Kentian Economic System

The economic system of the KPR can be described as a moneyless, direct democratic planned economy. It aims to meet every citizen's basic needs while enabling individual self-actualization as much as possible. Variants of it are employed in all of Alpha Centauri's communities.   Like the political system of the KPR, Kentian economics grew from the community structures of colony ship crews. During the journeys and in the early years of colonies, cooperation was key to survival. Ship councils identified the work that needed to be done and distributed it among themselves. As the settlements grew and larger scale cooperation became necessary, the system adapted accordingly. The distribution of ressources and jobs is done by the lowest level council representing the affected people. For instance, a metropolitan council might make sure the power grid of a city delivers electricity where needed and has workers maintaining it, while a ship council feeds and houses people in the neighborhood. With the number of people living on Kent Prime today, it is safe to assume that most jobs can be filled with people who feel passionate about doing them and conversely, that everyone can do the work that fulfills them. Where there are not enough people wanting to do job to fill society's need, the rest of the work is shared by the community.  

An Example

Zaid loves cooking. He wants to spend his time making delicious phyte chips. He brings this up in his ship council. The community gathers the necessary materials and constructs a small shop. From now on he spends most of his days taking ingredients from the town's supply and passing out street food to whoever wants some. Noone wants to work full time in waste disposal, however, so once a week Zaid spends half the day with a shift collecting garbage. Like him, most members of his community spend a lot of time doing what they love and a little time helping with the things that need to be done.