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Encyclopedia WinterCampica - Suggest Change
Current Entry: Market Madness
On Day Three of Winter Camp XXXVII, it was clear that the Winter Camp economy had evolved past its agrarian stage of what seemed like only a day earlier and entered a mercantile phase. Engineering, cultural, and culinary ministries were established to work for the greater good and for personal gain. The rush was on at daybreak, as the new economy began with a search of the land for resources that were said to be situated at cryptically-defined locations. Four teams set out to find the raw materials, such as iron ore, flax, copper, and gold, that would drive the new economy. Once those were located, the quest moved forward to find ways to combine these resources into the inventions and materials that would drive the world forward. The madness of the market quickly showed itself, as plans were raised, refined, and presented to a panel of economic leaders for their worthiness to be judged. In the afternoon, the teams met once again to find ways to use those resources to create new products and inventions. After the first period of inventing, there was an auction of newly-discovered resources followed by trading, further inventing, and finally a presentation of each team of their favorite three inventions.
The first round saw Team Three leap to an early lead which they exploited in the auction to keep other teams from gaining access to key resources. Team Three maintained their lead and cruised to an easy victory. The other teams didn't go down without a fight, though, and there were a number of interesting inventions. Team One came up with the windmill, alcohol, fried chicken and the ice box. Team Two came up with the tin can, fire piston, diamond press, and the caffeinated tortilla. The victorious Team Three came up with log cabins, sewing needles, and Winter Camp. Team Four came up with a power plant, a brothel, the Statue of Liberty, and the infamous kitchamajig.
As men worshiped false idols in their hunter-gatherer days, so too does modern man fall prey to those peddling false resources. It was no different on the mercantile exchange. In and among the necessary resources for a post-agrarian world, rogue traders emerged offering such arcane tools as the "X box" and "Monster drinks". Some teams fell prey to their fast talk, while others resisted the lure of the cheap and gaudy. In the final analysis, while Team 4 earned special commendation from the judges for inventing the Kitchamajig-a tool which will surely have great significance in the ages of man to come-it was Team 3 who took top honors and were best-equipped to lead mankind forward. (SD)