Advent and Jobs

This is my first novel. It takes place in a parallel universe where the country north of the Great Lakes is known as Arcadia. The main character is the airline herself. She views the other characters in the story as her people.

Outline

 

To connect the vastness of Arcadia an airline was brought forth by the government and her name was also Arcadia.

She loved her father, Arcadia's first Minister of Movement. Through her youth and young adulthood she struggled to live up to her father's vision and to his example of service to country.

After his death her ambition and her desire for independence led her to participate as an equal in the modern world of business. In this she was assisted by many fine men and women who devoted their careers to her cause.

Most of these were ordinary people doing their best work for Arcadia and loving her as they loved their families. But there were a few who made their mark. They left their imprint on Arcadia and changed her course.

One day in Arcadia's prime it came about that Miles, who had her best interests at heart but who also had a strong sense of his own destiny, singlehandedly wrote a script that played on Arcadia's stage for a decade before it devolved into a war with the Ministry of Movement. Unaffected by the war, management were taken unawares when it lead to a strike.

The strike ended the war but was instrumental in promoting two people before their time: Enrico to Captain and Boy Wonder to CEO.

Both rose to the challenges before them.

Enrico had to fight fiercely to win and hold his captaincy. Boy Wonder was tested almost immediately by a takeover bid and prevailed with Snake's help. However, Snake tempted him and Boy made a Faustian bargain with Arcadia's soul which led to merger and eventually to bankruptcy.

In the end, all were diminished. Enrico wound up on permanent sick leave. Boy Wonder traded youthful promise for a guaranteed retirement offshore. Arcadia, in her dotage, feels she is the only coherent voice in the asylum.

 

Status

 

The third draft is in edit as of October 2011. My intention is to publicize the book by flying much of Arcadia's route structure in a Beechcraft Bonanza.
Who decides what my work will be?

Unless you are one of the advantaged kids from a two-parent family with seriousness of purpose and discretionary income, ambulance the decision most likely will be up to somebody else – not you, thumb not your family, maybe not even a person. Rather, The Market will decide what work to offer you, what its value will be, and what will be the terms and conditions of employment. In other words, The Market will determine who you are.

Who decides what the goals of our civilization should be? Politics, of course. We are a democracy, are we not? We have a vote, so we collectively determine public policy. Right?

Well, almost. But we are a nation-state in a global world. And global corporations are increasingly independent of the nation-states, wielding their putative personhood to control public policy in the various nation-states where they do business. The political horizon is the next election; the business horizon is the end of this quarter. So the answer to this question as well is The Market. The Market will decide our goals.

Adam Smith and John Maynard Keynes would be horrified. Their child has become a monster, their financial system has morphed from a well-oiled machine into a shell game of risk management. Surely, somewhere, there is some leadership?

Perhaps we are looking in the wrong place. Where, after all, have our achievements always begun?

 

With birth, I would say. Consider how the prophesy is phrased: For unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given. We are given a gift: the most precious of gifts. The we is everyone. We are persons, citizens of the world, civilization. The gift too is everyone – the miracle of new life. And the government shall be on his shoulder. Perhaps we have been looking in the wrong place.

Certainly each child needs to be nurtured and educated and guided. Certainly she needs to find her place in our society. But her gift – her work, her goals, her contribution to our survival – must be honoured if it is to be realized. There is only one key that will unlock this gift, and it is only revealed one-on-one, one human being to another. You could call it parenting. You could call it teaching. You could call it love.