John's Muse
Bar Talk
The old brown wood bar smelled of beer. Tom wiped a glass at the far end and baseball buzzed in the background. A neon Bud Lite, amber liquor glow, and T.V. screen added color to the otherwise dark dinge. Dick relaxed on his stool, sipped his beer, and listened to Harry’s latest bullshit political theory.
“What if the Trump experience was actually good for society? I mean, consider our situation in 1787. Ten years earlier, the founding fathers organized the United States under the Articles of Confederation to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. That worked for conducting the Revolutionary War, but not for governing. A weak central government couldn’t implement its decisions. Everything, including money from the States, was voluntary. It couldn’t enforce anything. It couldn’t tax to support its duties, regulate overseas trade, administer interstate commerce, or resolve territorial disputes.”
“Huh. Sounds like the United Nations.”
“Doesn’t it, though? The U.N. can only investigate and recommend. It’s able to take military action against an aggressor, but you gotta admit it’ll never stand up to a permanent member of the Security Council or any major armed force.”
“Yeah, a bunch of blue helmets against the 101st Airborne,… now, there’s a picture.”
“Our founders saw this wasn’t working and that a central authority representing their joint interests would resolve these problems. So, they got together a Constitutional Convention and ceded some autonomy to a higher authority.”
“Unless you were a slave.” Dick turned his head and twisted his mouth. “African Americans had no voice at all.”
“Sure, slavery, but look, Trump has changed the political landscape. He never faced an external military strike on U.S. soil or an economic calamity. There were no external threats. He didn’t experience a national crisis until the pandemic. Trump was so erratic that the Countries of the world were reluctant to test him. The result would be unpredictable. Maybe his unpredictableness was a positive thing. No country outside our borders physically confronted us on his watch.”
Dick looked skeptical. “What about the hack-attacks and election interference? Weren’t those physical attacks?”
“Sure they were, but the public’s lack of appreciation for their seriousness and Trump having ignored them means they lie beyond this postulation.”
“Hmm. What about missile strikes on our bases in Iraq and Afghanistan?”
“Those assaults didn’t hit the homeland. Americans pay little attention to incidents in faraway places. But,” Harry continued, “I suppose you could claim that foreign powers’ reluctance to confront Trump was a short-term response, that world leaders would eventually take his measure. And you could say that such disregard for democracy will lead to autocracy.”
“Yeah, I would say that.”
“Well, it’s always easy to take pot-shots at whoever’s in charge. Regardless of our errors and omissions, the dominance of the United States has produced a relatively safe world that took our global stewardship for granted. Democracies are messy—and fragile. Rarely are they not on the verge of collapse. It was easier to start a fight with the United States when the outcome fell within predictable limits. Trump made “unpredictable” a byword. I postulate that Trump’s years before the pandemic were free of a serious external security threat because he was so irregular. The comparative hegemony of the United States since WWII modulated international events so that they were, well, mostly, in the world’s collective interests. Trump permanently weakened that status.”
“Yeah, okay, I will stipulate that Trump has irrevocably harmed our stature.”
“Now, having shown the world that a Trump is possible, we are no longer a background agency. The power centers of the globe must reexamine their relationships with each other. Everyone is in play. That may be a good thing. If the Power Brokers feel they are as equals…”
Dick grinned. “The power brokers feel equal?”
“All right, more equal, roughly analogous to the guys at the Constitutional Convention. We have organized our planet into states, similar to the thirteen colonies. Speaking as a global citizen, perhaps now our un-failed states can work together to solve their shared problems.” He looked vacantly at the back bar bottles. “Like climate change, pandemics, taxation,” he flipped his hand at each point, “currency manipulation, money laundering, ocean supply route security,” he thought for a second, “minerals access, low orbit crowding, and errant asteroids.”
“Yeah.” Dick took a drink. “Common problems to our little boat floating in a cosmic sea.”
“So maybe now Earth’s nations are more apt to yield some independence to a central body for critical decisions in their mutual best interests. Maybe they’ll convene a planetary Constitutional Convention to reorganize humanity along the lines of the U.S. Constitution and split power between the States and a central authority.”
Dick faced Harry, smiled, and considered what he had said. “Naaaah.” He raised a finger and looked down the bar. “Tom, we need another drink down here.”
Check out my book, THRILL CHASE, available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WS62CLN
Bar Talk
The old brown wood bar smelled of beer. Tom wiped a glass at the far end and baseball buzzed in the background. A neon Bud Lite, amber liquor glow, and T.V. screen added color to the otherwise dark dinge. Dick relaxed on his stool, sipped his beer, and listened to Harry’s latest bullshit political theory.
“What if the Trump experience was actually good for society? I mean, consider our situation in 1787. Ten years earlier, the founding fathers organized the United States under the Articles of Confederation to preserve the independence and sovereignty of the states. That worked for conducting the Revolutionary War, but not for governing. A weak central government couldn’t implement its decisions. Everything, including money from the States, was voluntary. It couldn’t enforce anything. It couldn’t tax to support its duties, regulate overseas trade, administer interstate commerce, or resolve territorial disputes.”
“Huh. Sounds like the United Nations.”
“Doesn’t it, though? The U.N. can only investigate and recommend. It’s able to take military action against an aggressor, but you gotta admit it’ll never stand up to a permanent member of the Security Council or any major armed force.”
“Yeah, a bunch of blue helmets against the 101st Airborne,… now, there’s a picture.”
“Our founders saw this wasn’t working and that a central authority representing their joint interests would resolve these problems. So, they got together a Constitutional Convention and ceded some autonomy to a higher authority.”
“Unless you were a slave.” Dick turned his head and twisted his mouth. “African Americans had no voice at all.”
“Sure, slavery, but look, Trump has changed the political landscape. He never faced an external military strike on U.S. soil or an economic calamity. There were no external threats. He didn’t experience a national crisis until the pandemic. Trump was so erratic that the Countries of the world were reluctant to test him. The result would be unpredictable. Maybe his unpredictableness was a positive thing. No country outside our borders physically confronted us on his watch.”
Dick looked skeptical. “What about the hack-attacks and election interference? Weren’t those physical attacks?”
“Sure they were, but the public’s lack of appreciation for their seriousness and Trump having ignored them means they lie beyond this postulation.”
“Hmm. What about missile strikes on our bases in Iraq and Afghanistan?”
“Those assaults didn’t hit the homeland. Americans pay little attention to incidents in faraway places. But,” Harry continued, “I suppose you could claim that foreign powers’ reluctance to confront Trump was a short-term response, that world leaders would eventually take his measure. And you could say that such disregard for democracy will lead to autocracy.”
“Yeah, I would say that.”
“Well, it’s always easy to take pot-shots at whoever’s in charge. Regardless of our errors and omissions, the dominance of the United States has produced a relatively safe world that took our global stewardship for granted. Democracies are messy—and fragile. Rarely are they not on the verge of collapse. It was easier to start a fight with the United States when the outcome fell within predictable limits. Trump made “unpredictable” a byword. I postulate that Trump’s years before the pandemic were free of a serious external security threat because he was so irregular. The comparative hegemony of the United States since WWII modulated international events so that they were, well, mostly, in the world’s collective interests. Trump permanently weakened that status.”
“Yeah, okay, I will stipulate that Trump has irrevocably harmed our stature.”
“Now, having shown the world that a Trump is possible, we are no longer a background agency. The power centers of the globe must reexamine their relationships with each other. Everyone is in play. That may be a good thing. If the Power Brokers feel they are as equals…”
Dick grinned. “The power brokers feel equal?”
“All right, more equal, roughly analogous to the guys at the Constitutional Convention. We have organized our planet into states, similar to the thirteen colonies. Speaking as a global citizen, perhaps now our un-failed states can work together to solve their shared problems.” He looked vacantly at the back bar bottles. “Like climate change, pandemics, taxation,” he flipped his hand at each point, “currency manipulation, money laundering, ocean supply route security,” he thought for a second, “minerals access, low orbit crowding, and errant asteroids.”
“Yeah.” Dick took a drink. “Common problems to our little boat floating in a cosmic sea.”
“So maybe now Earth’s nations are more apt to yield some independence to a central body for critical decisions in their mutual best interests. Maybe they’ll convene a planetary Constitutional Convention to reorganize humanity along the lines of the U.S. Constitution and split power between the States and a central authority.”
Dick faced Harry, smiled, and considered what he had said. “Naaaah.” He raised a finger and looked down the bar. “Tom, we need another drink down here.”
Check out my book, THRILL CHASE, available on Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/B08WS62CLN