Operation: Smash the State

After some due consideration and strategizing, I've decided that it would be an amusing exercise to run for UC (Harvard's Student Government) President this coming year in November and December. According to the rules, I only need 150 names and a running mate to make it on to the ballot.

Beyond the simple amusement of running as an outsider, I think it's an interesting way to set up an experiment to test the validity of Hannah Arendt's "Origins of Totalitarianism," which I've been reading lately. If you haven't checked it out, her thesis essentially attributes the rise of dictatorial power in the 1940s and 1950s to the interaction between the mass and the mob. The former is the body of largely silent, frusturated, and apathetic individuals that make up the majority of society. They desire to act out their sadistic tendencies, but lack an outlet. The latter consists of the disaffected and marginalized "elites" of society that spill their anger into the mass and mobilize them to take action.

While I won't be wielding power dictatorially, she essentially presents an interesting model for tapping power and support. My constitutency will depend on --

a) The Disaffected Mass (Quick analysis demonstrates that over 80% of the student body doesn't vote)
b) The Disaffected Mob (Failed UC Candidates from years past, disgrunted House Committees)

My position will be simple -- pare down the UC, dismantle it, and give more money to the Houses to do with as they will.

But more important than any real positions I would actually hold about student life, will be the aesthetic sell of the campaign. Most apathetic people will weigh their support of me based on amusing they think I am and how sadistic they feel in screwing with the UC. (Since the UC tends to be associated with a special brand of smarmy Harvard child, I don't think this will be a problem.)

Our aesthetic will be notably awesome and eyecatching in comparison to the recycled posters of years past. Examples to be forthcoming.

I'm thinking for a uniform, it'll be a black jumpsuit with a collared button-up and a black tie. The logo of our campaign will be "$"

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Also, highly recommended: Killing Yourself To Live, Chuck Klosterman.

[I'll be on hiatus until Sunday. Headed up to Washington D.C. to visit one Garret Rose, a long-time ally of the Umbrella movement, this weekend. We'll be discussing long-term policy, details to follow]