taking one and passing them on. When each had one in front of them, and was studying it, head bowed, Hleid continued. “Comments?”
Svein was looking at a copy of a small news sheet entitled the New Leviathan . “Just a moment, Chair. May we have time to read it?”
“Certainly.”
There was a period of studious silence. High above them the rain made a faint murmur against the dome, as though pleading to get in.
MORE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENT
Today we will witness Central Allocations destroy the hopes and dreams of a seventy-year-old couple and the Hope District. The argument that is used to justify this is that resources are scarce and somebody has to manage them. Agreed. But this is not democratic management; this is the dictatorship of a small, self-selected elite, a new Casiocracy as we call them, the new Leviathan that sits bloated above society while the rest of us work hard for the community. Over the years the members of this new Leviathan have accumulated the wealth to ensure that their characters are indestructible. How can Epic be fair?
We are told that any other system of administration would lead to a breakdown in society and the return of violence between people. But is that necessarily the case? In Ancient Greece they had a democracy where people were elected to administer the cities, and these people could do the job for only one year before making way for the next administration. We could use the technology of Epic to unite the people in mass, popular discussions at the amphitheater and decide allocations by voting not by game-based conflict.
The times demand change. Our system is not working. Overthrow the Casiocracy!
The paper contained other articles detailing the declining state of the economy with surprising accuracy.
“Comments?” Hleid asked again.
“Please don’t misunderstand me. I know this is dangerous material. But why exactly is it wrong? I mean, how would you answer these claims?” Bekka was hesitant.
“Bloody vengeance, woman! Isn’t it obvious? This is a recipe for utter chaos!” Halfdan had even more of a reason to be angry than the others. One of the other articles in the paper listed in detail his black equipment as an example of how much more powerful the Central Allocations Committee characters were than the average character.
“Bekka asks an important question,” Svein intervened, and she looked grateful. “I propose that I draw up a discussion document for us all, which answers the arguments in this paper. In the meantime, I would simply say to her that our system is not above criticism, but that to think we could manage affairs by voting is naïve. Voting blocs would quickly form, so that, for example, the South would unite together to obtain resources from the North and so on. Also, the example from Ancient Greece is ill informed. Those people had slaves and they had wars. For all our faults, we are a peaceful society.”
Bekka nodded thoughtfully and smiled back as Svein caught her eye with what he hoped was his most charming expression.
“Good,” said Hleid. “So, a seconder for Svein’s proposal.”
“Seconded,” said Bekka at once.
“All those in favor?” Hleid looked up to check. “Unani mous.”
“I will bring the document to next week’s meeting,” Svein told them.
“That’s it.” Hleid promptly stood up and left, leaning on a skull-topped walking stick that a student had made her, modeled on the staff possessed by her character.
Much as Svein wanted to hurry back to Epic, he thought better of rushing out with her. Instead he helped Godmund rise from his chair.
“That was an astute observation about the assassin,” Svein said, offering him an arm, which Godmund pushed away, preferring his stick.
“It’s not that assassin that worries me. We’ve had renegades before and we’ll have ’em again. It’s that newspaper. We have to stop that newspaper.” Godmund turned a fierce gaze onto Svein. “You should stop your foolish
Svein was looking at a copy of a small news sheet entitled the New Leviathan . “Just a moment, Chair. May we have time to read it?”
“Certainly.”
There was a period of studious silence. High above them the rain made a faint murmur against the dome, as though pleading to get in.
MORE SLAUGHTER OF THE INNOCENT
Today we will witness Central Allocations destroy the hopes and dreams of a seventy-year-old couple and the Hope District. The argument that is used to justify this is that resources are scarce and somebody has to manage them. Agreed. But this is not democratic management; this is the dictatorship of a small, self-selected elite, a new Casiocracy as we call them, the new Leviathan that sits bloated above society while the rest of us work hard for the community. Over the years the members of this new Leviathan have accumulated the wealth to ensure that their characters are indestructible. How can Epic be fair?
We are told that any other system of administration would lead to a breakdown in society and the return of violence between people. But is that necessarily the case? In Ancient Greece they had a democracy where people were elected to administer the cities, and these people could do the job for only one year before making way for the next administration. We could use the technology of Epic to unite the people in mass, popular discussions at the amphitheater and decide allocations by voting not by game-based conflict.
The times demand change. Our system is not working. Overthrow the Casiocracy!
The paper contained other articles detailing the declining state of the economy with surprising accuracy.
“Comments?” Hleid asked again.
“Please don’t misunderstand me. I know this is dangerous material. But why exactly is it wrong? I mean, how would you answer these claims?” Bekka was hesitant.
“Bloody vengeance, woman! Isn’t it obvious? This is a recipe for utter chaos!” Halfdan had even more of a reason to be angry than the others. One of the other articles in the paper listed in detail his black equipment as an example of how much more powerful the Central Allocations Committee characters were than the average character.
“Bekka asks an important question,” Svein intervened, and she looked grateful. “I propose that I draw up a discussion document for us all, which answers the arguments in this paper. In the meantime, I would simply say to her that our system is not above criticism, but that to think we could manage affairs by voting is naïve. Voting blocs would quickly form, so that, for example, the South would unite together to obtain resources from the North and so on. Also, the example from Ancient Greece is ill informed. Those people had slaves and they had wars. For all our faults, we are a peaceful society.”
Bekka nodded thoughtfully and smiled back as Svein caught her eye with what he hoped was his most charming expression.
“Good,” said Hleid. “So, a seconder for Svein’s proposal.”
“Seconded,” said Bekka at once.
“All those in favor?” Hleid looked up to check. “Unani mous.”
“I will bring the document to next week’s meeting,” Svein told them.
“That’s it.” Hleid promptly stood up and left, leaning on a skull-topped walking stick that a student had made her, modeled on the staff possessed by her character.
Much as Svein wanted to hurry back to Epic, he thought better of rushing out with her. Instead he helped Godmund rise from his chair.
“That was an astute observation about the assassin,” Svein said, offering him an arm, which Godmund pushed away, preferring his stick.
“It’s not that assassin that worries me. We’ve had renegades before and we’ll have ’em again. It’s that newspaper. We have to stop that newspaper.” Godmund turned a fierce gaze onto Svein. “You should stop your foolish
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