If men were angels, no government would be necessary. If angels were to govern men, neither external nor internal controls on government would be necessary.
James Madison in Federalist No. 51
Tag: Politics
Force does not make right
… in politics as in religion, it is equally absurd to aim at making proselytes by fire and sword. Heresies in either can rarely be cured by persecution.
Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 1
Villains add up
It will be no alleviation that these powers will be exercised by a plurality of hands, and not by a single one, 173 despots would surely be as oppressive as one. Let those who doubt it turn their eyes on the republic of Venice.
James Madison in Federalist No. 48
Jed Vance does have a sense of déjà vu all over again
Back in my wildly ambitious youth, shortly after graduating from college, I envisioned writing a genre-bending novel blending politics and science fiction. Well, my degree was in political science and sci fi was one category of literature that had a growing readership.
My premise was space aliens dropping a young male off in an older suburb of Cincinnati, as in Ohio, where he would be groomed to run for president of the United States. With a nod toward what we now classify as AI, he would be perfectly programmed to fit the market surveys. And with another nod toward what is so-inaccurately called “reality television,” he would be given a fictional past and identity.
The working title was The Cowboy from Mars, and this was back in the early ‘70s.
~*~
I hate to admit that getting from there to an acutal campaign narrative required much more development than I was equipped to produce as an aspiring novelist, and a race for the White House could have been its own War and Peace in terms of characters and pages. Should I add that comedy is very hard to write?
Was I wrong to assume the project had potential?
Is what we’re facing today some kind of weird acid trip?
I mean, the man who presumptuously eliminated the periods from his initials for some kind of marketing vanity but grew up not that far south of me in what looks like far more privileged economic conditions now appears weirdly, well, like a silicon boob. I do hope that doesn’t offend anyone but it is the best I can do.
~*~
Looking at the current political situation has me seeing what would have been unimaginable in its absurdities. It really does seem fictional, outrageous, even tragic. It’s enough to make me wonder which candidate came from Mars or beyond.
As for those of you viewing this from outside of the USA? What are you making of it?
From what I’ve seen of the Founding Fathers of my country, I can say that they believed in rational thought. I hate to think they were wrong there.
Maybe that’s why I couldn’t write that novel.
Getting tangled
The restriction in question amounts to what lawyers call a NEGATIVE PREGNANT; that is, a negation of one thing and an affirmance of another …
Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 32
On the three branches of government
The magistrate in whom the whole executive power resides cannot of himself make a law, though he can put a negative on every [new] law, nor administer justice in person, though he has the appointment of those who do administer it. The judges can exercise no executive prerogative, though they are shoots from the executive stock, nor any legislative function.
James Madison in Federalist No. 47
As a counterpoint to the political conventions
The poems in this rant aren’t in my usual voice, but they do address today’s political precipice, only from a slightly earlier historical perspective. And yes, that’s scary.
For this month only, I’m offering the ebook for free at Smashwords.com during its annual July sales sweep. What do you have to lose? Remember, it’s free.
Just go to my Jnana Hodson author page at Smashwords.com.
A basis of uniformity
… if each State had power to prescribe a DISTINCT RULE there could be no UNIFORM RULE.
Alexander Hamilton in Federalist No. 32
I used to find ‘sale prices’ puzzling
In my mindset, a product or service has a fair-value point. You know, it costs so much to make and distribute, even before factoring in a profit. If you’re selling it at a lower price, why don’t you keep it there all the time? Maybe my outlook reflects the one-price for all practice of Quakers who objected to the upper class who expected to get a discount over the poorer masses.
Beyond that, the concept of bargaining or haggling found in many cultures absolutely repulsed me. I still feel like poor artisans and farmers in those countries are getting cheated or at least cheating themselves.
Either way, I rarely buy much and usually shy away from the more expensive range of items. Quite simply, I’m just not a shopper.
In my two years working as a field representative for a newspaper syndicate, I did finally come to appreciate the need to have something special to motivate a potential buyer. We couldn’t offer “specials,” and in most markets, we no longer had competing newspapers vying for our latest product. It was frustrating. There was nothing to make an editor jump onto our latest comic strip or columnist or game feature, no matter how excellent these were.
In the book publishing industry, free advance reading editions and review copies were sent out in the hopes of creating a buzz, but for digital books, that is a more challenging effort. Giving somebody a coupon to order online just ain’t the same as handing them a paper book.
So just what can an indy author do to get reviews or, better yet, a word-of-mouth buzz?
Welcome to Smashword.com’s big July-long ebook sale, where writers opt to present titles at sharp discount or even free.
Remember, this year I have two recent works available for free and two other new works at half-price.
Check them out at my Jnana Hodson author page! And then look at many of the fine offerings by others, too.
You ought to grab this before it’s banned
The poems in this rant aren’t in my usual voice, but they do address today’s political precipice, only from a slightly earlier historical perspective. And yes, that’s scary.
For this month only, I’m offering the ebook for free at Smashwords.com during its annual July sales sweep. What do you have to lose? Remember, it’s free.
Just go my Jnana Hodson author page at Smashwords.
