shellphones | Tutoring Request | VIDEO

Type: Video
Sender ID: forgeabettertomorrow | (Darin Altway)
To: Everyone
Subject: Darin needs some added perspective for his studies
Warnings: He's stupid

[Darin pulls back from the camera sitting at a drafting table in his home. However, instead of blueprints and sketches and diagrams, things you'd normally see on his drafting table and workstation, there's...an awful lot of textbooks. Darin reaches up and pulls the small pair of reading glasses from his face and pinches the bridge of his nose. No, he's not wearing them for show, he actually does wear reading glasses when he needs them.]

Okay, this is going to sound really really weird coming from me but...I guess I could use some help.

Does anyone understand how like...government works? Like, at all? Because it seems like a whole bunch of rules and guidelines that should be common sense until they aren't and the more I read, the more I feel like I've either understood this my entire life or I'm going crazy.

Plus? I never went to school so...anyone up for a spirited debate? Something? Anything? If I spend anymore time reading I think I might eat the next book.

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

Honestly, it's not too difficult to fathom, especially if I draw it out in the form of flow chart or something of that nature. Making it look like a blueprint kinda helps my brain understand it.

I guess my sticking point is just...the realization that there's no such thing as a foolproof government. All it takes is one bad actor and everything starts to grind to a halt. It's like if one gear gets rusted and cracked, it throws the whole array out of whack.

I mean... ultimately, it's a bunch of rules made up by people. So it makes sense that it can be changed or broken by people just as easily.

But it's probably a good thing that it can be, isn't it? Because the bad actor could just as easily be the chief of the whole system, or even the guy who drew up the blueprints. What if it kept running, no matter what happened to the gears inside of it? How would you fix the parts that weren't working?

[Can you tell he's had to deal with a would-be robotic dictator trying to take over everything? Because he's not going to derail the conversation to get into that. Yet. But it probably shows.]

So Government is just a perpetual work of optimization?

Honestly, that's a lot less complicated than it sounds. At least to me. Kinda makes me wonder what could have been changed with the way my kingdom has been governed.

It's what makes sense to me, too. Keep what works, change what doesn't. You'd think it wouldn't be such a radical idea!

Why? Were there things you would've liked to see change?

In my world? Absolutely. The whole system of government was changing, but too much old blood was doing everything it could to cling to power. Keep the nobles in a position of lordship, keep the peasantry down, and making sure that people of low birth stayed there no matter how much they contributed.

Meritocracy was on the rise but that didnt stop a large swath of the aristocracy from digging in their heels and clutching at whatever they could keep. Not to mention, the royal family is in a bad position to rule in favor of anyone.

And that's before The Church got involved.

Short version? I'd throw the baby out with the bathwater on this one if I could.

... yyyeah, I'd get a revolution going as quickly as possible. [That's rough, buddy.]

Wait, what's going on with the royal family? What bad position? I'm a little curious, since royalty can solve a lot of problems if they wield their power responsibly... or cause a lot more if they don't.

We're a traditional monarchy and the true power lies with the King. But...he's been ill, so most of the major decisions have fallen to the Queen, and while she's capable, she doesn't exactly have the strongest voice among the inner court, especially with the Old Blood.

'Old' in this case being a polite way of saying 'Decrepit.'

They have heirs but they're too young to ascend to the throne right now. A situation like this is kind of working proof why we need a meritocracy.

Oh, geez, yeah. Maybe in the meantime, the Queen should be appointing someone to rule in her stead? [A pause, and then realizing his lack of experience might be showing:] ... can they do that? I mean, royals can basically do what they want, right?

And just to be clear — when you say true power, do you mean just governing power, or power power?

I'm not sure what power power is. But that's the problem, the Queen can't appoint anyone for a number of reasons. First off, appointing someone as a governing power could be seen as a sign of weakness in the current crown. Something a lot of our neighbors would capitalize on politically since Alvale has been seen unfavorably in their investment in magical studies. Coupled with the aggressive build up of soldiers along our borders, people think we're building towards something.

Secondly, it could sow discord with the populace. I wasn't a fan of the nobility but from the way I hear it, the King isn't that bad. It's his court that's the problem. He's well loved and it's a good way to get rumors started.

And thirdly? Even if she did appoint someone, the Old Blood would never recognize her authority to do so. She might be Queen but she has no power over policy. Right now, the Church is backing her, but I trust them even less.

There's a lot of politics and a lot of self-interest at play and the people in my country aren't exactly doing any better for it.

I see, I see... [Is the mic sensitive enough to pick up the faint scritching of a pencil? Because yeah, Tails is making a diagram of this political web of intrigue.]

What I meant was whether or not they had any literal power along with the crown. One of our friends actually is a princess, but she's also the guardian and wielder of powerful stones called the Sol Emeralds.

Naturally, you wouldn't see anyone accusing her crown of being weak. But you'd have a hard time accusing her of self-interest, too...

They have some pretty potent magic in the bloodline, but that just comes with being noble at this point. They've kinda kept powerful magics in the family for generations. But beyond that? Not that I'm aware of.

Then again, I only just kinda recently became interested in the ideas of leadership and that's made me re-examine my own kingdom's entire...situation.

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