Poverty effects every country in the world.  Some countries deal with poverty more than others, but it is a problem in some form or another everywhere, the question becomes is it inevitable?  The CM country Chapan, otherwise known as the students from Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas, took on this question as a class and came up with some answers based on experience within the Civic Mirror.  The citizens of Chapan began with a question posed by Instructor Kayte Cormack,

 ”We’ve talked a lot recently about poverty and impoverished nations and people. Are economic imbalances that occur between citizens something people just have to accept, or could and should they be minimized? “

Citizen Michael began by discussing not only experience, but his understanding of one political philosophy he knew well,

“Both definitely. We should try to minimize it and maybe even get rid of it entirely. But i guess theres a problem with that too because Karl Marx wanted to get rid of the class system (close to/exactly the same as “economic imbalances“). what started out as a good idea from Karl Marx went sour because it was way to easy for smart/powerful people to take over. I think we should make the standard living in all countries a lot better. I don’t have a proposal for how to do this but thats where we should start. Much past just raising the standard of living would just be making a socialist society. People should learn to accept differences of economic status as part of the world.”

Arriving at the same conclusion, albeit by different means, Citizen Nate shares his opinion,

“I believe that the economic imbalances between citizens should be minimized at all cost. People should not have to live in an economy where such imbalances occur, because they can cause discontentment among the populace. Imbalances in the economy will be hard to correct, however, I believe that if we all work together than we will be able to stabilize the economy. i realize that even if you stabilize the economy there will be some people who squandor what they have, thes toe people are the only ones who should have to learn to live with economic imbalances.”

Meanwhile the Government of Chapan, most likely the President, shares a more politically conservative viewpoint,

“i think some people are placed in a situation, where in order to be out of poverty, you would have to rob a bank or hold someone ransom, but since those are illegal i would come to the conclusion that depending on your situation.

But in a place like America i think we do see some people who rely more on the check coming in the mail from the Government then, they, themselves actually working to get meals on the table.

there are both people in poverty who work constantly to earn a dollar a day, they just have to accept they are in poverty and always will be. although they dont.

and there are others who take care of their 20 bebe kids and earn a check in the mail. could this poverty they are in be minimized. yes. but they would rather accept the poverty and accept the check.”

While Representative Saran shares a less idealistic view,

“ I think that economic imbalance is something that should be accepted by people. The reason I think that is because, no matter how hard the government tries to make the gap between rich and poor smaller there always seems to be a problem. The fact of the matter is that there will always be a difference. Some people make more money then others, that’s the way it is now and that’s the way its always been. If this was to be minimized there will be a lot of conflict. Therefore to avoid all that, the richer people should just accept it. Take taxes for example, there is no way that rich people can get the same amount of taxes as the poor people. The reason for that is if you don’t make a ton of money you can’t pay a ton of taxes. With that said I believe that economic imbalances should be accepted unless someone comes up with a better way to approach the problem.”

Can a society fix poverty?  Does society want to fix poverty?  These questions are quintessential when it comes to deciding how a society should be governed and what kinds of laws should be passed.  It is obvious that the citizens of Chapan have very strong opinions on this subject, but how will they use these points of view to better the lives of their citizens?

After their first true “year” on play, the citizens of Laughganistan, a high school government class at Shawnee Mission North High School in Overland Park, Kansas, came together in Town Hall to discuss a topic that has weighed down the minds of citizens all over the world for much of history, the importance of economic equality.  As long as there have been human beings living in organized communities, there has been the issue of equality.  Should everyone be equal?  If so, how do we accomplish that?  Following the leadership of their instructor, Kayte Cormack the leaders of Laughganistan are giving input to solve this issue in their own country.

The discussion began with a posting from

“Are economic imbalances between citizens something people just have to accept, or could and should they be minimized?”

Jeremy was the first to publish a response with realistic insight,

“Of course economic imbalances could and should be minimized but that isn’t how life works. It isn’t like if your bank account is running low the government will pitch in some extra cash too boost you back to security. I’m not at all spitting arrogance either because I am going to be hit hard in debt and I accept my responsibillities and will find away to recover. So in conclusion, no, things should remain they are with minimal interferences.”

Representative Holly wrote back from a more idealistic approach,

“I think that economic imbalance could be minimized but we would have to work together as a country to figure out how to overcome the imbalance. Life is not always fair, and until our country works through this economic imbalance we will have to accept it.”

Representative Krista agreed with this theory but went a little further in her explanation, calling for a change in culture as well as policy,

“I definetely think that economic imbalances can be minimized, but it would take much time and alot of hard work. I think that the biggest problem is probably that its not our communities common goal, i mean… the rich enjoy having more money than everyone else. Maybe if we didn’t idolize material things so much than it wouldn’t be such a big problem, but we do. We need to make people think about more than themselves and just their families, make them think about the generations to come and their economy.”

Bradner also shares Jeremy’s point of view,

“They should be minimized but this game is about real life and those things just don’t change in real life. There are people that are doing very well, I’m not but am I complaining? N0!!!!!! Because it’s life and pretty soon things will level out and I’ll be on top and the person that used to be on top will be at the bottom. Things should stay the way they are.”

Interestingly, Elaine swoops in with a legislative idea,

“Economic imbalances between citizens should be minimized by having taxes based on how much money you have and providing essentials at a lower price. This way the poor will be getting what they need and the owners of the business will still profit from their product.”

As a bid to please fellow citizens, Senator Ali explains a different point of view,

“Equilibrium is something that comes naturally. When we’re capable of being able to “control” the way things are being done properly, then the economic imbalance will be altered to something that everyone is able to sustain, contain, and understand. Until then, we’ve got to do what we can with what we have. Things aren’t simple, life is an example, people have to figure things out to where they work. It could be minimized if everyone worked together but not everyone has the same views. So it’s really up to how everyone reacts to the imbalance, some want the power so they will do what they can to keep it that way while others try to neutralize the balance. Whichever way, people will learn to survive at the best of their ability.”

Samanthat B. sounds fed up with this question altogether,

“People will always disagree. It can’t be fixed. It can’t be minimized that much either. Some people are natural born complainers. People will always be at odds with each other. Especially when we have two different political parties in office. Everyone just kinda has to deal and try and be as civil as possible and not go screaming about for no reason and just waste everybody’s time.”

In a similar vein, Marissa believes that everyone has the ability to fix their own problems,

“I think that economic balances between citizens are both something that people have to accept and could and should be minimized. The citizens of the country, if they are poor should think of ways to raise money, or they should help somebody out for money, like do business with them or something. The citizens should be able to earn money somehow, even if they are poor. They have to figure out a way to earn money and that makes the game more challenging. That is why I think that economic balances between citizens are both something that people have to accept and could and should be minimized.”

While Jerusalem believes we all depend on each other, rather than each individual upon themselves,

“I think that economic imbalances could and should be changed. The whole economy is linked and if the poor part of the economy is failing, eventually the rich part of the society will fall with them due to the business cycle…so there should be loans given to citizens…”

While Jake ends the conversation with a poignant,

“I think we should have a lockbox.”

This is not a question with an easy answer.  Differing view points can lead to discussions and either changes or reiterations in policies and thus the way citizens will lead their lives.  Laughganistan is working hard to answer the questions that are put forth in a thoughtful and meaningful manner.  The next step is to use these ideas to further benefit the lives of the citizens within Laughganistan.