Turns of AXT042 game in Apolyton PBEM Tournament - Page 6

knowhow2 · April 10, 2001, 05:39

turn 2149 to tench.

this time I made this post directly after I sent the turn to allen.

Tenchusatsu · April 11, 2001, 02:25

Year 2149 to Walt.
_______

Fallacies of a Free Market Part I

... coming soon!!!
[This message has been edited by Tenchusatsu (edited April 11, 2001).]

Walt · April 11, 2001, 05:13

Heh.

2149 to cbn

________

CEO Walt could hear the market crashing from the open window on the 101st floor of Morgan Tower. Briefly he was tempted... But, he'd stuck it out for 48 years. He could last another 48, or another 480.

"Rachel, call Commander De Sade. It's time for another round of Nerve Stapling..."

knowhow2 · April 11, 2001, 11:35

greetings all,

I just wanna say that I be out of town till next tuesday and am sorry to delay the game for so many days. But it's the holidays and I am on my way to visit my parents whom I haven't seen in 4 month. Unfotunetly they live back in the stoneage and doesn't have computers and I can't think of any of my firends who has either so playing would be difficult. Well family and friends get higher priorities so..... again sorry for the delay.

I don't even think I have time to play one more turn since I be on the train in 1 hour. Lets see if I get the turn till then otherwise you guys just have to wait a few days extra to play again.

cbn · April 11, 2001, 18:22

Turn to the cult

I guess we will resume when you get back

Tenchusatsu · April 17, 2001, 22:11

Year 2150 to Walt.
_______

Fallacies of a Free Market, Part I
"Greed Is Not Good"
Deirdre Skye

One of the motivating factors behind the participants of a Free Market Economy is the desire for profit. History has shown that the profit motive is a powerful driving force in the progress of a society. Yet, if left unchecked, that same motive can become a powerful yet deadly narcotic, destroying the environment while the populace remains asleep in a false paradise of increased wealth, power, and knowledge.

The harm a Free Market economy does on the environment cannot be overstressed. The profit motive demands that the costs of production must be minimized in order to maximize the return on investment. Sadly, this often calls for neglecting proper environmental safeguards, such as those which minimize pollution. Moreover, conservation of natural resources is also ignored, and cries from environmentalists are dismissed as extremist by those addicted to cheap goods, soaring wealth, and increased luxury. Then by the time the natural resources are depleted in one territory, the Free Marketeers simply move on to the next territory to deflower and pillage. What they leave behind are wastelands.

Such forces were major contributors to the death of Old Earth in the late 21st century. Free-market capitalism became the de facto standard for the new global economy which emerged in the late 20th century. This economy then led to long-term environmental destruction. This in turn led to a collapse of the global economy as the quality of life rapidly deteriorated and major riots erupted against governments, corporations, and other institutions seen as responsible for the worldwide disorder. Then the wars came, and only by the good will of great Gaia did even a small fraction of humankind escape here to Alpha Centauri.

This alone should be enough to discourage any society from adopting a Free Market Economy again. Yet there are other reasons ...

knowhow2 · April 18, 2001, 00:03

turn 2150 to tench

I'm back!

Walt · April 18, 2001, 01:53

2150 to cbn.

knowhow2 · April 18, 2001, 18:34

okey guys,

I have more bad news. Sorry. Apparently I have pre-engaged myself to a 4-days concert preformence at Berlin, germany, and I forgot to tell you guys about it. So anyway, I will be away again for a few days, I will be leaving app. 13 hours from now. I'll be back on sunday night. My apologies again.

And there is another thing......

After this second long break I won't have any until ..... in the middle of june. When my summer vacation starts. And that would be a huge problem since I probably will be at my hometown for 2 or at least 1 1/2 month, and I don't have access to computers there. Well I could check my email, but that's it. Playing would be impossible. So I am prepared to quite this and turn the game over to someone else if that what you guys want. I am really sorry I didn't kept the summer in mind when I joined the game. Once again, sorry. But consider a game sometimes takes more than 1 year, this was bound to happen to me anyway. I won't mind if you guys discuss´this amongst yourself and then let me know. Sorry.

cbn · April 18, 2001, 19:00

Turn 2150 passed

knowhow2 · April 19, 2001, 05:32

turn 2151 to tench.

I'll be leaving for Berlin now... see you all when I come back.

cbn · April 19, 2001, 16:27

Unfortunate circumstances but I will be unavailable for another 4 days after knowhow2 comes back. No turns will likely be forthcoming from me from Monday until possibly very late Thursday. But get the turn to me since I will try to find a way to play somehow. After this delay I will be around, barring the unforseen, until at least the middle of August (may have a 3 day gap then).

As for knowhow2's absence for 6 weeks in June-- I consider that to be a very long gap. Can you get a replacement player to sub for you? I have a strong preference not to stop that long but will accept the delay if everyone else was ok with it. I generally expect (and accept) delays of up to a week in games like these but 6 weeks is a bit long. My fear is that you would never get people back if we stopped that long.

Is there any chance we could schedule a couple of more Direct Connection sessions? I know it gets tougher as the units and diplomacy get more involved but now that I know how it works we should have less delay at the start-up. We could easily get 15-20 turns done within an afternoon. We could even move from simultaneous moves to a rotation with a time limit if people wanted to.

Cheers
cbn

Tenchusatsu · April 20, 2001, 00:48

Good thing, too. It gives me a chance to work on my computer. I took a lot of parts out to build a computer for someone else, and I'm waiting for some parts to come in Friday.

cbn · April 20, 2001, 18:18

Real life is intruding into my gaming-- I forget if I mentioned this before but . . . . I will be out of town on business (heading to Western Canada) and unavailable from mid day Saturday until sometime Thursday evening. I apologize for the delay but should have no other time away for several months.

Tenchusatsu · April 22, 2001, 02:43

Year 2151 to Walt.
_______

Fallacies of a Free Market, Part II
"The Poor Don't Just Get Poorer, They Get Screwed"

One of the inevitable consequences of a Free Market economy is its favoritism toward the strong. This makes sense in a purely theoretical sense, because free market economics dictates that those best able to manage and utilize the resources of a society should have control over them. But more often than not, this leads to a widening rift between the rich and poor, the strong and the weak. Those with the money and the power will inevitably exploit their control over the common folk, leading to unhappiness among the common masses. Eventually the commoners will get so fed up, they revolt, and no amount of police protection will be able to help.
_______

You guys know about the protests at the free trade summit in Quebec? Seems like the Free Market nations of this world need to increase their Psych allocation, huh?
_______

Let's set a tentative date for the next TCP/IP session. How about two weeks from now, Saturday May 5th or Sunday May 6th?

Walt · April 22, 2001, 07:38

2151 to cbn.

___

No can do that weekend, I'll be out of town. In fact, I'm going to be gone from the 2nd to the 8th. I /may/ be able to keep playing via pbem during that time, but I'm not sure. I'll keep you guys updated.

knowhow2 · April 22, 2001, 17:20

I'm back.

I would gladly let some other player substitute for me during my absence, but I have no idea who to turn to. So if you guys have some suggestion on whom to turn to or how I should get a sub I am all ears (or in this case: eyes).

Walt · April 23, 2001, 13:57

I have most of this Saturday, the 28th, available for tcp/ip. I know cbn will be gone in the afternoon. Is there any chance we could play earlier in the day? This would be a hardship only for Tench, who's on the West Coast. Whaddya say, Tench? How devoted a fanatic are you? Wanna get up at 5:00? *grin*

Okay, it's looking impractical... Nevertheless, since I had the day free, I wanted to let you guys know.

I have most of the previous day, the 27th, free as well, although my late afternoon is booked.

Walt

Tenchusatsu · April 23, 2001, 14:43

How about Saturday, May 12th, guys?

knowhow2 · April 23, 2001, 16:52

may 12th works for me..... if and only if we decide for this right away, because if we leave it hanging something else might come up and then the priority thing comes in between..... so we have 3-4 days tops to set the day for play or not.

,,,,,,,,,

Walt · April 23, 2001, 23:15

I'm afraid I'm committed to work on the 12th... I think it's nights, though. We could play for a few hours in the afternoon, same schedule as before. I should be available from 14:00 CST, 15:00 Apolyton time, but could only go until 17:00 CST, 18:00 Apolyton time.

Walt

Tenchusatsu · April 24, 2001, 17:13

quote:

Originally posted by knowhow2 on 04-23-2001 04:52 PM
may 12th works for me..... if and only if we decide for this right away, because if we leave it hanging something else might come up and then the priority thing comes in between..... so we have 3-4 days tops to set the day for play or not.

We'll wait until cbn gets back on Thursday. Hopefully he'll see our recent messages on this thread and respond quickly.

And Walt, it does seem like we'll do the same hours as before. Hopefully this time, we can get started sooner, now that we've got some experience.

cbn · April 25, 2001, 19:05

I am back home tomorrow and should be able to go back to a turn-a-day pace. Sorry again about the delay but there is something about earning a living that detracts from time for gaming.

I saw the messages today and I think that May 12 would work for me as well.

cbn · April 28, 2001, 16:56

2152 to knowhow (actually played it and sent it last night but forgot to post here)

knowhow2 · April 28, 2001, 23:17

turn 2152 to tench.

,,,,

are we still on the 12th?

Walt · April 29, 2001, 05:11

2152 to cbn.

___

Works for me, although I'll be working that night. If it's agreeable to everyone else, we can start at 14:00 my time, that's 15:00 Apolyton time. I believe that's one hour earlier than our scheduled start time on our last tcp/ip occasion. I'll have to stop playing shortly after 17:00 CST, 18:00 EST/Apolyton time.

knowhow2 · April 29, 2001, 07:38

Okay I am on. See you al at ICQ?

1337 swedish time right now.

cbn · April 29, 2001, 11:11

2152 is complete-- 2153 is on its way to the cult

some more direct play could really move this along-- looks like a fun game so far

knowhow2 · April 29, 2001, 15:02

turn 2153 to tench

,,,,,

fun game? well hopefully there are more faction around beside mine....

Tenchusatsu · April 30, 2001, 02:12

Year 2153 to Walt.
_______

Fallacies of a Free Market, Part III
"Delusions of Grandeur"

One aspect of every Free Market economy is a general stock exchange. By letting average people with money buy shares of corporations, the theory is that everyone (that is, anyone with money to spare) can partake in the profit-taking, and the risk of investment is spread across many people instead of a few.

However, history has told us time and time again how the stock market turns into nothing but a grand Ponzi scheme. Euphoria often drives stock prices up, and every shareholder feels she or he has made money. But of course, no money is really made until shares are actually sold, and when people need to convert "imaginary" money into real money, the resulting sell-off erases the so-called gains, and only the speculators end up making money off of those who sold too late.

There are many examples of stock market crashes throughout the history of Old Earth. The crash of 1929 was significant because it was the first, but the biggest by far came in 2010. That was when global energy prices spiked tremendously (which itself was caused in no small part by free market exploitation of natural resources), causing stock markets all around the globe to collapse and never recover again.
_______

OK, direct-connect session #2:

Date: Saturday, May 12th
Apolyton Time: 15:00
Tenchusatsu Time: 12:00
Walt Time: 14:00
cbn Time: 15:30
knowhow2 Time: 21:00

Everyone agree to these times? Can't wait!