section7mfu | Different Worlds - for the HOWDOWE Election Day challenge

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Different Worlds - for the HOWDOWE Election Day challenge

Thanks spikesgirl, for beta-ing for me.

November, 1960......

Different Worlds

Immediately his shift had been over, Illya had headed for the agents’ common room. Since then he had been glued to the television.

Over the past few months he had become increasingly interested in the election campaign. He’d watched often at work and had even contemplated buying a television, but had dismissed that thought as excessively frivolous. Instead he had listened to his radio.

This was, in fact, the first place he’d been made aware of what was going on. He had initially thought that Sinatra’s ‘High Hopes’ was playing until he’d listened more carefully to the words. Something about a man named Kennedy and ‘the opposition’ going ‘ker-plop’. He’d paid more attention than usual to the piece broadcast immediately afterwards. Apparently this Kennedy was in a race with another man called Hubert Humphrey, and he had a song, too.

Gradually he’d pieced the story together. He could have asked one of his colleagues, but he didn’t want to look stupid, so he’d researched the election process in the New York Public Library. It was all very confusing. But it also began to make sense of a number of things he had seen.

During the months before he had caught short news articles showing politicians making speeches and meeting the public. It had not struck him as anything out of the ordinary, it was common place to see Krushchev or some other Party official meeting farmers, steel workers and the like. He also had no idea what a Primary was so he’d paid little attention. It wasn’t until close to the end of this process that he had heard the song.

Soon after that, Nixon had entered the fray and this was a man he had heard of. Before coming to the United States less than a year ago, he’d had a briefing on important issues in the country and this had included information on the Vice President. From what he’d gathered he didn’t seem to do very much. Eisenhower appeared to agree.

But nobody had thought to mention the election...or the campaign.

One thing that never failed to surprise him was how critical they all were about each other. According to each of them they knew what they were doing, and everybody else was wrong. This was not something he was used to hearing; back home such debates would happen behind closed doors while the Party presented a united front. He found it compelling and alarming at the same time.

How was one supposed to choose? He was rather glad he didn’t have to.

*****

Napoleon was not surprised to find Illya in the common room. He had noticed him in there often watching the news.

“Hello there,” he said as he came to sit next to the Russian.

“Oh, hello.”

Napoleon was relieved that the man no longer leaped up when he was caught watching the television. He’d also finally stopped calling him ‘sir’. It had been a few months since they’d got royally blasted in Illya’s apartment and since then they had been spending an increasing amount of time together. Despite this they had never talked politics.

“So, are any results in yet?” Solo asked.

“Quite a few, Kennedy’s in the lead.”

“It’s early days yet,” Napoleon replied.

They watched for a while as a pundit speculated on the results in Ohio.

“So,” the American said. “You’ve been watching a lot?”

“Yes, it’s very interesting.”

“And I suppose a bit of a novelty.”

“You mean the television coverage?” Kuryakin replied.

“Er...well, no, I meant the voting.”

Illya turned to look at Napoleon, a puzzled look on his face.

“You know, we do vote in the Soviet Union,” he said.

“Oh.”

“In fact I seem to have spent half my life voting.”

“Er...sorry, I wasn’t implying...”

“Local Party representatives, Regional Party representatives, heads of local Soviets, etc. etc. etc.” Illya paused. “Of course, sometimes there’s only one candidate,” he added with a wry smile, his head tilting to one side.

Napoleon smiled back, it had taken a while but he was beginning to pick up on the Russian’s sense of humour.

“Then again,” Illya continued. “Sometimes we have a choice.”

“Sure,” Solo replied. “But they are all Communists.”

“And yours are all Capitalists.”

“Well, true, but that’s hardly the same. The parties are very different.”

Illya regarded the other man for a moment.

“I know they are to you,” Kuryakin said, “but I have difficulty telling them apart.”

“Seriously?”

“It took me a month to work out that the Republicans were the more right wing.”

“Are you kidding me?” Napoleon wondered if he was on the end of another obtuse Russian joke.

“Well, they’re called ‘Republicans’, which I associate with revolutions, and their colour is red,” Illya explained. “What the elephant has to do with anything I really don’t know. Or that donkey...who would want to be a donkey?”

Solo was starting to think that Kuryakin was being serious.

“But,” he said, “The Republicans want fewer taxes and less government.”

“That wasn’t much help. The Soviet Union has a huge government and no taxes.”

“But that’s...hang on, no taxes?”

Illya shrugged.

“Well, I’ve never met a Soviet who paid taxes. I certainly never paid them until I came to New York,” Kuryakin explained. “It was a bit of a shock the first time I got a pay cheque here. At first I thought it might be a foreigner tax.”

“A foreigner tax...? No, we all have to pay them.”

“I know that now!”

Solo stifled a laugh.

“But,” the American said. “How do you afford all those State services? I mean everything is run by the State isn’t it?”

“Yes, but that’s the point.”

Napoleon stared blankly at him so Illya continued,

“Everybody gets paid by the State. Let’s say they paid me 100 rubles. I go out and spend my 100 rubles. The only place I can spend them is a State shop so they’re guaranteed to get their money back. Why take away a percentage before they pay me? It’s a waste of time and creates paper work.”

“Er...well, yes, I see what you mean. We could all use less paperwork.”

“Sure, but you haven’t seen bureaucracy until you’ve been inside Gosplan. In there paperwork reproduces like over sexed rabbits.”

Solo laughed openly this time, shaking his head.

“So, nobody pays taxes?” he asked, still trying to get his head around the idea.

“I don’t think so. Unless you make money from somewhere other than the State.”

“Like..?”

“The black market. I imagine they’re supposed to file tax returns...I suspect they rarely do,” Illya dead panned.

“OK, so, no taxes, I see the confusion” Napoleon brought the conversation back on topic. “But don’t the Republicans sound right wing to you?”

“They all sound right wing to me. It’s not like either of them are socialists.”

“True...”

“And Kennedy is always going on about this so called ‘missile gap’. He seems a lot more anti-Soviet. Not that Nixon’s pro-Soviet, but you know what I mean.”

“I suppose. But the government thing, wanting to reduce it,” Napoleon was become somewhat exasperated. “That’s conservative.”

“No, that’s communist.”

“But you just said you have a huge government.”

“That’s because we’re not Communist.”

Napoleon’s head was beginning to hurt.

“But you’re run by the Communist Party,” he said.

“True, but that’s like one of those...er...campaign promises. You’ll notice we are the USSR, not the USCR. Only the West calls us Communist, we never do. We are working towards Communism.”

“I see.” Although he wasn’t sure that he did.

“You know, it astounds me. People here are always going on about the evils of Communism but nobody seems to actually know what it is!” Illya exclaimed. “They think that Communism is the opposite of Democracy. Well it’s not. It’s the opposite of Capitalism. Dictatorship is the opposite of Democracy.”

“And now you’re going to tell me you don’t live in a dictatorship.”

Kuryakin went quiet. Napoleon wondered if he might have gone too far. Frankly he was amazed that the Russian was having this conversation at all. Solo had never mentioned politics because he had assumed that Illya would be reluctant to discuss it.

“No,” Kuryakin said after a moment. “I can’t really say that.”

Napoleon was startled by the admission.

“Obviously I never got to vote for Krushchev,” he continued. “But just look at all the money we saved not having to do all this campaigning.”

“Seriously? You prefer a dictatorship?”

“I didn’t say that. Although it has its good points.”

“Excuse me?”

Napoleon was really starting to hope that this was a joke.

“Things get done,” Illya explained.

“Get done?”

“Yes, none of this arguing and flipping between parties every few years. From what I can see half of the politicians are there to stop the other half doing anything.”

“Well...”

“That’s not very productive,” the Russian continued, building up a head of steam. “Do you think a democracy could have gone from a backward agrarian state to an industrialised superpower in forty years? In 1917 ninety percent of us were peasants, now we’ve sent a man into space.”

“But at what cost?”

That brought Kuryakin to a halt. He sat for a moment, contemplating his shoes. Napoleon shifted in his seat. ‘This is why you should never talk politics’ he thought. He was really hoping that they hadn’t just ruined a burgeoning friendship.

“You know,” Illya said quietly. “There was a popular expression when I was young...when wood is chopped, wood chips will fly.”

Solo frowned, wondering quite what he meant. Then it hit him.

“You can’t make an omelette without breaking eggs?” he suggested.

“Yes, that’s it,” the Russian replied. “It just depends on how many eggs you are prepared to break,” Illya added sadly.

Napoleon looked at the Russian, his head slightly bowed, an odd look in his eyes. Not for the first time he wondered at how different their lives had been. How one’s experiences shaped the way you looked at the world.

“I...er...have to go. I have a date,” Solo announced.

Illya nodded.

“I’ll see you tomorrow, then,” he added as he rose.

Kuryakin looked up.

“Yes, of course,” he replied.

“Good,” the American said, hoping to mend some bridges.

Illya broke into one of his rare smiles, then nodded again before returning his attention to the television. Ohio had just been called.

Napoleon turned and left him to the news.

‘It’s a fascinating process,’ Illya thought. ‘Confusing, but fascinating...I wonder who will win.’

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Interesting conversation! Love Illya being somehow more at ease with talking and comparing politics than Napoleon who's walking on eggs...
BTW, I'm puzzled with Republicans being... red, too!

I lived in the States for a while. The first time there was an election I was very confused, I just assumed the democrats would be red and it still doesn't look right to me.

Thanks for commenting.

Nice interaction between the boys.

Republican Red puzzles me as well.

I hadn't realised just how close the 1960 election was until I read the transcript of Alistair Cooke's November 1972 "Letter from America" last week. I read it in a magazine and can't find the text on-line but the progamme is available on the BBC web site (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00yqkx0). Apparently they had to wait until California and Hawaii were in to know that Kennedy had won. The computers thought Nixon had won for most of the night.

Me neither. I read that the papers went with 'Kennedy Wins' as a headline when the east coast looked so conclusive and then when the midwest votes came in they wondered if they were going to look pretty silly in the morning.

Thanks for commenting. :-)

Very interesting story indeed and well done! Regarding the color usage...this is from Wiki:

'Before the 2000 presidential election, the traditional color coding scheme was "Blue for Republican, Red for Democrat,]in line with historical European associations (red was used for left-leaning parties)]

Traditional political mapmakers, at least throughout the 20th century, have used blue to represent the modern-day Republicans, and the Federalists who preceded them. Perhaps this was a holdover from the days of the Civil War when the predominantly Republican North was “Blue”.

Even earlier, in the 1888 presidential election, Grover Cleveland and Benjamin Harrison used maps that coded blue for the Republicans, the color Cleveland perceived to represent the Union and "Lincoln's Party", and red for the Democrats.

The parties themselves had no official colors, with candidates variously using either or both of the national color palette of red and blue (white being unsuitable for printed materials). Time magazine assigned red to the Democrats and blue to the Republicans in its election graphics in every election from 1988 to 2000. The Washington Post's election graphics for the 2000 election were Republican-blue, Democrat-red.

In the days following the 2000 election, whose outcome was unclear for some time after election day, major media outlets began conforming to the same color scheme because the electoral map was continually in view, and conformity made for easy and instant viewer comprehension.

On Election Night that year, there was no coordinated effort to code Democratic states blue and Republican states red; the association gradually emerged. Partly as a result of this eventual and near-universal color-coding, the terms "red states" and "blue states" entered popular usage in the weeks following the 2000 presidential election.

After the results were final, journalists stuck with the color scheme, as The Atlantic's December 2001 cover story by David Brooks entitled, "One Nation, Slightly Divisible", illustrated.] Thus, red and blue became fixed in the media and in many people's minds, despite the fact that no "official" color choices had been made by the parties.

Eye opening, even for me, as I was unaware there were no 'official' party colors.

Thanks mrua7, glad you enjoyed it.

And thanks for the info. Now if I could just figure out the elephant and donkey - neither of which seem very inspiring. Cute, but not necessarily animals I would want to represent me!

The answer goes way back and again, media driven.

The Donkey— Presidential candidate Andrew Jackson was the first Democrat ever to be associated with the donkey symbol. His opponents during the election of 1828 tried to label him a "jackass" for his populist beliefs and slogan, "Let the people rule." Jackson was entertained by the notion and ended up using it to his advantage on his campaign posters.

But cartoonist Thomas Nast is credited with making the donkey the recognized symbol of the Democratic Party. It first appeared in a cartoon in Harper's Weekly in 1870, and was supposed to represent an anti-Civil War faction. But the public was immediately taken by it and by 1880 it had already become the unofficial symbol of the party.

The Elephant— Political cartoonist Thomas Nast was also responsible for the Republican Party elephant. In a cartoon that appeared in Harper's Weekly in 1874, Nast drew a donkey clothed in lion's skin, scaring away all the animals at the zoo. One of those animals, the elephant, was labeled "The Republican Vote." That's all it took for the elephant to become associated with the Republican Party.

Again thanks to your story, I've learned something.

Me too. Thanks again. I guess they are both somewhat ironic symbols then!

if you look at their usage, meant to be somewhat insulting for the donkey, and the elephant being the only strong creature standing up to the donkey in the Lion skin. Interesting for sure.

I had a fellow from Britain ask at a hotel restaurant the other day what 'GOP' meant. No one in the room had any idea. I did but knew better to engage in any sort of political discussion, those things I stay away from for safety sake as too many people become very confrontational on that subject.

You're quite right! I do know GOP but I didn't until I lived through an election campaign.

Oh yes, living though an election campaign is definitely something! I was visiting my boyfriend in Virginia during the 1976 election. I was glued to the television the whole night...not that I had much choice as I had no car, and there was nothing to do in a college town like the University of Virginia.

Now I have no television and felt blessed that I missed all the campaign rhetoric. I am jaded in my thinking that all politicians are 'crooked' even if they enter the political arena with good intentions and honesty....eventually they go bad. I think that's just the nature of politics. (Sigh) I wish we had another strong choice besides the Democrats and Republicans...but that's not going to happen. (another sigh)

'nuf said. LOL

I can't say I disagree!

That's very interesting! Thank you!

you're welcome! Love when a story prompts discussion and a little learning as well.

By the way was your story written for the HOWDOWE challenge that's running this week? The challenge was for Guy Fawkes Day/ Election day. The fic could have been either for the challenge, and your story fit perfectly for it.

Well, it is, but I don't know how to 'officially' enter.

If you want to participate in a Section VII challenge, just put the name of the challenge in your header. For example:"Different Words"~ for the HOWDOWE Election Day challenge. You'd put HOWDOWE as your tag as well.

You can go back and edit your header for the HOWDOWE. Very glad you participated as this was the last HOWDOWE for 2012. We have a whole new calendar that will post for next year.

If you want to participate in the PidFic Tuesday challenge, do the same thing with your title, followed by ~ for PicFic Tuesday challenge. And use Picfic as the tag.

For that challenge, I post the photo challenge on Monday, and you have to post your fic on Tuesday. It doesn't have to be a long fic...

I'll be posting a special holiday PicFic for December, and will be a little different from the regular weekly ones. Hope you can participate in the PicFics. :D

Thanks mrua. I had put all the tags in, it was just the title. I hadn't realised you had to use those exact words.

I have done one picfic challenge and I REALLY wanted to do another it just hit me at a time when I hadn't a second to write it. I may get round to the story one day, since it's been one I have wanted to write for a while and your pic reminded me of it.

Rachael

That was just an example, and doesn't have to be exact.. as long as HOWDOWE and PIcfic Tuesday appear in you headers and tags, then you're fine.

Now if for Picfic Tuesday...if you can't make the deadline to post on the appropriate Tuesday, you can put your story up on the following Tuesday, just include the original date of the picfic in your header and of course the photo prompt in your story as well. :D

Thanks mrua7, it was the howdowe bit I missed. What does it stand for?

LaH Carabele came up for it, and she moderates the challenge. It means "Holidays of Dubious Origins Writing Event"

The holidays she selected were of American and European origins, and some universal. I'm wondering what she has up her sleeve for next year. Some of them for 2012 were a bit tricky.

LOL nice idea.

Yes very clever on her part. There were only a few that I couldn't participate in and no matter how I tried, I just couldn't connect my muse with the holiday. C'est la vie. :D

Still impressive. Well, I'm out for dinner and a movie. Later...

Enjoy!

An interesting fic, thanks for contributing to the challenge. The way a country is governed and by whom will be debated into eternity, no doubt. Certainly 1960 was the beginning of a new era, and historically has raised many ethical questions. I think Kennedy did his job in spite of who backed him, which is commendable. I imagine Illya would have kept on studying his first American election for years.

I think that election was interesting for a whole lot of reasons. I suspect Illya would have found it a bit 'Hollywood'! The sixties were an interesting decade - especially, I suspect, for a Soviet living in the US.

Thanks for commenting. :-)

Interesting looking at our elections from a different point of view and one whose government is the oppocsite of our. Nice fic

Thanks jkkitty. I've always liked looking at things from two sides - I suspect it infuriates my friends!

I agree, does frustrate mine also but I feel it really opens ones mind. I never make a decision until look at both sides

And yet some people call is procrastination. ;-)

As always, interesting conversation between the two, I don't know how you clever writers do it but it entertains me to no end.

What I find lacking in every fanfic where 'politics' are discussed between Illya and Napoleon is a real understanding of the differences between the governments of the USA and USSR in the 1960's. This difference always seems to be understood on economic systems only. Communism, even if Illya is portrayed as believing the more idealistic Trotsky version, was and is an economic system as well as a government system. The government system of Communism is statism. The USA government is a republic. For over 400 years, American's prefered economic system has been capitalism.

We have to remember that WWII was over for only 20 years or so when MFU was conceived and aired, and American citizens were well aware of the dangers to our freedoms that statism threatened. Napoleon of all people would have argued on the basis of republican government verses statism.

Illya was correct in saying that a dictatorship is the better system of government. And if Napoleon was Catholic, as often portrayed in fanfiction, he would have readily agreed with Illya, as any Catholic of the 1960's was aware of this fact. Like any informed Catholic, Napoleon would have pointed out that a perfect dictatorship requires a perfect human, and the only perfect human is Jesus Christ. Illya, his Russian Orthodox rearing being the basis of his life philosophy, and having lived through the Stalin 'purges' seeing them clearly as government mass murder, would have agreed.

Hi,

Sorry for the delay, I've not been around LJ for a bit.

Thanks for the comments. I tend to avoid religion in my fics because I don't generally ascribe religious views to any of my fic characters unless it is expressly in canon. Essentially, I don't get it myself so I feel I'd screw it up!

It was interesting to read your views though, I don't know much about religious views of those times either!

Economics, on the others hand, I do get to a certain extent and I have always found it is simplified most of the time to the point of being unrecognisable.

Anyway, I didn't have time to get into much of that in this fic.

Thanks again for your thoughts

R

Very interesting story. Mrua7's explanations re the parties were fascinating. I do remember post-WWII very well. By the way, ndcelt, my husband was on active duty and we were living on an Army post during the Cuban missile crisis. Scary stuff. Thanks to all.

Thanks for the comment. I've been away from LJ for a while, hence the delay!

Glad you enjoyed the story and discussion.

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Different Worlds - for the HOWDOWE Election Day challenge

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