January 13th, 2011.
Turn 2.
5GNP: $32B with -1.5% growth, Revenue $7B, Budget $9B, Debt $13.5B at 4% Interest.
Population 5M (-0.2% growth rate, 4% Serbian immigrants)
Popularity High (67%), no overt revolutionary groups.
Internal Security 2, Crime Control 2, Civil Law 4, Corruption 7
Regulations: Business 5, Environmental 3, Egalitarian 4, Health & Safety 3, Vice 1
Military Power: Air 1, Land 7
The Budget
Defense 35%
Education 5%
Health Care 10%
Law enforcement 2%
Regulation 4%
Social Programs 40%
Other 4%
Fine Dining in Latveria:
This year wasn't the best of years, but you knew it'd be rough going when you first saw the budgetary reports, and saw dear, sweet, dear dear Mr. Hill downing the good brandy like he was at a college frat party.
Still. You had at least a couple things to look forward to; like the nice, lavish party being held by one of your generals to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the government's fulfillment. It's easy to rub elbows with your set of skills, and your prestigious position, so it was little wonder when you showed up to a fairly warm reception. The hosting general, Mr. Bellikov, had laid out the red carpet -- literally! Your personal limousine rolling up to the front door of his estate to find it almost in as good of a shape as your own, though large sections of the manor are undergoing renovation. Large solar panels set along the roof provided power in spite of the unreliable electric grid, and the event itself is awash in "imported" liquors, some very ravishing women, and even a handful of dignitaries and modern-day aristocrats (though they'd never call themselves such.) Moneyed individuals, even from neighboring nations, seeking to enjoy your own nation's hospitality.
Though this is, foremost, a military event. It is why you know you're being watched by your generals quite keenly, your administrative blustering pushing down on the hands in the pots. Already, several officers have been found guilty of overindulging; egregious and unforgivable expenses. Things like reporting guns and weapons caches being below-standard, or overexpending munitions in the field that would be sold to black marketeers. Tactics that had been used in the Cold War, but old tactics of corruption would not hold up to a more modern era! Their commissions had been stripped and themselves thrown to the mercies of your courts, though they're viewed as fools who got greedy rather than poor victims of your administration. Thankfully, being a social butterfly has its perks.
Still. While this is nice, you're able to talk with some of the officers of your military, as well as various other types. You don't have military service in common, which is the glue that holds their loyalties and camaraderie together, but what you do have is an extensive repertoire of lurid stories to entertain the men with, childhood exploits that harken back to their own youths, and a wide array of jokes that you blast away with like the one with the milkmaid and the cow. You haven't developed an elite personal division of loyalists tonight, but you helped ease some of the tension thanks to your corruption hunt.
Which would be nice, if this wasn't taking place in a temple of what corruption can buy. Even a general's salary doesn't exactly cover a platoon of escorts (you know these women just native-born), top shelf liquor, and extensive personal renovations. For God's sake, there's actually a Picasso! How does he have a Picasso and you don't?!
Anyways. The evening goes on rather smoothly. In the end, you wind up with more than you bargained for; in some ways more than others. When the party starts to die down and the guests 'retire' to their rooms, you're invited up to the General's study, and find yourself seated with a third man. A rather aged man, with liver spots dotting his face and cheeks ruddy with his love of vodka, were you to guess. If someone wanted to off the leading government this would be the room to do it, but given that there's really nobody interested in immediately beheading you with the ability to do so at such a high-profile event, you feel pretty safe with this stranger; who is introduced as a Mr. Ivanov, from Russia. With a name as generic as "Mr. Smith", you pin him pretty easily as a spook.
The three of you talk for an hour or so before the real topic comes to light. "I have been talking with Mr. Ivanov, and he has some very interesting affairs. He is, was, KGB. Of course, they say that the KGB are dead, but it is amazing how hard dying can be."
"Cancer has yet to win." The aging KGB agent tells you, "But it will. Eventually. Which is why I have come to your nation. You seek to fight corruption, whilst others like you embrace it. That is interesting, but what is also interesting is the fact that your nation is young. I wish to raise a new crop of intelligence officers; something new. Something not seen in many years."
Sensing the flow of the conversation, you let him talk.
And talk.
And you sip your drink.
And talk.
In the end, he outlines a very interesting proposal, for all it states; This man, Mr. Ivanov, wishes to hand-pick a number of youths. Somewhere in the area of about a hundred children, which shall not be dearly missed, that will be abducted and placed into an intensive training program for the next ten years. By the time they reach maturity, they will be loyal agents of Latveria, elite soldier, assassin, and more rolled into one.
"Like one of those American films!" General Bellikov states gleefully.
Other Matters:
There is both good news and bad news, as there always is. The good news is that the waste dumping contract goes smoothly, and as fresh landfills spring up (as well as a handful of waste storage facilities), it looks like the damage to the ecosystem isn't some immediate catastrophic implosion. While the chemicals do end up getting introduced on their path down the river, your timely installation of a few purification plants and some new wells serves to keep drinking water fairly unaffected. Of course, there's some very sad stories of animals being displaced due to the filth introduced into their former habitats, but what value are bears and deer to two billion in the bank?
Also thanks to you, clean water is more readily available in the cities. There's long lines for the clean water, and some people even take day-long trips to the city from their remote villages for the purified water, but there's promise in the fact that people feel like the water's sanitary enough to drink for the first time in years. The war profiteers that had made a killing off bottled water are starting to see their margins thin out, and there's even mention that the cleaner water will be able to ensure healthier crops. The system's far from complete, however, and will still require a few years before the fresh water expands beyond a handful of wells and some draining aquifers into a truly national network. You got plenty of results, but also a much better image of the big picture.
On the topic of water, you also put your system under some stress. Testing for leaks, your rhetoric did wonders to assuage the populace at large. People are dumb, a person is smart. The problem is that for many of those who came under your search, they didn't see themselves as the problem. Skimming off the top was right, because as Mr. Hill looks through the various pipelines, a lot of the 'leaks' seem to come from Latveria's biggest banking institution. It had been a major banking institution even during the war, and in the aftermath, its stabilizing influence for the people was accompanied by a wealth of favortism. A number of executives in the bank seem to have their own money laundering scheme going on, supporting illicit trades and diluting the wealth earned with legitimate money. The problem is, a bit too much legitimate money gets washed back out into the accounts, creating a lot of seepage.
Even more problematic is that the banks aren't the only area where the leaks are occurring. A lot of the social programs are suffering their own abuses, thousands of little thefts. People claiming that dear old Uncle Grigori, who died two years ago, is still alive and well and deserving of his personal checks. To further complicate affairs is the rather self-evident fact that the military budget isn't entirely going into guns and bullets; while the military stays fairly well-funded, there's also an abundance of money that goes into the hands of senior officers. Several of the more obvious targets are easily indicted by their incriminating actions, but the truly high-up officers seem rather inopportune to hit. That being said, there's a lot of money going into the hands of Majors and Generals, and not all of it is ending up in the logistics office as it should. It's somewhat customary, but it's still money being lost.
