Posted on 10/11/2016 9:56:15 AM PDT by Silentgypsy
A section from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is being shared as an apt parallel for the political situation in 2016.
The major problem — one of the major problems, for there are several — one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.
To summarize: it is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.
And so this is the situation we find: a succession of Galactic Presidents who so much enjoy the fun and palaver of being in power that they very rarely notice that they're not.
And somewhere in the shadows behind them — who?
Who can possibly rule if no one who wants to do it can be allowed to?
(Excerpt) Read more at indy100.com ...
I’d stop voting for lizards if a non-lizard ever ran.
I thought Zaphod Bebelbrox did a pretty good job.
rats. there should be quotation marks up there with attribution to Douglas adams. mod
The other major Douglas Adams quote nailing the issue:
It comes from a very ancient democracy, you see...”
“You mean, it comes from a world of lizards?”
“No,” said Ford, who by this time was a little more rational and coherent than he had been, having finally had the coffee forced down him, “nothing so simple. Nothing anything like so straightforward. On its world, the people are people. The leaders are lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.”
“Odd,” said Arthur, “I thought you said it was a democracy.”
“I did,” said Ford. “It is.”
“So,” said Arthur, hoping he wasn’t sounding ridiculously obtuse, “why don’t people get rid of the lizards?”
“It honestly doesn’t occur to them,” said Ford. “They’ve all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they’ve voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.”
“You mean they actually vote for the lizards?”
“Oh yes,” said Ford with a shrug, “of course.”
“But,” said Arthur, going for the big one again, “why?”
“Because if they didn’t vote for a lizard,” said Ford, “the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?”
“What?”
“I said,” said Ford, with an increasing air of urgency creeping into his voice, “have you got any gin?”
“I’ll look. Tell me about the lizards.”
Ford shrugged again.
“Some people say that the lizards are the best thing that ever happenned to them,” he said. “They’re completely wrong of course, completely and utterly wrong, but someone’s got to say it.”
“But that’s terrible,” said Arthur.
“Listen, bud,” said Ford, “if I had one Altairian dollar for every time I heard one bit of the Universe look at another bit of the Universe and say ‘That’s terrible’ I wouldn’t be sitting here like a lemon looking for a gin.
In the books, eventually you find out who is in power. Talk about coming out of left field.
He was clearly a man of many quallities, even if they were mostly bad ones.
One of my favorite trilogies (sarc) of all time space continuum. And who knew that the Wicked Witch of the West was forecast as the Bugblatter Beast of Traal.
The author is wrong in comparing Trump to Zaphrod, because the president was supposed to distract the public from learning who was really running the galaxy. Trump shines a spotlight on who is running the country.
Since I listened to the original radio series, I can tell you exactly what words follow that question.
I'd better not — it would sound like something else that has been in the news recently.
Now, excuse me, I need to sing to my cat....
I’d even take “Phil”.
Never go anywhere without your towel
Wasn't it the mice?
What is the purpose in this? Taking some old hagged out nonsense from Brit comedians (I was there when all this stuff came out with the book) and trying to apply it to Trump in a nonspecific way is just crap.
It's like some youngster has found a new toy and put their own smell on it. Too bad they weren't around to understand the times that prompted it all to start with.
Yes, absolutely. Zaphod is also two headed and creates constant scandals - that's Bill and Hillary ("two for one co-presidents," "public and private positions") to a really obvious level. To hit Trump with Zaphod instead of the Clintons is an absurd suspension of disbelief by the writer, if not outright arrogant hypocrisy.
No. the mice were behind the creation of the great “computer”, but the actual government was run by a guy, well, I don’t want this to be a spoiler.
But he was at a place they visited where it was raining pretty hard.
BTW, I have the whole series on a thumb drive, all narated by the author. And I have a 3 hour daily commute...
You mean the pan-dimensional mice?
CC
In the beginning the Universe was created.
This has made a lot of people very angry and been widely regarded as a bad move.
Exactly.
We’re just talking about the government in our dimension here. :-)
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