fandomhigh | Leadership, Thursday, Period 1, Class 3 (9/18/08)

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Leadership, Thursday, Period 1, Class 3 (9/18/08)

"You're in charge, congratulations," Nathan said. "Now what? Implicit in being a leader is that you have somewhere that you want to go. You have a vision, a goal, and that's what you're leading everyone towards.

"Successful leaders have a solid vision. They know what they want, which helps them figure out how to get it. It also helps you stay on course. If your goal is to see a movie tonight, you know that heading to the beach is not going to help you accomplish that.

"Visions can be adapted, but you have to have one to start with." Nathan looked around. "For today's class you'll work together to start forming one. I've split you all into groups. Imagine that your group has the power to make society be whatever you want it to be. What is it like? What do people eat? Where do they work? Where do they live? What do they do for fun? What is the population like? Be specific. For example, maybe your ideal society includes people who walk instead of using cars. Maybe your society values poets more than sports figures. Use your imagination. Once you have that figured out, try to narrow it down to simple, declarative sentences. As an added bonus, these statements make for good campaign slogans. 'A chicken in every pot' may ring a bell for some of you.

"Good luck. I'm here if you need me."

Groups:

Group One:
Summer Roberts
Jaina Solo
Andros
Andrew Wiggin
Teyla Emmagan

Group Two:
Tabitha-Ruth Wexler
Momoko Akatsutsumi
Meg Powers
Agnes Nitt
Ben Skywalker

Group Three:
Teddy Altman
Dor
Joan Girardi
Bender
Hinata Hyuuga

Group Four:
Lucas Scott
Evey Hammond
Tony Foster
Alex Drake

[ooc: OCD is up! Credit for class exercise goes here]

Flat | Top-Level Comments Only

"Except you're forgetting that people are stupid," Agnes pointed out. "Besides, why even have a government if you're going to make people do it all themselves? Maybe it's not the best system, but we've always gotten along all right by leaving the kinging to the kings."

Ben nodded. "Granted, the Republic lasted for millennia, but the rule of law under the last two attempts of democracy back home has been a joke. The planetary capital was being invaded by an enemy species and members of the Senate demanded that the military escort them away instead of fighting to save billions of lives." He frowned. "People deserve the government they get, and if you don't want chaos, you end up with a dictatorship eventually."

Turtle frowned deeply. "But almost all the major governments in this world today have instituted some form of democracy. In England, Japan, the monarchies that still exist are merely figureheads, and there are parliaments that help to decide things instead. And it seems to be working out fairly well for all of them. It's just a matter of instituting something to keep that all in check. That could be one of the first things of our society, instituting rules on the government that prevent that sort of chaos and corruption."

"And this is where I point out that this school is normally part of a country that's been a democracy for well over two hundred years," Meg replied. "Despite the efforts of the last administration, it's worked out fairly well for us. So yeah, pretty much what Turtle said." Which, in the long run wasn't her best answer ever but she was till dealing with thoughts of invasions by alien species.

Ben's lips quirked up at the idea of only two hundred years of government, but he didn't remark on it aloud.

"But even democracies have someone in charge," he pointed out. "It's not just three trillion voices all deciding to do their own thing. There's a chief of state, right?"

Meg grinned, just a little. "Yes, there is. A president. Elected by the people to serve a four year term. At the end of that term she can run for re-election." Which made her winch inwardly at the thought. "For another term. After that, it's someone else's turn."

"My aunt did that," he said, "and then she was replaced by a venal little Bothan who was more concerned about protecting his home planet and the ones around it to stop a massive invasion. The Senate is dumb. The Senate has always been dumb. There's a reason Palpatine kept it around when he took over--because the Senate didn't notice when he turned them into a dictatorship." He frowned. "They have always been too busy looking after their own pockets."

Ben was just a little jaded.

"Well, I think," Turtle offered, with a small smile at Meg, sensing a bit of a kindred spirit finally, "in this case, the five of us are the chiefs of state. It's a bit modified from the model, but it's not like thirty trillion different voices, or just one. Five, though, and each of us clearly different enough to offer some variety of opinion, but, hopefully, not so different that we can't eventually agree on a compromise beneficial for the people as a whole? Instead of a dumb senate watching our backs, it's each other."

She looked around at her group, hopefully. "Maybe?"

Meg nodded. "That works for me." Later on she'd explain the Bush presidency to Ben and how she understood exactly where he was coming from.

"Right," Agnes agreed. "Although if we're talking three trillian people, that's a bit more than I'm used to dealing with. It probably makes things a lot harder."

Ben nodded. "That's why I'm not exactly racing to the front of the line to run the thing."

"But if we're talking a division of power into five capable," she hoped," entities," Turtle offered, determined to settle on this idea for their structure.

"Then I'm fine with it," Ben said, nodding.

Agnes shrugged. "If we have to be in charge, best we all work together on it." She gave some thought to what she would look for in an ideal society. "Can we all agree on... Fairness, and charity for widows and orphans, and generally staying out of people's business unless they're doing something stupid?"

Such a goody-goody!

Turtle smiled much easier as there seemed to be a consensus around the table. "I'm all for that," she allowed congenially. "Although the next step would have to be deciding what we consider as 'something stupid'."

"Which is how we end up with entire buildings full of laws," Ben said, sounding a little weary. "Because you try to do something that seems self-evident, but there's always someone too stupid to figure out what you meant."

"And there are loopholes," Meg said, shaking her head. "And you need more laws to close the loopholes."

"Last chance to change your mind to a nice, streamlined dictatorship," Ben teased.

"The last president we had thought the same thing," she replied with a look of disgust. "Fortunately he's gone now. Back to Texas to clear some brush."

"You're all so cynical," Turtle observed, shaking her head slightly. "But if everything is properly organized and very carefully considered, it's not that hard to avoid loopholes and the like. You just have to know how to approach the matter and cover all your bases."

"I think maybe you've got it the wrong way 'round," Agnes commented. "Anyone with a head on their shoulders can find loopholes in the rules, if they look for them. And an awful lot of people look for them."

The only way to avoid it was to get someone like Granny Weatherwax always looking over people's shoulders.

Meg snorted. "Yeah, they're called lawyers."

"And you've got one of those!" Turtle said, beaming proudly and pointing to herself in case they didn't realize that she was referring to herself.

"You're a lawyer?" Ben looked confused. "But you're not a droid."

"And you don't look like you've sold your soul to the devil," Meg added.

Leadership, Thursday, Period 1, Class 3 (9/18/08)

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