Letter Bee

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Question to Everyone: Who is the prime manufacturer of motor vehicles in the PoW-verse? The Philippines needs tractors and transports and construction vehicles.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

The Agriculturalist, Part One

Archibald Santos was born to a middle-class family of import-export traders in Manila who had prospered in peace under the American occupation, and even gave their son an English name as a sign that they wanted to emulate the people who had, for all their flaws, brought peace and order to the Philippines. Archibald was even given a scholarship to study in the United States itself, due to his' doing well in his studies at home. With naive anticipation, he had allowed himself to be shipped via boat and train to Minneapolis, where he had met a brilliant fellow student, Norman Borlaug. Borlaug and him were friends, despite the attitude of the campus towards Nonwhites, and both of them cooperated in advancing agricultural research.

But as the Great Depression drew on, and the Second American Civil War began to rumble, Archibald Santos had to leave the University of Minneapolis, leaving behind his friend to die in a riot against the MacArthur Junta. By then, however, there were irreconcilable differences between their approaches that would have led to enmity had he stayed and Norman lived.

Archibald walked through the dirt trails criss-crossing the new 'experimental farms' the Government had leased from the local smallholders, wearing only a simple white shirt and tough jeans - only his glasses, clipboard, and escort of aides marked him as an official. As he did so, the middle-aged man mused about those irreconcilable differences. Borlaug wanted to develop new breeds of rice and wheat, to spread the use of fertilizers and pesticides all across the world. Archibald wanted to use more potatoes and sweet potatoes in agriculture, agruing for their nutritional superiority to rice and grain. As he and his escort stopped to record the amount of crops being harvested, Archibald mused that he hadn't changed his mind; he had just included new and better ways of farming rice in his own agricultural revolution.

Looking around him, Archibald can now see that the farmers had adopted his recommendations well, constructing a system of deep sinks and raised beds*, the former which took in water in the rainy seasons and allowed for the farming of rice and ginger (there were deeper ponds for fish), and the latter which allowed for the growth of dryland crops, including the Sigarilyas/Winged Bean**, a plant that, just like peas and other legumes, added to the fertility of the soil by naturally extracting nitrogen from the air. Another plant Borlaug had neglected in favor of rice and wheat.

One of the farmers waved at him; it was Danilo, the headman of the nearby village. He had been the person Archibald had to pay to change the way he and his people dug up their fields and rice paddies and adopt this new 'Filipino Cropping System'. Now, carrying a large sack of rice over his shoulder, Danilo approached him, saying:

"Kaibigan (Friend)! You were right! Not just that, but the next village - the one you paid to plant potatoes, they're having the best harvest of their lives as well!" The brown-faced, wrinkled farmer, clad in a mud-stained white shirt and red trousers - how like a Katipunero - was smiling at Archibald, but did not show him any deference. That was what the Agriculturalist was going for. Archibald smiled widely, gave his clipboard to one of his aides, and embraced Danilo, getting his booted feet wet in the mud too.

The embrace lasted for a few brief moment, before Archibald said, "So, will you spread the word? The Federal Government cannot pay every vilage to change the way they do things, after all." Or keep the stuff that does work; Borlaug would have advised farmers to buy fertilizer from abroad instead of just using crop rotation.

Danilo continued to smile; a signal of agreement, before he said, "So, want to eat dinner with my family?"

Archibald's grin was wide as he thought of how increased agricultural profits had allowed Danilo and his village to afford brick houses instead of just straw huts. "Sure; can my aides come?"

Danilo would have balked in olden days, but with the rich harvest he had received just now, and the profits that had come from adopting this new way of planting crops, he can now afford such expense. He extended his hand to Archibald for him to shake, and said: "My wife and children would be happy to receive your group."

Archibald would then muse; once dinner was done, he planned to announce a new gift; a set of new plows made up of steel mixed with chromium, made as a proof-of-concept by the Federal Steel Enterprise. That ought to be a surprise...

*IRL Sorjan Cropping System.

**nutrition1.knoji.com/winged-bean-nutr…

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

<Snipped quote by Letter Bee>

If you want to IC adopt the glorious theories of the Dutch left I can't stop you. I'd rather there be some ic recognition of the system being copied, with or without credit, though.

@Quetzalcoatl

That I can do.

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

I also want to add as a bit of an aside since I'm in the same track of thinking: cooperatives like this as far as I've read and gathered actually work pretty well, on par in some ways to the traditional top-down model. The only thing running against them comes down to loans and financing options where it's legally harder to get the financing and business loans from banks so when they're tried they end up very small. But then when they do they tend to get pretty good.

@Dinh AaronMk

Squee!

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Quetzalcoatl, So, can I adopt your system?

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Dinh AaronMk

As you're the great communist pubah in these parts...

I'm thinking of having the Netherlands adopt a social-ish economy after a popular revolution.

My idea is that corporations are retained but the ownership and management of said corporations is entrusted to employees. This way an existing company would still operate for profit, but would equally distribute that profit among its employees. Ceos and executives would be elected from the workers by the workers to manage these companies. State regulation would ensure this equal distribution of profit. Small businesses would be managed the same way, but on a smaller scale.

Investment in enterprise would be permitted on a personal basis, usually through the formation of investment blocs that would pool individual capital. Investors in a company would be honorary employees of that company and thus would be entitled to its shared profits alongside their own companies.

Financial and strategic institutions would be nationalized and managed by a central bureaucracy composed of party leaders. Workers in these industries would be fairly compensated for their labour as deemed appropriate by party officials.

Politically this new quasi socialist state would believe in revolution and equality, but would retain the colonies while acting to develop them and instill a sense of shared nationality.

Obviously there would be some limited inequality as successful investors would receive double or more income in shared profits, but this would be considered a fair reward for prudent decision making. The more successful Dutch industries the better!

The real corruption would be in state owned enterprise, as compensation would be set by the state. Most members of the party would employed by its enterprise.

Thoughts? It's just a rough idea at the moment so feel free to offer suggestions and ooc/ic insights regarding the rp.

@Quetzalcoatl

I actually have a similar system, but in my case, it's that most economic activity is conducted by small worker-owned businesses and prosperous small farmers, who also form networks. Originally, my entire economy was going to be based on said networks, which include factories and miners, but I was told this would not be viable for defending and spreading the revolution. So I instead had a small core of state-owned enterprises keep anything that requires economies of scale, such as heavy industry.

The investors thing is radically good, though. Mind if I adopt it?

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

Iron Lady, Part One

Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal was many things.

She was a revolutionary, having founded the 'Second Katipunan' alongside her father, Gregorio, and her husband, Manuel Rizal*. She was a fighter, as shown in countless actions against the exploitative semi-feudal landowners who were reeling from the Americans' sudden weakening and withdrawal. She was a diplomat, having persuaded Japan to focus on the disorder in China and China to focus on Japan's ambitions instead of the 'temporary' weakness of the Philippines. She was also an unlikely leader; when her father - the great Gregorio Aglipay - was killed in action, Priscilla had led the Second Katipunan alongside her husband before he was killed as well.

Now, however, all of that was foreshadowed by the fact that once the Americans had withdrawn to focus on their Second Civil War, and the remaining landowners had been forced to toe the line or be driven out, she ruled.

The strongest woman in the Philippines, she nevertheless insisted on holding free and fair elections to legitimize her rule and her taking on the titile of 'Lady President', after which she chose to abandon Malacanang Palace, the traditional seat of power in Manila, and instead chose to live in a relatively modest house in the walled city of Intramuros. And it is in that house where the New Philippines arose, a Philippines of smallholder farmers, networks of worker-owned businesses, and a few state-owned corporations. After that came the manufacturing of consumer goods through cottage industry and the generation of electricity from human waste and excess farm products. True, her Philippines was not as rich and prosperous as the other nations, nor as 'competitive' in economic terms, but they got by and even thrived in their own way.

But it wasn't enough. As Priscilla Aglipay-Rizal showed her hospitality by serving tea and pastries to the delegates at the meeting she was holding in her modest home, before taking her seat, she smiled and said:

"Greetings; if you all will forgive me for such humble but unbecoming behavior of a Head of State, we can now begin discussing the destruction of our Monopolist oppressors. I hope you would also enjoy the cakes? They are a local recepie," Wham.

Lady Trung of Vietnam was well-acquainted with Priscilla's...quirks, and smiled, saying warmly, "You do not have to remind us that you are a wife and mother to all, not just your nation. That said, perhaps your child can have a few bootleg Mosin-Nagants* for the fight against 'Emperor Bao Dai'? Those would be quite heavenly."

Priscilla returned the warmth with a nod, "A few thousand have already been manufactured by the Association of Small Arms Manufacturers in the country. You have to arrange for their transport, of course, as well as the food, the medicines, and the Molotov-level liquor that both tastes good and burns well." Translation: We have them and will give them, but you have to learn how to arrange for their smuggling yourself.

This section is Retconned out, but kept for posterity.

Ahmad Hussein, from Java, smiled indulgently at that before attempting a harder bargain. "The People of Indonesia all hate the ruling regime, but the majority are...wary about the Anti-Monopolist roots of your movement. The rich merchants and landowners and other supporters of the Junta would fight to the death if the alternative is to lose their stolen wealth. Basically, they have the money, and without it, the Junta cannot be overthrown, or would merely be replaced by people who are little different."

The plea for money inwardly annoyed Prisicilla, but there was a foundation of truth behind this behavior; she was woman enough to acknowledge it. Looking pointedly at Ahmad, the lady said; "You are in luck; the Association of Gold Miners has discovered a new lode, and can lend you a kilogram or two of fine, pure gold dust. Of course, arrangements for transport and concealment have to be made by you."

A sound of a throat clearing; Anthony Walter Dyrell Brooke, former ruler of Sarawak until the British had made the region a direct colony for a brief period, wanted all eyes focused on him. The ex-royal, whose genuine empathy to the Malay people his dynasty had went native for had pushed him into collaboration with his 'social inferiors', then spoke, "We have willing men. We have our own arms and money aplenty. We have supplies and sympathizers. But Sarawak cannot embrace your system as of yet, although it is willing to aid you in the coming battle against the frauds who control the region right now. Speaking of the coming battles, I must ask you, Lady President of the Philippines; how goes China? How goes Japan? How goes the need to forge an alliance to cleanse the region of swindlers and oppressors and false empires?"

Priscilla smiled at this near-defiance, and said, "Why, my ambassadors are already on their way. Raul and Orlando are heading to the Chinese and Japanese; the ball is in the latter's court now."

*en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mosin%E2%80%93N…

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Lone Wanderer, I think you have a Discord account; I saw it on the RPGuild server...

Precipice of War - The Big Leagues of NRP (Only generous tippers need apply)

@Lone Wanderer, I'm not playing a British possession, but I did have plans for subversion in Sabah and Sarawak. Want to talk those out here?

Life in a different world [A Re:Zero setting / Fantasy RP] (Accepting!)

Myst Neumann

Myst's first thoughts once the sword was drawn back were comfort that Asmira would survive this; a second later his emotions changed to anger and fear, not for himself but for his dream. And so, when asked by Mithril to 'impress him', the old man cleared his throat, and spoke: "I will play your game, monster, even though it be my death. I glimpsed the madness in your blade, how it wanted to wrap around all order and crumble it into chaos and suffering." He then smiled grimly. "Suffering is what I deal in, although my interests are more...organized."

He then continued with the zeal of a man doomed to die, but unbowed, caring only about being remembered, "Down in the slums people suffer and die, Demi-Human and Human both. Under the watch of the nobles and knights who deal in fairy tales and force, the rich are held above the poor, Humans above Demi-Humans, Men above Women. I would break this sham of a heirarchy and make everyone equal under oppression, as well shed oceans of blood to achieve this goal." Myst's eyes glinted with malice and barely restrained murderous rage.

The old man knew one thing; he couldn't have his men and women die to this madman. They were his tools to bring about his new world and the despotism it represented. He had to think; what had this wielder of a madness-inducing blade revealed about himself? Were there previous reports of such a person in Lugnica - wait, there were; that series of high-profile murders! A powerful assassin who wanted no coin, only death, and who wielded fire as a weapon. A glimpse of a path revealed itself, and Myst cautiously followed it as he spoke once more.

"Ah, I now know what you are; one of the assassins and murderers who crave the pleasure of the kill, not coin or ordinary ideals. And from your request from me to impress you, it seems you also want the pleasure of a challenge." A chance to kill two, maybe even three birds with one stone. "If you have been eavesdropping, I am sure you must have heard of a mysterious swordsman attacking my clandestine operations but doing little against them except be a gadfly." Myst carefully sorted through his memories, in order to assure that his next words were correct.

He continued, "This swordsman is an idiot, but one adept at survival. A heroic soul, though reduced to a wannabe because of his lack of perception and his lack of friends with said perception. I wanted him captured to serve as my jester, but with his skills with the sword and the bloodshed he's already caused, he might grant you a few short moments of amusement before you come back to murder me. That would be a challenge, would it not be?" Another throat-clear.

"But if that alone does not impress you, then the fact of the matter is that if I die, the amount of blood and fire the future will see will be much reduced. Without someone working to undermine the structure of society, it will stand for a little while longer. Do-gooders will meet less opposition in their attempts to paper over the realities of the world with idealistic fairy tales. Do you want such a world? Say what you will about my own quest for order, but if I die, there will be peace." Myst was in his element now. "Do you want this world of sugarcoated lies to continue? That will be the most likely outcome of my death."

@Zelosse@Noodles@Lunarlors34 (as active GM) @Sir Lurksalot (as second active GM)