The jobs of the Commonwealth

Everything the Commonwealth builds begins underground. The miners of the collective pits win the stone for the halls of the council, the coal that keeps the furnaces and the canteens warm, and the iron, copper and gold from which the machines of socialist industry are made.

The work is hard and it is honoured. A miner goes down with a lamp and a comrade, lights the galleries for those who come after, and brings the ore into the common stores, where it serves everyone. Assignments ask for rock won, gravel, sand and clay dug, ore of one kind (down to diamond and Create's zinc) or of any kind, and ingots and coal delivered to the stores; when the plan calls for metals, the miners answer first.

The State issues torches with every ration, for no comrade should work in the dark.

The fields of the collective farms feed the whole Commonwealth. Farmers sow and harvest wheat, carrots, potatoes and beetroot, bring in pumpkins, melons and sugar cane, and keep the soil rich with bone meal, season after season.

A good farmer knows that a harvest is never for one family alone. What is grown is delivered to the common stores, from where the bakeries and the canteens draw it; when the plan asks for grain, the farms answer. Assignments ask for wheat, roots, beetroots, gourds, cane and cocoa harvested, the fields tended, sugar refined, and grain, roots, hay and gourds delivered to the common stores; they count the crops you bring in with your own hands, not what you drop and pick up again.

Bone meal comes with every ration, and now and then a hoe of iron for those who have learned the trade.

The forests belong to the people, and the foresters keep them. They fell the timber for houses, bridges and workshops, saw it into planks, burn charcoal for the forges, and plant the saplings that will be forests for the generations to come.

A forester never takes without giving back. For every stand of trees that comes down, a new one is planted; the Academy's agronomists call it the first law of socialist forestry. Assignments ask for logs felled, saplings planted, planks sawn, charcoal burned, stems felled in the Nether, fences, doors, chests and barrels made, and timber, planks, saplings and charcoal delivered to the common stores.

The fishers' cooperative works the rivers, the lakes and the sea. Its members know the waters of the Commonwealth better than anyone: where the salmon run, where the kelp grows thick, and how far a boat can go before nightfall.

Fish from the cooperative reaches the canteens fresh, and dried kelp keeps through the winter. Assignments ask for fish caught, kelp harvested, dried kelp delivered, squid caught for the ink the printers of the Gazette need, distances rowed and swum, fish smoked, boats built for the fleet, the guardians of the ocean monuments cleared, and fish, ink and prismarine delivered to the common stores.

The herders keep the animals of the collective farms: the cattle and sheep, the pigs and the poultry. They breed the herds and flocks, shear the wool, gather the eggs and the leather, and see to it that the people have meat on the table and warm clothes in winter.

Good husbandry is patient work. A herder feeds the animals, pens them safely at night and breeds them with care, so that the herds grow year by year. Assignments ask for animals bred, wool sheared, cattle slaughtered for leather and beef, pigs, sheep and chickens slaughtered for the canteens, and eggs, meat, wool, leather, feathers and honey delivered to the common stores. Wheat for the animals comes with every ration.

The builders raise the Commonwealth with their hands: the houses of the working people, the halls of the institutions, the squares and the streets. They fire the bricks, dress the stone, make the glass and lay block upon block until a building stands that will serve for generations.

Socialist construction is planned and it is shared. Builders work to the drawings of the Academy's architects and to the needs the council sets out; nobody builds a palace for themselves. Assignments ask for blocks laid, bricks fired, stone dressed and smelted smooth, glass and panes made, concrete mixed, terracotta fired, stairs and slabs shaped, streets lit, and building materials and concrete delivered to the common stores. Scaffolding comes with every ration.

The engineers build the machines of socialist industry. With the methods of Create they turn shafts and cut cogwheels, make andesite alloy and brass, join belts into lines that carry goods from the mines to the stores, and put redstone to work where muscle should not have to.

Every machine an engineer builds frees a comrade from drudgery. That is the purpose of the trade: not profit, but less toil for all. Assignments ask for shafts, cogwheels, belts, machines, sources of power, funnels and tunnels and redstone components made, and alloy, brass, zinc, pressed sheets and precision mechanisms delivered to the common stores. The Professor of Engineering lectures on the craft at the Academy (/cw lecture engineering).

The cooks of the public canteens feed the working people. They bake the bread, roast the meat, cook the fish and the potatoes, and prepare the stews and soups that warm the miners and the builders at the end of a shift. On holidays there are pies and cake.

No comrade in the Commonwealth goes hungry while there is a canteen with a fire lit. Assignments ask for bread baked, meat and fish cooked, potatoes baked, pies, cakes, cookies and stews prepared, bowls turned and ovens built for the kitchens, and bread, sweets and cooked meals delivered to the common stores. Coal for the ovens comes with every ration.

The scientists serve the Academy of Sciences. They enchant tools and armour for the workers who need them, prepare the reagents and brew the potions that the Health Service gives out, bind books and build the shelves of the People's Library.

Knowledge in the Commonwealth belongs to everyone. A scientist's discoveries are written down, taught at the Academy and put to use in the mines, the fields and the workshops. Assignments ask for items enchanted, books bound, bookshelves built, brewing reagents prepared, glass bottles blown, paper, maps, instruments and brewing stands made, amethyst and glowstone collected, and potions delivered to the common stores for the Health Service.

The people's militia keeps the Commonwealth safe. When night falls the creatures of the dark come out of the caves and the forests: the undead, the skeletons, the creepers, the spiders, and at times raiders from beyond the borders. The militia patrols the roads and the settlements and stands between them and the working people.

A guard of the militia serves the people and answers to the council. The militia defends; it does not conquer. Assignments ask for hostile creatures defeated, raiders driven off, endermen and slimes cleared, the line held in the Nether, arrows fletched, bows and shields made, and gunpowder delivered to the common stores. Arrows come with every ration.

The transport workers keep the Commonwealth moving. They lay the railways between the settlements, forge the rails, build the minecarts, and carry goods and comrades by rail, by boat and on horseback to wherever they are needed.

A country is only as united as its roads. Every line the transport workers lay brings a mine closer to a foundry and a farm closer to a canteen. Assignments ask for distances travelled by minecart, boat and horse, rails laid and forged, train track laid, roads paved, minecarts and boats built, and rails and minecarts delivered to the common stores. Rails come with every ration.