| From: | Erik Jameson <erikj@****.COM> |
|---|---|
| Subject: | Socioeconomics in SR |
| Date: | Tue, 24 Mar 1998 18:27:59 -0500 |
<let me quote your question first, then my responses, for a longer than
normal post>
>Whenever one is shown an 'economically depressed' area in Shadowrun, it
>is usually populated by metahumans, predominantly the Goblinised. Now,
>admittedly I know nothing of America's race-relations problems other
>than what I see and hear on (and infer from) the news, but why are these
>areas like this? Example: the African-American and Hispanic-American
>areas of modern-day LA. Even given the upheavals of the intervening
>sixty years, the populations of those areas aren't going to change much,
>are they? The residents will be the children/grand-children of today's
>residents. The socio-economic makeup of America will still involve large
>areas of this 'underclass'. Goblinisation Day, 2021, affected 10% of
>the population - all the population, not just the poor. Millionaires of
>all stripes would have been affected too. Would the banks foreclose on
>them just because they grew a foot taller and needed some serious dental
>work? Unlikely.
>
>What I'm saying is, most of the socioeconomic difficulties of America's
>'minorities' (not my term) appear to be inherited from past oppression
>or lack of citizenship. The so-called 'trogs' have no such history of
>oppression (they only appeared forty-odd years ago), so they would be
>less likely to have such ghettos.
What you are saying is both true and false.
One of the primary causes, originally anyway, of the poor economic standing
of racial minorities in our real world has to do with jobs. If I can't get
a job, I can't afford to live in a nice house. Real simple. The problem
arises when the people making the hiring decisions are racist, prejudiced,
uncomfortable, or whatever. Can't get a job to live in the nice house if
all the people doing the hiring won't hire me because I'm
black/hispanic/asian/whatever. Which puts me in the economic underclass.
This sort of behavior is less prevalent today than it was even 10 years
ago. But the affects of this behavior over decades has shaped the American
culture and the American socioeconomic strata. It's very difficult to move
upward in class; many minorities were put into the low class strata and
only now are they beginning to make any kind of major inroads into the
middle class or the wealthy.
Now let's move to the world of SR. It's been said that when you are
confronted by 7 feet and 350 pounds of troll, the black man next to you is
a lot more like your brother than the troll is. For the most part, the
race hatred and prejudice has transferred from skin color to metatype.
It's easier to comprehend; it's obvious that only skin color makes me
different from any other human, but horns and tusks and dermal deposits
make a troll not even totally human.
So after the Goblinization, there's now these hideous beasts that claim to
still be a part of the human race. When it comes to jobs, who is going to
be hired? The black man that you wouldn't hire yesterday, or the massive,
ugly troll? "Colored" humans (meaning blacks, hispanics, asians) would
suddenly find themselves eminently more hire-able. They would be better
able to dig themselves out of the crushing poverty. In their place would
be the orcs and trolls, unable to get jobs. *That's* why the Barrens will
have a much higher percentage of orcs and trolls than any other region of
Seattle. The old inhabitants, the minorities, are probably wage slaves
putting in time in Renton or something, but that's a big step up from Redmond.
I see the racial and metatypes breaking down roughly thus:
Low Class: Highest percentage of orcs and trolls, and a higher than average
number of minorities, regardless of metatype. Human and elves would be the
minority of this economic stratum.
Middle Class: A significantly higher percentage of minorities than today.
Mostly humans, with sizable percentages of elfs and dwarves.
High Class: Not quite as many minorities, and the percentage of humans is
higher than in middle class. Still large numbers of "human-like" elfs and
dwarves, and very few orcs and trolls.
Luxury Class: Nearly all humans, of the racial type predominant for the
region/corporation (let's remember the Asian megacorps). Still some elfs,
but hardly any orcs and trolls, if there are any at all in the stratosphere.
But that's just my take on things. I imagine by the turn of the 22nd
Century, things will have changed.
>I anxiously await explanations/discussion. (If this doesn't liven up
>this thread, I doubt anything will.)
Well, here's one response!
>*Reaching for the fire-extinguisher, hoping it won't be needed*
Nah, I don't think it'll be needed. I think those people willing to post
on this topic know better than to flame.
BTW, I live in LA. I've had to deal with the fall-out from the Rodney King
riots and the tension from the OJ verdict. LA is an interesting place to
live in that respect; right now, I think most people are going by "Live and
let live." In other words, I don't care what color you are, just as long
as you leave me alone.
You also have to realize that there are so many racial factions here in LA,
perhaps more so than anywhere else. You heard of Propositions 187 and 209,
which were anti-immigrant and anti-affirmative action (respectively) bills?
187, which was seen as targeting hispanics, wouldn't have passed without
the black and asian vote. 209, which was seen as targeting black and
hispanics, wouldn't have passed without the asian vote.
LA is a complex city, full of racial tension and divide. But it's also a
place for great racial harmony and togetherness. I see the Seattle of 205X
in a similar light...a pretty powderkeg, ready to ignite but the fuse isn't
lit...yet.
Erik J.
"Oh, the silent helicopters and the men in black fatigues? They're just my
car pool to work."
