Dhekhnami Economics

Questions or discussions about Almea or Verduria-- also the Incatena. Also good for postings in Almean languages.
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brandrinn
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Dhekhnami Economics

Post by brandrinn »

When I read about the life of a Munkhashi citizen, I was struck by a few things. The economic system seems to be a feudal manorialism. Land tenure seems to be a sort of non-heritable villeinage. Ritualistic in-fighting between manorial lords is common. The workforce is under-specialized suggesting low labor productivity, markets are poorly organized suggesting a wasteful command economy, and there seems to be very little in the way of central organization. National solidarity among the Demoshi seems limited, as does any ideological motivational force besides fear of and reverence to the nampalh. There's a reason this system had a shelf-life on Earth.

I've been reading about feudal and manorial systems in Earth's history, and I thought I would try to find a good parallel to Munkhashi economics. Solomonic Ethiopia seemed promising. But even during the Zemana Mesafint there was some central authority from which all the local lords borrowed legitimacy. And the peasants' land tenure was not alienable by the lord. So that didn't fit. Post-David II Georgia is probably a better model. There the workers were serfs with few legal rights, the kingdom was fragmented into warring princedoms each propped up by religious nonsense, and the urban economy moved at a snail's pace. But even there, problems exist.

The problem is, there are no parallels on Earth where the rulers have such fundamentally different values from the ruled. After 30,000 years of constant residence, we can assume the Ktuvok society of the Erelae marshes is in a fairly stable state. If they have no strong central authority, well then, they probably aren't going to get one any time soon, and they may never see the need for one. Human elites usually have a king or a church or an imperial household or something of the sort, and true feudalism or bakufu or tavadoba or whatever you call it doesn't last forever.

So where does that leave us? Anything is possible with Ktuvoks; a world maker can “cook the books” any which way and say “the Ktuvoks did it.” But is that really reasonable? Humans make up the vast majority of the population of Munkhash/Dhekhnam, and virtually all productivity is done by them. It is their basic needs of food, shelter, and obedience that direct the majority of the empire's productive agenda. Surely we can imprint some human tendencies onto the organization of the empire. If nothing else, the Ktuvoks may consciously emulate the human states of Verduria or Xurno, as those more advanced states quickly overwhelm them economically and diplomatically. It's only a matter of time before Verduria invents “Radio Free Dhekhnam” or starts dropping pamphlets on Ornakh from airplanes with pictures of cheap automobiles and bread.

Therefore, I think it is not unreasonable to guess at the future of Munkhashi economics (i.e. Dhekhnami economics) using the same techniques we would use for human societies. First of all, there is the simple matter of resource extraction. In European history when strong states began to develop in the fifteenth and sixteenth centuries, it was first and foremost a revolution in tax collecting. Taxes that had been collected indirectly by local officials were suddenly collected by agents of the crown. This allowed the English regular annual military budget to go from 15,000 pounds during Henry VII's reign to 40,000 pounds during the reign of James I, not including the actual costs of warfare, which rose even faster. At the same time, markets became less planned, with the gradual loss of demesne holdings, villeinage, and movement restrictions in the fourteenth and fifteen centuries. Similar things happened during the reign of Tewodros II, the Tokugawa reforms, and the various nationalistic movements in Europe. The big losers in this whole process were the lords, the barons and dejazmachs and daimyos and nampalhs. Towns and commerce blossomed whenever the power of the local elites over the peasantry were reduced, yielding even more revenue to the crown. It was a cycle that eventually yielded states like the Germany, France, Japan, Haile Selassie's Ethiopia, and many other strong governments.

Do we then expect a Ktuvok central authority to rise? Again, we could say it's just not in the Ktuvoks' nature, and that would be that. But that's no fun. I'd hate to see Demoshimor held back because a bunch of swamp beasts don't know how to think outside the box. Maybe a Ktuvok civil war, between the forces of greater centralization and greater fragmentation? Maybe a tongue-in-cheek central authority made to emulate the central authorities that are so successful abroad? Maybe something else entirely? I know the Ktuvoks have been living in their marshes for tens of thousands of years, but they've never been surrounded by so many humans (both friendly and hostile) in all their history. If they were ever going to evolve a new economic system, this would be the time.
[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

Post by zompist »

Interesting thoughts! However, note the bits in the Atlas about the establishment of Dhekhnam-- it's not just a replay of Munkhash. Or to be more precise, it was until it reabsorbed the Demoshi, who had now had experience with independence, writing, markets, and monotheism. It's definitely a more symbiotic relationship.

(I haven't worked it out in detail, which is one reason Dhekhnami hasn't been released.)

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

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In a warlord fracas, peace usually comes when one warlord out-warlords all the other warlords, like Oda Nobunaga or Tewodros II. So what would happen if one Nampalh (possibly in Sarnae) with access to Verdurian technology overwhelmed the other nampalh and became top dog? Is there any kind of Ktuvoki institution to fit him into? How to Ktuvoks deal with powerful individuals in the first place? If he gets put in his place and beaten to smithereens for his impertinence, what institution does the beating?

Alternatively, it might be more efficient to end the feudal holdings and give each Ktuvok a stipend instead. Again, this is similar to Japan and Ethiopia. It's more efficient and less violent and allows for a capitalist economy to develop. All you need is someone with the power to implement it. Maybe the human occupation made it difficult to go back to the old feudal ways...
[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

Post by Mornche Geddick »

The nampalhs all live in the swamps and probably never see their remote possessions in Sarnae. If one did interest himself in Verdurian technology he would do it mainly by sending trusted messengers on fact-finding trips - which would give the other ktuvoks an opportunity to intercept his messengers in order to find out what he was up to if they got suspicious (and they probably would).

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

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Mornche Geddick wrote:The nampalhs all live in the swamps and probably never see their remote possessions in Sarnae. If one did interest himself in Verdurian technology he would do it mainly by sending trusted messengers on fact-finding trips - which would give the other ktuvoks an opportunity to intercept his messengers in order to find out what he was up to if they got suspicious (and they probably would).
Ktuvoks apparently do visit their "trem" in person from time to time. You can make a villa on any river that would satisfy a Ktuvok, though they might get lonely. I see it as no different from absentee landlords in Muromachi and Tokugawa Japan. Some land owners almost never saw their holdings, but still managed to wage a war of productivity against their rivals.
[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

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@zompist

Found this fascinating pdf:

http://arrow.hunter.cuny.edu/research/p ... nWP401.pdf

about labor coercion, especially slavery and serfdom. It uses economic models derived from Domar in 1970, to determine exactly when greater labor coercion is likely, especially in contrast with free tenancy. One of the most basic conclusions is that when the scarcity of labor is high relative to the scarcity of land, the elites are financially encouraged to enslave the workforce, or otherwise institute greater labor coercion. This is less true, however, when land is concentrated in very few hands, because a monopoly on land rents make tenant farming more profitable, or when the main economic activity does not efficiently scale up. Domar's main area of study was Russia, and the establishment of serfdom there.
[quote="Nortaneous"]Is South Africa better off now than it was a few decades ago?[/quote]

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Re: Dhekhnami Economics

Post by So Haleza Grise »

How long do ktuvoki live?
Duxirti petivevoumu tinaya to tiei šuniš muruvax ulivatimi naya to šizeni.

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