Microstory 741: Credos, Convention Twelve: Consensus

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The wandering child lay down on his back in the twelfth canister. Here he watched two candidates who were vying for the same leadership position in their great nation. One had made a career of enacting policy and improving the lands. The other was a foolish entertainer interested only in making money. Yet the latter was clever and devious. He managed to convince the populace that he was just like them. And they followed, for they too were fools, who could not recognize the difference between their modest pay, and his riches. They worked in mines, and on farms, while he remained comfortable in an office tower he had built ultimately with money his father gave him, yet he was to them a symbol of hard work and accomplishment. They believed him to understand what their lives were like, and every time he lied, they simply believed what he said. He was also capitalizing on their hatred for each other, and neighboring nations. He encouraged them to act against their best interests, contradictory to the common good, and in spite of all that is righteous. They were a terrible people, but they were not the only ones in the nation. Surely there would be more good people there than bad. Finally it came time to vote, but the way the voting system was set up, only a few people’s votes actually mattered. Regardless of who they chose, millions of voters would be fundamentally disenfranchised, while some arbitrary person, for whom they had not elected either, would ultimately represent them as a whole. Yet the people’s votes were still literally counted. As it turned out, there were indeed more good citizens than bad, and they had made the right choice in this election. Yet, because of how twisted and irrational the system was, this unfair electorate of the elite had chosen incorrectly. Because of where certain voters lived, and how boundaries were drawn, the evil candidate had persuaded—not the highest number of voters—just the ones he needed. “How perverse it is that the popular vote does not decide the outcome,” people said. But out of this there was hope for change. The evil man’s win was soon determined unlawful. He was removed from office, and the truly elected candidate was placed in the position, where she belonged. The nation realized that they had come to a consensus, and that this agreement must be respected if they wanted to avoid the downward spiral of savagery.