Tuesday, November 18, 2008

Suppose you were travelling to another realm.

     In preparation for your travels, you need to select a land to make your home. There are representative from various possibilities seeking to persuade you to choose their land.
     Caelum is ruled by a king. This king is surrounded by many people who sing his praises at all times. The representatives of Caelum explain that their king is so good that it is unlawful to criticize the king's actions in any way or to give the slightest suggestion that he is less than perfect. It is because of his incredible sense of justice that he straps such people to devices of horrendous pain for eons. After all, the punishment must fit the worth of the one offended; and the king's worth was great, indeed.
     Regalia is also ruled by a king. But people people complain about some of his actions. No one is punished for making complaints. Instead, subjects have the ability to present a case before the king as to why an action should be changed. Sometimes, the king changes his policies based on the presentations.
     In Plurima, all policies are decided by straight majority vote. There are, of course, some unhappy people who lost a recent election in which the majority ruled that that group would have to surrender 3/4 of their wages to suit the comfort of said majority. But you can't please everyone; and the will of the people must be respected.
     Liberia also has elections to decide policies. However, there are constraints such that no policy may single out a group for harm. Sometimes it can take years before the validity of a policy can be determined, during which time it is placed on hold.
     So, what land would you make your home? What land would you most want to avoid? Are there other possibilities that I should have considered?

2 comments:

ExPatMatt said...

Aside from the fact that Liberia is a country on the west coast of Africa, and not particularly known for it's democratic policies, a very well-put question.

I'd probably find a quite hamlet in Liberia that is practically autonomous from the central government. In my capacity as foreign policy adviser though, I'd petition strongly for the assassination of the King of Caelum. We then enslave the gullible and easily-led populous of Caelum and make them work in our breweries. Job done.

Pvblivs said...

     I suppose I shouln't be too surprised that one of my names matched the name of an actual country. They were, however, all intended to be fictitious. Interestingly, the general population of Caelum may be fearful, instead of gullible. New immigrants, on the other hand...