Subject: point taken

From: "Oloros the Blue" <oloros@l...>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 01:11:52 -0000

In a previous episode, Doctroid wrote: 
As a separate point, not directly relevant to the present case, I
caution against the assumption that Points are an infinitely renewable
resource, created ab vacuo. The nature of Points is a mystery to
present-day science: What are they made of? How are they produced? 
What entity makes them available, and why does that Entity not make
them available to bestow on new Players? Can they be synthesized? 
Much ongoing research is being devoted to these questions, and perhaps
we shall have answers in the not too distant future -- answers that
could have a profound effect on our Society.
[end recapitualation]

It would be a rather interesting game if there were only a limited 
number of Points availble, perhaps the State might regulate them. 
However I think that the reward system, or, if you will, economy, 
works quite well with Points created ex nihilo, and then absorbed by 
by the State. 

-Oloros

---

From: Gallivanting Tripper <s3036845@s...>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 11:55:48 +1000 (EST)

>works quite well with Points created ex nihilo, and then absorbed by

Much more complicated than that, I'm afraid - we also have a points
destruction facility (failed proposals, and punishments) which is countered
by a debt cancellation program that is fortunately not linked to the State
(but is linked to SS)

Furthermore there exists a Points Sink in the form of Jewels,which are
currently out of the State's purview and which themselves form a
potentially infinite source of Social Standing when worn at Black Tie
Affairs. Hexagons, which cannot be converted into Jewels, are nevertheless
disposable currency which vanish when converted into also-temporary Formal
Wear.

And then there is the matter of Institutions, which give each player a
chance to create thier own zero-sum game (I'm drafting a Numfield as we
speak) but if the most expiditious Proposal 86 is enacted, the institutions
will be able to be subsidised by the state, presumably funneling the wealth
ultimately back to the Players who payed the taxes in the first place.

So here's what I think....

Formal Wear, and Party Catering should be services provided by
Institutions. Jewels should be subject to Luxury Tax. A Natural Resources
institution could supply the points for passed proposals and admin. The
State (or perhaps the Judiciary) could collect punishments and failed
proposal fees, but become responsible for welfare. Finally, in order for
the economy to become closed, there should be some way of renewing the
Natural Resources, perhaps through Charity or State work. Any thoughts on
how to tie all this in???

GT

---

From: "Richard S. Holmes" <hrholmes@m...>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 00:20:26 -0400

I'm getting a little annoyed here. Not all the Socialnomic posts are
getting delivered to me. My AML post announcing adoption of P85, for
instance, and Oloros's "Point Taken" message on DML. Of course I can,
and have, read the latter on the eGroups archive... but I might have
missed it completely had I not gotten Tripper's reply to a message I
hadn't seen.

As far as I know it's only eGroups email that's not arriving 100% of the
time (actually only Socialnomic email, as far as I've noticed, but the
traffic on the few other eGroups I subscribe to is too low to make lost
messages apparent), not email in general, although the latter is
possible, I suppose.

Anyone else have any gaps in their Socialnomic inboxes? Is the list
owner getting any bounce messages? Who the heck IS the list owner, anyway?

- Doctroid

---

From: "Oloros the Blue" <oloros@l...>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 22:55:07 -0000

> owner getting any bounce messages? Who the heck IS the list owner, 
anyway?
Actually, I am set for web-read only. I expect most of the rest of us 
are as well. We had agreed to share the list-owner account with 
players, but we all must have forgotten to do so. May I request that 
the second founding player to read this message acknowledge it and 
send to Doctroid the appropriate account information and passwords?

-Oloros

---

From: Xylen <mctupper@h...>
Date: Thu, 24 Aug 2000 17:08:31 -0600

> send to Doctroid the appropriate account information and passwords?

I have sent the relevant info to Doctroid in a private email. If he
does not recieve it, let us know, and the information can be sent again.

For the record, there has been no notice of problems sent to the list
owner. I have had a few delays myself, but I know my problems are with
an upstream server that tends to bundle messages from some sources and
hold them until traffic lightens up. Peerhaps that is happening to
Doctroid as well.

Xylen

-- 
Hardware: The parts of a computer system that can be kicked