by Patrick Shea
“My only question is if anyone thinks this is too harsh, but before you answer I want you to know that your opinion has to come with a better option. We don’t have any jails or any people to use as guards, and I’m not going to consider something like a public whipping or some such nonsense.”
Sam looked around the room and waited for someone to speak up. She let the silence go on for full minute. When she was ready to go on, she saw one of the mature men whispering with two of his neighbors and she decided to wait for a bit.
The man looked up and raised his hand. Sam nodded.
He said, “Sam, my name is Christian Kelly. Some of us have talked about options since that Turner fellow was chucked out of here, and I’ve just had a brief conversation with a couple of my neighbors here. I want you to know that I consider expulsion to be, as you said, harsh.”
Sam’s stomach started to knot up while she waited for Christian to go on. She glanced at Noah who by the look on his face either hadn’t heard or didn’t care. He looked perfectly normal, just like always.
Christian continued, “The problem is that none of us have any better ideas. This is a new world for us and I’m sure I speak for the group when I say we all want to do the right thing, but we have to make our own rules as we go along.
“I was here for the meeting Saturday evening and I agreed with what Noah said when he asked Turner to leave the group. There are no rules out here and there isn’t any public left to help us. I think our only concern is that we don’t turn into a harsh society. From what I’ve seen of you to this point I believe you have the same feelings.
“Some of us have watched you closely since we’ve been in the park, and of course we all talked with you, and traded emails with you, for at least a week before that. So far we think you’ve done a good job, so from now until spring I want you to know that I and some of the others will give you our full support as long as you continue to let us participate. We’re all smart enough and experienced enough to know that one leader is enough, and you’ve already said we’d work together as a group to decide who our permanent leaders will be, but we won’t do that until spring. We can all live with that I think.
“You’ve let the workgroups decide who those leaders will be, and you’ve let the group help decide how to prioritize our actions. I don’t think any of us could have done better. And by the way, you’ve picked a good man for your second. I think Noah has earned respect from all of us.”
The rest of the group started applauding and Sam realized that she had been vetted and accepted by the group, and that the process had included Noah. All of a sudden she had great respect for Christian Kelly, who could have used his skills to try to take over the group, rather than to support her.
When the applause stopped Christian continued with, “One last thing. I said you would get our full support from now until spring, and from the sound of the applause the entire group is willing to give you that support. I put that qualifier in because I don’t know what I’ll do in the spring. I may find that I want to head in a different direction than you choose, but that is the only reason I added that qualifier.”
Sam looked at the group and smiled, “Thanks everyone, I’ll be pleased to continue to lead the group until spring. And by the way, I didn’t pick Noah as my second in command, he just sort of showed up. And I haven’t had the courage yet to ask him why.”
When the laughter died down Sam said, “Enough for now. I’d like to meet tonight at seven o’clock back here and talk about what rules we really want to make, if any at all. And decide how we’re going to keep track of them.
“I don’t know about the rest of you but I’ve had enough intervention in my life from local, state and federal governments to last me a lifetime. I’m not looking to control anything or anyone, I’m just looking for rules that will allow each of us to operate as capable human beings, and those rules that we’ll need to keep the group safe.
“If no one else has anything for the group we’ll adjourn. If somehow you haven’t been assigned to a workgroup please stay around for a minute and we’ll correct that mistake.”
Chapter Twenty Six: The Basics of Law and Order
Noah had invited Sam and Ben to dinner that evening and they met at his RV at five o’clock so they would have plenty of time to talk before the meeting.
Ben asked, “What happened after the meeting this morning, with the slackers?”
Sam answered, “They weren’t all slackers so I’m glad we took this approach. One was a sixty-six year old grandmother with rheumatoid arthritis and was scared to death we were going to throw her out. She was very apologetic but just didn’t know what she could do to help.
“Lily and the baking staff have been taking care of the kids so she has been assigned to help that group with the children. Lily will monitor her to make sure she can handle the job. Janice, our senior nurse, is going to make sure she gets whatever medical help is available.
“The other three, and there were only three thank goodness, had no excuses. The most outspoken of the three simply said he hadn’t yet decided if he was going to stay or not.” Sam looked at Noah as she said, “Noah just looked at him and said, it’s time to decide now.” The guy looked shocked when he realized he could be driving out of the park in the next ten minutes. He hesitated for about ten seconds and Noah pushed him by telling him he had had plenty of time to think, it was now time to decide.”
“Noah, you looked so…, so stern, I was almost sorry for the guy.”
Noah said, “He was a young man who appeared to be in good health, except for the extra fifty pounds he was carrying and I didn’t like his attitude at all, so I wanted to make sure he knew if he stayed I’d keep my eye on him.”
“Well, I think you accomplished that. Anyway, he decided to leave and the other two suddenly got religion and were both given work assignments. Noah will monitor both of them.
“So now let’s talk about the meeting this evening. I’d like to start by gaining general concurrence that we need some rules to go by. I think the majority will agree with that.
“Then I’d like to propose that we use the Constitution as a basis for all rules. I think that will generate some discussion, which I want. After the discussion we’ll decide if we actually want to do that, or if we want to create a document from scratch.”
Noah asked, “Don’t you think you might be premature with that discussion? I don’t know how many people will have thought through the complexities of governing a society in the new world.”
“Actually I’ve thought a lot about it and I’ve decided that this is a good time to start. We have ample time to move through the discussion and I’m in no hurry to come to a conclusion. I think we need to take advantage of the time we have.”
“I’m not going to argue with you. But I will want to participate in that discussion.”
Sam wasn’t surprised and said, “Noah, I’d be disappointed if you didn’t.”
An hour later they finished eating and moved to the lobby. Colleen met Sam at the door and told her they had an additional thirty two RVs join them that day.
Sam was surprised, this was more than she had expected from her contacts. But, she was glad they had all made it, if this was what they wanted.
As Sam had requested Colleen had made copies of the US Constitution and she now gave those to Sam.
Sam opened the meeting by asking how many new people had joined them. She saw a lot of hands go up and wondered how long they would continue to receive survivors.
She asked a couple of the people to help pass out the copies and said, “We’re going to start talking about rules of governance tonight. I know some of you were looking for something more basic, like a list of crimes and requisite penalties. But, after thinking about the subject for some days now I thought we might all be better off starting out talking about under what conditions people in authority can act.
“As you can see the basic Constitution is about who should govern in a constitutional republic, how the
y are chosen, and what power they have in general terms. As you read I’ll try to give a brief explanation of each section for you. If anyone in the group thinks I’m being too hasty, or not clear enough, please stop me. We all need to agree on the order in which we do things, and the reasons we do them.
“I’ve asked the welcoming committee to be the keeper of the notes for these sessions. They agreed and also agreed to post the notes or minutes on our web site by noon of the day following each discussion. You should have time to look at the minutes and decide if anything written up contradicts anything you remember, or that you intended. We want no confusion about the meaning when we finish our work.
“And by the way, we’re all pretty much snowed in until spring, so we have ample time to work through all of our issues. We’ll have the same group of people each evening, except for those who join us each day. Our welcoming committee will brief each group of arrivals daily on what we are doing. Each newcomer will be invited to read the minutes of all of our meetings, but we aren’t going to revisit areas because of newcomers.
“At the end of the evening I’d like the group to talk about forming a rules committee to address any problems any person has with what we’ve done. So even if you don’t get your point across during the meeting, you’ll have the opportunity to convince the committee that as a group we’ve missed an important point. If you convince the committee of the viability of your position they’ll raise the issue with the group that evening.
“Now the only question I have is, are you all okay with what I’ve said or do you think I’ve missed anything?
After a minute of silence Sam said, “Okay then, I’ll start as I had planned, but anyone can stop me anytime for a discussion.
Sam continued, “First I want everyone to agree that these rules we’ll create will be temporary until we have permanent leaders in the spring. But even though they are temporary, they will be enforced from now until the group decides on making them permanent.
“Secondly, I want to remind the group that we are not about to change the constitution of the United States as it currently applies to us. There is no longer a United States, and what we are about to do is to discuss using that constitution as our guide as we figure out how to govern ourselves in the future.
“I want everyone to know that I consider this document to be almost sacred. It is the longest living constitution in the world, and there have been few politicians since its inception capable of making improvements to it. In many cases all we have to do is decide if the original language applies to our circumstances.
“I’ll start by proposing that we keep the preamble, the first paragraph of the constitution, intact. I know that we don’t have a United States anymore, but we will have something that we’ll name later. For now I’m happy keeping our traditional name as long as everyone knows that we are agreeing to the preamble and agreeing to save the name change for a later time.
“If everyone agrees I’ll move on.”
Christian Kelly interrupted and said, “Sam, I hate to start talking so soon, but maybe we should ask for yeas and nays at each decision point just so we know for sure how many people might not be in agreement. We don’t need an actual vote unless the yeas and nays sound the same.”
Sam smiled at Christian and said, “Thanks Christian, I think that’s a good idea. I don’t want to get bogged down this early in the process, but as I said earlier, we have plenty of time.” She looked at the group and repeated what she had said about the preamble and asked how many of the group agreed with that position.”
The room reverberated with the yeas and when she asked for nays no one said a thing. Suddenly she understood what Christian had done by asking for a voice vote. In the future no one would be able to say their opinion had not been heard.
While she was surprised that everyone agreed so readily, she realized that there was no reason for dissention on the preamble, or on most other articles or amendments. It really was a superb document.
She continued, “Following the Preamble we have Article I, sections one, two and three, all concerning the legislature. This section talks about establishing the Congress, how it is elected, the age requirements, who can vote, and various powers, including impeachment, and such things.
“I propose that we put this section on hold since I’m not planning on having a legislature until after we establish ourselves as a society. The one exception to ignoring this section is the voting part. I want to give a full vote to every adult who joins us, and I propose that sixteen be the voting age. I expect a full day’s work out of our sixteen and up age group and therefore I think they should have the right to vote.
“Christian, would you call for the yeas and nays for me this evening? I’m not used to talking this much, or this loud, and I could use the help.”
Christian moved to the front and called for the vote. Again the group responded positively with no nays. Sam was a little surprised since she thought there would be some discussion on the age limit.
“Sections four through seven deal with the legislature so they don’t apply and won’t for a while, but we will make rules, so I propose we make those rules based on a simple majority of the people present.”
Sam stepped back from the podium to let the group know she was giving the group time to think about her proposition.
Christian, please call the ayes and nays.”
Again the group was unanimous in their consent.
“Section eight is next and now things get a little more interesting. I’m not sure we have a lot to agree with during the early stages of our group, but sooner or later this section will become of great interest to our society, since this section deals with the powers of congress.
“The first power is the power to tax. I don’t think we are in need of taxes in terms of money since right now we are all equally rich, and equally poor. Anything we want in terms of material goods is out there for the taking. So I don’t think we need be concerned with traditional taxes for many years to come. However, I do think we need to formally agree that all members of this group are expected to equally participate in building our new society. I don’t know if we call this a tax, a requirement or what, but I think we all need to agree on the premise.”
Sam looked around the group and waited for someone to start the discussion. Finally one of the older men asked what rules would govern this.
Sam said, “I don’t think we need or can use a written rule saying we require sixty hours a week or something. I think common sense should govern us and as long as the group stays relatively small I think that will work. If the group agrees with and votes for my premise I think each person who joins can be made to understand that everyone works equally towards establishing our new society.
“I also want to make sure that everyone understands that this is an interim measure. We aren’t creating a new kind of communism or socialism. We’re simply working together to build the basics for a future democratic republic.
“Does anyone think we should put a time limit on this requirement? That would force us to vote and agree on what comes next.”
A number of the group called out agreement and Sam said, “Okay, I propose that we agree that all members of our group, sixteen and older, are expected to contribute equal amounts of work for the benefit of the group, and that this requirement will exist for the next year. Does anyone have anything to add to this? Does anyone think it’s a bad idea?
After a minute of silence Christian called for the vote and again everyone agreed.
Sam said, “I guess it’s time to mention that I don’t know how easy these ‘simple’ rules will work in practice, but we can discuss and change any of them as we gain experience. None of us has had to build a new world yet so we’re all gaining experience.
“Going on with section eight, the next paragraph deals with the country needing to borrow money, and then we have regulating commerce with foreign nations and the Indian tribes.” She stopped and looked at Noah, waiting for
him to say something.
He looked at her and smiled and said, “Surely you aren’t going to banish me to the reservation again.”
When the laughter died down Sam said, “Noah, I thought you might want to say something about the Indian treaties, but if you don’t I’ll go on.”
Noah said, “I do want to discuss that issue with the group, but I think that might be better saved for later.”
Sam saw Noah look around the room. Some people were nodding agreement and some were intentionally avoiding eye contact with him. She noticed a number of others who looked like they might be at least part Indian look at Noah questionably. She wasn’t sure Noah had noticed them.
But then Noah added, “But since you’ve raised the issue maybe I should talk now.” Noah again looked at the group while he gathered his thoughts and said, “I think the most critical piece for me is that we don’t make distinctions or acknowledge differences in our interim rules, or later in our permanent rules.
“I think the founders were confronted with vast differences, and they had to deal with them. Slavery existed in this land long before it was a country. It existed amongst the whites, amongst the Orientals, amongst the Indians and in rarer cases amongst free blacks. To the founders that was a fact of life.
“The Indian tribes, both the peaceful eastern tribes and the more aggressive western tribes were their own nations and had been governing themselves prior to recorded history. The founders were confronted with this as a fact of life.
“But those differences don’t exist today. We are one people now, joined together by need and willingness to jointly build a new society. I would like to ask that we write our documents without making such distinctions, but referring to all of us equally. As you said Sam, we’re all equally rich now, and we all have different skills to add to the mix.”
Noah waited for someone else to say something but someone in the group starting applauding. The rest of the group joined in. Noah thought that he could get used to this applause stuff.