The Humanisphere by Brian Stableford

Author:Brian Stableford
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Black Coat Press
Published: 2017-01-22T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter X

“Now,” said Graymalkin, “let’s go to the Slapping Box.”

That name made me smile. “What’s the Slapping Box?”

“It’s what you would call the Chambre des Députés.”

“By the way, how are you governed here?”

“We aren’t; we govern ourselves.”

“Bravo! Are you governed well? What is the Constitution?”

“It has a grandiose simplicity. The people have absolute sovereignty. They pass all the laws themselves, by the majority of universal suffrage; all administrative measures are taken and all functionaries are appointed in the same fashion. The vote takes place without scrutiny, in the public square, by acclamation; it is not necessarily preceded by a discussion, but only by the reading of the motion that is the object of the vote. That’s the whole Constitution. I can’t be any more precise about the dispositions, because outside of those bases, which are a matter of fact and usage, and not written, everything is left to Liberty. Because of those very bases, everything floats incessantly under its vivifying breath; only they are fixed; the rest changes constantly; one never knows what the law will be tomorrow, who will be a Maire or judge in twenty-four hours. All reforms take place suddenly, under the immediate impression of sentiments, needs and the crisis of the moment. I must say, however, that in general, before reforms pass into the domain of accomplished facts, they’re submitted to a certain elaboration in the clubs, which absorb a good part of the life of our fellow citizens.”

“The clubs take the place of the Conseil d’État?”

“Precisely. Alongside those essential principles there are others that have been maintained for quite a long time. The most important are these:

“1. Only towns, especially large cities, enjoy electoral rights; small villages and rural areas are deemed blind and incapable.

“2. In towns, the votes of workers count double.

“Now, there is still a Chambre, two ministers and a Head of State; but the Chambre doesn’t have a very regular existence; it’s only when it pleases the people to appoint delegates charged with resolving a question that the assembly is constituted. The Ministers, elected by the people, are the Minister of Finance, and the Minister of the Army and Navy, a simple guardian of State military materiel, since, thank God, we do not have in times of peace a single soldier under arms, nor a single ship at sea.

“As for the Head of State, his only functions consist of rendering himself, in case of war, to the army, to preside over the council of generals and execute its decisions. Outside of that, he’s a completely unnecessary mechanism. We keep him anyway—it’s the only ancient institution we’ve respected—out of recognition for the great dynasty of which he’s the offspring. Oddly enough, we, who have expelled and harassed intensively everything that smacks of sentiment, the cult of the past, etc., everything that isn’t utilitarian, persistently maintain that family at our head. We even do insane things for them, such as allowing them a civil list; we testify ridiculous regards to our leader, like making way for him in the street and even nodding our heads to him.

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