Actaea

The Issue

The quarterly production reports show that a worker from Northern Brakhmar, Alenyo Stackemup, has mined more unobtainium ore than all the other workers in his district combined, leading to questions about how the state should recognize such spectacular industriousness.

The Debate

1. "Comrade Stackemup is truly setting a fine example to the workers of Brakhmar!" enthuses the invariably optimistic Minister of Industry, Max Hendrikson, "Clearly we should be rewarding such commitment to the cause. If we increase his ration allowance and give him a nicer state apartment to live in, the other workers will be motivated to match his output. Of course we'll need a big promotion campaign to get everyone pumped up, but it'll pay off with a new age of economic productivity!"

2. "You're forgetting our revolutionary ideals," interjects the more idealistic Minister of Resources, Elizabeth Khan. "From each according to his ability - to each according to his NEED. Comrade Stackemup doesn't need any more rations than any other miner, and building socialism is its own reward. Giving special treatment to workers who produce more will only lead us down the slippery slope back to capitalist exploitation."

This is the position your government is preparing to adopt.

3. "I actually think we have a bigger problem than that," says the perpetually suspicious Minister of Internal Affairs, Jamil Anderson. "Have you really looked at the numbers his district has claimed? According to their report, Stackemup's production level was OVER 9000! That's just not possible: no one could humanly shift that much unobtainium. They're obviously falsifying the data. We need to eliminate such corruption with a thorough audit of the whole sector, and in the meantime, don't go making an example of Stackemup and his supposed achievements: we'll all end up embarrassing ourselves."