Do you want to hear a story?
That subject line - not just for MetroCon.
My thoughts on politics are shaped a lot by what I read. Terry Pratchett in particular has shaped a lot of my thoughts on the proper workings of government.
But sometimes, my opinions come from less known sources. For example, whenever I hear anyone talking about how democracy in America is going down the tubes, how we're living in a totalitiarian dictatorship, and how "the voice of the people" must be heard, I'll usually respond with five words:
The Land of Majority Rule.
"The Land of Majority Rule" is one of the stories told in the first light novel of Kino no Tabi. And I know it's an episode of the anime, too, but I prefer reading Kino to watching it. Which is a shame, of course, since the second light novel was never brought overseas. Whoever translated it had an absolutely beautiful grasp of storytelling that I still envy.
Kino no Tabi (known in English as Kino's Journey: the Beautiful World) is/was that class of anime known as the "morality anime", up there with something like xxx/holic. Each story or episode is meant to showcase some aspect of human sin or folly, whether during or after the fact. "The Land of Adults" is about how the desire to grow up too quickly can ruin society and destroy the individual, "The Land of Peace" is about how true peace is impossible and sometimes the price really is too high, "The Land of Shared Emotions" shows that the human mind can never be fully bared to another or madness ensues, "Three Men on a Railroad" is a study in endlessness.
All the stories in that novel really affected me back when I first read them, especially when I see a lot of those problems mirrored in everyday life - chiefly "Three Men on a Railroad", "The Land of Adults", "The Land of Peace", but especially "The Land of Majority Rule".
The basic premise of this series is that Kino is a traveler, traveling the land with her talking motorbike named Hermes. They never stay in a place for more than three days, on the premise that three days is enough time to see everything worth seeing but not enough time to be tied down. And...yeah, that's the premise. The episodes and chapters are devoted to Kino seeing what she sees and learning what she learns.
"The Land of Majority Rule" starts off with Kino and Hermes arriving in an empty city. They search all the first day for signs of life, and don't find anything. The place hasn't entirely surrendered to nature, but it's clear that it hasn't been inhabited for years. Hermes wants to leave, Kino is still determined to spend three days.
They search all day searching for signs of life the second day, and their search eventually takes them to the castle. In the castle, they find the castle's inner courtyards, and discover that the courtyards have been converted to one massive graveyard. Realizing that there are enough graves here to hold every inhabitant of the city, Kino and Hermes theorize that there must have been some great plague or calamity that wiped out the population. Having given up hope of finding someone to talk to that might explain, Kino and Hermes return to their campsite to sleep.
But on the morning of the third day, they wake up to find a man scavenging the city for food. Once they get him settled down enough to talk to them, the man reveals that he is the last citizen of the city. After sharing some of their food with him, the man agrees to tel the story of what happened.
Once, a long time ago, the kingdom was under the rule of a wicked king. He taxed the people brutally without their consent, taking everything they had just so that he might have more. He had no regard or care for his citizens, and feasted while they starved. He put anyone who opposed him to death. Eventually, the people of the kingdom decided that enough was enough, and rose up against him as a whole. He was so reviled that even his soldiers and servants turned against him in the end, and he was finally caught fleeing the city in a carriage so weighed down with treasure that the exhausted horses refused to carry him any further.
The wicked king, his family, and his children were all put to death, the better to stop his brand of evil from ever being seen in the land again.
What followed was a time of peace and unity as the citizens worked together to rebuild their land, and transform it from a place where only one voice was heard to a land where every voice was heard. Everyone would have a say in how the kingdom was run, and no policy would be put into place without the support of the majority. A system was established whereby every citizen would be polled for his opinion on every issue.
The man Kino and Hermes are speaking with wasn't involved in any of that, though. He was in charge of setting up the schools. He says doing so was his favorite memory of that time, that he loved being in charge of educating and molding the young minds of the future.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that it was taking too long to poll every citizen on every issue. They argued that nothing was getting done, and that this system was inefficient. They proposed a system where the people would elect representatives to speak for them, and act on their behalf.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. To take power out of the many and put them in the hands of the few - from there, it was only a short step to the hellish monarchy they had only just escaped. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously did not have the best interests of society at heart.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that taxes were too high. The harvest had been bad, and some of them could not pay. They asked that taxes be lowered in consideration for the poor and less fortunate.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. Paying taxes was a sacred duty of every citizen, their way of paying what they owed to society as a whole and taking care of their land. The ones who didn't were a burden on the kingdom, taking and not giving. This was not an acceptable alternative. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously wanted to prosper off the sweat of their neighbors without doing any work to support them in turn.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that the death penalty should be done away with. They said that itm ade them afraid to speak their minds, and that it was a tool of force in the fashion of the old monarch, and that the kingdom should be able to solve its problems without killing dissenters.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. A kingdom was only as good as its citizens, and those subversive elements with dangerous ideas weakened it. Killing them was the only way to ensure that their kingdom continued to function as it always had since the old king was killed. The death penalty had saved them from their old king - if they had only locked him away, he might have one day escaped, and taken back the kingdom and undone all their good work. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously only wanted to avoid punishment for their own dangerous ideas or, worse, who wanted a man like the king back in power.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, after many more complaints and many more decisions and many more majorities and many more deaths, only three people remained in the kingdom. They were the man, his wife, and their closest friend. And for a while all was peaceful, as the three of them worked diligently to rebuild the kingdom to its former glory, and attract new citizens. But eventually the man's friend said that he wanted to leave the kingdom and make a new life for himself elsewhere. He said that the kingdom was dead, and on their own they could not save it, and that they should move on.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. As citizens of the kingdom, they were obligated to stand by it through good times and bad. Only through their efforts would it prosper, and if not everyone was ready to contribute, then the state of their kingdom would worsen even further. The one supporting such an idea was a dangerous, subversive element who obviously didn't have what it took to function in society and care for his neighbors.
a vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. He was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
The man's wife died of the plague, a patriot to the end. The man himself has spent the years since then living alone, still hoping that his kingdom might return to its former glory. Kino leaves him a sobbing wreck in the road when she refuses to stay.
There area lot of things that I think should be required reading for every person. Most of the books I consider for this were written by Terry Pratchett. But this book, this story? This is definitely one, too. Especially here.
Yeah, it's basically a fairy tale. But fairy tales can teach good lessons. And some of what I hear from Grandma's favorite talk show hosts scares me.
My thoughts on politics are shaped a lot by what I read. Terry Pratchett in particular has shaped a lot of my thoughts on the proper workings of government.
But sometimes, my opinions come from less known sources. For example, whenever I hear anyone talking about how democracy in America is going down the tubes, how we're living in a totalitiarian dictatorship, and how "the voice of the people" must be heard, I'll usually respond with five words:
The Land of Majority Rule.
"The Land of Majority Rule" is one of the stories told in the first light novel of Kino no Tabi. And I know it's an episode of the anime, too, but I prefer reading Kino to watching it. Which is a shame, of course, since the second light novel was never brought overseas. Whoever translated it had an absolutely beautiful grasp of storytelling that I still envy.
Kino no Tabi (known in English as Kino's Journey: the Beautiful World) is/was that class of anime known as the "morality anime", up there with something like xxx/holic. Each story or episode is meant to showcase some aspect of human sin or folly, whether during or after the fact. "The Land of Adults" is about how the desire to grow up too quickly can ruin society and destroy the individual, "The Land of Peace" is about how true peace is impossible and sometimes the price really is too high, "The Land of Shared Emotions" shows that the human mind can never be fully bared to another or madness ensues, "Three Men on a Railroad" is a study in endlessness.
All the stories in that novel really affected me back when I first read them, especially when I see a lot of those problems mirrored in everyday life - chiefly "Three Men on a Railroad", "The Land of Adults", "The Land of Peace", but especially "The Land of Majority Rule".
The basic premise of this series is that Kino is a traveler, traveling the land with her talking motorbike named Hermes. They never stay in a place for more than three days, on the premise that three days is enough time to see everything worth seeing but not enough time to be tied down. And...yeah, that's the premise. The episodes and chapters are devoted to Kino seeing what she sees and learning what she learns.
"The Land of Majority Rule" starts off with Kino and Hermes arriving in an empty city. They search all the first day for signs of life, and don't find anything. The place hasn't entirely surrendered to nature, but it's clear that it hasn't been inhabited for years. Hermes wants to leave, Kino is still determined to spend three days.
They search all day searching for signs of life the second day, and their search eventually takes them to the castle. In the castle, they find the castle's inner courtyards, and discover that the courtyards have been converted to one massive graveyard. Realizing that there are enough graves here to hold every inhabitant of the city, Kino and Hermes theorize that there must have been some great plague or calamity that wiped out the population. Having given up hope of finding someone to talk to that might explain, Kino and Hermes return to their campsite to sleep.
But on the morning of the third day, they wake up to find a man scavenging the city for food. Once they get him settled down enough to talk to them, the man reveals that he is the last citizen of the city. After sharing some of their food with him, the man agrees to tel the story of what happened.
Once, a long time ago, the kingdom was under the rule of a wicked king. He taxed the people brutally without their consent, taking everything they had just so that he might have more. He had no regard or care for his citizens, and feasted while they starved. He put anyone who opposed him to death. Eventually, the people of the kingdom decided that enough was enough, and rose up against him as a whole. He was so reviled that even his soldiers and servants turned against him in the end, and he was finally caught fleeing the city in a carriage so weighed down with treasure that the exhausted horses refused to carry him any further.
The wicked king, his family, and his children were all put to death, the better to stop his brand of evil from ever being seen in the land again.
What followed was a time of peace and unity as the citizens worked together to rebuild their land, and transform it from a place where only one voice was heard to a land where every voice was heard. Everyone would have a say in how the kingdom was run, and no policy would be put into place without the support of the majority. A system was established whereby every citizen would be polled for his opinion on every issue.
The man Kino and Hermes are speaking with wasn't involved in any of that, though. He was in charge of setting up the schools. He says doing so was his favorite memory of that time, that he loved being in charge of educating and molding the young minds of the future.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that it was taking too long to poll every citizen on every issue. They argued that nothing was getting done, and that this system was inefficient. They proposed a system where the people would elect representatives to speak for them, and act on their behalf.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. To take power out of the many and put them in the hands of the few - from there, it was only a short step to the hellish monarchy they had only just escaped. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously did not have the best interests of society at heart.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that taxes were too high. The harvest had been bad, and some of them could not pay. They asked that taxes be lowered in consideration for the poor and less fortunate.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. Paying taxes was a sacred duty of every citizen, their way of paying what they owed to society as a whole and taking care of their land. The ones who didn't were a burden on the kingdom, taking and not giving. This was not an acceptable alternative. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously wanted to prosper off the sweat of their neighbors without doing any work to support them in turn.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, some of the citizenry started to speak up and say that the death penalty should be done away with. They said that itm ade them afraid to speak their minds, and that it was a tool of force in the fashion of the old monarch, and that the kingdom should be able to solve its problems without killing dissenters.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. A kingdom was only as good as its citizens, and those subversive elements with dangerous ideas weakened it. Killing them was the only way to ensure that their kingdom continued to function as it always had since the old king was killed. The death penalty had saved them from their old king - if they had only locked him away, he might have one day escaped, and taken back the kingdom and undone all their good work. The ones supporting such an idea were dangerous, subversive elements who obviously only wanted to avoid punishment for their own dangerous ideas or, worse, who wanted a man like the king back in power.
A vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. Every one of them was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
Eventually, after many more complaints and many more decisions and many more majorities and many more deaths, only three people remained in the kingdom. They were the man, his wife, and their closest friend. And for a while all was peaceful, as the three of them worked diligently to rebuild the kingdom to its former glory, and attract new citizens. But eventually the man's friend said that he wanted to leave the kingdom and make a new life for himself elsewhere. He said that the kingdom was dead, and on their own they could not save it, and that they should move on.
Clearly, this was an abominable idea. As citizens of the kingdom, they were obligated to stand by it through good times and bad. Only through their efforts would it prosper, and if not everyone was ready to contribute, then the state of their kingdom would worsen even further. The one supporting such an idea was a dangerous, subversive element who obviously didn't have what it took to function in society and care for his neighbors.
a vote was taken. The majority reached a decision. He was sentenced to death.
Time went on.
The man's wife died of the plague, a patriot to the end. The man himself has spent the years since then living alone, still hoping that his kingdom might return to its former glory. Kino leaves him a sobbing wreck in the road when she refuses to stay.
There area lot of things that I think should be required reading for every person. Most of the books I consider for this were written by Terry Pratchett. But this book, this story? This is definitely one, too. Especially here.
Yeah, it's basically a fairy tale. But fairy tales can teach good lessons. And some of what I hear from Grandma's favorite talk show hosts scares me.