Would you serve?
-- LONG POST - please stick with me --
In a day to talk and think about politics more than most other days, when people discuss leadership, and what kind the U.S. needs, I am wondering: if, by some fickle finger of fate, you were elected to office in the House or the Senate, and the recount confirmed it, would you serve?
I have to say "I don't know."
I think what the U.S. needs is individuals who don't want to lead anybody and have to be dragged into office kicking and screaming as if to the gallows. [figuratively, of course; there still is no good reason to initiate force] What should they do once they get there? Tear it down. Start by insisting that every single bureaucrat begin by dismantling his own fief and send everyone home to do something productive, if they can.
Yes, it would be a mess. A hideous, horrible, unforgettable mess, in every way that you can imagine. People will die, and bad things will happen to good people, and some of the science fiction writers will be right.
All the people who, while able-bodied, truly can't do anything at all, will wander and maybe fall under the sway of a group of someones who will say something like Edmund, in Ringo's heroic work which begins with "There will Be Dragons". "We can feed you and rest you for three days. Then you will begin to work through a training program to see what work you may be suited for and might even like. You will learn how to fell trees, run wood through a sawmill, cook, build rudimentary buildings, handle firearms, etc, etc. If you decide that this program is not for you, keep walking. Why am I the one telling you what to do? It's my sawmill. It's his professional kitchen. It's her fabric and thread and needles. We take suggestions every day from 6 to 6:30 in the bath-house. We do not take complaints."
Or, those able bodied but incompetent people might hook up with a bunch of other people just like them, and decide that society always owed them a living before, and it still does, and if they have to take it, they will. And, "If men like Boyle think that force is all they need to rob their betters - let them see what happens when one of their betters chooses to resort to force." - Ragnar Danneskjold
Or Steve Stirling might be right - he started writing a trilogy, now about 9 books, about what happens when no chemical force more complicated than fire works any more. People organize themselves into whatever kind of society they wish [and can get to work]: the Norsemen, the SCA, a Celtic clan, tribal life on the American plains, and more - and life, with all its complications, proceeds.
Those people in Washington who decide not to dismantle their petty kingdoms will be increasingly isolated, and lonely, and....hungry. When they decide to go somewhere, like back to "their" state, probably the best thing they could do is say "no, I don't have any skills, but I'm willing to learn." I imagine if they say something like "I'm [censored]! I'm your Senator! I'm your leader, listen to me!!" they'll be lucky if they've run into a group of Amish or the like, who might just laugh.
Remember, every possible outcome that you can think of, will probably happen. I'm always thinking about what I'll do, and what I might have to do, and whether I could do it, and who I'd want at my back.
I would hope that eventually, there would be stories about the heroes who brought us all back from the brink, and then went home, because they had made sure that there were homes to go back to for as many Americans as possible.
If winning an election had THAT kind of outcome - one that reinvented the Real America, I would reluctantly serve. Not eagerly, but honestly and as ably as I could.
Otherwise? Well, the Wizard had some oral surgery this afternoon and he's taking a nap, covered in cats. I'm feeling a little sleepy myself.
Thank you for your kind attention.
In a day to talk and think about politics more than most other days, when people discuss leadership, and what kind the U.S. needs, I am wondering: if, by some fickle finger of fate, you were elected to office in the House or the Senate, and the recount confirmed it, would you serve?
I have to say "I don't know."
I think what the U.S. needs is individuals who don't want to lead anybody and have to be dragged into office kicking and screaming as if to the gallows. [figuratively, of course; there still is no good reason to initiate force] What should they do once they get there? Tear it down. Start by insisting that every single bureaucrat begin by dismantling his own fief and send everyone home to do something productive, if they can.
Yes, it would be a mess. A hideous, horrible, unforgettable mess, in every way that you can imagine. People will die, and bad things will happen to good people, and some of the science fiction writers will be right.
All the people who, while able-bodied, truly can't do anything at all, will wander and maybe fall under the sway of a group of someones who will say something like Edmund, in Ringo's heroic work which begins with "There will Be Dragons". "We can feed you and rest you for three days. Then you will begin to work through a training program to see what work you may be suited for and might even like. You will learn how to fell trees, run wood through a sawmill, cook, build rudimentary buildings, handle firearms, etc, etc. If you decide that this program is not for you, keep walking. Why am I the one telling you what to do? It's my sawmill. It's his professional kitchen. It's her fabric and thread and needles. We take suggestions every day from 6 to 6:30 in the bath-house. We do not take complaints."
Or, those able bodied but incompetent people might hook up with a bunch of other people just like them, and decide that society always owed them a living before, and it still does, and if they have to take it, they will. And, "If men like Boyle think that force is all they need to rob their betters - let them see what happens when one of their betters chooses to resort to force." - Ragnar Danneskjold
Or Steve Stirling might be right - he started writing a trilogy, now about 9 books, about what happens when no chemical force more complicated than fire works any more. People organize themselves into whatever kind of society they wish [and can get to work]: the Norsemen, the SCA, a Celtic clan, tribal life on the American plains, and more - and life, with all its complications, proceeds.
Those people in Washington who decide not to dismantle their petty kingdoms will be increasingly isolated, and lonely, and....hungry. When they decide to go somewhere, like back to "their" state, probably the best thing they could do is say "no, I don't have any skills, but I'm willing to learn." I imagine if they say something like "I'm [censored]! I'm your Senator! I'm your leader, listen to me!!" they'll be lucky if they've run into a group of Amish or the like, who might just laugh.
Remember, every possible outcome that you can think of, will probably happen. I'm always thinking about what I'll do, and what I might have to do, and whether I could do it, and who I'd want at my back.
I would hope that eventually, there would be stories about the heroes who brought us all back from the brink, and then went home, because they had made sure that there were homes to go back to for as many Americans as possible.
If winning an election had THAT kind of outcome - one that reinvented the Real America, I would reluctantly serve. Not eagerly, but honestly and as ably as I could.
Otherwise? Well, the Wizard had some oral surgery this afternoon and he's taking a nap, covered in cats. I'm feeling a little sleepy myself.
Thank you for your kind attention.
I take the same attitude about jury service. Sure it oughtn't be compulsory -- but if you want to appoint me to office for a day, I'll go. Maybe I'll be able to get somebody freed who deserves it.
It seems very un-Randian to use the term "serve" at all. It brings me to mind a quote from her speech, delivered to my alma mater, Philosophy: Who Needs It?
"You have chosen to risk your lives for the defense of this country. I will not insult you by saying that you are dedicated to selfless service — it is not a virtue in my morality. In my morality, the defense of one's country means that a man is personally unwilling to live as the conquered slave of any enemy, foreign or domestic. This is an enormous virtue. Some of you may not be consciously aware of it. I want to help you to realize it."
(I have checked out some of the other books mentioned in this thread and wishlisted them, for future musing.)
Just a feminine intuition* here: I have a feeling that 'they' would be about as successful at MAKING me serve as they would making you serve...
Jan
*officially licensed to have feminine intuitions
If I were suddenly thrust into the position you describe, I would have many, many enemies. Serving the public should not be a life long job, it should be a responsibility with few if any compensations. They should earn their keep by a real job not get rich while screwing the public!!! I believe that they would not write legislation that choke businesses because they would be choking themselves...
With the Stirling novels, it seemed to me like, from the very beginning of the catastrophe, there were an abundance of people eager to hurt and steal from others. Though I think there are some people like that in the world, I still think most are good and would cooperate. I envision more Junipers and fewer Lord Protectors or even Lord Bear types.
Got it! I'd find the 3 or 4 who were orphans or didn't want to go home, and keep them. The rest, I'd release from service. The good ones would get to keep their service pistol and body armor.
How would the Federal Government GET this money which you [quite rightly] restrict their spending of? You sent all their hired thugs, even the ones with "J.D." after their names, home.
This is one of the most fun "what if?" games I've ever played. Can't you just imagine a Senator's assistant managing to get back to "his" state, and then having to keep his "former job in another state" a secret to keep from having to to go the back of every line, every time? hee, hee, hee.
Remember, that Fickle Finger that put you there never said you had to play by anybody else's rules.
Send then home!
The first thing I want to do is to get rid of that nasty red carpet that only Senators are allowed to walk on, so no on can interrupt them.
Then I'd do my best to help the worth-while ones survive with me - or with you and me.
Happy reading!
and remember, you get dragged in and MUST serve. bailing, the most intelligent of the choices, is not a choice.
Reagan was a good president because he had held multiple jobs before getting into politics.
He also WASN'T a lawyer...which helps.considerably.
What would I do? Raise as much hell as possible as quickly as I could. (Rand Paul's example against drone assassination on US soil)
Contact everyone in the district that I represent and encourage everyone to rebel in any way that they're capable of including a refusal to pay income tax.
Introduce Bills to eliminate every agency of the government except the Navy and begin an Amendment process to reverse all previous Amendments down to only the Bill of Rights.
Call for a Congressional review of every law on the books with a super majority vote required to retain each or institute any new one.
Call for a complete dump of any and all government information on any topic with the exception of technology.
Call for the complete and total transfer of any and all supposed Federal ownership of lands excepting that detailed in the Constitution.
Do everything else in that vain that I could.
Then expect to be assassinated by someone who's later determined by a government panel to be a crazed lone wolf killer like Oswald.
It looks like I'll be running again in 2018, unless I decide to run in '16...
Ok, doubt there are any Secret Service who would die for me though ;^)
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