GunRiot

TOO LITTLE, TOO LATE FOR KURTOW?
Reddin Belk, Pallad City Post
[Archived Article: Published Three Months Ago]

The latest round of supplies are reportedly on the way to Kurtow, but will it make a difference? An increase in food, clothing, and medicine have been allocated for the megadistrict in hopes that Kurtow will pick itself up by its bootstraps, at least economically.

In an effort to “re-civilize” the ruins, the government claims that they’ve been in contact with individuals in Kurtow and have planned a coordinated attempt to open businesses where commerce can flow for the first time in over two decades. The latest supply drops are intended to stock store shelves and reignite a consumer market—but this is not the first time the city tried, and failed, to invigorate Kurtow by seeking to promote a thriving economy. Some Palladians are already calling the government’s tactics into question, insisting it to be a ludicrous, ill-conceived idea.

One criticism is that, after twenty-five years, Kurtow lacks an economy that utilizes monetary-based transactions. Bartering, trade, and service-for-goods are the primary economic system within the ruins—something that makes purchasing products at a store with actual currency, as the government envisions, a remote prospect. Much of the what actually occurs in Kurtow is still a matter of conjecture to the public, due to the district being walled off from the rest of the city. Yet the ruins are reported to be a lawless zone, teeming with scavengers who are more likely to take what they want instead of actively participating in a semi-functional society. Another cause for concern are the physical stores themselves, which have been in disrepair for years and are expected to be structurally unsound.

Government officials have stated that their economic plan for Kurtow has been carefully considered and approved by multiple committees, asserting that any concern from the public is unfounded. They allege that a currency-based system is being introduced into Kurtow and steps are already in place to re-integrate the district’s economy with the rest of Pallad City.

With the government’s previous endeavors amounting to little more than putting a bandaid on a bullet hole, the situation over the wall has only become increasingly dire. Twenty-five years after the Kurtow earthquake, many Palladians are still less-than-optimistic about any effort to salvage the ruins. For the long-suffering people of Kurtow, the government’s latest plan may likely be another superficial gesture that leads nowhere.

GunRiot. Story by Midnight. Art by Kuraikabe1990.