Guest Writer: Ian Simpson

Today's guest writer is Ian Simpson of Mesa, Arizona. Ian has only been a supporter for about three months now, but before that he was closely aligned with other anti-brad organizations and has an impressive resume. In his own words, "I have always believed that certain office products weren't meant to be used by the general public, and accordingly I set up a program in my neighborhood where children were taught from an early age to just say 'no' to brads and other "adult" office tools. I figured that if we could keep kids from starting on brads that they would make the right choice when they were older and would avoid the problems so many of us have had to deal with as adults. Brad use in my community has dropped more than 83% in the last three years, and there is a lower incidence of cancer, influenza, and of acid reflux." We appreciate Ian's work. Even though he wasn't doing it for us (the GPD), he was doing it for all of us (the world). Here's Ian's piece:

Economic Models Revisited

Since this post the Board of Dictators has received many suggestions for the economic model of the New Future. In order to foster discussions about the subject, here are some more economic models:

• The "Family Feud" model. This model differs dramatically from those posed earlier. Instead of working with a broker to get the desired items, citizens must band together into clans that would then prove their superiority to other clans by being more "in tune" with society. Whenever a clan proves its superiority to another a broker would step in and offer a stipend once they prove that they are "in tune" enough with society to pass his or her test. (Note: The major difficulty in this system is that it is focused solely on obtaining money, and not on distributing goods and services.)
• The "Price is Right" model. In this model citizens attend auction events where items they may or may not want are offered for sale. They then offer what they think the item is worth and the seller reveals his or her price. The citizen who offered closest to the asking price without going over is awarded the item and the other citizens are made to foot the bill. The citizen who was awarded the item is then asked to participate in a pricing exercise. The citizen is presented with one or more items (again, the citizen does not choose what they are) and asked to complete a challenge. Successful completion of the challenge allows the citizen to get the item(s). The citizen is then given an opportunity to participate in a larger transaction much like the first.
• The "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" model. This model has many of the same problems as the "Family Feud" model. It doesn't distribute goods and services, it merely gives stipends to individuals who are lucky enough to participate and who happen to have the right knowledge.
• The "Newlywed Game" model. In this economic model producers are paired with consumers and then asked questions about each other. The producers and consumers with the best relationship will be rewarded by having the other producers provide them with goods and/or services and the consumers provide them with money. This model promotes good producer/consumer relations and is thus on the GPD shortlist.