A recent poll Gallup poll concluded that extremely few Americans place their faith in politics.
Sun: Surely you mean 13 million or even 13,000?
Gallup: No, 13 people, total.
Sun: Were your pollsters surprised by the results?
Gallup: We thought it might be in the hundreds, at least, but were wrong. Only 13 actual Americans still believe politics is the answer to any problem.
Sun: We’re confused. Every day we hear Democratic congressmen and senators espousing political solutions to just about every problem in the universe?!
Gallup: Recommending a solution and believing it will work are two very different things. Most of the representatives you’re referring to have no such belief.
The Sun turned to Ian Starling of ThinkTank Whatsit AllAbout Corporation for answers.
If None Believe Why Do So Many Recommend?
Sun: Then why do so many of them still recommend political solutions?
Ian: Recommending a political solution is a strategy like one might use in a game. In this case, it shifts the focus and directs attention towards a trap. Viewed as a trap, the advantage to citing political solutions becomes more apparent.
Sun: What kind of game trap are you talking about?
Ian: Think of politics as a game where every player on the board is captured before the game begins.
Paid to Play
Sun: Every player? What’s the point of playing a game like that?
Ian: Other than getting paid to play, there is no point. But, it’s taken Americans a long time to come to that conclusion. As our poll indicates, only 13 people still believe the game is worth playing in the sense that one may win.
Sun: Is that enough players to keep the game going?
Ian: No, but you don’t need true believers to keep the game going. What you need are enough people being paid to play and make it appear like the outcomes are not predetermined.
Sun: How many “paid to play” players are there?
Ian: Across the U.S., nearly 24 million people—a little over 15% of the workforce—are involved in military, public, and national service at the local, state, and federal levels. Of this number, approximately 16 million are employed in state and local governments.
Sun: That many people are merely pretending to play a game they know is rigged from the start?
Ian: Their salaries and pensions depend on it, yes.
NPCs & Bogus Legitimacy
Sun: And what about all the NPCs? What is their role in the game?
Ian: Non-player-characters are irrelevant to the game itself. However, they are crucial in providing bogus legitimacy. Game rules require the appearance of serving a population other than those being directly employed by the game. As long as NPCs do nothing, their tacit assent fulfills that rule and keeps the game going.
Sun: But what about taxes. Don’t those millions of NPCs pay taxes into the game?
Ian: They return some of the credits issued by the game, yes, but the taxation is best covered as a separate topic.
