How Politics Might Work Sometimes
"Hey, see this thing you really value that practically everyone agrees is good?"
"Yeah?"
"I know how to " + situations[sitKey] + " for " + objectPronouns[whoKey] + "!"
"Alright! Go do that!"
situations:
"get it"
"get it back"
"revive it"
"keep it"
"save it"
"help it"
"nurture it"
"grow it"
"stop it"
"end it"
"cut it"
"defeat it"
"kill it"
objectPronouns:
"me"
"you"
"him"
"her"
"it"
"us"
"you"
"them"
* * *
Ring. Ring.
"Yea?"
"... ... Hi. Megapolls political polling here."
"Cool. I've never met you. I like sharing my opinion. I like that you want to know my opinion. It feels safe to tell you what I really think since you're on the phone probably somewhere far away from here. What ya got?"
"We'd like to know what " + pluralize(subject.nationalDeity.denonym) + " like you think of this thing, being proposed by the " + subject.riding.candidates[max(subject.riding.candidates.party.parties.rank)].party.fullName + "."
"Oh! Yes! I want it, I want it, I want it!"
"Are you aware that this thing contains this contained-thing you might not want? What do you think of that?"
"Oh, gosh, no I wasn't aware. I don't think I want that contained-thing because I think it does things to things I care about."
"Are you aware that this thing also contains this thing most people don't want? What do you think of that?"
"Oh, no, no, I definitely don't want that. Most people don't want that and I think when most people are set about something, most of the time most of them are right."
"Are you aware that this thing also contains something potentially nobody wants?"
"Might be impossible, and you'll never really know it's nobody."
"Close to zero."
"Fine then. And I'm gonna bet against it being true. For self-defence."
"Even though you'll never know it's true, if it is true?"
"This particular thing seems so unlikely to be true that it's better for my worldview that it isn't true."
"Maybe you're just afrai-"
"Whatever! I don't want it!"
"Now, we're asking again, just to make sure we got that right the first time, what do you think of this thing?"
"Well, you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I want that thing after all. I don't like all the things that go with it."
"By the way, if the election were held today, would you vote for a " + subject.riding.candidates[max(subject.riding.candidates.parties.rank)].party.shortName + " candidate?"
"Oh, no. No."
"Would you vote for a " + party[client.partyCode].shortName + " candidate?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Please rank, in order of preference, your candidates:"
PRINT name, party.shortName FROM subject.riding.candidates
WHERE candidate.party.isMajor ORDER BY client.party.parties.rank;
"Uh, well, that last party, put it last. I guess that first one is okay to go first. What were those parties again?"
* * *
All sides may do this. Perhaps in some beautiful country (of the mind), most sides don't do this. If there's a side that's true, and perhaps true yet with no necessary thanks to their advocating, the side that's true may do this.
As soon as you realize what persuasion like this is, you may decide it's unethical to do it, and you may even try not to. This is why we are ruled by lawyers and not by political scientists. j/k
Not all politicians operate this way! And it seems possible that some who do would do it only sometimes. But if you don't know what they're doing - and, potentially worse, if they don't know what they're doing - you may be more likely to run aground in the Sirenusas.
My position on omnibus legislation, and it's unavoidably a position, is that the risks don't justify the expediency, unless the expediency is to obviate a much greater risk. And sometimes we can be mistaken about risks to the point where we feel them to be much greater than they are. (And then there's the matter of untangling the intrinsic and extrinsic factors behind the risk.)
"Yeah?"
"I know how to " + situations[sitKey] + " for " + objectPronouns[whoKey] + "!"
"Alright! Go do that!"
situations:
"get it"
"get it back"
"revive it"
"keep it"
"save it"
"help it"
"nurture it"
"grow it"
"stop it"
"end it"
"cut it"
"defeat it"
"kill it"
objectPronouns:
"me"
"you"
"him"
"her"
"it"
"us"
"you"
"them"
* * *
Ring. Ring.
"Yea?"
"... ... Hi. Megapolls political polling here."
"Cool. I've never met you. I like sharing my opinion. I like that you want to know my opinion. It feels safe to tell you what I really think since you're on the phone probably somewhere far away from here. What ya got?"
"We'd like to know what " + pluralize(subject.nationalDeity.denonym) + " like you think of this thing, being proposed by the " + subject.riding.candidates[max(subject.riding.candidates.party.parties.rank)].party.fullName + "."
"Oh! Yes! I want it, I want it, I want it!"
"Are you aware that this thing contains this contained-thing you might not want? What do you think of that?"
"Oh, gosh, no I wasn't aware. I don't think I want that contained-thing because I think it does things to things I care about."
"Are you aware that this thing also contains this thing most people don't want? What do you think of that?"
"Oh, no, no, I definitely don't want that. Most people don't want that and I think when most people are set about something, most of the time most of them are right."
"Are you aware that this thing also contains something potentially nobody wants?"
"Might be impossible, and you'll never really know it's nobody."
"Close to zero."
"Fine then. And I'm gonna bet against it being true. For self-defence."
"Even though you'll never know it's true, if it is true?"
"This particular thing seems so unlikely to be true that it's better for my worldview that it isn't true."
"Maybe you're just afrai-"
"Whatever! I don't want it!"
"Now, we're asking again, just to make sure we got that right the first time, what do you think of this thing?"
"Well, you know, now that I think about it, I don't think I want that thing after all. I don't like all the things that go with it."
"By the way, if the election were held today, would you vote for a " + subject.riding.candidates[max(subject.riding.candidates.parties.rank)].party.shortName + " candidate?"
"Oh, no. No."
"Would you vote for a " + party[client.partyCode].shortName + " candidate?"
"Yeah, I suppose."
"Please rank, in order of preference, your candidates:"
PRINT name, party.shortName FROM subject.riding.candidates
WHERE candidate.party.isMajor ORDER BY client.party.parties.rank;
"Uh, well, that last party, put it last. I guess that first one is okay to go first. What were those parties again?"
* * *
All sides may do this. Perhaps in some beautiful country (of the mind), most sides don't do this. If there's a side that's true, and perhaps true yet with no necessary thanks to their advocating, the side that's true may do this.
As soon as you realize what persuasion like this is, you may decide it's unethical to do it, and you may even try not to. This is why we are ruled by lawyers and not by political scientists. j/k
Not all politicians operate this way! And it seems possible that some who do would do it only sometimes. But if you don't know what they're doing - and, potentially worse, if they don't know what they're doing - you may be more likely to run aground in the Sirenusas.
My position on omnibus legislation, and it's unavoidably a position, is that the risks don't justify the expediency, unless the expediency is to obviate a much greater risk. And sometimes we can be mistaken about risks to the point where we feel them to be much greater than they are. (And then there's the matter of untangling the intrinsic and extrinsic factors behind the risk.)