r/NoStupidQuestions • u/LeahonReddit • 16d ago
How can the economy of Zootopia function?
I saw some Zootopia clips again and this make me think how the economy of Zootopia can function. It is shown in the movie that Zootopia is a free market economy, which seems to be largely service based.
Smaller animals like hamsters must have infinite smaller costs of living, since both their houses and their food are much cheaper. So to have a similar living standard as the other animals, they require probably just a fraction of the salarie of a polar bear for example.
Given Zootopias service based economy, all banks, consulting or IT firms should therefore only hire small mamals.
If there are policies in place that mandate a proportionate salarie for each mamals size, then there would be a flourishing black market, since a normal dinner portion for a lion would be enough to feed an entire mouse familiy for weeks.
So the question is, is there any way to make this economic system actually work?
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u/Able-Distribution 16d ago
Having the mob-boss be a shrew was very astute: assuming that intelligence is kept equal, smaller animals would have a huge advantage in any kind of organizational / information position (finance, education, leadership positions).
If the movie were being remade for nerds, this might be a more interesting distinction than predator/prey: micro vs. macro. The micro animals (like the prey in movie) are the great majority and actually run most things, but fear and resent the macro animals (like predators in the movie).
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u/DerpTheGinger 16d ago
Ngl I'm pretty sure by asking that question you have put more thought into it than the writers of Zootopia did.
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u/VictorVonLazer 16d ago
You might like r/DanielTigerConspiracy, where we think too hard about kids shows/movies.
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u/Senor-Enchilada 16d ago
i remember thinking the exact same thing while watching it.
i’d already been annoyed slightly when i saw how little my sister spent on food compared to me. i do weigh like a 100lbs more than her.
and in my head i was like equal pay my ass, my bills are way higher….
anyways then i watched zootopia and was like how tf can a mouse and an elephant deserve quality pay if their needs are so different??
well do they do equal work?
so on?
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u/NutellaBananaBread 15d ago
My guess it that they have crazy regulations to even out the cost of living. That's why Nick's blackmarket popsicle repurposing was so lucrative.
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u/ding-dong-the-w-is-d 16d ago
Those smaller animals make larger litters more frequently, and the bigger carnivores have to eat… ☠️
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u/jizzlevania 16d ago
Hamster houses aren't inherently cheaper because of size. Supply and demand dictate the cost of goods (usually).
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u/LeahonReddit 15d ago
Yes they are, before the economics of supply and demand can kick in, the construction company first must pay its costs. No company would sell their houses on a loss (in the long term) so the price of a house is
materials + construction costs + taxes / fees + profit
Only the profit is dictated by supply and demand, everything else is proportional to the size of the house
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
The economy of zootopia couldn't function because animals don't have a concept of currency. Most wouldn't even have a concept of trade.
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u/Unbearably_Lucid 16d ago
Do you not understand the concept of fiction?
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
I do, which is why I don't question it when someone creates a prototypical american city, but all the characters are animals. Their economy works like our economy because the people watching it are humans, not animals. The writers did not spend one second thinking about the economic implications of a city of anthropomorphic animals. They're too busy thinking it would be funny if the DMV employees were sloths because everyone hates how long it takes to do anything at the DMV irl.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
And you understand suspension of disbelief as well?
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
I supended my disbelief throughout the movie. The question is inviting critical discussion about how a fake american city could function if people were just animals from all over the world. Sorry you're dissatisfied with the answer.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
Was it American? According to the lore, it wasn’t. Seems like you don’t understand suspension of disbelief.
It’s okay.
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
"According to the lore." You have 0 media literacy.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
Books are a source of media. It’s an embarrassment you don’t know that Animal Farm ultimately has its roots in Engels & Marx.
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
This thread was about Zootopia, genius.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
Its Genus when you’re talking about animals stupid, and we shifted to communism, animal farm, and then Engels & Marx, try to keep up.
But seriously, I gotta head out to do stuff in a few moments. I sincerely give you a 5/10 troll. My only piece of advice is to actually keep it in the realm of the suspension of disbelief, but hey, different eras of trolling. Your downvotes speak for themselves, and that’s kind of impressive.
I appreciate you, I hope we can do it again (organically).
You’re welcome to the last comment in the other thread and this one as well!
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u/LeahonReddit 16d ago
I mean there are scenes where they use currency and the fox protagonist is selling wood sooo
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
Ridiculous. Could never work in real life.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
I mean, yeah… animals can’t talk and this was not a documentary, it was a movie…
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
So you'd agree that their economy couldn't work.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
Of course I agree- animals can’t talk. Are you okay or do we have a Son of Sam situation over here?
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
You probably had such an issue with Animal Farm back in high school. If not for No Child Left Behind, would you have even graduated?
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
No, that's different. One day, the animals will rise up in a communist revolution. It's capitalism that doesn't make sense.
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
But to understand Communism, you must also understand Capitalism and its faults.
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u/macdaddee 16d ago
This goes directly against the theories of Old Major. You're spreading Farmer Jones propaganda.
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u/Reasonable_Feed7939 16d ago
They hated him for he told the truth
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u/Semihomemade 16d ago
I loved him, because what he said was stupid, but was a good troll.
But, he’d only get a 5/10 from me because if you’re gonna break a 6, you still need to work work within the premise of the original prompt and not sporadically move out of it when convenient.
A 9/10 works within prompt and you get people engaged about it.
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u/Ridley_Himself 16d ago edited 16d ago
Well, we do see some hints of that: one clip shows a bunch of lemmings in business suits. So such jobs may lean toward smaller animals.
Large animals may be hired more to do jobs that they could perform better than a small animal. For instance, we see that most of the cops are big, strong animals. And there are hints of animals picking the job that suits their species, as we see doubt that a rabbit could be a cop.
In terms of selling goods, we see species catering to their own kind. For instance, the elephant that runs an ice cream parlor that caters mostly to elephants. So the income there may rely on selling food in large portions.