Here, the original source of Actual Arbeit will be coming from the construction of the intended buildings. Once the buildings are finished, the original source of Actual Arbeit will also end, its replacement being the subsequent efforts to maintain the buildings until the Council State transfers ownership to the Self.

What I had just described is an inevitable scenario for certain economic activities. A given economic activity at first created a lot of Actual Arbeit, only for its Quality of Arbeit to later diminish due to an important factor within the production process. I have anticipated this possibility before in The Work-Standard (2^nd Ed.), but in the context of the Tourist Industry. For the Tourist Industry, the Quality of Arbeit will periodically change in response to the changing of seasons. One season might lower the Tourist Industry’s Quality of Arbeit due to an influx of visiting tourists, whereas another season might yield a higher Quality of Arbeit because of fewer tourists. And under the Work Theory of Money (WTM), the Quality of Geld will alter itself accordingly in response to the changing of the seasons.

Recontextualizing this same conclusion for land redevelopment and construction projects, I am confident that similar effects can be exhibited over the course of years instead of few months. In essence, the Quality of Arbeit and Quality of Geld for those activities will be initially ideal until the moment of their completion. The Arbeit and Geld coming from the subsequent efforts to maintain vacant lands and buildings will nowhere be as ideal, but they will nevertheless be considered as genuine sources of Arbeit and Geld for the Life-Energy Reserve. If there is any tangible benefit from this reality, it is that it will provide the Council State with the necessary Intents to transfer vacant lands and buildings to potential owners.

Sales, Issuances and Prizes

With undeveloped land and unoccupied buildings, the Council State will then need to rely on one of the three methods in transferring them to potential owners as Personal Properties. It can sell them, issue them as part of somebody’s Vocation, or award them to deserving recipients. Regardless of the method chosen, the Council State will find suitable contexts for each. Below is a list of possible scenarios that involve all three methods, from order of highest to lowest priority:

1. The Council State needs to have lands cleared and buildings constructed immediately. This could be done in response to natural disasters, wartime conditions, or tackling homelessness among the Totality.  
2. The Council State, depending on the current size and composition of the VCS Economy, may award the lands and buildings to those who require them for their Vocations. Those who are affiliated with the corresponding Guilds, Enterprises and Industries will be given higher priority.
3. The Council State could set aside vacant lands and buildings for the Student Body of the SSE. In this case, the Command Responsibility will fall under the auspices of the Student Government. From there, the Student Government can prioritize the distribution of allotments on a criterion.
4. The Council State decides to split plots of land or unoccupied buildings to members of a local community. The allotment of ownership to Personal Properties can be conducted on a first come, first serve basis, a lottery-type system, or provided outright to those in need of someplace to live.
5. The Council State could award the land or buildings to those who have distinguished themselves. This can be done in conjunction with the conferring of medals, letters of commendation, or promotions to the next higher Social Rank.   
6. The Council State proclaims an official announcement that it has lands and buildings for sale and is ready to process the transactional sales. Anyone interested in purchasing them as their Personal Properties is more than welcome to do so. They will pay the Council State in Actual Geld before receiving ownership of those Personal Properties. Whether the new owners intend to convert them into Productive Properties or leave them as Personal Properties can be left to their discretion.

While there may be other contexts, those are some of the more significant cases for the Council State. Whichever the case may be, the Council State will never charge any Rent nor will it condone the Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System lending Mortgages in the purchasing of Personal Properties. Rents and Mortgages are meant to be prohibited because, in exchange for having Personal Properties, the Council State is expecting the Self to do their own part to serve the Totality. Instead of having monthly payments in Rents and Mortgages, the Self maintains their ownership of Personal Properties through continued contributions of Arbeit and generations of Geld through their intended Vocations.      

The Student Housing of the SSE

Before I finish this Entry and proceed to address the integration of Suburbia into urban and rural locales, I need to address the issue of “Student Housing” for the Student Government. Should the Council State decide to set land and buildings aside for the SSE, the Command Responsibility falls on the Student Government on what becomes of them. One obvious example of this includes the maintenance and distribution of living spaces for Students as part of their education. Not just for Students attending the universities at the tertiary education level, but also those attending schools in the secondary and primary educational levels. The SSE must see to it that there are sufficient facilities to house and shelter the Student Body, especially for those who are pursuing their education outside of the Household of their parents.

Any member of the Student Body who opts for Student Housing will be reassured that they will be accommodated regardless of their Social Rank and how much Actual Geld they have. Much like the housing allotted to the Totality by the Council State, the Student Government will also enforce the prohibition of Rents and Mortgages in the SSE. Whether the Student Government will be able to accommodate everyone who chooses Student Housing is dependent on how many residential buildings have been provided by the Council State. The Student Government must adjust its allotment of Student Housing based on how many will need to be accommodated.

The Student Government could consider the usual dormitory arrangements already employed by conventional boarding schools and universities. But should it find itself pressed for living space, it might consider providing barracks as an alternative to dormitories. A barracks may not provide much privacy and fewer opportunities for coed living arrangements, but it can house far more people than a regular dormitory. The extent to which the Student Government toggles between dormitories and barracks will depend on how many residential buildings it has been provided by the Council State. If the Student Government finds that it is necessary, it could be compelled to request additional residential buildings that are more appropriate for addressing the needs of the Student Body. Whether the Student Government will actually do that is left to its own discretion.  

Categories: Third Place

Tags: ARPLAN, Economics, Finance, Philosophy, Politics, Psychology, Real Estate, Socialist Finance, Socialist Student Economy, Third Place, Total Educational Effort, Total Mobilization, Work-Standard