Train-of-Thought Cloverleaf Worldbuilding considerations

went like this:

– Cya starts trade routes relatively early on, as soon as she has trade goods in the city
– because of the climate control, Cloverleaf can produce crops not otherwise available that far north.
– Ooh, flour sacks. They have cotton… https://blog.etsy.com/en/2011/feed-sacks-a-sustainable-fabric-history/, http://www.buchanancountyhistory.com/feedsack.php
– (From that thinking about IRL examples skipped to)
– Baby Boxes: http://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-22751415, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Maternity_package
– Cya does a lot of basic-standard-of-life stuff, I bet they do this
– there are probably unwanted children. State-run creche/adoption center? Probably
– what about abortion? Oh, bog, abortion.
– “Government cheese” and basic rations? Still thinking about details here
– Free hostel-style housing, free xx months in actual housing – not designed to eliminate poverty but to eliminate some of the horrors of poverty
– booming fabrics market as well as the custom-made fashion set by people like our printing-press guy
– And BOOKS! Entertainment! !!
– Spices, spices are very important
– how much of the means of production does our dictator control? How much does she allow to be controlled by the elected government? (how much of a fascism is she okay with and does she slowly relinquish control?)

Side note: I figured out why she runs it as a dictatorship!

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4 thoughts on “Train-of-Thought Cloverleaf Worldbuilding considerations

  1. The trouble with dictatorships is that El Supremo is rarely that supreme. He/she needs the army to protect him from counter-revoluFairies, which means he has to keep his generals happy. He has to keep the Minister of Widgets happy to keep getting a good supply of Widgets, which means the MoW needs to keep the workers happy, or at least mildly content. [1] Unhappy workers build bad widgets. Which the MoW has to explain to El Supremo. Now an unhappy El Supremo can always shoot the MoW, but that means his replacement is less likely to give an honest answer when he’s asked if the Widget production quota is going to meet the Five Year Plan. Shoot the MoW too often, and his latest replacement might start talking to General Footsoldier about getting a new El Supremo… Now El Supremo, if he’s smart, will let MoW give his honest answer. Which means, however slightly, the MoW has genuine power. Multiply the Minister of Widgets by the Minister of Agriculture, Power, Social Security, Sewage, ect. and El Supremo isn’t an absolute dictator. He’s riding a series of competing fiefdoms that all have to be kept happy, or else the counter-revoluFairies are going to have some allies in “His” government. Democracy, as the saying goes, is the worst form of government. Except when compared to all the others… [1] Old Soviet saying: “We’ll pretend to work so long as they pretend to pay us.”

    • Yeah, I know. It’s non-ideal in almost every way. It’s why she starts encouraging representative democracy and steps back from power as soon as she can. Of course, she’s a control freak and she DID build the city proper from the ground up, sooooooo letting go takes a while.

  2. I like hands-off dictatorship – reserve the right to control/change anything/everything, but mostly have competent administrators doing the work.

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