tushanshu | [Video] Let's Continue Building a Government!

Entry tags:

[Video] Let's Continue Building a Government!

Hello, to anyone who hasn't met me already, my name is Sonja.

So, it seems we all got pretty surprised this month with the unveiling of the new Guild structure.

I think it's a really good sign that the Kedan are going out of their way to give the Foreigners our own representation in city business, and I think this will really just make everything a lot more inviting to Kedan and Foreigners alike, having all the different functions be given a structure and leadership.

I'm a fan of formality.

But it also leaves us with a vacuum in the way we want the new Foreigner Guild to be organized.

In particular I want to ask the Welcome Center, and by extension Zatanna, if it wants to become an official component of the Foreigners Guild, since the most obvious function of the Guild will be what the welcome center already does.

The Midnight Hotel under Anton always claimed to be neutral, so unless Klaus significantly changed that philosophy I imagine that will continue to stay outside the purview of the guild. I'll assume the same of any other foreigner-run business unless someone volunteers otherwise.

And then I'd just like to ask everyone their thoughts on what the Foreigner's Guild should be, what functions it should serve. This is a big opportunity to really integrate ourselves into the city, and we shouldn't take it lightly.

Thoughts?

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

I thought I'd add some of my own thoughts on possible guild functions.

Job Referrals
The Guild could be a middleman between newly arrived foreigners and Kedanese or Foreigner businesses, matching skillsets to open positions. This makes it easier for newly arrived foreigners to garner employment rather than relying on them to make their own contacts before they can start working.

New Business Assistance
The foreigners guild would be able to provide assistance in the creation of new forigner businesses, up to and including financial backing, marketing, staffing, etc.

Housing Assistance
Foreigner quarters are now provided free of charge in the sky sector, but the guild could help manage utilities, services, furnishings, etc for newcomers. I stayed at the Midnight Hotel when I first arrived, Anton very kindly put me up without asking anything in return. While the Hotel has always been helpful in this regard, with a new Foreigners Guild in place, I would like our reliance on a neutral party like the hotel to be reduced. We could also consider a different method by which we could pay the hotel for the lodging fees of new foreigners rather than asking it to eat the cost or defer payment.

Guild Income
Many of these suggestions do require some amount of cash flow- to fund some of these programs, I would recommend a system of voluntary 'dues' paid by established foreigners into the guild coffers. Other options might be that if we do setup a referral process that the Foreigners Guild gets a cut of foreigner wages. Fundraising events in other forms are also possible.

Organization
A major advantage of organizing foreigners is that we can start levying our strength to advocate for ourselves far better than individual foreigners can. This has numerous political and socioeconomic benefits. For instance, foreigners were often at the mercy during hard times of Kedanese businesses overcharging foreigners. The guild would be in a far better position to alleviate that than say... an argument in the streets.

Hi, Sonja.

As I am incredibly new, I have no freakin' idea what's going on. What's the lowdown, homes?

I mean...I dunno if my opinion carries any more weight than a dandelion seed, but is keeping ourselves separate really a good idea?

[ She shakes her head. ]

Seeing the Foreigner's Guild as separate isn't the way to go, I think.

For the longest time, Foreigners have largely been seen as largely unwelcome guests, or at best allies of necessity. The fact that the Kedan, of their own volition, codified a place for us in the city is a huge step forward.

The truth is, we aren't Kedan, and we have very specific needs as an oddball group, each with different values, cultures, and sometimes super powers. A guild for managing our needs and advocating on our behalf is as necessary as a guild for traders or service workers. The guild isn't an island unto itself, if we build it correctly it will be a valuable component of Keeliai that plays an important role and has relationships with every other part.

[Aly shrugs.] "Foreign"'s right there in the name, man, I don't know what to tell you. Sounds separate to me.

Hmm, I guess. But a guild like that sounds, I don't know...y'ever heard that saying about too many cooks in the kitchen? 'Cause that's what this might be like.

As strange as it may feel to be labeled a foreigner, even those of us who have been here the longest still have a lot to learn about Kedan culture, not to mention the myriad other places and phenomena that exist here. We're not from here, and most of us don't stay long enough to get acclimated. It's a constant cycle of new, strange people stumbling about the city and getting confused about the shapeshifting lizards.

We are foriegn, but the creation of this guild is the Kedan saying 'they're weird people, but they're our weird people."

[ Too many cooks in the kitchen? Like overcrowded or overmanaged? ]

I'm not sure what you mean.

I mean, I'm used to being called an outsider or a tourist or whatever, and I know I still have assloads to learn about this place. I don't want to stay here long enough to get acclimated, but I guess that's not up to me.

Shapeshifting lizards are totally normal in my book. Y'all gotta get with the program.

It's like...too many people trying to manage things. It just gets messy and everyone gets burned and you ruin the souffle because Gordon Ramsay is yelling at you.

[She kind of lost the simile there, but oh well.]

No, I understood the idiom, I just don't understand how you're trying to apply it.

Are you saying the entire guild structure is too cumbersome for the city?

I'm not terribly familiar with the political situation here yet, but it seems a direct democracy could be simplest. Then the challenge is just deciding who gets to be the mouthpiece. There aren't that many of us, after all.

Direct Democracy is simple in idea but immensely complicated in practice. We would need a system by which we determine what to vote on, when to vote on, in what way we collect votes. We'd need ways to prevent voter fraud or even just simple error.

Foreigners have a habit of disappearing for large spans of time or even entirely without notice.

Which isn't to say it isn't an option, just that direct democracy is not the fastest nor even the most effective form of government, as there are no protections against the tyrrany of the majority.

There's only what, thirty or forty of us? And not all are guaranteed to stay in the Foreigners Guild. Organize it like a union, and it's actually quite simple and accountable in terms of structure. Attend a meeting once a month, submit agenda items prior to the meeting by a week or so. Again, there would have to be a few people to herd the cats, but there have to be at least a few like yourself interested in getting organized in this manner. I'm oversimplifying, obviously, but I don't think it needs to be overcomplicated, either.

Of course, we'd have to find a way to get people to actually show up to meetings, but that's a different matter.

...that's a good way to do it, honestly.

Those are some really good ideas. Have we met before? I don't recall your name.

See? Direct democracy doesn't have to be immensely complicated. It gets unwieldy when there's too many people, I'll grant you.

Devin. I've only been here about a week.

Hello, Devin!

How are you adapting to your new environment?

I'm managing, I suppose. [He manages not to grimace.] I've lived in far worse places, in any case.

Do you need anything? Have you found a place to stay? Have you started looking for work?

[Someone is very eager. Devin gives her a wry, slanted smile that doesn't quite reach his eyes.]

I'm currently staying at the Hotel, and yes, I'm looking for employment. Currently, the police department is probably best suited to my particular skill set, but I'm keeping an eye out for other options should they decide I'm not needed.

Suggestions

video;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

video;

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject

no subject