The Mech Touch

The vision that Shederin Purnesse painted of the future of the Larkinson Clan was bold.

As a former public servant and a regular in the halls of power of the Grand Loxic Republic, it was natural for the distinguished old man to base his ideas around his background.

It was his specialty. He might not know anything about mech design and only possessed a shallow understanding about military operations, but when it came to governance, the only people who surpassed him in this broad and deep field were other Purnessers!

Though the current state of the Larkinson Clan was considerably different from that of a second-rate state, there were enough parallels for Shederin to apply his framework. After months of constant observations and studies, the ambitious diplomat finally unveiled his grand plan that would hopefully make the clan more stable and prosperous as it expanded in scale.

"The Larkinson Clan cannot go on in its current trajectory." Shederin emphasized. "While there shouldn't be any issue in the short term, think of how much we have grown already and how much further the Larkinson Clan can go. What if it expands to a million members? What if the headcount surpasses 10 million? It might take years or decades to reach this point, but by that time the cracks will already become apparent."

Ves leaned back on his chair and clasped his hands. "I'm not arguing against the necessity of changing the governance structure. I don't want to lose control and allow my own clan to diverge from my original intentions. Right now, I'm not hearing a lot of reassurances. From what I can gather from the outline of your plan, you intend to formalize and expand the authority and autonomy of all of the ranks. This is why you have suggested transforming our departments into ministries."

The ministers in charge of these new ministries wielded a lot of power. While they had to answer to the patriarch, the vice patriarch and possibly the Larkinson Assembly, for the most part they possessed the authority to rule their own ministries as their own little kingdoms.

Shederin did not look concerned. "I do not see this as a change from the norm. Instead, it is more akin to formalizing what is already the case. Just think about it. General Verle in charge of the military. Chief Operating Officer Raymond Billingsley-Larkinson is in charge of the LMC. Director Ranya Wodin-Larkinson is in charge of the Larkinson Biotech Institute. While not all of them will become ministers according to my plan, there is no doubt that you have already been investing a considerable amount of authority and legitimacy in leaders you trust."

The unspoken premise here was whether this was a good model to keep as the Larkinson Clan continued to grow in scope. Executive positions became a lot more critical once they began to affect the future of millions or even billions of people.

The amount of damage a deviant could do when holding so much authority was quite devastating!

The Larkinson State Plan served to address these potential issues by adding more checks and balances to the governance structure of the clan.

The Larkinson Assembly gained more input into the appointment and dismissal of the ministers. This allowed the legislative organ to find pliable officials to enact the laws it passed.

Ves frowned when he thought about this detail. "According to your vision, the expanded executive institutions of the Larkinson Clan would become a lot more politicized. The ministries won't be led by strictly neutral or competent leaders anymore."

"Don't disparage the political process too soon, patriarch. While I am aware that your experiences with politicians are less than pleasant, in most of these cases you were considered an outsider who did not play the same game as theirs. This is different. You will not only be taking part in the same game, but you shall be doing so in the capacity as the game master. You can rig the game in your favor whenever you wish."

Shederin's basic argument was that politics would rise within the Larkinson Clan sooner or later. Anytime a lot of people gathered, disagreements quickly followed. The process of mediating these differences and deciding which stance to adopt was the basic process of politics.

"Politics is a noble and sacred process." Shederin summarized.

"Politics can be a noble and righteous process." Ves corrected. "In practice, as soon as anyone gets a sliver of power, they tend to get overboard with what they can do. It is human nature to enjoy wealth and power. While I don't mind if people indulge a bit, what if they go further?"

Shederin smirked. "That is what checks and balances are for. Humanity has spent millenia developing and perfecting different governance models. The right one for a given state depends on which stakeholders you take into consideration and what goals they possess. For example, a typical corporation answers to its shareholders, so it does not need to pay too much attention to the wishes of the workforce. A modern state mostly answers to the people and family who founded it, though the will of the population has become a lot more important. The balance of power between the ruling forces and the general population differs from state to state."

"How does the Larkinson Clan fit in this framework?" Ves curiously asked.

"In my judgement, the Larkinson Clan is a combination of a despotic state and a corporate state. It also has the trappings of a stratocracy, but not enough for it to be of any concern. I would call it a militaristic state instead."

"What the hell do these words mean?"

Shederin patiently extended his hands. "Let us consider them one by one. I'm sure you can already guess the meaning of a despotic state. It is simply a state that is dominated by a single individual. In our case, this obviously applies due to the immense amount of influence and decision-making power you hold. If you suddenly go missing, the rest of the clan will either collapse or fall into an immediate crisis. This is one of the clear indicators of a despotic state."

He was right. Ves had never shied away from the fact that the clan was supposed to be his personal kingdom. However, it was too crass to state this truth on the surface. This was why he marketed his clan in a manner that made it sound as if he was doing it for the good of the Larkinsons and that the average citizens were actually able to participate.

"L'état c'est moi." Ves quoted.

Shederin looked impressed. "Your pronunciation is horrible, but it is remarkable that you know this saying. You are more learned than I thought."

Ves shrugged. "I used to watch a lot of action dramas in my youth. A lot of bad guys tend to be evil kings and emperors and so on. Anyone who is pretentious and tries to be sophisticated quotes those words."

"..."

Novilon Purnesse softly spoke up. "I agree with my father's assessment. The Larkinson Clan is a state that is dominated by a single individual. This means that our clan shares the same disadvantages of any other despotic state."

"Like what?"

"Let us consider the states that you have interacted with in the past. The Bright Republic is a typical example of a relatively young state in the galactic rim. It is a state founded by a group of wealthy colonists who assumed great risk and invested their fortunes in the hopes of reaping great benefits. The ruling families that the colonists have formed have been controlling the Bright Republic in a disguised form. Though the state appears to be an enlightened democratic republic on the surface, in truth everyone knows who is in charge. We call that a plutocracy. The Vesia Kingdom is a more obvious form of this kind of state. At least nobles do not bother lying about their right to rule."

Plutocracies were common among newer states as the people and organizations who put all of their effort in founding new colonies did not go through all of that trouble to allow 'the people' to reap all of the benefits!

The only 'people' who were allowed to hold on to the reins of power were the founders of a state and their descendants or successors. If this wasn't possible, then who would want to spend so much money and take so many risks to settle new planets?

"Despotic states are founded with selfish intentions in mind. The implications of this is that their long-term futures are always uncertain. As long as the mismatch between the will of the despots and the will of the people grows large enough, the latter may overthrow the former."

Ves looked skeptical. "What about the Greater Terran United Confederation? What about the New Rubarth Empire? You can argue that both first-rate superstates are ruled by a small cabal of rulers as well, but they seem to be doing fine after all this time."

Both Shederin and Novilon chuckled.

"We do not share the same assessment. The ancient clans of Terra and the Rubarthan emperor may still cling to their thrones, but their seats are riddled with cracks. At the end of the Age of Conquest, the Mech Trade Association and the Common Fleet Alliance have humbled the first-rate superstates. No ruler can stay in power forever. Even the Big Two shall fall one day. The only uncertainty is the timeframe in which this happens. It may take a hundred years. It may take a thousand years. As long as the MTA and CFA become too detached to the people suffering under their oppression, a violent course correction cannot be avoided."

Ves frowned deeper. "This is too abstract for me. Let's take this back to the clan. Why is it bad that my clan is a despotic state?"

"It is too risky." Shederin replied. "Neither you or the clansmen will benefit if the clan has become too dependent on a single individual. This is its current state and that has resulted in too many improvisations and delays because of your frequent absences. If we can reform the hierarchy of the clan to shift more power and responsibility to the middle layers, the clan administration will be able to accomplish more without relying too much on you. Your personal intervention may be merited back when the clan only consisted of a thousand or so people, but it is no longer appropriate now that it has grown to this scale. The clan would be better served if professional politicians and bureaucrats run the various functions."

"On whose behalf?" Ves pressed. "On one hand, you have stated that the clan should still serve my interests. On the other hand, you also emphasize the need to let others have their say."

Shederin nodded. "Even you already understand the necessity of having the will of the people on your side. For now, you are still able to dominate the opinions of a hundred-thousand Larkinsons, but what about the future? The clansmen may remain loyal to you, but that does not stop them from having opposing opinions. There are already clear signs of divisions when you consider groups such as the Ylvainans, the Penitent Sisters, the trueblood Larkinsons and so on. Each of them have distinctly different priorities, and many of them clash against each other. These divisions will only grow worse over time."

"That's what the Larkinson Assembly is for." Ves pointed out.

"That is true, but that is not enough. The Assembly is too dry and none of the assembly members wield any direct power. The people need to see a more direct form of representation, and the ministers are the most suitable people to advance the causes of the majority."

"So what your reforms are essentially trying to accomplish is to counterbalance my rule by empowering the average clan members, is that right?"

"Yes, patriarch."

"Why would I give up power in the first place?"

"Because you have no choice." Shederin said in a deceptively calm voice. "If the clan proceeds along its current course, your ability to control it will become increasingly more tenuous. Instead of leaving everything to fate and risk losing control, it is better for you to initiate a more deliberate power-transfer process. The benefit of doing so on your own initiative is that you can decide how much power you want to give up and what sort of rights you grant to the representatives of the people."

The general assumptions behind Shederin Purnesse's reforms were twofold.

First, the will of the Larkinson clansmen would eventually diverge from Ves' own intentions.

Second, the clansmen would continue to grow more powerful as a whole as they continued to rise in numbers.

Ves questioned these assumptions.