Vote in my Campaign's Election

[Icelander]

Originally Posted by Not another shrubbery

Well, I don't think Elias is a perfect candidate, but a military mindset should be helpful in organizing, at least, which does sound like a dire need.

Many nations have instituted a military draft or organised a militia system without it being necessary to replace the civil government with a military one. Elias can perfectly well be put in charge of establishing a militia and defending the town without making him Mayor, President or giving him full executive authority.

In fact, I'd argue that combining the highest office of the state with the effective day-to-day commander of the military is actively harmful, in that it risks reducing the town solely to a military camp, which despite what Elias might think has not historically had great success when it comes to sustained economic development.

Put it bluntly, doing nothing and letting people figure things out themselves might well yield more food production in the long term than a centrally managed program under the command of someone who doesn't have the first idea about farming.

It is true that the town needs authority that they likely haven't exercised much until now, to organise for major infrastructure projects, to confiscate private property when necessary and to levy work duties from everyone. But neither Moore, Smith nor Elias have any relevant knowledge to organising the most important projects, i.e. those related to becoming self-sufficient in subsistence farming production.

In light of that fact, it will be necessary for any of them to appoint other men to manage those all important projects and invest them with the necessary authority. As such, Elias and Smith do not appear to have any advantages over Moore, in that Moore can perfectly well appoint them to similar positions as his Acriculture czar.

People might decry professional politicians as unnecessary and a blight on democracy, but it is nevertheless a fact that exercising power in a way that minimises discontent and allows at least a narrow majority to feel included is a learned skill. Moore has learned it.

Smith and Elias are both, in their own way, used to making decisions without having to worry about who likes them. That's fine, if they were simply managing a short-term emergency. It's potentially disastrous, when proposed as the permanent form of government for the last pocket of a former democracy as they prepare to face the challenges of a new world and a new future.