One thing I realized is that the game doesn't really seem to depict the fact that all of your pops in a given state are living amongst each other, perhaps not in the same neighborhoods but certainly in the same cities, towns, and villages. It's easy while you're playing to forget that people don't actually group together into giant pops of same-culture, same-religion, same-profession, same-workplace masses, but interact with each other in shared communities.
In light of that, it seems strange that social dynamics such as philanthropy aren't represented at all. Opulent capitalists will be living in the same city as struggling laborers and won't contribute even a token amount of money toward their upkeep, when even the most cynical person will admit that moneyed classes often give charity out of a desire to maintain a public image, to cement the dependence of the lower classes or even, if you can imagine it, out of a genuine sense of altruism.
The specifics of any hypothetical implementation are of course not really worth speculating on too much as a mere player of Paradox games, but I will say that I can easily imagine something like a per-state Philanthropy Pool, into which Capitalists and Aristocrats (or even other sufficiently wealthy pops) deposit money (they'll receive some political strength as compensation insofar as the desire to help your fellow man isn't a strong enough motivator to give), and out of which people below the normal wage draw money.
I'm sure you (yes, YOU specifically) can think of other ways to deepen the sense of community of pops in the game, and I'd be happy to hear about them in this thread and elsewhere.
In light of that, it seems strange that social dynamics such as philanthropy aren't represented at all. Opulent capitalists will be living in the same city as struggling laborers and won't contribute even a token amount of money toward their upkeep, when even the most cynical person will admit that moneyed classes often give charity out of a desire to maintain a public image, to cement the dependence of the lower classes or even, if you can imagine it, out of a genuine sense of altruism.
The specifics of any hypothetical implementation are of course not really worth speculating on too much as a mere player of Paradox games, but I will say that I can easily imagine something like a per-state Philanthropy Pool, into which Capitalists and Aristocrats (or even other sufficiently wealthy pops) deposit money (they'll receive some political strength as compensation insofar as the desire to help your fellow man isn't a strong enough motivator to give), and out of which people below the normal wage draw money.
I'm sure you (yes, YOU specifically) can think of other ways to deepen the sense of community of pops in the game, and I'd be happy to hear about them in this thread and elsewhere.
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