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Micro-fiction 062 – Deliberation (Echoes series)

(continued from Two – Human Nature) After the insurrection on planet Koi Beta the debate moved on to the nature of Humankind as the Council of Seven try to decide how to create a new, lasting government for the sake of the 84 star systems with their deliberations on democracy.


Three – Deliberation

Elector Solveig watched the members of the Assembly file back into the Auditorium after a break from the discussion about Human Nature. An experienced diplomat she wondered whether the group of ten representatives were capable to make the generation-defining decisions required of them. The insurrection on Koi-Beta had been the worst rebellion in the history of the Council of Seven, and prompted this outpouring of soul searching. The circumstances of the leader of the government inciting a deadly revolt against its own elections, its own institutions was unimaginable to the clean-cut democratic policy-makers of the Council. Her hawkish colleagues had recommended swift military action, but she was mindful of the resources of the planet, the fragile web of trade between the 84 systems being interrupted, for the small Koi sector had developed the best recycling and genetic bio-tech of the last thousand years. Should the Council appropriate the technology developed under its aegis, then abandon a planet it had invaded, then settled? In the galaxy controlled by the Council it seemed that humankind was still capable of being at war with itself, so the fundaments of Human Nature must be addressed on this planet, in these extreme circumstances, to provide a model for the future and plan for a Just society across the 84 systems.

Her ruminations continued as the auditorium settled, and the ten invited guests waited for her command to continue their discussion, an insight into the report that lay unopened on the monitor embedded in the table before her.

She regarded their faces, saw the mix of pride and determination in their jaws. They believed in this process, took the fate of the planet and its peoples seriously, so she would keep listening and hope that good sense would emerge, and be followed by all, including her fellow Electors on the Council. The representative at the end of the line, having stepped forward, gazed across at her, expectant and eager to begin.

Elector Solveig nodded and the representative from Wolf 359 spoke with conviction. “First we discussed the damage caused by the insurrection, and the need to address the consequences. To lay the background we discussed the nature of humankind and the need for the government of people that acknowledges the darkness within, the contradictions inherent in survival and the will to strive, without submitting to it.”

The second representative stepped forward, as one by one they continued their deliberations. “We start with statements of principle from our past, from a millennium where humanity on Old Earth tried to move on from survival of the species, to develop more sophisticated forms of civilisation.”

“In the first four thousand years hierarchical forms of government, where consent was not considered necessary, with enforcement through fear and violence, gave the powerful leader control, often with an explicit invocation of a God or gods. The hierarchy is a manifestation of the Natural Order, as derived from Natural Laws. Submission to the Natural Order suggests the inevitability of the big fish always eating the little fish, the little fish eating the tiny fish and so on. The proverbs of old earth continued to refashion this reflection, over many centuries, accepting the truth without much challenge.”

“Do we submit to the perception that might is right, that inequality exists naturally, that we simply have to plan around it, that the instinctive urge to violence in all forms of nature exists, so we must adapt to that too?  Do we surrender to the inevitability of the exercise of self-interest by the powerful? Do we accept that inequality and suffering is part of the human experience, and construct convenient philosophies and religions to cater for redemption in an after-life, or reincarnation? Or do we try to refine, attain, give freedoms and choices to all, without exception? Do we accept this freedom for all as a necessary restriction of freedom for those who have previously had the advantages of power?”

“Such questions have led to many different political and social movements, and offered solutions ranging from hierarchical forms such as the divine right of Kings, the authoritarian and the totalitarian, to the more democratic: isonomia, kinship and religious communities, each with an emphasis on a particular sector of society, under the guise of providing for all.

“So, in seeking resolution for our planetary problem, should we focus on the leadership or the liberation of the individual, or the harmony of the community and the entire species? Can we rationalise high principles of ethical behaviour with the freedom of the individual to behave in opposition to them?”

“There are many dangers in the different directions we can proceed, as we can hear from these voices of the past, many from points in human history when the rule of hierarchy gave way to democratic and representative forms.”

“Franklin D. Roosevelt, a reforming American President said, ‘The liberty of a democracy is not safe if the people tolerate the growth of private power to a point where it becomes stronger than the democratic state itself. That in its essence is fascism.’”

“Hu Shih, a Chinese thinker of the Twentieth Century said, ‘The desire for uniformity leads to suppression of individual initiative, to the dwarfing of personality and creative effort, to intolerance, oppression, and slavery, and, worst of all, to intellectual dishonesty and moral hypocrisy.’”

“Abraham Lincoln said, ‘As I would not be a slave, so I would not be a master. This expresses my idea of democracy.’”

“Mahatma Gandhi said, ‘What difference does it make to the dead, the orphans and the homeless, whether the mad destruction is wrought under the name of totalitarianism or in the holy name of liberty or democracy?’”

“Admiral Alexander, commander of the colonial fleet at the height of the Great Expansion when Humanity began to colonise the stars wrote, ‘There is much to be said for groups and communities electing leaders, making decisions amongst themselves, for great leaders to be voted in by everyone, not by monolithic political parties competing each other to a standstill; but first we must acquire the land on which to plant our ideals, to create our fragile Utopias.’”

“From Niccolò Machiavelli, ‘Republics everywhere are beset with opposition between the popular and privileged classes . . . and all legislation favourable to liberty is brought about by the clash between them.’”

“And George Orwell, in his famous cautionary tale Nineteen Eighty-Four states, ‘To know and not to know, to be conscious of complete truthfulness while telling carefully constructed lies, to hold simultaneously two opinions which cancelled out, knowing them to be contradictory and believing in both of them…Even to understand the word ‘doublethink’ involved the use of doublethink.’”

“These last two comments are important because they tease at a core problem of any form of every form of government: transparency, the lack of which leads to hypocrisy. Manipulation of power for self-advantage is an easy tool for humans to employ in the pursuit of power if equality is not declared, exercised and prosecuted throughout society. For any system to survive in the long term every person in that system must understand their place in it, without resentment, feel able to express themselves, to understand the consequences of doing so, and for those consequences to be brought to bear. A person in a position of authority who oversteps that authority for their personal gain, or for those associated with them, or their own group, must be held to the same level of justice as anyone else in the society. Inequality of justice leads to distrust, long term dissatisfaction in a system of government and ultimate the breakdown of social order; sometimes insurrection on a grand scale, as it did in Corcyra in Ancient Greece, and many points in history up to the rebellion on our planet Koi Beta. Checks and balances in a system are only effective if they are agreed by the whole society beforehand, then carried out rigorously throughout all levels.”

Elector Tor lifted his hand to interrupt the Representative, paused, and took a sip of pure local water, “You might say that having moved on from Hierarchy, that Democracy is the most logical place to be, but consider this: democracy failed on our planet Koi Beta, we failed the people of the planet, perhaps by imposing a method of government that does not take account of the local culture, or even, worse, the nature of humankind itself. How do we restore trust with a system that has already failed?” He sat down and looked across at his next colleague.

Elector Solveig raised herself and spoke briefly, “We shall take another break here, and return with our final comments.”

[Continues next week to the final part in this mini-series next week, Manifesto]


Part of a new series of micro-fiction stories, released as These Fantastic Worlds SF & Fantasy Fiction Podcast on iTunes, Apple Podcasts, Google Play, Spotify, and Stitcher  and more. Also on this blog, These Fantastic Worlds.

Text, image, audio © 2021 Jake Jackson, thesefantasticworlds.com. Thanks to Frances Bodiam and Elise Wells,  Logic ProX, Sound Studio, the Twisted Wave Recorder App, and Scrivener.


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