The Game of Village

Rain, rain, go away.

All of the peeps had to spend the night out on the land (the federal government had shown mercy until now because the gophers had shown none.)  I'm sure I'm not the only one who thought often of those poor little peeps shivering through this afternoon's downpours.  Ah, to have a shingled roof!

Students are working on their real estate descriptions tonight.  We had a mini-lesson on how to pitch your property and present every aspect of it as a benefit to the buyer -- it's not lacking furniture, it has an open floor plan.  We can't wait to read the descriptions.  On Friday during mini-fair, appraisers will read the descriptions while examining each peep's property.  They'll then assign the property a value which students will use to figure out their net worth.  We send this math home to do because we want to discourage comparisons between students.  While maintaining financial health is certainly an aspect of the game, beating one's neighbors isn't.  Also, because we have several different appraisers, comparisons are not valid.

We need several more volunteers to appraise properties.  We have a detailed sheet of instructions and you'll work with a partner.  The more appraisers we have, the better.  Please consider spending an hour of mini-fair examining properties for us.  Thank you!

Ah, mini-fair.  Peeps are working frantically to get their houses ship shape, finish up those last P.U. courses and get an inventory ready for their businesses.  Right now, there is no cash in the Village which one student pointed out was not going to make it easy to be a tourist.  The socialist council is working on it.

The council has been busy these past two days.  Many peeps and people have made proposals and the list of subsidies has grown steadily longer.  A monorail, a wrestling rink, a flag and national anthem, and a shopping mall have all been paid for.  How long will the government largess be able to hold out?  The government is popular now but can it still be if it has to ask the people for more money?

Par-tay, Par-tay, Par-tay

Friday afternoon, fueled by Jaritos and a few too many galletas, the rebels finally made their move.  A secret meeting was called for 1:30 in the kitchen (thus the galletas) and the attendees had had it.  They were frustrated primarily, it seemed, because nothing was happening.  Most of the population, including the King, seemed content to just work on their houses.  It was unclear to the rebels how anything was going to get done -- the King wasn't holding meetings, no laws had been chosen by him and the socialist provisions that he had vowed to uphold had been canceled when the King realized just how much money it was all going to cost him.

They sat down and wrote a list, a long list, of all the things they thought the King should do before he worked on his private projects.  They called this list the "Magna Magna Carta" or the Great Great Charter.  They presented this list to King Ethan along with another option "The Party King Treaty" which promised Ethan $1000 a day "for party hosting and public appearances."  The King, who had admitted at one point wanting to become King because of the money, thought for a moment and then agreed to become the Party King.  There was much rejoicing and the council got going on new projects right away.

At land time on Friday, there was a dispute between two peeps concerning the "You shall harm no peep" law.  They came to Gus with their problem but he just shrugged his shoulders.  Then, A.C. stepped up to be the judge and M.R. and Napolean were the jury.  I sat back and listened as the Village's judicial system was born.  A.C. explained, "Each side is going to get a chance to say their whole story and then we can ask questions.  I'll decide with the jury what should happen."  In the end, both sides admitted they had played a role in the dispute and it wasn't worth wasting any more time on. 

It's an interesting example of how Village is sometimes strongest when the students create their own solutions instead of trying to recreate the world we know.  I've been in another Village where the judicial system was among the first concerns of the town.  We spent days ironing out who would be on the jury, what lawyers would do, where the jail was.  Then, predictably, their were endless law suits.  The town spent a huge amount of their land time on jury duty.  They had created a litigious society.

We had a great turn out for today's work session.  About half the Elmquoias came, many with very able assistants.  We also had a great crew of alumni who fell right back into the life of Village.  It was wonderful to watch them work and play with the current villagers.  Sonja shared her house expertise.  Alex helped his brother construct his house.  David taught a class on peep car making.  Sofie offered business advice and got the wind turbine working.  Leif, Mats, Miles, and Tommy constructed various projects for the town including a hurricane shelter and a suspended monorail to go to the top of the mountain, across the lake and to the land.  Merrill taught his sister the secrets of the Village burglar alarm among other things.  What fun.

Peep and Circumstance

Several Peep University classes were in session today.  Peeps could learn how to shingle a house, construct a bed, or make lawn ornaments for fun and profit.  Other peeps took a music appreciation class yesterday and several have enjoyed wallpapering their homes.  Peep University classes give students the opportunity to try out new skills and enhance their village project.  It's also a great opportunity for parents and other teachers to get involved as educators in the classroom.  It's not uncommon for students to become professors themselves.  They write lesson plans and get their course approved by the administration.  Students can take classes for personal edification or they can work toward a degree.  A bachelors degree is 6 courses, a masters is 9 courses and, if a child writes a dissertation about a subject related to village, he or she can receive a PhD.  A graduation ceremony complete with diplomas, hats and gowns will occur at the mini-fair.  We are always looking for new instructors!

Other news:  We have our first marriage contract.  Daisy and Jack are betrothed and have promised to share all of their property.  Businesses are appearing including The Pop Shop Disco (complete with working disco ball), a tree nursery, several bakeries, the furniture shop "Sofa, So Good," The Love Cruise.  Two books have been written and Gus is on the lookout for more manuscripts.  R.L. and S.W., fresh from their Peep U. powertool class, opened a balsa wood cutting service and the L'il Peeps Market will soon have their fresh bread, honey and cookies ready to tempt hungry peeps.

Tomorrow morning we will be involved in the restaurante and mercado.  Friday afternoon will include work time and some extensive land time.  At this point in the game, Land Time is very important as it allows businesses to flourish and peeps to interact.  Often, this interaction leads to friction which highlights the need for some governmental controls (i.e. laws).  We have a few houses out on the land already -- several students were waiting until today's deluge was over.  The rain has filled the lake to overflowing -- will flooding be an issue?

Taking Care of Business

As the houses begin to go out on the land and the political intrigue fades into the background, peeps begin to go into business.  We'll be holding a peep university class on business plans in the next few days but we thought you might want a preview.  Students will look at the feasibility of their business idea with an eye to supply and demand, commodities vs. unique products, the hidden cost of labor, the benefit they offer their consumers, profit margins and services vs. products.  Many students spend a lot of time at home creating things to sell at land time (the end of each day when the Village is inhabited.)

We've had some great discussions about customs and tariffs.  Students understand that tariffs are used by a government to encourage domestic businesses and discourage the purchasing of cheaper imports by raising the price of those imports.  Raw material that comes into Village costs about 1/10 of what the finished product will sell for (this includes products that are made by peeps at home).  Products that are not made by peeps such as doll house furniture or store bought goodies, face a much stiffer tariff -- about 75% of their retail value.  And the federal government reserves the right to assess huge fees on items like candy and remote control cars that tend to throw off the economy of the village.

Past successful businesses have included a florist, furniture makers, insurance, casinos, bakeries, carpenters, discos, ice cream makers (the peeps ran on the drum like a hamster wheel to make it turn), a funicular, taxis, interior decorating, newspapers, and pet shops.  Some jobs that exist in the "real world" don't have an equivalent in the Village because certain aspects of life (i.e. children) are not present.  One enterprising peep, however, became a successful veterinarian by getting a law passed that all pets had to be spayed or neutered by her before they could live in the village.

Gus E. Gottaway (Michelle's peep) runs a publishing house and already has his first manuscript, It's Penelope, Not Pentalope: the Authorized Biography of Village's Resident Artist.  He's always on the lookout for the next peep Divinci Code.

Peeps don't have to have businesses -- many work for other peeps and some spend a lot of time working for the federal government in the bank or store (the pay is generous).  However, many peeps site their business success as one of the highlights of Village.  What advice do you have for our peeps?  What makes for a successful business?  Do you have any great names in mind?  What about great products?  (Be careful, though, right now I don't think we have a trademark provision in the law.)

Where was the Magna Carta Signed?

Where is the Magna Carta signed?  At the bottom, of course.  O.K., so it's not a terribly funny joke but it's an old one. And, an apt one for today's Village work.  The Magna Carta, or "Great Charter," was King John's effort to quell a civil war in England.  He set up the future guidelines for monarchy, insurance against arbitrary royal power, including, "no freeman shall be taken, imprisoned, or dispossessed of his property...except by the lawful judgement of his equals or by the law of the land." The dispossessed part will come into play in a bit...

An update:  Ethan became king due to Gus's parliamentary error.  He quickly transferred the balance of the town's bank account to his own private account.  He also invited three villagers to be a part of a socialist cabinet thereby creating a "social monarchy" in his words.  While Ethan maintained total financial control of the Village's money, he shared his power equally with the council for making laws and decisions.  All four members must agree to something before it is decided.

It looks great on paper...but there is still a lot of unrest.  More troubling, there are also banking irregularities and a few non-government peeps were seen making changes to the bank spreadsheet -- including zeroing out several villagers' accounts for disrespecting the king.  Ears perked up as soon as we read that part of the Magna Carta and some villagers are in the midst of creating a similar contract for their king.  Will he sign it?  Will the people continue to follow him if he doesn't?

Reminder...due to concert practice there will be very little Village time tomorrow.  Volunteers will be welcome (very, very gladly welcomed) all day on Wednesday.

This isn't Florida, you know! I am king.

Dear federal government,

I, Ethan, object at the failiure of me being in power as a monarchy. There were 80 votes, and 41 votes out of that 80 voted I be monarchy. I had simple majority. But then S.G., M.R., and their peeps came into the meeting. This made the number of votes 84. We re-voted and my proposal was denied. I think I should be monarch because: 

1. The first vote we had was in my favor.

2. S.G., and M.R. had NO rights to enter the meeting. Therefore I am  monarch.

King Ethan

King for a Day?

Perhaps unwisely, the socialist council called a town meeting this afternoon to approve a salary (council members decided they couldn't decide on their own salary because they had promised to put town needs ahead of their own).  Believing that he was calling on a council member who was going to put forth a stipend proposal, Gus was sideswiped by a villager who proposed a return to complete direct democracy.  Moe quickly amended that their could be no adjournment of a town meeting in this democracy until every proposal was heard.  A passionate debate ensued.  Students spoke about the value of the council and the time it gave the rest of the peeps.  Others spoke about the loss of power and voice inherent in a representative government.  In the end, a return to direct democracy  did not pass (by a very wide margin).

But the political excitement was just beginning.  E.N. proposed, "that I should be monarch."  Many questions followed including asking E.N. who gave him the right to be king.  Gus stepped in and explained the concept of the divine right of kings -- kings have power because they are chosen by God (but also have responsibilities to their subjects).  E.N., without missing a beat, explained that, yes, he had had some dreams in which it was explained to him that he should be King.  Alas, it was time for recess.  There was a move to table the discussion, BUT IT WAS DENIED, and the meeting continued into recess.  Soon, however, another tabling motion passed and we adjourned into a slogan-filled recess.  When Simon and I returned from lunch, we found the Elmquoias sitting in the meeting area, waiting for the debate to begin again.  Now they had signs, including, "2 votes for E.N. = 2 votes for money."  Evidently, the would be king promised his would be subjects that he would pay them if they voted for him.  According to him, nothing would happen to those who didn't vote for him..."yet."  The students were ready to vote -- we counted and E.N. would need 41 votes to get a simple majority.  We voted - 41...but what's this?  Two more villagers came through the door - we quickly filled them in on the issue and another vote was held.  This time, it was 4 votes short of a majority.  Gus quickly called for the meeting to be adjourned and work time commenced (as J.V-R. put on the deflated yellow ball E.N. had been wearing as a crown and announced, "I propose that I be king.")  A.C. remarked to me as we left the room, "I think I want to be king, too.  This is just going to go on and on, isn't it?

Some of the students have become quite savvy in the ways of the parliament.  They noted that they didn't think it was fair that we added voters after a motion to vote was passed (indeed, after one vote had been taken).  Sigh.  I fear they are right.  Now, what will happen?  Will a challenge be raised?  Will we have a new King?  Will he find that it's not as easy as he thinks to keep his subjects happy with just $180,000 in potential bribes?

Help, we need some-bodies!

Yesterday was a Village work day.   The humans were busy tackling the process of filling out wood order forms, marking wood and putting carpentry skills into action.  This is the time we can become a little swamped.  It takes a one on one to help a child put together a jigsaw in order to saw out a window opening, for example.  If you could spare some time we would most likely need help during the following sessions:

May 18  9:30 - 11:15,  12:45 - 2:20

May 21  9 - 11:15

May 22  No Village time - we'll be preparing for our concert

May 23  9 - 11:15, 12:45 - 2:20

May 24  12:45-2:20

May 25 12:45 - 2:20

May 29 9-11:15, 12:45-2:20

May 30 9-11:15, 12:45-2:20

May 31 9-11:15, 12:45-2:20

Unsure of how you can help?  Show up, checkin with Simon or Michelle and we'll be sure to make you'll feel comfortable.  Thanks!

Socialism, in a village somewhere in America, who would have thought?

A conversation overheard  Village worktime today: Chris: "Hey, ED, when should I take my head out of the oven?" ED "Oh, in about 15 minutes."

On a more serious note, there were startling developments today.  The second proposal of the town meeting was from MR.  He proposed the formation of a socialist government that would tax Villagers at a rate of 10% on all earnings.  In turn, the government would provide services including universal health care (a gopher gnaws off half of your peep's head - no problem the Peep Health Service will be there to patch it up), subsidized education,  transportation and more to be decided.  MR had researched the meaning of socialism and was sufficiently well-informed to respond to questions and concerns - including what happens if someone spends all of their money on something frivolous, say cheese, and then asks the government to support them.  MR conceded that this could happen but that it would be unlikely for everyone to do that.  Others were concerned about the 10 member volunteer council making decisions that just benefited them.  MR said the council would have to take an oath to make decisions for the good of the town. 

In any event, the proposal passed, albeit narrowly, and in the absence of the band kids - some of whom are still feeling rebellious without being entirely sure why.  Hey, weren't we all like that once!    So, what now?  We'll the town meeting ended and a council was formed to set guidelines for governance.  In a manifesto they articulated the following principles and guidelines for decision making: "We, the council, promise to uphold the following principles when making all of our decisions: 1.  To consider all citizens, wealthy and poor 2.   To provide education for the populace  (imagine that!) 3.  To provide for wellfare of the populace.  5. To do no harm. 6.  To put the needs of society above our own. All decisions are public and the council immediately put into effect legislation that reduced the cost of house building and attendence at peep university classes.

So why the unrest?  Well it seems folks just have a hard time being governed by others even though they are entitled to attend decision making meetings and make proposals (and there are even openings on the council.)  Hmmm, interesting insights into human and peep behavior.  What will happen next?  Does the above manifesto give enough cause for revolution?  As John Lennon sang,  "You say you want a revolution, well you know, we all want to change the world.."  Our questions seem to be, why?  And how? Stay tuned and give us your thoughts.

Join the Conversation

It's exciting to see a conversation starting in our comments -- should villagers work at home, or not?  Is the new country really going to happen?  Have you heard any intriguing rumors?  Share comments, read comments, respond to others' comments.