Within every society there are opposing forces, those who wish to keep things as they are, whether to protect vested interests, or to keep body and soul together in a slow growing economy, because it is the only way you know how. Opposing them are those who wish to change the world, to make things better for everyone. These two opposing positions tend to also represent those who are optimistic about what we as a nation can do, and those who have learned the lessons that change is hard. Change often only gets you part way to where you’d like to be. And so it goes. The opposing forces seeking to take us to either a safe haven or a new and better world for everyone.
In the first two millennia of the US, it was clear in the governmental elections that leaders prepared themselves rigorously before stepping into the arena. Most worked their way up in a variety of governmental jobs or elected positions, learning how the system works and how government can address the needs of the people it was designed to serve.
"In the first two millennia of the US, it was clear in the governmental elections that leaders prepared themselves rigorously before stepping into the arena. Most worked their way up in a variety of governmental jobs or elected positions, learning how the system works and how government can address the needs of the people it was designed to serve."
In the rare instances when a leader came from business or academia to the top position in our system, they tended to be less successful than those who came from within. Herbert Hoover, was a case in point. But now the expectations have all changed. Candidates denigrate those who work within the system to learn how to drive before taking the wheel. They say we have to blow up the system because it has become corrupt and filled with only self-interested individuals. There is some truth to this observation, but blowing up the only system you have known carries dangers that cannot be predicted with any degree of accuracy. There are always unanticipated consequences.
Succession is a novel about blind ambition and the collateral effects resulting from blowing up the system. It is a cautionary tale that asks important questions about our political system and how giving in to those who would change everything may not be the panacea we are seeking. It also reveals how the blind ambitious may not be at all what they seem to the public or themselves.