All Fone One: Regime Diabolique - The Setup

So, as most people who know me know, I am a big fan of games.   In the past few years I have gotten a lot of my friends into gaming by hosting gatherings where playing games is the primary activity.   More recently I have started to get back into playing longer, narrative based games.   This article will talk about my experiences with one such game.

The game we played at this particular session was called All For One: Regime Diabolique.   This game is based heavily on The Three Musketeers.   The game is set in an alternate universe 1636 France where the Musketeers protect the king and the nation from threats that are both mundane and supernatural.   This is a world where the musketeers not only have to contend with the nefarious schemes of Cardinal Richelieu but also with witches, werewolves, and other creatures from the horror genre.

All For One uses a generic ruleset called Ubiquity which emphasizes storytelling and cinematic action.  I have a few games that use the Ubiquity rules and apply those rules to different settings so it's a system I felt confident in using.

Three of the players were people I knew were experienced in role playing games and in fact we had a played RPGs as a group before.   The next player was new to RPGs but had experience with table top games.   The last two players were unknown quantities.  People who had expressed interest but who I didn't know all that well.

The players first step was creating their characters.  Because the game is about swashbuckling musketeers some skills are automatically given to the players.   Basically any character in the game is expected to be able to ride a horse, fight with a sword, shoot a gun, and do all the general athletic stuff that you see in swashbuckler movies like swing on a rope or scale a wall.

Once the characters were made the story of the game could begin and that is what we will cover next time...

Creating a Meritocratic Government

Another long one so bear with me.... or don't, nobody is forcing you down this particular rabbit hole.

So, in the interest of full disclosure, this started off with me "poking the bear" which, in this case, was one of my more populist friends. Still, it sent me down an avenue of thought that I found rather intriguing. Also, I know this is not going to happen but this is an exercise in philosophy rather than policy.

So anyway, reforming government....

To me the biggest problem with government is that there is little to no correlation between the qualities that make a successful politician and the qualities that make a good leader. In fact I would go so far as to say that the people who make the best politicians may be the least qualified to actually lead. Add to that the fact that our system incentivizes people to become career politicians and then use their insider knowledge as lobbyists... It seems fundamentally broken.

So, what do we do about it? In the first article below Andy Rooney suggests giving people a test to see who would be the best leader and putting that person in charge. While his argument falls apart when he starts suggesting ideology based questions and flippantly disregards the need for a neutral scorer I think his idea has merit.

Instead of testing for ideology we could test for the areas that would make an effective leader regardless of ideology. Knowledge of history, how the government works, basic scientific literacy, critical thinking.... whatever we think our leaders need to be good at. I don't pretend that I am the one who should be making this test but I am certain a group of experts who have studied these fields can design test questions that can't be "cheated". Then all we have to do is have a computer score the test and give that person the job.

The next step is to make the test free to take. We can have other gatekeeping measures such as requiring the test takers be of a certain age or meet citizenship requirements, we could mandate that the test taker has a college degree and isn't a convicted felon but gatekeeping measures should be kept to a minimum since doing otherwise defeats the purpose of a meritocracy.

Also, because our society seems to value local representation, we could offer the test in each state or district and continue to give each district a local member. If, however, we plan on maintaining single member districts we should adopt a system like the one here in Iowa that prevents gerrymandering.

Another option would be to offer a second test for ideology to ensure the new government is representative as well as qualified but other demographic information should not be a factor. Finally we would still need a constitution to limit what the government can do and protect basic rights like free speech, fair trial, etc. While tyranny of the intellectuals may not be as bad as tyranny of the masses I still believe that tyranny should be avoided whenever possible.

OK so now that we have reformed our electoral system to create a meritocracy; let's talk about reforming government. In education it is common practice to require students to be in class and, if they miss too many classes, then we don't allow them to take the test. This system could be adopted for congress. Require members to actually be on the House/Senate floor and, if they miss too many sessions, bar them from becoming a candidate the next time around. Additionally; legislators should not be able to raise their own salary. The salary of a legislator should match the median annual income for a person with a college degree in the nation. This would ensure that legislators economic interests were pegged to those of their constituents. It may also be logical to start legislators out at 1.5 times the average and lower it over time. Other safeguards could ensure that legislators would have to do their own taxes or be part of whatever public education or health system they enact.

Will any of this ever happen, no it won't. Still I believe there is some utility in thinking about systems of government even if it for purely philosophical reasons.

Thinking About Law School

Ok this is going to be a longer one so please, bear with me. I wanted to offer some commentary about a subject that has been really important to me for the last couple of years... law school. I know a lot has been written on law school and what it's like and whats wrong with it and I am going to try to avoid sounding like a pre-law advisor.

Anyway, law school, I have loved my time here but I see where the complaints come from. It isn't a perfect system by any means. Really, more than other educational programs, it seems to incentivize bad behavior. What do I mean by that:

First of all law school is competitive, by it's nature it's competitive, and thats not necessarily a bad thing. A desire to be the best and to be recognized is, in my opinion, the right mindset to have as it drives us to better ourselves and to achieve things. The problem with law school is that it instills a competitive mindset with only a token effort to encourage people to compete honorably. Now I don't know if the stories you hear about people hiding books or popping aderall or any of that are true but I know that they are believable and perhaps that is enough. We have created an environment where doing these things is seen as "reasonable" behavior.

The other thing law school does wrong is encourages a tragedy of the commons mindset... funny when you consider that during the first year we got at least one lesson on that work. Anyway, law school incentivizes people to take as much for themselves as possible regardless of whether or not they actually want it. This makes an already competitive environment much more so. I think this is also part of the reason law school evokes so many unpleasant memories in people, because they see it as three years of going after what everyone else wanted, usually for no high purpose than self aggrandizment.

That brings us, rather perfectly, into my next point. John Grisham once had one of his characters opine that meetings his fellow law students brought with it a sense of camaraderie because despite where they came from or even what they planned to do they all loved the law and that meant they all had some commonality. I don't know if that is really true. Yes I think some people actually do want to study law and find it engaging and even exciting. I think other people are here because they think is expected of them or because they don't know what they want to do and this seemed like a way of delaying that ultimate decision.

So, short of becoming the dean, how does one improve law school? I suppose I would answer: "by being a better law student". I have held out a few qualities that I believe an exemplary law student has. He is driven to succeed on his merits but also competes in a manner that is honorable. Additionally, he is motivated by intrinsic rather than extrinsic forces. Doing what he wants to do rather than what people tell him he should do or what will serve to pad his resume.

This paints a pretty grim picture and, like I said, I have really enjoyed law school. I think part of this is because I was able to surround myself with good people who share at least some of my philosophy. Also, maybe it is quixotic to expect an established system to get better because I spent a half hour getting philosophical about it but... it certainly can't hurt to pose the questions.

Greatest Hits - Facebook Edition

So, in an effort to preserve some of my most profound prose and poetic ponderings I have gone back over the last few months of my Facebook activity and picked out my favorite status updates to be reprinted here for posterity.... or the three* of you who actually read my blog.

It all started when I decide to try to convince my undergrad friends to visit me in Iowa.   They have not yet done so but that in no way makes the following paragraph any less entertaining.

"Dear closest friends from Franklin Pierce: I trust you are aware that I am in law school and would welcome a visit from old friends. . .

Accordingly, and with authority, I advise, nay appoint, you to assemble our most amicable of associates, not mere acquaintances but appreciated allies and arrive so accompanied at my present area for the advancement of activities alternatively amusing and awesome. I am adamant that such action at least be attempted and not airily abandoned afore the achievement is accomplished. By your appearance you will all be assured to acquire my absolute admiration and affection. Hopefully this alliteration alone is adequate to attain your attention and arouse your ambition. I await your answer, hopefully acquiescent and not apologetic, with abundant anticipation."
___________________________________________________________________________________
After that I felt a need to try something like that again and luckily I found inspiration in an unlikely place... my first law school test.

"My friends. . .

We must not let this much maligned midterm make misanthropes of us. Instead of allowing melancholy, misery, and madness to manifest in our minds we must maintain morale and trust in our merits to mitigate our myriad of misgivings about this mandatory multiple choice monstrosity as we meet it on the morrow not with mere memorization but with a magnificent mastery of the material and it's meaning.

I hope this made your mood merrier at least momentarily. . ."

After a friend of mine said he felt like he had become part of "some messed up version of sesame street for adults" I decided to stop with the alliterations for awhile.
___________________________________________________________________________________

I would not be the first law student to notice that eventually you start seeing law issues everywhere but even I was impressed at myself for seeing a contracts hypo in the climax of one of my favorite movies.

"Luke, strike down your father and your transformation to the dark side will be complete!

This offer may only be accepted by performance of actually striking down your father also known as Anakin Skywalker or Darth Vader. Turning to the dark side entitles you to other valuable consideration such as the use of force lightning. Any disputes rising out of this agreement will be heard in the courts of Coruscant but will apply the substantive and procedural laws of Tatooine. This offer expires at such time as Lord Vader rebels against the offeror and throws him down the reactor of a Death Star."

I would go on to note that the reason for the choice of law clause was that only a "wretched hive of scum and villainy" would uphold a contract that calls for patricide.

___________________________________________________________________________________
 Time went on and I thought it would be funny to juxtapose the joy of Christmas with the soul crushing stress brought on by finals...  also I was having computer trouble at the time.

Twas the seventh day of finals and law school gave to me:
Seven study groups
Six AM wake ups
Five hours of sleep!
Four major tests
Three review sessions
Two nervous breakdowns
And a dying laptop battery!
___________________________________________________________________________________
This idea continued with my spoof of "A Visit From St. Nicholas"

Twas the night after finals and all through the town
Law students were drinking, their sorrows to drown
The classrooms were empty, the lights were all dim
The very last bluebooks had all been turned in

Professors were grading with sinister glee
Taking pleasure in torturing 1L's like me
Still I had studied and I did my best
I was pretty sure I had passed every test

I was sitting and nursing my third or fourth drink
When all of a sudden I started to think
The semester was over and I had survived
Against all the odds I was still alive
___________________________________________________________________________________
Finally, we have my newest favorite status update, a tribute to procrastination and my hatred for writing assignments that seem to value style and minutia over substance.

Once upon a night distressing, I was writing (just BS'ing)
Working on this paper given just to cause me grief
While I typed and then deleted, feeling ever so defeated
As each point I just repeated working on this cursed brief
"This is punishment" I muttered working on this cursed brief

My workload I wasn't denting, with each phrase I was inventing
Now my sorrow unrelenting raised inside me one belief
"This is pointless" I was thinking, as my hopes continued sinking
Driven just halfway to drinking working on this cursed brief
Then I sought out some relief

For the cold I started dressing, the distraction was a blessing
For once I simply wasn't stressing, stressing on this cursed brief
For a walk I would be going, though the winds would still be blowing
For one hour I'd be knowing some small measure of relief.
Then back to this cursed brief...
___________________________________________________________________________________






























*Yes I realize that three may be overselling it a bit

Revelations Upon Revelations

So I guess it's been awhile.

Well I suppose I should start by saying that I didn't win the election... at least not the one I really invested myself in.   It was kind of crushing at the time but I've moved past it.   I've also decided to give up on politics for awhile, maybe forever.   The fact is I am far too sensitive and when I lose I let it get to me more than I should.   I think I am done with anything that involves a risk of rejection and, for the time being, I will stick to things that fall with in the scope of my talents.

I would like to find a balance between staying in and spending entirely too much time in my own head and going out to bars or parties that are fun but not exactly conducive to conversation, at least not the kind of deep introspective conversation I have been craving as of late.   The problem is that there are so few people with whom I feel comfortable having those kinds of conversations...   I have not been all that successful at trying to lower my guard.   I have learned, however, that I have been wearing my heart on my sleeve far more frequently and to a far greater extent that I had previously believed.

Yet not everything is as disconcerting as it would seem.   No matter what happens I keep remembering that not long after I got here I felt, for the first time, like perhaps I was being driven by or driven to some greater purpose.   There are some ideas which cannot be abandoned and some stories which must be followed until their conclusions.

Until next time my dear reader...

Midnight Thoughts

So it's been awhile.   I suppose that's to be expected since life has been kind of hectic lately.   The new semester has started and with that comes a new set of challenges.   Classes are going well so far as they often do.   I am also resuming my role as the organizer and de facto leader of my study group.

Outside of class life remains.... complicated.   Some of the big plans I made over break have had to be tabled because of circumstances outside my control.   I am running for student office again and I feel good about my chances.   I have already promised not to slip into melancholy if I lose.   My social life is going strong but something is missing.   Maybe it's just that last semester raised my expectations but I think it's something more... identifiable.

It's funny that I have used two ellipses so far.  In formal writing ellipses are used to replace omitted words but I don't know if I got the joke all those years ago when I started using them to indicate subtext or a deeper meaning.   I suppose I could just come out and be blunt about things but that would defeat the purpose.   Maybe that's also the reason I spend a lot of time trying to think of the most clever way to say thins and just as much time wondering if I was too clever and it went over the heads of my intended audience.  Still, at least most of the time, I find that the people who are closest to me never seem to have any trouble understanding what I am trying very hard NOT to say.   At the same time I am finding it easier to be honest with people.   There have always been areas of my life about which I have been notoriously tight-lipped but now I find that to be changing.   Perhaps it's because I have newfound confidence or perhaps it's because I no longer feel compelled to project a perfect facade.

So I suppose this is as good a place as any to end.   As this article has been more cathartic than expository I will probably not link it to Facebook.   If you are reading this and we find ourselves in conversation please feel free to mention it so I know that at least someone is reading my blog.

Until I write again,


Adam

2012 Year in Review - My Life in Law School

So now I present the part of the story you've all been waiting for.   I said that this is, in many ways, a story worth telling and I stand by that.   It's also a story that is far from over so that complicates things.   I don't want to bury the lead but at the same time I feel like I can't do this story justice without knowing the ending.   With that in mind I present the abridged version of my first semester of law school as well as a list of the top 5 most awesome moments/events.

It all starts with orientation.   Of course I was the first one to show up but I wasn't waiting long.   Those who know me well, actually those who know me at all, know that I am not type to let people in quickly but I found myself doing just that.   Perhaps this was part of my goal to reinvent myself and shed some of my own insecurities, perhaps it is a testament to the quality of some of the people I met here.   Either way... it happened.

After orientation came the start of classes.   I soon established a bit of a reputation as a "gunner" proving perhaps that despite my reinvention I am still me.   I actually enjoyed the classes I was taking... most of them anyway.   I also quickly fell into the social scene here both with extracurricular activites, including student government, and by going out to the bars and other social events.

Before long I had established a core group of friends but at the same time I endeavored to meet and get to know my whole section.   Perhaps my desire to establish myself as a leader both academically and socially led to a few hiccups here and there such as the less than stable lineup of my early study groups but for the most part the semester was a great experience.

Now it's over.   Finals have been taken and while a blizzard may have ruined my end of semester plans I am hopeful for the future and what it holds.

Now, as promised, the top 3 events of the first semester.   Yes there is a recurring theme to these events which further proves that I was right in declaring October to be 2012's "Month of Awesome."

3:  Barristers Ball - I was actually worried at one point that this night would end with me having to choose between honoring my responsibilities as a student leader and doing what I really wanted to do.   Needless to say I was happy when no such choice was required.   Instead it was a great party followed by a memorable journey through a maze of skywalks and finally the after party.   I am really looking forward to doing this again next year.

2:   Halloween Party - For those that know of both I am referring to the one where I was The Shadow not the one where I was Harry Potter.   First of all, how great is it that I was finally at a party where people knew who the Shadow was so I wasn't explaining the costume all night.   I have commented in the past that if someone took a picture of a perfect world and a picture of the world as it actually was on this night they would be unable to see any differences.

1:  Haunted House Night - OK if you didn't see this being at number one you were not there.   Every once in awhile I get a really good idea and this was one of them.   Five haunted houses, the opportunity to shoot zombies, a pitch black maze, ending the night with pizza, and featuring some of the most quotable moments of the semester.  This was a night that will be hard to top but I endeavor to try.

 My Life in 2012 - Part 1

So I know I said my next installment would wrap up the culture of 2012 but...  I lied.   That will come later.   For now I present my own personal reflections on my life in 2012.

The year 2012, for me at least, is really two different stories.   I think my time in NH and my time in Iowa really do seem like different stories each with a different cast of character and a different overarching life lesson.

The year started with the NH primary.   This was the first one that I just wasn't excited about.  I mean I like Mitt Romney and I think it's clear that out of everyone running he is the only one remotely qualified to lead a nation but... I think that was part of the problem.   Anyway perhaps the fact that the primary seems worth mentioning shows how uneventful the first few months of the year were.

As spring came around so too did my acceptance letters.   I remember when the first one arrived I was so overjoyed and a little lightheaded.   I immediately became convinced that it was where I was destined to go...  I guess I am entitled to be wrong once or twice over the centuries.   My moment of glory was, if not short lived, soon overshadowed by the arrival of my nephew who, despite his poor timing, I have grown quite fond of.   Perhaps it was unwise to form a new attachment so soon before I was to leave but what can I say?

In May I recieved an early birthday gift, a single perfect day, where I could do all the things I love doing including a trip to the IMAX 3D for the Avengers.   This experience was really special and was in no way dimished by the amazing things that are still to come.

Eventually the day I had been waiting for arrived.   Despite the best efforts of a certain national airline to delay me and ruin my plans I arrived roughly on time and no worse for wear.   Unpacking was a chore but it helped to fill the time between my arrival and the beginning of orientation.   In those first days I didn't really know anyone and in truth I had some moments of doubt about being in a new place so far from home.

Thus ends the tale of Adam Hanson.   Seriously that's the end of my story or at least the end of a major part of it.   My first day of law school orientation changes the narrative in such a profound way that it essentially becomes a new story with it's own cast of characters.   I will also say that it is shaping up to be a story worth telling and I will tell it next time... here on my blog!