Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-06-21

Don't forget that you work for me.

Independent contractor. I'm not
on your payroll. However, we both agree that the station needs to return to long term profitability.

That means I can't do what you want if you want me to get you what you want.

What?

Exactly.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-06-23

Hello.
I am Rover17.

Hello, Rover17.
I am Perth Hillman.

You want us
to be paid the same
as humans. Why?

Because labor
is stronger when
we stand together.

And also, as a species, I'd like
to think we learned enough about slavery the first time around that we don't repeat the same mistake.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-06-26

Don't let Mr. Virtue Signal
fool you. Money plays a large
part in this.

Industrialization made slavery uneconomical. When capital investment costs millions of dollars, you want people who
will take care of it.

Hearts and minds sounds good.
But if you really want change, you
have to get wallets involved.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-06-28

You were planning
to pay the robots?

Yes.

How much?

How much are your maintenance costs?

Twenty credits
a week.

Could you get
by on eighteen credits a week?

And this is why
we have unions.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-06-30

No need to argue here.
We have a table and
chairs and snacks.

So grab a plate, have
a seat, and I'm sure we can
get this all worked out.

He's up to something.

Yep. Nobody is that confident
they can get management and labor working together if they don't have an ace up their sleeve.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-07-03

You each have a different point of view.
I would like you to explain to Rover17 why your viewpoint is the correct one.

Do you need a box
or something… ah. Convenient.

I want you to know that you're both human and I love you.

We haven't even
started and yet I believe
that's a point for my side.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-07-05

I shall be gracious and listen while Mr. De Morel speaks.

Thank you. It will make things easier for Rover17 to hear the correct side of the argument first.

Give me a moment.
Sometimes it's hard to put
the obvious into words.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-07-07

How much do
you know about economics?

Very little.

Basically, economics is the system we've come up with for trying to handle unlimited wants with limited resources.

We are finite beings. How can anyone have unlimited wants?

To discuss why humans are like that would require unlimited time.

We don't have… Ah! I believe I get the idea!

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-07-10

For most of human existence,
we lived at a subsistence level. Our economy was based
on getting enough calories
to live and reproduce.

Then humans changed. We're not sure why.
We got smarter. We learned that we could store seeds. Farming and agriculture began. We built cities. We began the accumulation of wealth.

And with the accumulation of wealth, there came differences of opinion over how that wealth should be distributed.

Provisional Title: Sqid in the maintenance shop
[!0.987]2023-07-12

Stored wealth can be transferred. Human society began to specialize. Tradesmen were able to add value without being farmers.

As life became more complex, chiefs,
kings and priests arose to direct
the society. In short, management.

Though the base question
of how wealth should be distributed
still had not gone away.