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February 5, 2020 |
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Commentary for February 5, 2020: I really hate the expression, “it is what it is”. A lot of people use it to express the feeling that nothing can be done to change a bad situation. But to me it feels terribly fatalistic and even a bit defeatist. Maybe it’s because I suffer from depression and I am really averse to anything that might trigger a depressive slump for me, but I am rarely willing to accept that a situation is truly hopeless; there is usually always something that could be done, by someone. The question is whether or not they have the will to do it. Take for instance, this war with Mars that Mortimer believes is inevitable. It doesn’t have to be. If Earth and Mars would just talk to each other, rather than pointing guns at each other, they might be able to diffuse the situation. The problem is, they don’t want to, because backing down and saying “let’s talk” will just make whichever side does it first look weak and encourage the other to attack -- at least, that’s what they’re both afraid of. And if there’s one thing governments hate, it’s looking weak. It’s part of why governments doggedly stick to policies that have been proven to be bad (even dangerously harmful), because to abandon them would make it look as if they lack conviction. So much of politics feels like just so many deeply insecure old men having dick measuring contests and I hate it. Anyway, rant over. What about that Senator Lafayette, then? Well, when I first wrote this script, I had Lafayette characterised as a moderate Conservative. But then I thought to myself, “Really? A senator of over 30 years representing Meridia? A Conservative?” That didn’t seem terribly plausible to me, since Meridia is generally quite a progressive country that tends to oscillate back and forth between the centrist Social Democrats and the leftist Progressives. Actually electing a Conservative to the United Federation Senate not only once, but at seven consecutive elections seemed a little farfetched to me. But Lafayette being a Social Democrat also didn’t work for me because if he was, then Mortimer would probably have an easier time leveraging his cooperation. I mean, sure, there’s in-fighting in parties all the time, and not everyone in the same party agrees with one another, but it’s generally easier to get a member of your own party on board with your ideas than someone from an opposing party, because party politics. And I figured it was more in character for Mortimer to jump on this opportunity to replace a member of the opposition with one of his own, so Lafayette ended up being a Progressive. |
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Eon's World is a fan comic created by Bethany Turner. All characters are copyright
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