Unemployment does not exist in the Socialist Nation. From the Student Body of the secondary and tertiary educational levels in the Socialist Student Economy (SSE) to the Totality in the VCS Economy, everyone is contributing Arbeit and Geld to the Life-Energy Reserve. In the VCS Economy, State and Social Enterprises from all five of its Economic Sectors contribute Arbeit and Geld by providing everything needed by the Totality. The Enterprises and Professions of different Industries compete with each other to achieve the highest Quality of Arbeit for the least Quality of Geld. Those who perform better than the competition attains the next Social Rank. For individual Vocations, the Council State confers medals, awards, decorations and promotions to the next Social Rank. The Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System, an institutional actor that has been discussed previously, is one of the topics of this Section in the SMP Compendium.
The SSE maintains its own Tournament, where Students are given hands-on training outside of classroom instruction at the secondary and tertiary educational level. Student Enterprises are established and maintained by the Student Government and Student Body, the Council State encouraging Social Enterprises to transfer to Student Tournament from the VCS Economy’s Tournament and become Student Enterprises. Some popular examples of Student Enterprises include Cooperatives, Small Businesses, Workshops, Department Stores, Supermarkets, Antique Stores and Second-Hand Stores. Any Social Enterprise that decides to transfer to the Student Tournament from the VCS Economy’s Tournament will receive State Investments from the Council State to facilitate their conversion into Student Enterprises.
The National Intranet of the Socialist Nation, where Digital Enterprises contribute Digital Arbeit and Digital Geld through the LERE Process, also has a Tournament. This Digital Tournament is capable of providing the VCS Economy’s Tournament and the Student Tournament without additional sources of Arbeit and Geld for Economic Socialization (ES). Digital Enterprises interact with the Totality and any Foreigners who have accessed the National Intranet from the International Internet, which can be facilitated by special “Internet Cafés” subordinate to “Intranet Service Providers (ISPs).” The Digital Tournament is presided by the Social Forums in the National Intranet, with other Digital Enterprises operating along the digital borders of the National Intranet. Overseeing the production processes and the transactional sales of the Digital Enterprises that operate in the International Internet are the “Social Courts.”
In the Household, there is “Heimarbeit” (Homework or ‘Work-from-Home’) being done by those who do not have to commute to the workspace. Every Household is capable of sustaining the VCS Economy’s Cottage Industry, which sells its finished products to all three Tournaments. Special facilities can be established by the Council State to enable the Cottage Industry to contribute Arbeit and Geld, thereby staying in the Work-World. Municipal Governments offer “Shopping Arenas” for State, Social and Student Enterprises selling goods and services. They can construct “Shopping Arena Transit Hubs (SATHs)” near important mass transportation systems such as railways, highways, seaports, and airports. Regional Governments are capable of building the exclusive “Shopping Citadel” for the SSE, VCS Economy, Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System, and National Intranet. State, Social, Student, Digital and even Digital Enterprises are capable of operating in these Shopping Citadels.
The Military-Industrial Complex and the Armed Forces of the Socialist Nation are main contributors of Military Arbeit and Military Geld to the Life-Energy Reserve. They represent additional sources of Arbeit and Geld that can be obtained from non-civilian activities. The extent to which the Military-Industrial Complex and the Armed Forces contribute to the Life-Energy Reserve is dependent on how willing they are to disclose their activities to the Central Bank. There can be occasions where even the Central Bank needs to be left in the dark due to the sensitive nature of research and development projects and classified military actions. The Council State’s Ministry of War may sustain itself with as much Military Arbeit and Military Geld as it is willing to disclose to the Central Bank.
The Central Bank, at the behest of the State President and State Council, presides over the Reciprocal-Reserve Banking System’s two main financial institutions. The Kontore (Financial Offices) are responsible for the issuances of National-Socialized Financial Instruments (NSFIs), which can be purchased alongside a Service Fee and after attaining the prerequisite Social Rank. The Social Rank requirement is low enough to allow even Students from the SSE to acquire NSFIs and even issue them for their Enterprises. The Council State’s Central Government, Regional Governments and Municipal Governments also issue their own NSFIs for those interested in furthering the aims of Council Democracy. A later Entry in the Section will provide more information on the various NSFIs that can be offered by the Kontore.
Besides the Kontore, there is always one NSFI that will always be well-known and well-understood by the Totality. While State Banks are responsible for the conduct of Mission-Type Economic Planning (MTEP), the National-Socialized Banks are the only financial institutions to lend Work-Tenures to potential borrowers. Work-Tenures are Interest-free loans where the lender gives the borrower a fixed sum of Actual Geld, which must be paid off through the contributions of both the borrower and the lender. The borrower pays off half, the other half by the lender. The borrower either breaks even or contributes more Arbeit than the Geld they had borrowed.
Prices of goods and services in the Tournaments are decided by the State Commissariats, which function akin to courtroom proceedings. A Superintendent is in charge of a State Commissariat whose jurisdiction covers that of a Regional Government. Each State Commissariat is headed by State Commissars, maintain local branches inside Shopping Citadels, SATHs and Shopping Arenas, and have Inspectors assigned to all Enterprises within its jurisdiction. The State Commissariats determine the Price of goods and services as well as the Paygrades of the Totality with the support and recommendations of everyone working at the Enterprises in their jurisdiction.
Weekly Paygrades are officially established by the Council State and implemented by the State Commissariats. State Commissars have their Inspectors consult the personnel of every Enterprise in their jurisdiction to determine how much Actual Geld should they be receiving each week. The information is related to the State Commissars, who set the rates and get them approved by the State Delegates of the State Council. The State Council, backed by a Constitutional Obligation and Constitutional Intent, allows each State Commissariat to decide the Paygrades based on the criteria that it has established in its own legislation.
Additionally, all Vocations in the Socialist Nation are entitled to receive their Paygrades at the same rates according to an “Income Bracket” established by the State Commissariats. All State Commissariats will establish the official rates, submit them to the State Council, where it will be approved by legislation and signed into law by the State President. Women will receive Paygrades at the same rates as men until marriage, which will be combined with the Paygrade of their spouses. Each Paygrade is designed to render redundant the need for minimum wage, sick pay, vacation pay, and maternity pay because all of those are already integrated into the Paygrade.
How much somebody receives in their Paygrade is dependent on their Social Rank, number of dependents and the years of service to a single Vocation. Everyone continues to receive their Paygrades each week until they no longer have a Vocation. Anyone who ascends to a higher Social Rank will receive more Geld in their Paygrades by the Council State. Conversely, anyone who for whatever Intent was demoted to a lower Social Rank will have less Geld in their Paygrade.
There are few taxes in the Socialist Nation. Under normal conditions, the Totality gets to keep whatever Actual Geld it receives in the Tournaments through transactional sales. Most State and Social, Student and Digital Enterprises will reinvest that Actual Geld to continue their production processes, with the Council State allocating their personnel the weekly Paygrade based on the recommendations of the State Commissariats. All Enterprises in the SSE, VCS Economy and National Intranet are required to maintain a minimum amount of Actual Geld in their accounts as part of their economic activities. The Council State has a Constitutional Obligation to allocate additional Actual Geld from its own State Budget to all Enterprises as needed.
The Council State may issue “Stipends” on top of someone’s Paygrade. A Stipend refers to a fixed sum of Actual Geld that can be allocated to a specialized Vocations related to creative works of art. The most important recipients are those involved in State Media, Social Media, and Student Media because those Vocations need additional Geld to commission works of art. It is up to the State Commissariats to set the official rates for the State Council.
Education, childcare, healthcare, housing, transportation, water, electricity, fuel, and infrastructure are all provided to the Totality by the Council State. The Council State allocates much of the State Budget to them as needed, expecting the Professions involved to sustain themselves through their own Arbeit and Geld. Since all of the basic essentials are going to be covered by the Council State, it will not cost the Totality much to purchase them directly from the Council State. There is also no homelessness in the Socialist Nation because the Council State has a Constitutional Obligation to provide basic housing to everyone with a Vocation. The Council State maintains a number of policies designed to ensure that the unemployed, underemployed, destitute, and homeless will attain Meaningful Work from any Vocation. Orphans, elderly, and the disabled will be cared over by the Council State if they are not counted as the dependents of any Household receiving a Paygrade each week.
It should be noted that the concept of “Welfare Capitalism” does not exist in the Socialist Nation. Health insurance, accident insurance, disability insurance, unemployment insurance, life insurance and so forth do not exist under the Work-Standard. There are no state and social pensions nor is there severance pay for when somebody had to leave their Vocation. Welfare Capitalism impoverishes not only the State but also the Totality by preventing them from spending any Geld that could help each other avoid the same poverty that afflicts them. Since the Totality is going to be more well-off compared to the Civil Societies of Liberal Capitalist countries, everyone is expected to afford all of their basic needs. Everything discussed here is designed to be self-sufficient, yet capable of providing exceptional treatment to those who deserve such treatment.
Categories: Compendium
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