Comment:

In many very real ways, the amount of money you have determines the amount of money you can get.

Obviously, this is true in the sense of investment and education opportunities and social circles, but there are other, more subtle ways in which your wealth level dictates your income level. For example, if you lose your job today, but have enough saved up that you can live off of your savings for a few months, you have more time to sift through possible new jobs, and may be able to hold out for a position that better meets your needs. I remember some time ago, I was at a party with guests of varying income levels, and a dude several brackets above myself mentioned that when he was laid off, the company paid for an "employment consultant" whose entire job it was to help him find a new position at a different company, something with a salary that was equal to or higher than the job he was losing. That blew my mind then, and it still low-key blows my mind even now.

Anyway, as I've mentioned before, in the world of Forward, the various governments of the world take income inequality and poverty very seriously. There is a major undertaking - essential, in a post-labour economy - to ensure that merely being unable to find suitable employment does not consign you to destitution. The nations of the world prop up their under-producing or non-producing citizenry for the same reason they fill potholes - it is better to live in a country in which this problem is solved. Indeed, if Lee were to be kicked out of their apartment and unable to find other lodging, unable to obtain food or medical care or Internet access, the leaders of the city, the province, and the country would be tried in the goddamn Hague, as would also be the case with every other nation in the world, save one.

We'll get to that later.

Regardless, in a world in which wealth and income are decoupled from work, they must also, necessarily, be decoupled from other factors that may also impact your financial situation. Rather than receive a higher stipend or a tax credit, Caleb simply pays less for things at point of sale because it is recognized that one's conditions in life (especially inherited chunks of wealth, if any) can impact how one makes, spends, and saves money.

I do not think the various government agencies and financial moguls and sprawling AI calculations that have decided Caleb needs price modifiers would be very pleased to see them being turned down, but, so long as Caleb is able to continue to make ends meet for themself, no one needs to make an unscheduled trip to the Netherlands.

Transcript:

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0060 - 2167/07/06/11:26 - Rosenthal College, hex
Zoa: Sooooo Caleb! Reparational ethnic group, huh?
CP: Yeah. Uh... I'm one thirty-second Maori, one thirty-second Cree, and one-sixteenth Welsh.
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Zoa: I didn't think the government counted thirty-seconds and sixteenths.
CP: They don't, that's, um... that's why it has to add up to one eighth.
Zoa: Ah. Makes sense. Cool stuff. Coolcoolcool.
CP: I'm.... I'm thinking of uh, opting out of all of them, though. All the modifiers.
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Zoa: What, and voluntarily pay more for goods and services?
CP: Yeah, I, uh, I know. Pretty crazy, eh?
Zoa: I've seen crazier.
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Zoa: ...by which I mean you clearly must have a really good reason for it! A really fascinating and well-thought-out reason for paying additional money for things, being able to do less with what you've got. A principle of some sort, no doubt! Huzzah!
CP: ...so it's uh, it's too late for me to get that juice back, huh?
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