A Guaranteed Minimum Income

[Wes]

CNN recently posted this article: What if the government guaranteed you an income? I think this article is very relevant to the futuristic setting of Star Army. Read it!

Technology continues to improve and industry is increasingly automated. Robots are beginning to fulfill their promise of doing our work for us, but the rewards of that development are still being hoarded by the very, very rich and the increasingly unemployed and underemployed are getting paid worse than they have in a very long time. If we project this trend into the far future of Star Army, then we have entire industries being mostly automated, like asteroid mining, farming, cleaning things, and untold numbers of other jobs, particularly the ones nobody wanted to do anyway. And the population will continue to grow as well. Without a change, we end up with people competing over the meager offering of jobs that remain, in a market where employers can treat their employees like dirt because employees are easy to replace. We end up in a world like Elysium where a tiny percentage of the population have all the money and live in paradise while the working class lives in an overcrowded dump.

The concept is of a minimum income simple: If everyone had enough income to survive, then people can do what they want to do, and nobody has to die on a street corner because they can't afford food. Businesses benefit from a consumer base that isn't struggling just to meet basic needs.

The benefits of a basic income on a national scale would be wide-ranging. First, there's the lift to the overall economy if everyone has money to spend. Next, there are the obvious psychological benefits of knowing you can always afford food and shelter. Then there's the societal stability factor: If people's basic economic needs are being met—no matter what the unpredictable job market is doing—we don't have to worry about the potential for civil unrest as a result of mass unemployment.

If the only reason you work is because you must work to survive, and you can only make enough to survive, never making enough to earn your way out of the system, isn't that basically slavery? It certainly isn't freedom. A minimum income would allow people to do what they want to do.

Yamatai seems likely to adopt a measure like this. Currently Yamatai provides free housing (including utilities like water, power, and networking) and free medical care. Like the question: "Why are there starving people in America when we have a large surplus of food?" the answer is a matter of distribution.

What do you think?

 

[Kyle]

In the Kingdom of Neshaten, the Monarchy isn't allowed to give hands outs (that was something voted upon by the citizenry after its forming) to the citizenry, doing so is illegal. For the people on welfare, who've lost their jobs, they seek help from private organizations such as the church or other organizations that pay out of their pocket to provide that unemployed citizen with food, water, clothing, and a roof over their head. These welfare recipients are only given enough to survive upon, not enough to buy lavish items, that is stuff you earn.

Welfare, however, being privatized means there is a cut-off limit; this limit means that you can't just live on Welfare your entire life, you gotta seek out a job. And the Kingdom does have plenty of jobs both for the skilled and unskilled. Examples being that there is a lot of infrastructure that has to be maintained constantly and much of that is actually unskilled labor and those trade families are always looking for more labor. At the same time, you have a lot of skilled labor jobs as well.

Just to put it into perspective, the current population numbers for the Kingdom is 15 Billion people, out of those 15 billion; the workforce is 13.9 Billion. Something to keep in mind, children can start working at a very young age (and are actually encouraged to do just that in order to build up responsibility, confidence, and workplace skills) out of 13.9, 2.5 billion work within the Starship construction industry.

That's 18% of the current workforce that builds ships, it is part of why it doesn't take long for the Kingdom to build its ships. Now, the skilled labor force makes up 9 billion people, the unskilled workforce makes up 4 billion people; this unskilled workforce is mainly comprised of children and young adults. You are not considered part of the skilled workforce until you either graduate from skill or demonstrate good skilled work (this means that a diploma is actually not needed to get a skilled job)

Now in the case of the starship construction industry, part of it is unskilled and another part is skilled labor. There is actually quite a bit turnover rate within that industry because of how dangerous it is, but it is also one of the highest paying jobs within the Kingdom. A starship worker can earn enough in ten years to retire and live for the rest of their lives, but most of those workers actually don't retire after ten years, one is due to the benefits you receive (lots of hazard pay) and another is because those workers often times get to be involved in the planning stages of ship construction, after all 'they' are the ones who build the ships and thus would know whether or not something would work properly.

The other highest paying job, which is actually the second highest paying job, is the military, followed closely by teachers, and then law-enforcement/medical/fire.

Something else to keep in mind, there are no actual numbers for those employed in the military because 'all' citizens are typically part of the military (there is mandatory military training in schools) thus in the event of war you can called up (dodging your call up is a death sentence by the way)

Despite all of this, the unemployment for the Neshaten is barely 4% and that is thanks to the measures that the citizenry (not the government) put into place, its thanks to private organizations who have taken an interest in ensuring that the Kingdom's less-fortunate don't starve no the streets. Of course, the Kingdom does have a pretty ample food supply (they have a surplus right now, about 40% of the food they make it put into storage in the event of an emergency)

Medical is another thing that is provided not by the government but by private organizations, and it quite affordable.

 

[Abwehran Commander]

I have to say that it sounds like a very Yamatai thing to do in the fact that it's supposed to be this utopian-like society.

 

[Kokuten]

In my image of Nepleslia, most of the individuals are too independent to rely on the hand-outs of bureaucracies. Rather than be happy in a natural sort of way, with the necessities taken care of, the Green People gain a sense of satisfaction from two things: Industry and Conquest.

Since Nepleslians sought independence from the Yamataian Government, I have a feeling that they prefer the idea, or at least the image of an overseeing entity that is very little involved with their lives. They would prefer that they work to attain their own standard of living, rather than it be provided to them. This, in itself, is something I like to attribute to a more simple and rambunctious style of culture that I had thought of for Nepleslia. A place where not everyone is going to survive, but one where the strong survive, whether that be strength of will or spirit. The rich, of course, will naturally have an advantage, but their goals will be a lot different from someone on the other end of the spectrum.

Taking a hand-out from the government could be simply be considered as taking a bit from the pot, to some. I think, to Nepleslians, it'd be considered a sign of weakness. Even the simplest of labor, legal or illegal, are preferable to being taken care of. The image of looking weak isn't some ill-placed masculine ideal, but rather the survival instinct of all Nepleslians. Their indomitable spirit comes forged from a competitive life-style, a thirst to feel like they make their own homes. This is a especially true by Nepleslians who seek to live in places as inhospitable as Abjection, Francia, or even the beast-riddled, polluted swamps of Kennewes.

Nepleslians will live anywhere, work anywhere, and survive anywhere, likely to prove they're aren't being cradled. Which, I think, as a species, most of them may feel need to prove to the rest of the galaxy. Nepleslians(as a race), do not have special physical qualities, they're just humans who are a little tougher, and a little more resistant to pollution. They're surrounded by imperialists, facists, and conquerers who, besides the ID-SOL, have a great deal of biological and natural advantages on them.

So yeah, beer and blood.

 

[Sean_ODuibher]

It's always seemed to me that Yamatai, being effectively a post-scarcity society, has had money more as an affectation than a real necessity. There's still some utility as an instrument for trade, but even trade seems more to serve social and cultural ends rather than economic. What does Yamatai import that it couldn't just as easily make itself? What job is done by people that couldn't be done by sub-sapient robots? Jobs, money, wealth, commerce all seem to serve to tie Yamatai to the larger spectrum of humanity/humanoids rather than serve some critical function themselves. The transition to a full on "Culture" style society seems inevitable - and probably will be heralded by Yamataians giving up on living on planets.

So in some sense, having a minimum universal income is silly because there's no reason why every single Yamataian citizen can't already have everything they need and frankly most of what they want. On the other hand, it makes perfect sense because the society isn't ready to give up those vestigial trappings.

 

[Nashoba]

The Poku Saeruo Degonjo operates as a true clan. The basic premise the clan takes care of its own.

Medical: any member of the clan can get medical care for emergency and life threatening conditions at no cost. Elective treatments typically are at cost paid by the Individual, their Punla (Family), or their Ruoka (House).

Housing: the clan provides basic housing to single individuals if they wish. However, nice accommodations must be purchased. Single members however do have the option of living with their Punla or their Ruoka.

Employment: Those who want to work can always find work within their Punla, Ruoka or their Jael (Sect). Being a stay at home parent is an acceptable option as family is important and raising children essential to the survival of the clan.

Money: The clan uses money like most others, although it is a hard currency. Some members option to use the Boon in lieu of pay, which is like Yamatai's prestige. Those who do draw pay have to a portion to their Punla, and their Ruoka. This is done without reservation, giving some of their money to the family, ensures that the family is taken care of and can acquire things which are needed. The same is true for the Ruoka.

 

[Wes]

Reception seems to be positive so as FM of Yamatai, I'm inclined to move forward and detail this under-detailed section of Yamatai's economy. I also really appreciate the responses other faction managers have given about their own nations' stance on these, and I encourage you all to add them to your faction economy articles.

I want to get into the numbers now. The benefit, which we'll call the Citizens Living Allowance Money (CLAM), is primarily for food since housing is already covered. A option to exchange government-provided housing for a suitable stipend to buy private housing is worth considering too but I'll save that for later. Since, for food purposes, the value of a KS is similar to a value of a dollar, we should get an idea of food prices. In real life, the SNAP (food stamps) benefit is around $4 per person per day, which is pitiful and not even enough to buy a combo meal at a fast food restaurant. Yamatai would do better, and base their CLAM benefits on a meal cost. We'll say about 30 KS per day, based on 3 meals costing 10 KS each. That'd be 900 KS monthly. For simplicity's sake (and because there is more essentials to buy than just food), let's round up to 1000.

Q: Where does the money come from?
A: The YSE gov essentially 'prints' it freely in the same way it uses aether generators to make unlimited quantities of pure gold. Notice how the Star Army of Yamatai is never, ever concerned with meeting a budget. Keep in mind the government is heavily involved in materials manufacturing so it gets a lot of the money back eventually. There are other "money sinks" that help offset this, but they're outside the scope of this discussion. Like the U.S. dollar, the KS is not based on an actual physical substance or commodity.

Q: Won't that cause inflation?
A: Probably some. If restaurants know you have ten $10 to spend on them per meal, price may reflect that. Then again, there is competition to help keep those low.

Q: Who would be eligible?
A: To automatically get CLAM, a character would have to be a citizen of Yamatai, as defined by Yamataian Law.

Q: Because the Constitution requires that "all persons" have the right to protection against unemployment, could the CLAM could also be claimed by the Plebeian class of Yamatai who are unemployed?
A: Such persons would be directed to the National Personnel Management Administration (which does government job hiring and assignments) which can find them a civilian or government job. Also, by taking the citizenship test and/or giving 3 years of service to the government or Star Army, they could earn citizenship. The CLAM would be a benefit used to encourage people to become full Yamataian citizens. In the RP, this also keeps Yamatai's frontiers more frontier-like because not everyone is free of poverty, since not everyone is a citizen proper and the citizens tend to be in the YSE's core areas.

Q: Do you still get CLAM if you have a job? Even a well-paying one?
A: Yes, it's given out to all citizens equally regardless of income.

Q: What about people with kids? Do they get more?
A: CLAM is given to kids in the same amount as adults, and their parents can spend it if the kids are minors.

Q: Doesn't that encourage people to have lots of babies?
A: Yamatai wants to grow its population, anyway, so this ties into that plan.

 

[Floodwaters]

I'd like to chime in here with my two cents if I may.

Something that has bothered me about Yamatai since I joined is the fact that it *is* a post-scarcity society, and as such, our (present-day Earth's) entire understanding of economics breaks down. The entire reason for an economic system's existence, regardless of how it's set up (command economy, capitalism, pure socialism, etc), is to distribute a limited quantity of resources and goods amongst those who seek to make use of it. A resource's value is directly derived from how abundant it is coupled with how badly the population as a whole wants access to it.

Understand I'm not trying to say this shouldn't be implemented, since this is fiction after all, and a lot of liberties can be taken from the real world. I just want to point out some of my own personal issues with this idea.

Q: Where does the money come from?
A: The YSE gov essentially 'prints' it freely in the same way it uses aether generators to make unlimited quantities of pure gold. Notice how the Star Army of Yamatai is never, ever concerned with meeting a budget. Keep in mind the government is heavily involved in materials manufacturing so it gets a lot of the money back eventually. There are other "money sinks" that help offset this, but they're outside the scope of this discussion. Like the U.S. dollar, the KS is not based on an actual physical substance or commodity.

Economics (as we understand it) is a balancing act. Gold is valuable, at least in part, because it's rare. Public perception is a factor, of course, but if the gold supply suddenly became bottomless, its value would bottom out the same way. Selling or trading for it would be impossible, since there would be no incentive for a buyer to part with anything they already have if they can simply make their own gold. It's like trying to sell a bottle of air to someone who lives in rural British Columbia.

This applies to governments as well - no government would have any reason to import anything if they had the ability to make whatever they want, whenever they want in a short time. They might see some value in exporting goods, but this would be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has the potential to feed the economies of surrounding empires that don't have the same production capacity, as they would pump a potentially infinite stream of goods into foreign nations. But on the other hand, this would have the potential to cause the economic collapse or absorption of anyone nearby who still operates on scarcity, since eventually the limited supply of resources, currency, and labor in the importing nation would be completely sucked dry. Either the neighboring nation would be swallowed up before they realized what happened, or a horribly one-sided war would break out as the beleaguered nation tries to fight off what it perceived as an attack. Furthermore, what use would the limitless economy have for any goods that the limited one could offer in trade, since again, it can make whatever it wants?

Also, the US dollar's value has been steadily declining much more rapidly ever since it stopped being backed by gold, because it relies on public perception of its value, which is MUCH more volatile and unstable.

Q: Won't that cause inflation?
A: Probably some. If restaurants know you have ten $10 to spend on them per meal, price may reflect that. Then again, there is competition to help keep those low.

Since our understanding of economics doesn't work when applied to an effectively infinite supply of anything, it's tough to say exactly what would happen with regards to inflation. However, it doesn't require a huge leap of faith to think that printing more and more money would eventually make it worth less than the paper it's printed on (or card material, or whatever have you). And again, I'm still not quite sure I understand the point of currency, even as a luxury item or status symbol, in a society that has a bottomless well of goods to draw from.

Q: Because the Constitution requires that "all persons" have the right to protection against unemployment, could the CLAM could also be claimed by the Plebeian class of Yamatai who are unemployed?
A: Such persons would be directed to the National Personnel Management Administration (which does government job hiring and assignments) which can find them a civilian or government job. Also, by taking the citizenship test and/or giving 3 years of service to the government or Star Army, they could earn citizenship. The CLAM would be a benefit used to encourage people to become full Yamataian citizens. In the RP, this also keeps Yamatai's frontiers more frontier-like because not everyone is free of poverty, since not everyone is a citizen proper and the citizens tend to be in the YSE's core areas.

Q: Do you still get CLAM if you have a job? Even a well-paying one?
A: Yes, it's given out to all citizens equally regardless of income.

Q: What about people with kids? Do they get more?
A: CLAM is given to kids in the same amount as adults, and their parents can spend it if the kids are minors.

Q: Doesn't that encourage people to have lots of babies?
A: Yamatai wants to grow its population, anyway, so this ties into that plan.

Why does Yamatai want to grow its population?

Again, I'm not arguing or saying this is a bad idea. Lots of things can be hand-waved for the sake of enjoyment (nobody questions FTL travel very much, as long as the most basic explanation for it is given). Even if we know that they're impractical or impossible in the real world, we choose to suspend our disbelief temporarily so we can have fun. But Yamataian economics is just a personal head-scratcher to me, and I bring it up because I genuinely would like to understand them better.

 

[Nashoba]

Growing population because many of its worlds are low populations where as Nepleslia has according to the census more people that all of yamatai combined if memory serves.

As for the following item

Q: Do you still get CLAM if you have a job? Even a well-paying one?
A: Yes, it's given out to all citizens equally regardless of income.

I think this is silly. CLAM should be for those people who don't make money. Otherwise every soldier is going to get an extra 1,000 KS in addition to their service pay.

 

[DocTomoe]

In best Kore--- I mean, in the Lorath Matriarchy, the local economy works in this way;

All citizens of the Matriarchy have their productivity, job expertise, and personal needs for cost of living tracked by the Matriarchy. From the figures provided by such tracking, the Matriarchy bestows each citizen with an allotment of domestically redeemable requisition credits for luxury nourishment (Fine dining, non-essential nutrition items, exotic foods), personal expenses (hygiene items, clothing, personal transportation costs, recreational allotments), and other non-essential for day-to-day goods and services. Costs for these requisitions are offset by the domestic product in which the citizen would produce during the course of their labor. Meanwhile, essentials such as staple foods (Grains, veggies, cloned meat, nutritional supplement compounds), utilities (Heating, cooling, electrical power, water, cost for transportation to work), housing costs, and medical expenses are directly covered by the Matriarchy. Due to this system largely removing the need for any form of currency, the Lorath tend to exchange 'tokens of appreciation' for domestic purchases, often in the form of shiny stones, hand carved wooden ornaments, and the such. Precious metals and stones with a genuine value are reserved for special signs of appreciation of a service or product.

Meanwhile, foreign currency can be allocated based upon individual productivity, and can be obtained via exchange of requisition credits. Foreign currency is tracked by the Matriarchy, obtained through exports and services rendered to foreigners and governments. When a Nepleslian buys a .50 Cal Hand Cannon, or a Neko buys a jug of pico-jelly, those funds are being funneled directly into the Matriarchy's coffers, to be circulated into the civilian economy as needed.

 

[OsakanOne]

I'd like to chime in here with my two cents if I may.

Something that has bothered me about Yamatai since I joined is the fact that it *is* a post-scarcity society, and as such, our (present-day Earth's) entire understanding of economics breaks down. The entire reason for an economic system's existence, regardless of how it's set up (command economy, capitalism, pure socialism, etc), is to distribute a limited quantity of resources and goods amongst those who seek to make use of it. A resource's value is directly derived from how abundant it is coupled with how badly the population as a whole wants access to it.

Understand I'm not trying to say this shouldn't be implemented, since this is fiction after all, and a lot of liberties can be taken from the real world. I just want to point out some of my own personal issues with this idea.



Economics (as we understand it) is a balancing act. Gold is valuable, at least in part, because it's rare. Public perception is a factor, of course, but if the gold supply suddenly became bottomless, its value would bottom out the same way. Selling or trading for it would be impossible, since there would be no incentive for a buyer to part with anything they already have if they can simply make their own gold. It's like trying to sell a bottle of air to someone who lives in rural British Columbia.

This applies to governments as well - no government would have any reason to import anything if they had the ability to make whatever they want, whenever they want in a short time. They might see some value in exporting goods, but this would be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it has the potential to feed the economies of surrounding empires that don't have the same production capacity, as they would pump a potentially infinite stream of goods into foreign nations. But on the other hand, this would have the potential to cause the economic collapse or absorption of anyone nearby who still operates on scarcity, since eventually the limited supply of resources, currency, and labor in the importing nation would be completely sucked dry. Either the neighboring nation would be swallowed up before they realized what happened, or a horribly one-sided war would break out as the beleaguered nation tries to fight off what it perceived as an attack. Furthermore, what use would the limitless economy have for any goods that the limited one could offer in trade, since again, it can make whatever it wants?

Also, the US dollar's value has been steadily declining much more rapidly ever since it stopped being backed by gold, because it relies on public perception of its value, which is MUCH more volatile and unstable.



Since our understanding of economics doesn't work when applied to an effectively infinite supply of anything, it's tough to say exactly what would happen with regards to inflation. However, it doesn't require a huge leap of faith to think that printing more and more money would eventually make it worth less than the paper it's printed on (or card material, or whatever have you). And again, I'm still not quite sure I understand the point of currency, even as a luxury item or status symbol, in a society that has a bottomless well of goods to draw from.



Why does Yamatai want to grow its population?

Again, I'm not arguing or saying this is a bad idea. Lots of things can be hand-waved for the sake of enjoyment (nobody questions FTL travel very much, as long as the most basic explanation for it is given). Even if we know that they're impractical or impossible in the real world, we choose to suspend our disbelief temporarily so we can have fun. But Yamataian economics is just a personal head-scratcher to me, and I bring it up because I genuinely would like to understand them better.

While material resources may be post-scarsity, generating energy (safely), intellectual property, information and intellectual systems are still in limited amount, regardless of the complexity of your infrastructure. When those issues get solved, you hit paydirt with singularity.

Humanity works in three pillars: Physical materials, access to energy and ideas -- which the other two serve to empower (becoming idea/action ratio).

Each time one of the three advances, the other two are usually pushed forward too. As we move forward through history, our idea/action ratio rises exponentially, but the number of ideas while growing hugely, is still limited because many of the foundations for cultivating ideas (language, programming, data assessment, limited objectivity, the scientific method, human subjectivity) while better than anything else are still speed-limits.

You CAN have a post-scarsity society where 100% of the mundane is available with great ease -- but something like 75% of the exotic (that which is scarse by design or intention -- for example, a three hundred year old limited edition baseball card or exotic alloys with strange properties that "damage" replication systems when produced and come out hugely inferior, limiting the methods of production) will always mean there will be a demand to exchange one thing for another and a need to facilitate that exchange.

So while your core society -- your hive of cities, worlds, citizens and core infrastructures may be post-scarsity, the systems that maintain that society or further that society's advancement or defend that society are not.

Economy is war and a nation must be defended from its competitors and allies alike as part of a larger organism.

 

[Toshiro]

I've long pondered a post-scarcity socialist character/movement effort based on Yamatai, and this is actually quite interesting. Not saying it would necessarily work, but this is an interesting discussion to note in the consideration of such. I've often wondered how ideas/intellectual property, education, and land would be valued in such a society.

 

[Floodwaters]

@OsakanOne - that does make some sense, and answers several of my questions beautifully. Thanks for clarifying. While I still am a bit wary of the idea of a guaranteed income to every single citizen, I think I can understand how the SARPiverse works a little bit better now.

One other thing I should point out, though: no matter how "perfect" any economic system may seem on the surface, given enough time, there will always be a class divide, even if it's a small one. This is because no matter how many artificial controls are put in place, there will always exist within the society a group of people who seek to exploit the system (legally) for their own gain, as well as a group who will refuse to or are unable to operate within it, no matter what.

 

[Wes]

The idea is not really "post-scarcity" but rather "post-labor." Regardless of whether you're working or not working (either by choice, or just because robots took most jobs), being part of Yamatai means not having to worry about basic needs like being able to eat or having a place to live. If you are willing to settle for a basic standard of living, you don't have to participate in the workforce and can spend your days doing something other than working for other people. In this way, Yamatai is able to fight poverty, homelessness, hunger, and (to some extent) income inequality in a single stroke.

Of course, the finer things in life will still require cash, and for those you're expected to earn cash to pay for them. So most people will still want to make money so they can live above the baseline.

I think this is silly. CLAM should be for those people who don't make money. Otherwise every soldier is going to get an extra 1,000 KS in addition to their service pay.

That's fine with me, but it did make me think of another issue. If CLAM is ostensibly for food, and the Star Army already provides food to its employees, that makes CLAM unnecessary.

Basically this gets into commodities versus cash. Yamatai could give its people cash for food, or actual food. Yamatai could give its citizens cash for living space, or actual living space. Cash gives people more freedom and helps private industry because people are going to spend it. Commodities bypass the private sector.

However, Yamatai isn't interested in giving its people eating Soylent every day. It would rather them go out and eat at restaurants (note there are several government-run restaurant chains like Warm and Sweet) or go to grocery stores.

Maybe what it should look like is:

1. If you need a place to live, or a new place to live, you can choose between:
   1. Being assigned a place to live
      1. Government micro-apartments would be the YSE's preferred option and granted as available
         
      2. The refugee camps would be an additional option, but not preferred. These would be used for overflow, particularly for emergencies such as evacuation of other star systems.
   2. Finding your own private apartment, where the government pays all or some of the rent on. These could be:
      
      1. Privately-operated equivalents to the government ones (pay would go directly to the apartment company)
         
      2. Privately-operated apartments that are nicer, but are not entirely covered by the stipend (the person would need to have a paying job).
      3. House mortgage payment assistance that lasts until the house is paid off in full (equal to rent payments above).
   3. Getting a land grant on a colony world.
2. If you don't have food provided free from your employer, you can also request financial assistance for food (CLAM).
3. If you don't have a job, and want one, you can request one:
   1. The government has positions available and can great them; there's always stuff to be done.
   2. The government can also help you find a private job; its personnel department also functions as the nation's primary hiring/job-hunting hub.
4. If you make over 50, 000 KS a year, you clearly don't need assistance and are therefore ineligible for CLAM.

So basically, the CLAM would come in three parts: Housing, food, and employment. The point of CLAM is to fight poverty, hunger, and wage slavery. The CLAM doesn't pay you to not work, but it does pay for food and a roof over your head, which allows you to survive between jobs or as a stay-at-home parent, or if you're super old and/or mentally disabled and can't work, etc.

In RP terms, let's say that each part was worth 1000 KS a month. So the max you can claim is 2000 a month, if you've got your own place to live and buy your own groceries. But most people would be getting 1000 KS and an apartment. Meanwhile Star Army soldiers would be getting just their standard pay just as they always have, plus free the housing and food always provided by the Army.

 

[Toshiro]

I suppose that the elements of Tsubomi City (the student city) would include CLAM and the housing system plus the other stated benefits. The students get housing and food for free there through high school plus a carefully calculated allowance based on age, behavior, and accomplishment. They also get special interest rates on savings.

 

[Wes]

Just want to update this topic: The "CLAM" concept was eventually implemented as LACY, the Living Allowance for Citizens of Yamatai, which is detailed on the Yamatai Economy page.