Elizabeth Barrette (ysabetwordsmith) wrote,
Elizabeth Barrette
ysabetwordsmith
  • Mood: amused

Economics in Fiction

Tags: economics, fiction, how to, networking, poetry, reading, writing
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  • 3 comments
fayanora

fayanora

July 28 2018, 00:24:32 UTC 2 years ago

I was just reading "Record Of A Space-born Few" by Becky Chambers. Among other things (see my review on my blog), the economy of the Exodan fleet (a bunch of generation ships full of people who decided to stay on the ships after finding new planets) uses barter primarily, mainly because they recycle or reuse everything, which is traditional for them, and they're poor. Contact with the Galactic Commons civilization has introduced credits, so they now use a mix of the two, and it's getting a bit messy. A lot of Exodan businesses refuse to take credits.
ysabetwordsmith

Yes ...

ysabetwordsmith

July 28 2018, 00:28:25 UTC 2 years ago

Fascinating. A lot of barter-based civilizations view cash as an unwillingness to invest oneself in the community.
fayanora

Re: Yes ...

fayanora

July 28 2018, 00:47:23 UTC 2 years ago

It was also fun in other ways. The Exodans compost their dead. Most of the compost goes to the oxygen gardens rather than the farms, but families who lose a loved one get a container of this compost to do with as they like, and some people use it in their personal gardens. Apparently the author based it on something some people are trying to get started in the real world.

Also, like I say in my review, there's lots of same-sex couples, and even polyamorous groups. And one of the alien species, the Aandrisks, have polyamorous "feather families" as their primary family unit. And the way they rear their young is interesting (detailed in the other two books of the series).