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Leo Torres never actually decided to run for office. But Jane and he did agree to attend their local weekly neighborhood association meeting.
Participants in the Alphabet Streets Revolutionary Circle congregated into a raucous, noisy crowd. He didn’t like the smell of hundreds of people packed into a school gymnasium, and the acoustics changed the cacophony of talk into a painful roar.
Jane, on the other hand, fit in without a thought. She introduced herself to everyone whose attention she could get, she shook every new person’s hand, and she enthusiastically hugged the ones she knew, including Paul Kerr.
“What are you doing here?” Leo shouted at the older man.
“Came to nominate you,” he shouted back as he guided Leo and Jane toward folding chairs in the front row.
A gavel pounded and the noise began to subside as they sat down. “With my nomination,” Kerr continued, “you are almost certain to win tonight. Then you have to go to similar meetings for the borough, the city, and the state. You shouldn’t have any trouble at any of them, then you start your national campaign. Is that OK?”
Leo didn’t answer, but he felt uncomfortably that the decisions had already been made. Leo Torres was only a reluctant cog in some giant machine with its own unknown purposes. He looked over at Jane in hopes of finding some note of guidance, but she was twisting in her seat to shake hands with the people in the row behind. He felt a pinge of envy. Jane Early had never learned to be afraid.
When at last the meeting formally began, Leo was almost immediately bored. They dealt with allocations of essentials, with work assignments and special committees, and with what seemed like endless squabbles between different groups of participants.
Speakers needed strong amplification to be heard over the crowd, because many of them were continuing their own conversations, including Paul Kerr.
“Here’s how it works,” he said, “I nominate you and then you get up and say you accept the nomination. Won’t take any more than that.”
“I don’t think I could speak to a big crowd like this,” Leo protested.
“Yes, you can, I am right now, while this is happening, going to teach you everything I know about public speaking. You won’t really need it tonight, but you will make a lot of speeches before the campaign is over.
‘So here it is: Number One: have some idea what you want to say. Doesn’t have to be thought out, just some idea.
‘Number Two, keep your hands free. We talk with our hands.
‘Number Three, never straighten your knees. Stay in a slight crouch through your presentation. Bend your knees for emphasis. You’ll be surprised what a difference it makes.
‘Number four and most important, always have a smash ending, even if it doesn’t make any sense or fit in with the rest of the presentation. Most people will only remember your ending. Got it?”
Leo numbly stared ahead. Jane, with a big smile, was twisting and straining to look over the crowd.
The chairperson, a woman with a high, squeaky voice that was exactly suitable in effectively piercing the restless noise, introduced what she called “Topic twelve:” “We’re going to deal with something tonight that is a lot more long-term and a lot broader than the usual problems. We have been asked to take the first steps in a national, perhaps even worldwide, discussion about how we should govern ourselves. I’m going to introduce Paul Kerr from the Administration…”
The noise waned, then finally, stopped.
The woman continued, “This will be the first time we’ve ever had Paul Kerr here in person, although he assures me that he’s watched us, and lots of other meetings, on the internet. Paul Kerr is of course a central figure in our revolution. For over a year now, he and the Administration have been guiding events in our area and around the world. We are honored; I am honored to have him here in the Alphabet Streets tonight. Siblings and comrades, Paul Kerr!”
The applause was strong and, as far as Leo could see, unanimous. Although he had known and worked with Kerr since he first began to be involved, he had never seen him like this, as a public figure. He wondered if the meeting participants saw Kerr as he did, as an older and wiser man with good humor and an easygoing way. The applause made Leo realize, for the first time, that Kerr was not just an adviser, but a commander!
Kerr began with a simple slogan, “Never back, always forward.” Then he raised his arms and said it again in rhythm, “Never back, always forward.” He crouched lower and said it even louder, insistently. Before he finished the third repetition, he had the crowd chanting with him. With both hands, he gestured for the audience to rise. They sang louder and louder “Never back, always forward! Never back, always forward! Never back, always forward” until the entire meeting was on their feet, every voice was strong, and everybody in the room was completely focused on Paul Kerr and what he had to say.
The chanting turned to applause as Kerr used both hands again to indicate that people should sit down. All conversations had stopped. Through the silence, Paul Kerr began to speak.
“Alphabet City, you are a model. You are exactly the kind of organization that is needed everywhere. You are democratic, you are thoughtful, you are positive, and above all you are strong.” He hesitated only slightly and applause interrupted him on cue.
Kerr spoke more quietly now. The crowd leaned forward to listen.
“Organizations like yours have to be replicated everywhere. And they have to find some way to stitch themselves together into an ongoing process to fulfill the needs of humanity. Up to now, we’ve been dealing with everything on an emergency footing, and we’ve done pretty well but it can’t last. We are going to have to set up a process in which everybody, worldwide, works together to meet every human need and to do it without displacing or forgetting anyone. This is not a simple process.
‘It’s a monumental process, but we aren’t afraid of monumental processes. Look at what our revolution has accomplished already!” Applause again rippled through the crowd.
Kerr continued, “Beginning tonight and right here in the Alphabet City meeting, we will create a world government. It may take some time, but we have to start. We will begin by selecting delegates from every meeting like yours tonight. These delegates will become candidates to represent more organizations like yours and, eventually, they will take their place at a world conference to propose a set of rules that all humanity can live by. Then those proposals will be taken back through the state meetings and the regional meetings and on and on until they end up being proposed to the basic organizations such as your own.
‘If it’s ratified, it will become the set of rules that we will live by. You could call it a government, but it will not be like any government ever known in history, because it will not be based on the needs of the few, not on the needs of a group or a class of people, but on the needs and aspirations of all.
‘We don’t know what that will look like. It will take the best thinking of everyone concerned, that is everyone, to carry out this process and create this final product.”
Kerr gave the audience a long pause to consider what he had told them, then changed the course of his talk. “The first step is tonight. The first step is now. I am going to propose a delegate to you.” He pointed into the crowd. “If you elect him, he will go to the borough meeting, then the state, and finally the nation. If he is elected, he will sit on a world council. It starts with you
‘The leaders in the Administration gave this a lot of thought. They considered me and other Administration members for the candidate, but they recognized that this whole process may take considerable time, and they decided that we are needed in the Administration to keep things going day to day. Also, we wanted someone younger, someone who is more like the youthful activists who made this revolution happen. We wanted someone who has stood the test of fire and could be counted on to carry us always forward and never back. Finally, there was a practical consideration. We wanted a candidate who could win, and that meant choosing someone who is already known, already trusted, already respected, already LOVED in this revolution.”
Kerr paused slightly again, then continued in the same tone, but quickly crouched down and changed once again to a roar of enthusiasm, “Siblings and comrades, the Administration chose Leo Torres.” He gestured for Leo to come forward, then began another chant, “LEO TORRES! LEO TORRES! LEO TORRES!” He returned to his seat and left Leo staring out at the chanting and applauding crowd.
Leo tried to bend his knees. He tried to think of a smash opening or a smash ending, but all thoughts eluded him. As the chanting and noise subsided, everyone was listening for Leo to speak.
“Ah,” he mumbled into the microphone, “I’ll do my best.” There was no response. Perhaps no one heard him.
He tried speaking louder and more directly to the microphone, “I really will try my best.” To strong applause, Leo Torres then resumed his seat by Jane, who was clapping and laughing madly. Paul Kerr smiled and applauded. Jane Early congratulated him with a frenzied kiss as he sank down low in his chair and wished hard for invisibility.