Platforms
Although I enjoy speaking to crowds, I think I would make a lousy politician. The popularity contest that is an election would bring out my most craven qualities, and I would end up like a writer changing his story’s ending for every reader. Still, this hasn’t prevented me from developing my own bipartisan platform, which, lacking a convention, I will share with you now: First, conservatives always preach the importance of self-reliance, and so would I. The finest people in the world to hang around with are those who best understand that they alone are responsible for their own wellbeing. If I think you can do or say something that will make me unhappy, then I must control you, mustn’t I? After all, I only want to be happy, to be at peace, and if you can gum that up somehow, then you’ve got to be dealt with. Plus, have you ever tried to make someone happy? It’s exhausting and frustrating. No matter how beautifully you sing, no matter how funny your jokes are, that other person can still choose to be unhappy. Completely ungrateful, but there it is.
Meanwhile, liberals preach the power of community and shared responsibility, and so would I. The only true form of self-reliance is love. In fact, all we ever rely on for our happiness is love, which arrives as soon as it is asked for. Love defies the laws of physics; it has no cause and effect—it simply is.
Moreover, as James Joyce noted, “Love loved loves to love.” This is an economical expression of the unique physics of love. In the material world, if I give you a dollar, I have one less dollar; if I give you my coat, I have one less coat. In the world of love, the moment I give love I have more love. We can only ever want more love, it is impossible for us to want less of it, and so if you understand that you have love, you will be in a constant search for a means to share love.
I don’t know how this would translate into policy – either foreign or tax – but it would be the only platform upon which I could honestly stand. I have heard, however, that writers are now encouraged to seek platforms from which to share their work. I’m not sure if the aforementioned is what publishers are referring to. They probably mean something more like an online magazine, to which I say: Same thing.
Remember to catch Bill every Tuesday at 2:00 PM PST/5:00 EST on his live Blogtalk Radio program Author2Author!
