Chapter 19
Peter: “Impatient to assume the world”
When he opened the door to the library, he found Jeffrey hunched over an old book. “What are you reading?” he asked. Immediately he regretted the question, for two reasons. He was interrupting something he wished he saw the boy doing more often. The other reason was that his question might actually prompt an answer, and he would rather discuss something else at the moment.
“It's a textbook on neurophysiology, the Atkern & Williams Second Edition.”
Before he could stop himself, the Honcho had to ask: “Why on Earth are you reading that? You're not in training to become a physician.”
“It was prompted by something someone mentioned to me the other day,” was the vague response. “Did you know the human body is neither a dictatorship nor a democracy … but a combination of the two?”
Peter pulled up a chair, already regretting this thread of conversation. There was no avoiding his next question, even though he felt manipulated by his curiosity. “What is that supposed to mean?”
“I was mulling over that old phrase we sometimes use, the 'body politic', and wondered if the structure of governments tried over the last few thousand years had ever included anything similar to what we can observe in the human body,” he said, looking up from the book. “For example, it's undeniable that there are cells in the brain that send messages to our muscles telling them when to contract more or less so that we can walk and talk and so on. That would appear to be a top-down control structure, like a monarchy where the ruler tells the army to move or the diplomats to communicate.”
Now he really didn't like this thread of conversation. Philosophy was all fine and good for abstract things like the good and the true, he supposed, but it was better to work with what existed in the real world than to ponder whether it was the best system or not. “That sounds like monarchies are the best system, then, because we know it already works for our bodies. Your brain doesn't let your foot tell it what to do.”
“Maybe, maybe not. You see, while there may be cells in the brain that tell each of our muscles what to do, there isn't any one cell in the brain that tells all the other brain cells what to do. To follow your analogy, obviously we can't let the army or the diplomats tell the government what to do, just as I don't let my foot make my decisions for me. But the part of me that decides where I'm going to walk isn't a single cell – that decision is made cooperatively by my entire brain. Just as in the old United States, the decision to go to war was supposed to not be made by the President or the generals, but by Congress. By a lot of people agreeing that it was the right thing to do.”
The Honcho shifted in his chair. “I see what you're saying,” he said. “Constitutional democracies are closer to the brain-body relationship in that a lot of agreement, consensus, has to be reached before marching orders are sent down to the army or the diplomats. It sounds great on paper.” He paused for effect. “But son, there's a reason why the old United States broke up into all the countries we have on the continent now. While consensus makes sense theoretically, it's inherently a less efficient form of government. You have to crowd a bunch of people into a room and let them argue it all out before you can do anything. When a crisis comes, that might be – and was – too slow to get the job done. It takes too long to react to rapidly changing circumstances and situations.”
“Yes,” Jeffrey said, although his facial expression was saying the opposite, “but you handle that by delegating local decisions to regional governors and commanders in the field on-site wherever there are localized problems.”
Peter shook his head at that. “That kind of patchwork government lasts, for a while. But sooner or later regional differences lead to a breakup.” He scratched the side of his nose. “It happened once in the so-called Civil War, and only after years of bloodshed was the federal government able to force the seceding states to come back into the Union. When the growing chaos of the Fall, after the Tourists left, began to affect so many critical local systems, it was inevitable that local troops would rally around local governments, and force a de facto breakup of the Union, as each region tried to maintain order in the absence of coordinated Federal support.”
“But not all regions reverted to pre-Democracy forms of government,” his son pointed out. “There's the People's Republic of Wyoming, with their Congress of Workers, up North. And I've heard that – “
“I didn't come here to discuss the Communalists,” he interrupted. “I'm glad that you're thinking about government, but I think it's high time you got some more practical experience.”
Now his son looked wary. “What do you mean?”
The sight and sentence warmed him. Now I've got you asking the questions. “I want you to take a small force north and do some scouting. “
Jeffrey frowned at that. “Why me? You have lieutenants for that.”
“Precisely why I need you to do this. Someday you'll be in charge, and those lieutenants will be generals. They won't like taking orders from someone without much military experience, so by then you need to have some. It's time to start. Report to Brutus at the local LS Army HQ.” The Runt opened his mouth to say something, but Peter wasn't finished. “You'll be second in command under him, so the troops won't dare give you a lot of shit about your inexperience.”
Jeffrey closed the book and stood up, but he was still frowning. “What are we supposed to look for?”
“The best way to invade Rado. Get as close to their border as you can, and test their defenses without starting anything major. You can burn a few farms to get their attention, but no sacking any large settlements yet.”
“What happens if we meet resistance? I mean, what do we do if we run into a patrol of Rado military?”
“I'm not sending you to start a war. Not yet. Keep that in mind.” The Honcho slid his chair back with a squeak and stood. He regarded his son. “But if you do run into them, and they insist on engaging you, well, kill them, of course. As long as you don't let any escape to tell what happened, it'll just mean we won't have as many to eliminate later.”