Gnomish People's Share
Used for the purchase of goods and services within the Gnomish People's Republic.
Officially recognized by the GPR not as a currency, but as a means to represent one's contribution to the state. It fills all roles that a currency does in a capitalist system. It is not traded externally, and is used exclusively within the GPR. It is produced and supply overseen by the Gnomish People's Share Divestment Council.
The Share uses the same symbol as the previous Free Gnomish Republic did for their Gnomish Hour. The ¤ symbol.
The Share is not divisible to subunits. (IE Dollars and cents)
The unit is shown at the end of the value. (IE 200¤ vs $200)
History
The official history of the Gnomish People's Share is that the State successfully overturned the Capitalist state that proceeded it. As part of becoming a truly Communist society, they chose to abolish currency. Instead of currency, all people were given shares for their work to represent their place in the great union of Gnomekind. In practical history, the poor financial state of the Free Gnomish Republic was one of the driving factors of the revolution. Unfair trade deals, poor social investments, and a generally poor and uneducated populace resulted in rampant inflation. By the time the FGR fell, they were so far in debt and the Gnomish Hour was worth so little to be practically worthless. For a while, the GPR tried to use and recover the Hour. With seizing private property and the rest of the world turning on the increasingly radical regime, the Hour had finally inflated to the point it had lost all real value and was no longer an effective form of currency. A declaration was made that all currency going forward was to be paid in Shares, and the Hour was completely discarded.Physical Description
As the GPR is a poor, isolationist country they have been very slow to implement modern digital banking systems. As such, most transactions are still done with physical notes. Coinage is not used and they rely entirely on paperback notes. The Share comes in varying sizes, from small to large. Ostensibly this is to make it easier for the seeing impaired to identify notes. Practically, this means they need to use less materials to produce the lower valued notes and cut costs.| Value | Dimensions | Colour | Obverse | Reverse |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1¤ | 100 X 50 mm | Grey | Map of the Republic | Mortin Smith leading the Gnomes out of the Mountains |
| 10¤ | 110 X 55 mm | Blue | Hall of the People | Gralin Cobbler giving a speech |
| 20¤ | 115 X 60 mm | Red | Marching Soldiers | Fathers of the Revolution |
| 100¤ | 120 X 65 mm | Green | Group of young Gnomes looking onward defiantly | Idyllic countryside |
| 1000¤ | 125 X 70 mm | Purple | Soldiers charging into battle | Gralin Cobbler in full military uniform |
Economical Influence
As the Share is in theory a representative of societal contribution and NOT a form of currency, its value is set by the government. Effectively, this pegs the value of the Share as the government holds control of production of both Shares and the goods. This prevents inflation by tight control of supply. For example: A loaf of bread costs 100¤ This makes the Share a very stable unit domestically for goods. However, it means that if there is a shortfall of a product there is no mechanism in place to address the problem. This leaves the Share very vulnerable to disasters, both man made and natural. In the case of a famine, prices cannot adjust and can cause the famine to become more severe. The Share is never used for foreign trade and it is actually illegal to either export or destroy any Shares. This is due to the argument that it is a representative of societal contribution, thus cannot be destroyed or divested. Shares are printed, and destroyed as required, by the Gnomish People's Share Divestment Council. The inability to export Shares causes some complexity in negotiating trade with foreign governments. This is usually handled through either barter, sharing one good for another specifically, or trading using a foreign currency such as Dollars.Cultural Influence
The nature and inflexibility of the Share means that, though it can be useful for staple goods, it is nearly completely ineffective for luxury goods. This has lead to a black market in foreign goods backed by different means of currency. This varies from foreign currency, such as illicit dollars, to goods and services that are difficult to find. In theory, the government has a hard stance against the black market. The party rails against the black market undermining the Republic, and proclaim it a callback to more primitive times. In practice, it is in use by most peoples to get access to the many luxury goods the State cannot provide and is quietly tolerated. Domestically produced electronics tend to be substandard and people are always hungry to consume the popular media found across the world they wouldn't otherwise have access to. The illegality of the black market is largely used as a tool by the Party to persecute political opponents. If someone were to fall out of favour with the party, it is a very easy charge to drum up against either the victim or a relative of the victim.
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Here's the feedback you asked for. :D
Here, you tell us what the thing is used for before you tell us what the thing is. I would suggest you start with something more along the lines of: Here is what it is, here's some choice tidbits about it, and then go from there. Remember, most people will only read a few paragraphs before they decide whether or not they'll keep reading. This and the sentences after it feel more like a bullet-point list of traits than a description of the share. We still haven't really been told what the thing is besides a not-quite-a-currency. I feel that saying "It fills all roles" is missing an opportunity to really paint a more evocative picture of what it is for this society, as well. You could expand on it, give it some flavor and entice people to read more about it and the GPR. I would personally put the history bit at the bottom of the article: again, tell us what the thing is before you dig into its history. :) This system seems rife for abuse, corruption, forgeries, illegal trades and all sorts of shenanigans, but there's not really any mention of anything like that. Is there anything like that? How does the people in power exploit the system? Is there a "Some are more equal than others" type of thing? How does banking work? Credit, loans, that sort of thing? In general, I think the largest issue with the article is that it doesn't feel like it has a nice descriptive flow to it. Most parts feel more like a list of items and traits. I would suggest that you maybe try to spice up the descriptions and make it evocative when you go through and edit it. Good luck! In general, this seems like a pretty bad economic system but I guess that's why the republic isn't doing too great.Creator of Araea, Megacorpolis, and many others.
I'll try to flesh it out with more narrative and examples. Yeah, it's a horrible system that's blatantly abused by the Party to control the people. That's almost the whole purpose of it. :)