Dartz Wrote:I'd imagine there's a big group of Fen who make their money trading dirtside luxuries that are cheap on the ground, but pricy in Fenspace.... the SS Ciara made most of their cash that way prior to 2012, bringing up bulk loads and running them around the inner system.Oh, definitely. That's how Noah got started (before the Kaboomite Incident), and Hermes Universal Delieries still uses that business model.
blackaeronaut Wrote:This does make me wonder... How does OGJ operate, financially speaking?Mal and I worked out an indirect-taxation system similar to the one that keeps the United Nations going in our timeline: the factions contribute a small part of their operating revenues to Great Justice, which aggregates to a large enough sum that the GJ HQ and (small) standing fleet can be maintained. Additional ships are seconded from faction military forces where such forces exist (Trekkies, Warsies, Fivers, etc.), and expert personnel are seconded from other factions with the needed skills (Senshi, Supers, Stellvians, etc.).
That said, I like the idea of prizes financing GJ...
(The Space Patrol, OTOH, runs solely off of indirect taxation and gifts made anonymous through the Nikaido Foundation, with no calling up of reserves from other forces or taking and awarding of prizes. The police must both be impartial and be seen to be impartial.)
JFerio Wrote:Complete with regular (read: every year) audits, since every American in Fenspace was technically self-employed, even if they were working for someone else.That's one more reason why so many Fen took Australian citizenship once Oz recognized the Convention, yes...
--
Rob Kelk
"Governments have no right to question the loyalty of those who oppose
them. Adversaries remain citizens of the same state, common subjects of
the same sovereign, servants of the same law."
- Michael Ignatieff, addressing Stanford University in 2012