The Land of Reason

Once upon a time there was a Land ruled by Reason.

In the Land of Reason, people were very much like people are here, except for one tiny difference; in the Land of Reason, people argued on the basis of ideas, rather than emotions. Everyone had such confidence in their own ideas and ideals that no one felt it necessary to push opponents' emotional buttons to win the day. Anyone whose arguments failed to persuade an opponent didn't look for someone to bear the blame, but instead took their arguments back to the drawing board and shop. Sometimes people were even persuaded by sound argument and good ideas to switch sides.

No one in the Land of Reason could even imagine arguing on any other basis. Appeals to fear or greed or vanity or any other emotion were considered the tactics of someone who lacked confidence in their ideas, and no one wanted to be thought so weak in their convictions.

It wasn't that the Reasonables (to give the inhabitants of the Land of Reason a name) were unfeeling. On the contrary, they were passionate advocates of their chosen points of view, and that passion drove them. What it didn't do was drive them to 'cheat,' when the only honorable way to win the day was to present a superior argument for a superior idea.

Reasonable voters did their very best to understand the ideas presented on the ballot, and to vote according to that understanding. Reasonable politicians knew that the only way to win the support of their constituents was to articulate a Good Idea persuasively and rationally. Reasonable judges were swayed by evidence and logic only. No Reasonable leader stooped to name-calling or inflammatory rhetoric or "talking points." Every Reasonable leader answered the questions put to them, as accurately and honestly as they could, for they knew that Reasonable voters wouldn't support a leader who was evasive or spiteful or unReasonable.

The Land of Reason had its problems; despite everyone's best efforts, sometimes they tried ideas that in the end just didn't work. But its problems were mostly amenable to Reason, and so the troubles the Reasonables faced tended to be resolved pretty painlessly.

Once upon a time there was a Land ruled by Reason...