A Lecture on Pupherton (and etc)

A class lecture on Pupherton

As prepared by former Celestian University’s Social Science Chair, Dr. Joseph Holden, PhD

Transcription Start:

I came across in my world travels several years ago an intriguing village called Pupherton, class.  It had a curious money system that I would like to share with you.

What is money you ask?  I’m not surprised you don’t understand the concept of money, being first year freshmen and all.  Money is a mystical thing, a mythological force that no one truly understands, despite my esteemed economics colleague Professor Hernandez’s personal opinion.

Money represents a certain set amount of production in many societies.  You exchange money for goods that others produce, and you produce goods for money.  It was much more expedient a system than trading 100 gallons of milk for the newest video game system.

There are many types of money in the form of currencies.  Each currency has different values based on the reputation of the issuer of each particular currency.  Currency values change over time just as the reputation of the issuer changes over time.  But all currencies still reflect a certain amount of production per unit of currency.

Let me get back to this curious little village that I encountered.  In the small village of Pupherton, the village currency is Puphs.  These “puphs” represent “Production units per hour.”

Production units per hour are what an average Puphertonian can produce in an hour.  Genius, is it not?  This amount, like other currencies in other places, changes over time.  In sharp contrast to other currencies however, puphs deflate instead of inflate.  This is due to one major driving force in Pupherton, technology.  Because of technological advances, 500 years ago in Pupherton it would have taken 10 hours for one person to produce something that would take someone 100 year ago in

Pupherton one hour to do, and today take only 10 minutes to do.

Technology is very advanced in Pupherton and it is something they love to produce.  The value of production units per hour per product produced increases every year because of their love of technology.  Still with me class?  If it took 50 production units per hour to produce a bed in Pupherton 100 years ago, and 5 puphs to do it today, it is not unreasonable to suspect that in another 10 years, it would take .5 puphs or less to produce a bed in Pupherton.

This is true for nearly all the produced goods in Pupherton: food, housing, a marble statue of Justin Bieber, whatever.

I know this is all very interesting to you young people.  I am sure that you are on the edge of your seat salivating at the knowledge of the monetary system in this remote village.  Despite your enthusiasm, I’ll get to my point.

There are three primary needs Puphertonians require to survive:  Safety, Sustenance, and Shelter.  They need safety from wild animals and the occasional crazy celebrity, food and water for sustenance, and some sort of comfortable living space.

There are several secondary needs (or wants, depending on which Puphertonian you ask, these secondary needs are a hot topic in Pupherton.  I witnessed no less than six fights, two of which I unfortunately got caught up in, over the debate between what are wants and what are needs in contemporary Pupherton society) Puphertonians need to be content:  Social interaction, health care, education, and entertainment.

Lastly, there are wants that each Puphertonian has.  Unfortunately there are vastly too many of these to list in this one lecture.  Puphertonians are extremely longwinded in the amount of time they enjoy spending extolling the virtues of whatever wants they have.  I sometimes wonder if they spent more time trying to satisfy these wants rather than spouting and debating the particular pros and cons of each want, they might be lead a more rewarding existence.  But it is not up to me or anyone but political science majors to judge the merits or demerits of another’s beliefs.  At any rate, Puphertonians have a lot of wants in life.

Most of these wants and needs can be satisfied with spending a certain amount of puphs, and the cost of satisfying most of these wants and needs is going down each year in Pupherton due to technological advances, as we mentioned before.

Now as I studied this strange little village of 100 Puphertonians, I was struck by a series of questions.

At what point does it (if ever) become expedient and ethical to subsidize (by taxation) the primary needs of all the Puphertonians?

I understand it currently takes 1000 puphs to produce enough for the primary needs of the whole village.  If 20 Puphertonians produce 50 puphs apiece, working 50 hours in one week, should they give all (1000) of their puphs to the village, and have nothing left for themselves and their wants?

What if 10 years from now it takes 100 puphs to produce enough for the primary needs of the whole village, and 10 Puphertonians produce 20 puphs apiece, working 20 hours in one week.  Should they give 50% their puphs to the village for the primary needs of the others?

What if it takes 10 puphs to produce enough for the primary needs of the whole village, and 10 Puphertonians produce 20 puphs apiece, working 20 hours in one week.  Should they give 5% of their puphs to the village?

And what if it takes 10 puphs to produce enough for the primary and secondary needs of the whole village, and 10 villagers produce 10 puphs apiece, working 10 hours in one week.  Should they give 10% of their puphs to the village so that other Puphertonians can enjoy them?

I have been asking myself repeatedly these questions since I left that curious village, and have not yet been able to figure it out.  Perhaps one of you first year students has all the answers like you think you do?