6th World Almanac Innacuracies, Slave Trade Abolished in 1936????? Options

[Jaid]

I find it funny, ok, not funny, but amusing that while the world is as dark as a black cat with its eyes closed inside a pitch-black room filled with coal there are some people and institutions that try to make a better life for everyone. In Running Wild is mentioned that the UN tried to pass a "Sentient Rights Act" but was shot down by one of the countries with veto powers of the UNSC during a 'closed doors meeting'. By the way, I wonder, which countries are permanente members of the SC now? Also, do corps participate in the UN or they have their own separate little club (the Corporate Council)?

i find it even more amusing that the corporate court passed similar legislation which the UN shot down...

[Brazilian_Shinob...]

i find it even more amusing that the corporate court passed similar legislation which the UN shot down...

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Which makes me wonder why the corps would this. What possible benefit can they possibly have to give full citizenship to non-metahumans sentient creatures? I mean, why would they like to have a Ghoul as employee?

[Mäx]

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Which makes me wonder why the corps would this. What possible benefit can they possibly have to give full citizenship to non-metahumans sentient creatures? I mean, why would they like to have a Ghoul as employee?

Ghouls not a "non metahuman sentient"
Centaurs,Pixies and Nagas are.
And Evo allready gives them citisenship IIRC.

[Critias]

Oh yeah, forgot about that. Which makes me wonder why the corps would this. What possible benefit can they possibly have to give full citizenship to non-metahumans sentient creatures? I mean, why would they like to have a Ghoul as employee?

Because non-employees don't pay taxes...or, at least, not as many. I'm biting my tongue to keep from making a real-world analogy right now, but -- let's all play along, and not say it -- I think some of you can guess the comparison I'd make. The corp that gives "human" status to paracritters just might experience a flood of paracritter citizenship, brand loyalty, etc, etc. Corps that stood in the way of that, if and when the Ghouls and Pixies all get their SINs, just might feel some backlash.

[CanRay]

Because the Corps would be able to "Cherry Pick" the best and brightest of the species and deny the rest for bureaucratic reasons.

[Jaid]

Because the Corps would be able to "Cherry Pick" the best and brightest of the species and deny the rest for bureaucratic reasons.

actually, i figured it was because corps already have so many loopholes that let them abuse basic human rights and looking good while doing it that it isn't particularly meaningful to give anyone "basic human rights".

i mean, that security guard may have those basic human rights, but you think that means he isn't up to his eyeballs in debt (or worse) and is essentially trapped into unending servitude to the corporation, with the only way out being either selling himself off to some other corporation (except nobody bothers with extracting regular security guards) or managing to go live a life of squalor in some cesshole in the barrens (if he's lucky, he manages to get away *before* the corp repossesses all his cyberware).

so really, i figure in a lot of cases it went like this for the corporations that have representatives on the corporate court: just before the corporate court makes it's decision, all the AAAs officially grant the non-human sapient critters basic human rights... by offering it to them individually if and only if they sign contracts binding them to pay off their job training, housing, food, their handler's wages, any formal education or equivalent they may have received, any equipment they may have ever had installed or which they damaged in their time as essentially slaves to the corp, etc.

and shortly afterwards, the 'lucky' critter is officially a "free" citizen of the corporation... and owes the corporation so much that they'd have to spend the rest of their lives working if they want to avoid leaving their children with an inheritance consisting of nothing more than an unbearable debt load.

the AAs, though... they probably got screwed. but then again, they didn't get to be AAs by not being able to deal with what the corporate court dumps on them (a common problem i am sure when your major competition gets to decide the rules by which you compete). in all probability, they just shoved those non-human sapients into positions in subsidiaries that aren't megas, and which don't have extraterritoriality. after all, if they operate in the UCAS and the subsidiary isn't a mega, they use the laws of whatever country they happen to be in. once that's done, all they have to do is get their own paracritters to sign the same agreement. anything too small to be extraterritorial doesn't even have to worry, ultimately.

plus, even if the decision was made, it wouldn't go into effect immediately. you can bet the rest of the corporations who didn't know in advance made sure to keep it from the sapient critters and tried to get them to sign similar "in debt for the rest of your life" agreements in exchange for citizenship and "freedom"

[Sengir]

I mean, why would they like to have a Ghoul as employee?

What makes you think the corps are not already employing ghouls? If their prized new researcher does a good job I don't think the standard big, faceless, immoral corp is going to care for one second about what he has for dinner...unless they can use it as blackmail.

So what do corps gain by granting their non-humans citizenship? I'd say it makes a lot of things easier (i.e. cheaper) if the company representatives en route to the International Technobrabble Conference can travel as "five sentients, one with special arrangements" instead of "four people and a large pet". Also, you can't bind something non-sentient by contract...


And if those rights should get in the way of the corp's aims...well, did human rights prevent technomancer experimentation?

[Dumori]

actually, i figured it was because corps already have so many loopholes that let them abuse basic human rights and looking good while doing it that it isn't particularly meaningful to give anyone "basic human rights".

i mean, that security guard may have those basic human rights, but you think that means he isn't up to his eyeballs in debt (or worse) and is essentially trapped into unending servitude to the corporation, with the only way out being either selling himself off to some other corporation (except nobody bothers with extracting regular security guards) or managing to go live a life of squalor in some cesshole in the barrens (if he's lucky, he manages to get away *before* the corp repossesses all his cyberware).

so really, i figure in a lot of cases it went like this for the corporations that have representatives on the corporate court: just before the corporate court makes it's decision, all the AAAs officially grant the non-human sapient critters basic human rights... by offering it to them individually if and only if they sign contracts binding them to pay off their job training, housing, food, their handler's wages, any formal education or equivalent they may have received, any equipment they may have ever had installed or which they damaged in their time as essentially slaves to the corp, etc.

and shortly afterwards, the 'lucky' critter is officially a "free" citizen of the corporation... and owes the corporation so much that they'd have to spend the rest of their lives working if they want to avoid leaving their children with an inheritance consisting of nothing more than an unbearable debt load.

the AAs, though... they probably got screwed. but then again, they didn't get to be AAs by not being able to deal with what the corporate court dumps on them (a common problem i am sure when your major competition gets to decide the rules by which you compete). in all probability, they just shoved those non-human sapients into positions in subsidiaries that aren't megas, and which don't have extraterritoriality. after all, if they operate in the UCAS and the subsidiary isn't a mega, they use the laws of whatever country they happen to be in. once that's done, all they have to do is get their own paracritters to sign the same agreement. anything too small to be extraterritorial doesn't even have to worry, ultimately.

plus, even if the decision was made, it wouldn't go into effect immediately. you can bet the rest of the corporations who didn't know in advance made sure to keep it from the sapient critters and tried to get them to sign similar "in debt for the rest of your life" agreements in exchange for citizenship and "freedom"

Corporate employees are transferred from corp to corp now and then. Some times for cash some times as part of under the table dealings such "sure we stole X prototype type how about we give you a top biologist?" though maybe not as blatantly stated.

Also AA corps can still claim extraterritorial status they just don't sit on the corporate court but still have to play by their rules.

[CanRay]

"In news today, Ares Macrotechnology traded five top IC programmers to MCT for fifteen expert Spider Security Operators and a number of Security Guards to be named later." "I tell you, this is better than watching Baseball!"

[Dumori]

"In news today, Ares Macrotechnology traded five top IC programmers to MCT for fifteen expert Spider Security Operators and a number of Security Guards to be named later." "I tell you, this is better than watching Baseball!"

There is a transfer market but man if people followed it like that they must be sad. I mean globally each AAA corp would be looking at a good 100 transfers aday both minor or major. From to and from owned subsidies and to rival corps.

[Troll]

I may have found something a little off researching for the next game I want to run.

I'm almost certain that in previous materials New Orleans was written as having contended with Atlanta as Capital of the CAS, but in the Almanac it's listed as Richmond, and Houston/Austin/Dallas as the only competition.

It's a minor gripe, just something I noticed while digging through, and I could easily be incorrect as to "when" New Orleans rivaled Atlanta for the Capital of the CAS.