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Is there a middle class in Mega City One

Started by kev67, 07 November, 2020, 11:20:41 PM

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kev67

You know, I quite liked that JD story in which the bean counter judge works out that reallocating justice funds to education would be more cost effective at reducing crime. However, that did make me reflect something I saw Judge Jordon Petersen say on YouTube, which was that it was relative inequality, rather than poverty that was the cause of crime and other social problems. I read a book, called The Spirit Level, which basically said something similar. That did make me wonder, because from what I can work out, just about everyone in Mega City One is poor. Most people are unemployed, and the ones that are employed have crummy jobs. So is there a class of relatively wealthy Mega City One-ites, who drive around in swanky EuroCity hover cars, dress in suits, and live in luxury apartments, where they can be seen sipping mineral water on their balconies, admiring their carefully tended, living wall gardens, and chatting about their holidays in Ciudad Espana?

JayzusB.Christ

Hmmm. Good point. I'd say maybe Vienna, Dredd's niece, is comfortably middle class, as were the Maybes before they inherited the Yess fortunes.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

GoGilesGo

The storyline currently running in The Megazine takes place inside a luxury apartment block where all the residents appear to be either very rich (and in some cases famous) or comfortably well off. There was also a nice story post-Day of Chaos called Wastelands that featured a city block entirely unaffected by the Chaos Bug. Simply by dint of being on the market it attracted a raft of rich types with pockets deep enough to buy an apartment inside.

Whether there is much of a middle class is a bit more difficult to nail down. The restaurants and nightclubs we see in the Meg are usually full; most of the cars and hoverpads cruising the slab look quite expensive and Otto Sump seems to have a constant market for all of his frivolous cosmetics and foodstuffs. But with unemployment so high I don't see where the money comes from to build a middle class.

The Legendary Shark


They all seem to live on credit(s) - so either the same old suspects are printing/lending the money or the judges are. Or maybe aliens. I'd love to see how the Justice Department would deal with contemporary monetary mechanisms and institutions - but it might be a very boring story.

[move]~~~^~~~~~~~[/move]




Colin YNWA

I'd say the middle class is pretty 'healthy' in Mega City One. My guess would be automation would hit manual and skilled labour but management (if reduced by the easy of doing so with robots) and entrepreneurs would be largely would still be required. If we take the employment figure literally I figure that pretty much all those employed would be considered Middle Class.

There needs to be some money washing around to support all the fads?

The other answer is it depends on what the story needs!

GoGilesGo

Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2020, 07:28:40 AM

I'd love to see how the Justice Department would deal with contemporary monetary mechanisms and institutions - but it might be a very boring story.

There was a fun one-and-done years ago when Justice Department decided to clean up the sector numbering system in the Meg. Mass protests broke out ("I've been Sector 6 all my life, no way am I am going to Sector 117" "But you're not moving, only the number is changing" "Shut up: Sector 6 or nothing!").

The Judges neutralised the problem by gifting every citizen a 100 credit for the inconvenience...and when Accounts pointed out the ruinous outlay, the Chief Judge suggested a one-off 100 credit tax to offset it.

"On second thoughts, make it 105, to cover the administration cost."


JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: gogilesgo on 08 November, 2020, 01:55:41 PM
Quote from: The Legendary Shark on 08 November, 2020, 07:28:40 AM

I'd love to see how the Justice Department would deal with contemporary monetary mechanisms and institutions - but it might be a very boring story.

There was a fun one-and-done years ago when Justice Department decided to clean up the sector numbering system in the Meg. Mass protests broke out ("I've been Sector 6 all my life, no way am I am going to Sector 117" "But you're not moving, only the number is changing" "Shut up: Sector 6 or nothing!").

The Judges neutralised the problem by gifting every citizen a 100 credit for the inconvenience...and when Accounts pointed out the ruinous outlay, the Chief Judge suggested a one-off 100 credit tax to offset it.

"On second thoughts, make it 105, to cover the administration cost."



That was a brilliant little story - who would have thought you could write a sci-fi action adventure story for kids solely about the problems of civil service red tape?

Al Ewing also had a nice nod to MC1's shitty bureaucracy system in The Cop, where a citizen who had waited 6 hours for disability testing was told that if he could endure that long a wait he wasn't disabled.

"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

sheridan

Quote from: gogilesgo on 08 November, 2020, 01:55:41 PM
There was a fun one-and-done years ago when Justice Department decided to clean up the sector numbering system in the Meg. Mass protests broke out ("I've been Sector 6 all my life, no way am I am going to Sector 117" "But you're not moving, only the number is changing" "Shut up: Sector 6 or nothing!").

The Judges neutralised the problem by gifting every citizen a 100 credit for the inconvenience...and when Accounts pointed out the ruinous outlay, the Chief Judge suggested a one-off 100 credit tax to offset it.

"On second thoughts, make it 105, to cover the administration cost."


Bob's Law, Prog 355.  Initiated by Judge Barratt.

sheridan

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 08 November, 2020, 02:12:39 PM
Al Ewing also had a nice nod to MC1's shitty bureaucracy system in The Cop, where a citizen who had waited 6 hours for disability testing was told that if he could endure that long a wait he wasn't disabled.

Based on the UK PIP system - if you can get to the test centre (sometimes up stairs) then you're not disabled enough to receive it.

The Adventurer

Any cit with a job is probably 'middle class'. Able to live in a city block with working cameras and Judge presence.

THIS SPACE INTENTIONALLY LEFT BLANK

BPP

We're on target to get rid of the middle class by 2027 so.... no?
If I'd known it was harmless I would have killed it myself.

http://futureshockd.wordpress.com/

http://twitter.com/#!/FutureShockd

JayzusB.Christ

Quote from: The Adventurer on 09 November, 2020, 05:41:03 PM
Any cit with a job is probably 'middle class'. Able to live in a city block with working cameras and Judge presence.

Isn't that something like 2% of the population, though? Or have things changed?
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

sheridan

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 09 November, 2020, 07:30:40 PM
Quote from: The Adventurer on 09 November, 2020, 05:41:03 PM
Any cit with a job is probably 'middle class'. Able to live in a city block with working cameras and Judge presence.

Isn't that something like 2% of the population, though? Or have things changed?

In the early 22nd century the unemployment rate is 87%

JayzusB.Christ

Cheers, Sheridan!  Could have sworn it was higher. Now I'm going to spend the next hour absorbed in that blog post.
"Men will never be free until the last king is strangled with the entrails of the last priest"

sheridan

Quote from: JayzusB.Christ on 09 November, 2020, 10:04:57 PM
Cheers, Sheridan!  Could have sworn it was higher. Now I'm going to spend the next hour absorbed in that blog post.

My work here is done :)