Let Your Will Be Done: Chapter Ten

Chapter Ten

The next step was not going to be an easy one.  For it is widely said that football is a religion down south, but football is as nothing in comparison to how much politics can inspire people to want to take up arms against both family and friends.

Not that there would be trouble within the Erickson ranks.  Nonetheless, becoming the next governor of Arkansas was sure to be a very treacherous step to take.

Yes, one could argue that Arkansas is not really down south, but such a person would not get very far with that sort of talk inside the borders of the state.  For Arkansas was a proud member of the Confederacy and yet to fully recover from the psychological damage done by Yankee carpetbaggers during the reconstruction period after the Civil War.

Subsequently, Arkansas voters were generally very wary of those who would want to implement major changes to the status quo, even when they were very dissatisfied with the way things had been, and this was exactly what Zeke wanted to do.  In fact, the only thing he was really campaigning on was a complete overhaul of the state’s bureaucracy for the purpose of eliminating as much incompetence and corruption as possible at first, and then seeing what could be done with all of the taxpayer money he suspected was being wasted and flat out stolen by the fistfuls.

No, Zeke’s platform did not go over too well with most already in office, and it certainly did not help them to want to be more accepting that he was one of THOSE Ericksons.  For grudges often pass down from generation to generation as a matter of honor and tradition throughout the south, and several descended from those who butted heads with Zeke’s family during the Civil War were now holding positions of power at several levels of government in the state, including the incumbent governor.

Oh yeah, Governor Mills tried to make a big deal out of the fact that Zeke’s family harbored Yankees and runaway slaves while loyal sons of Arkansas fought and died in the hope of preserving a genteel way of life that no one in Washington, DC had a right to end, and it seemed to be working for a while.  For every pre-election poll had him winning by a large margin over Zeke and the Republican candidate, State Senator Wilfred Thomas.

Governor Mills was a typical southern Democrat for the time in being generally much more conservative, both fiscally and socially, than Democrats from other parts of the country.  Although, Governor Mills was not nearly as conservative as State Senator Thomas, who wanted state government stripped-down to just working with more local forms of government to support order through the rule of law, as well as help to build and maintain roads and bridges, all while imposing the barest minimum of taxation on the population.

State Senator Thomas also had the fervent backing of the religious right, who considered it their Christian duty to oppose anyone who did not enthusiastically support a return to prayer in the public schools.  When asked about the issue during a debate between the major candidates, Zeke answered that he was not opposed to prayer in schools as long as it was not required.  No, that answer did not change any minds that had been already made up.

Alas, Zeke was running as an Independent, and his platform appeared to have something for both of the other sides to hate.  For it promised to greatly change the way Governor Mills and his kind had been doing things while keeping the state government way too large for State Senator Thomas and his supporter’s comfort—not to mention all of the stuff the religious right wanted.  Nonetheless, after all of the official votes had been tallied, it was Zeke and his family moving into the governor’s mansion next.

Greatly aiding to Zeke’s cause was the election of a new state auditor, Scot Campbell, who also wanted to get rid of as much waste as possible, but there was still a great problem to overcome.  For without legally-admissible evidence of incompetence and corruption to present before the state legislature, there would be no changing of the old bureaucratic system, and with the old bureaucratic system still firmly in place, there would be not much, if any at all, legally-admissible evidence to be found.

Therefore, something drastic had to be done before Zeke’s wrecking ball could start swinging, and in his inaugural address, Zeke revealed just how far he was willing to go to make the state government of Arkansas a model of effective efficiency for the entire country to marvel at.  For he announced that under the supervision of the state auditor’s office, he would be paying for a truly independent entity to conduct a comprehensive examination of all state bureaucratic policies and procedures out of his own pocket, and in order to ensure the integrity of the examination, the federal Government Accountability Office would assess the findings.

Oh yeah, there was much pulling of hair and gnashing of teeth in Little Rock that day.  For both conservatives and liberals screamed about the governor overreaching to the point of abusing his power.  Some even went as far as to file court challenges, which went nowhere fast.

Six months later, Zeke and Campbell were handed a report that found where 70% of state funds were not being used as they should be, with even 50% of the remaining 30% not being used nearly as well it could be.  This added up to 85% of state funds being wasted to Zeke, and the state auditor readily agreed.

The press went crazy in anticipation of there soon being much blood in the water after some of the details were leaked, but this did not phase most of the state legislators.  For when Zeke presented the full report and offered some suggestions on what to do next before a joint session, most of the members of the state house and senate summarily rejected the findings.

During a press conference afterward, many different reasons were given by state representatives and senators for why they would not accept the findings of the report, nor go along with Zeke’s suggestions, but there was one thing that remained abundantly clear.  For his opposition was solidly united in their resolve to keep things as they had been.

So, Zeke and Campbell called a press conference of their own to ask why anyone would be in favor of wasting so much money if they were not profiting from it.  After hearing from their constituents, many of the legislators were soon swearing that they would be most cooperative, and when it came time to adopt Zeke’s first proposal, he had the votes he needed to pass the resolution.

Campbell agreed with Zeke that the right approach would be to keep everything going as it had been while focusing on one department/agency at a time.  As soon as what was broken about that one was well on the way to being fixed, if not already fixed completely, another department/agency would be focused on.

Zeke decided to focus on the state highway and transportation department first.  For aside from a great many of the current roads and bridges in the state being in desperate need of repairs, new roads and bridges would open up areas to further commerce and progress.

Speaking of furthering commerce and progress, the road and bridge projects would have a ripple effect throughout the state’s economy.  For not only would they provide good jobs in many economically-depressed areas, much of that additional income for workers would be spent in local businesses, and there was also the matter of more tax revenues being generated by those good jobs, both directly and indirectly, which would be of benefit in one way or another to all of the citizens of the state in the long run.

Of course, it is arguable that many good jobs were also lost.  For several administrative positions were eliminated during the reorganization of the state highway and transportation department, but since the affected were greatly helped to find other employment providing at least an equal amount of income and benefits, very few did much complaining.

It was certainly a different story when it came to outside contractors with the department, though.  For many of them had been making a killing, so to speak, off of charging the state way too much for their services over the years, and Zeke was bound and determined to put a halt to it.

Zeke cited as a perfect example of outside contractors overcharging for their services being a bridge built over the White River in the northeastern part of Arkansas.  For the state paid $2.6 million for a project that should not have cost more than $975,000 to complete—even with a 10% profit margin added to construction expenses.

The construction company that had been awarded the contract to build the bridge cried foul on the grounds that they had participated in good faith in a time-tested bidding process where the lowest bidder with the ability to complete the project on time would be awarded the contract.  When they went on to add that it would not be worth their time to bid on projects where they could not make more than a 10% profit, which was repeated by all of the other construction companies, the stage was set for Zeke to present his solution to the problem.

With over 200 bridges needing to be either replaced or repaired at the time, along with over 16,000 miles of roadways in various stages of disrepair, which was not counting any new bridges or roads, Zeke proposed that the state highway and transportation department should have its own heavy construction division.  Taking it even farther, Zeke contended that the state would save even more money, along with providing even more good jobs, by purchasing iron ore on the open market and producing its own steel, with the same result holding true for producing its own concrete and other building materials.

In response to critics raising concerns over Zeke’s proposal being the first step down a road leading to communism, Zeke sought to make it abundantly clear that he was most definitely not against free enterprise.  He did so by declaring that he wanted the old bidding process left in place with the only thing changing about it being the state also bidding.  Getting down to the nitty-gritty, the state would be required to include a 10% profit margin in its bids, based on paying very competitive wages according to industry averages to all working on a given project and purchasing the base elements for building materials on the open market, with none coming from state properties from the use of eminent domain.  In cases when an outside contractor with the ability to complete a project within a reasonable amount of time was willing to at least match the state’s bid, the outside contractor would be awarded the contract.

To appease environmental concerns over the proposed building of state-run steel mills in Arkansas, Zeke contended that great advances in electric-arc furnace designs allowed for the clean production of steel—especially with more and more of the electricity for the entire state being generated through the use of advanced hydraulic, wind and solar technologies as coal-fired plants were being phased out.  Needless to say, the environmentalists were very pleased.

Zeke most definitely did not please the environmentalists when he told them that he wanted to keep the one nuclear power plant in the state online.  He fired them up even more by adding that he wished it was possible to build even more, but suffering through a meltdown of their own was averted when he finished with that he could not justify the building of more nuclear power plants until a truly safe way to dispose of nuclear waste was found.

It was not just in regards to producing building materials for roads and bridges that the new state-run concrete plants and steel mills would prove to be amazingly cost-effective.  For the next target was the state department of education, and a very great many public school buildings were in desperate need of being repaired or replaced.

There was not much opposition to repairing or replacing public school buildings, but it was certainly a different story when it came to the rest of Zeke’s proposal.  For Zeke wanted all of the students in the state to have an opportunity to receive for free the same sort of education he had received under Grandpa Jeremiah and later at various universities.  This would include opportunities to receive plenty of real-world experience with practical applications of what they were being taught through more traditional methods, and in respect to higher learning, even doctorate degrees from the state universities could be obtained without charge by all residents of the state able to complete the requirements, regardless of their age.

Speaking of more traditional methods, one of the things Zeke was proposing was considered rather radical at the time.  For he wanted every public school district in the state to have high-speed internet access so that both students and teachers could benefit from all of the educational resources available online.

Ironically, it was the internet aspect to Zeke’s proposal that public school teachers and administrators felt the most threatened by.  For they did not like the idea of students being able to move beyond what they knew and were familiar with teaching, and they liked what Zeke had to say in response to their concerns even less.  For he told them that they should embrace learning new things right along with their students on account of it being in the best interest of all concerned.

The public school teachers and administrators generally remained resolute in their opposition, and they stirred up a lot of support among parents not quite sure of what Zeke wanted to accomplish.  However, Zeke was able to convince five school districts across the state to give his new curriculum a try for at least a year.

The way the new curriculum was meant to work was that not much would change for elementary and junior-high students, other than what the internet had to offer them.  High school students would be encouraged to accept unpaid internships with businesses involved in fields they thought they might be interested in pursuing as a career, with the time spent off-campus depending on the internship.  In order to encourage local businesses to participate in the internship program, tax breaks would be offered to the businesses, and in situations where not enough of the right kinds of internships were available, the school district or another state department would provide them.

Since there would be also opportunities for great abuse of the program on both sides, the internships would be very closely monitored.  Businesses found to just be interested in taking advantage of the free labor would be dropped from the program until their attitudes improved, with the same thing happening to students found to be more interested in just getting out of a classroom than actually receiving some invaluable on-the-job training.

Allowances would be made for participation in sports, music and other more traditional extracurricular activities.  For Zeke was a true believer in making it possible for students to experience all they wanted to—within reason, of course.  However, participation in the internship program would not be required for graduation.

At the end of the first year of the public school experiment, most of the opposition from all sides had melted away.  For test scores for the participating students were significantly higher than the state average across the board, and several other businesses in the pilot areas were asking to be added to the internship program after seeing how much goodwill it was generating for the participating businesses.  Furthermore, the public school teachers and administrators in the pilot districts found that they really liked being around students excited about learning for a change.

Subsequently, all of the public school districts in the state adopted the new curriculum for the next school year, but not all of the districts could take full advantage of it.  For high-speed internet access was not yet available in all parts of the state, and from what was being said by the commercial broadband internet service providers, it sounded like it might be many years before it would be because of there not being enough potential for profit in more remote areas.

So, Zeke went to talk the state legislators into approving the establishment of the state’s own digital media distribution system, and he did not have to say much.  For in all of the areas where cable companies were already, people, also known as potential voters, had been literally screaming for alternative choices to be provided because of being charged way too much for very poor overall service.  Yeah, people could also get their MTV through a satellite company, but they were generally considered to be as bad as the cable companies in many respects.  Besides, the satellite companies did not offer good internet service.

As with the road and bridge projects, a 10% profit margin was calculated into the price for the state’s cable television and high-speed internet service to be fair to private companies wanting to compete for the business.  The existing cable and satellite companies slashed their prices almost immediately after receiving word of what Zeke was up to, but they still lost most of their customers as soon as ADD (Arkansas Digital Distribution) became available in an area.  For not only was ADD’s prices for television and internet service considerably less than what the cable and satellite companies were willing to go down to, ADD’s internet speeds were 1,000 megabits per second for downloads and 250 megabits per second for uploads at less than what some people had been paying for dial-up service while the cable companies were bragging about offering up to 100 megabits per second download speeds in some select areas—for a premium price, of course.

With him now having an overall 90% approval rating, Zeke had accumulated an enormous amount of political capital, and he set about to spend it on his most ambitious program to date.  To be exact, it was actually several related programs.  For he wanted to institute radical changes to the state’s social welfare policies and procedures, which would involve education, employment, health care, child care, food, shelter, clothing and whatever else was needed to help make it possible for the downtrodden to live better lives for the benefit of everyone in the state.

Since all of Zeke’s other ideas had proven to be absolutely brilliant, he did not receive much opposition from the state legislators, but state social workers revolted in mass when they heard about what Zeke wanted from them.  For at the heart of what Zeke wanted to change about their department’s policies and procedures was having them take as much of a personal interest in the welfare of their clients as possible, which would include truly caring about how well they were actually doing.  Whereas, most of the state social workers had become quite comfortable with keeping a good distance, both physically and emotionally, while doing little more than trying to make sure of the necessary paperwork being filled out correctly.

Yes, there is indeed a great need for paperwork to be filled out correctly—especially when dealing with thousands upon thousands of clients, but there is always so much more to a person’s situation than can fit into a written report.  Furthermore, aid offered to one might just add to the problems of another.  Therefore, personal interest by someone who truly cares about how well their clients are actually doing is crucial to the effective implementation of any program meant to be of genuine help to the poor and needy.

On the other hand, since a majority of the most pressing needs were so painfully obvious, an army of highly-qualified social workers was not an absolute necessity.  For it does not take a trained eye to see that people living under highway underpasses are probably in desperate need of food and shelter.  Still, it is better to have knowledgeable people in place to help the poor and needy to receive the right kind of help, and there were enough state social workers willing to stick around and give the new system a try to begin the implementation of it.

Although combatting homelessness was certainly a priority, the most help would be received by the so-called working poor.  These were the people barely making enough money to survive from day to day—let alone able to live a relatively good life.

Hardcore fiscal conservations in a capitalist society contend that the state should not have to pay for poor decisions made by individual citizens, and the truth is that a series of foolish decisions often does lead to a very great many becoming trapped in abject poverty.  Good counseling can help the foolish to stop making the wrong decisions over and over again, but when one cannot afford to go get a job because of daycare for their children costing more than what they would make, how can they start to pick themselves out of the proverbial gutter?

Besides, is it really in the best interest of even a very serious capitalist society to let so many citizens languish?  For people with money have a tendency to spend it on goods and services, which is certainly good for business.  They also pay taxes, which could fund a true safety net for the benefit of all citizens.

Nonetheless, excessive taxation can lead to an awful lot of resentment.  It can also lead to the impoverishment of the entire population, but Zeke’s proposals were not costing Arkansas taxpayers one extra penny.  Moreover, there was great potential for all citizens to be able to eat much higher on the proverbial hog after all of Zeke’s programs were fully implemented.  For a great many of his programs were designed to actually make money for the state so that taxes could be cut.

Speaking of eating much higher on the hog, Zeke proposed that the state should start processing meat and other ingredients purchased from private producers to greatly reduce the cost of food for the poor and needy, public schools, state-run hospitals, state prison facilities, county and city jails, fire stations and other such places.  For there was generally a 300% difference between the price for beef on the hoof and even just a pound of hamburger in a grocery store, and over a 3,000% difference for steaks and other better cuts.  Margins for plant-based items were generally much lower, but there was still a pretty penny to be paid for commercial processing and distribution.

Part of the new food program was to open state-run grocery stores for those with authorization and the ability to get out and about to shop for what they wanted to eat.  These state-run grocery stores would also serve as distribution centers of both ingredients and cooked meals to be delivered to homebound individuals and institutional kitchens.

In the first year after the new food program was fully implemented, the state of Arkansas, including county and city interests, saved over $10 million, even with the standard 10% profit margin calculated into the prices so that private contractors could compete.

With news spreading rapidly across the state about just how inexpensive items were at the state-run grocery stores, more and more regular Arkansas citizens starting demanding access, but Zeke resisted the temptation.  For he recognized that this could force some privately-owned local businesses into bankruptcy and possibly going out of business altogether, which would not be in the best interest of the state as a whole.

Furthermore, state-run businesses moving into the field of retail sales could lead to financial ruin far beyond the borders of Arkansas.  For Zeke understood that the market-based economy of the entire United States of America had become way too entangled with speculative stock market prices instead of the actual supply and demand of goods and services, and he was not in a position to do much about that.  Well, at least not yet.

If you are not quite fully comprehending all of the ramifications yet, take as an example what happened to the cable companies after ADD came online.  For several other states followed Zeke’s lead and implemented their own digital media distribution systems, and the stock prices for all of the publicly-traded cable companies, including even those not yet facing state-run competition, plummeted, which triggered a ripple effect on Wall Street.

Zeke felt like he did not have a choice when it came to health care, however.  For it was plain to see that the benefit greatly outweighed the risk to opening state-run hospitals and clinics to people with or without money and/or health insurance.  Besides, privately-owned medical facilities were generally in a much better financial position than grocery stores to remain in business while adapting to the new system.

As to be expected, not everyone shared in Zeke’s vision.  For both the American Medical Association and health insurance carriers brought lawsuits against the state of Arkansas.

Since the state was not doing anything unsafe, nor unethical, none of the lawsuits were allowed to proceed past the preliminary stages.  Zeke still felt compelled to argue the state’s case before the public, and he had quite an argument to make.  For he contended that privately-owned medical facilities were more than welcome to continue to conduct business as usual, and that they should actually be very happy with the establishment of the new state health care system.  For they would no longer have to deal with Medicaid and Medicare patients, other than in cases where someone needed to be stabilized and a privately-owned medical facility was much closer than a state-run one.

Oh my, it looked like nothing short of a miracle after the new Arkansas state health care system was fully implemented.  For desperately-needed surgical procedures that had been costing thousands upon thousands of dollars were being performed for hundreds—and not by quacks, neither!  For very good doctors came in droves to practice where they did not have to fight with insurance companies over what was obviously in the best interest of their patients, and with the ability to display test results and stream live imaging footage online, consultations with some of the best medical minds in this world were just a mouse-click away.

Under the old system, most people had to have health insurance.  For just a simple visit to a primary care physician could cost well over $100, and woe be it unto even those with health insurance if they had to pay a visit to an emergency room and/or be admitted into a hospital—especially if the medical facility was out of their plan’s contracted network.

Making bad situations even worse was health insurance companies restricting the amount of diagnostic testing to the barest of minimums and strongly discouraging doctors from seeking second opinions when they were not quite sure about something.  Tragically, far too many doctors and hospital administrators went along with this so that they could get paid.

Zeke looked at the old health care system as being another example of how much harm can be caused by unbridled capitalism, and he could see where there was much more that could be done to rein it in.  As with the food situation, however, the other things would have to wait until he was in a better position to help manage the fallout.

I should add that another thing looking like nothing short of a miracle was stock prices for publicly-traded companies involved in the health care industry only going down slightly before rallying quite nicely.  For the major stock traders were betting on what was happening in Arkansas not being allowed to spread across state borders without the federal government becoming much more directly involved, which would surely put out the fire in even Arkansas.

The major stock traders were right about one thing.  For when other states started looking into following the example set by Arkansas, federal regulators strongly advised against it, but they left Arkansas alone after Zeke assured them that he would not be trying to implement any more programs that might lead to another great crash of the stock markets.

Having very nice low-rent apartment complexes erected where eyesores once stood was the next major project that Zeke focused on.  Full-time security officers and very effective sound-proofing helped to keep the peace, but it was social workers taking more and more of a personal interest in just how well their clients were actually doing that made the most difference between the way it was now and the way it had been in years past.

It really was a beautiful thing to see.  For with more and more people starting to believe that their welfare actually mattered to those in a position to help them, the help became much more personally meaningful to them, and they started wanting to truly care for the places made available for them to live in until they could afford to purchase a place of their own.

Having police officers, both state and local, stop treating people they had sworn to serve and protect as adversaries also greatly aided in the easing of community tensions.  As with the social workers, a great many police officers almost knocked themselves out knee-jerking over the proposed changes to policies and procedures, but those willing to give it a try were amazed at how much easier their jobs became when they started treating people as wanted friends instead of suspected criminals.  Of course, there is not much reasoning to be done with hardened criminals, but with the general public helping them to make arrests and obtain convictions for a change, even hardened police officers found themselves actually enjoying interacting with most of the people on their beats.

Those under the influence of drugs and/or alcohol were a horse of a very different color, though.  For most people are usually just not themselves while high or drunk.

What Zeke proposed was that junkies and drunks should be given treatment without anything going on a criminal record unless they committed some other offense.  He also wanted simple possession of illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia decriminalized, along with making it legal to grow and ingest marijuana and peyote for medical, religious and recreational use.  He argued that these things would save the state millions in law enforcement and judicial expenses.  Furthermore, taxing the sales of the formerly illegal substances at even a fairly-low rate could make the state even more than it would be saving on law enforcement and judicial expenses over time.

As with alcoholic beverages, it would be illegal for anyone under the age of 21 to have anything to do with the decriminalized substances—except in medical cases.  Zeke actually wanted the legal age for both lowered to 18, but he felt like that might be asking for too much to change too soon.

There was a lot of opposition to the new program, but Zeke was proven right again.  For in the first year of implementation, state and local jurisdictions saved a total of over $25 million in law enforcement and judicial expenses, and despite the threat of the federal government coming in to shut it all down keeping the dispensary business from flourishing as much as could, over $1 million in added tax revenues were collected from the sale of marijuana and peyote.  Oh, and all of this happened without chaos erupting in the streets from grade-schoolers getting high and rampaging about as predicted by several very prominent religious leaders.

With Jenny and their children looking quite excited behind him, Zeke announced at a televised press conference that he would not be seeking a third term as governor.  Before he could proceed, a collective groan rose up from those in attendance outside of the press section, and some groans could be heard coming from among the press, too.

Zeke chuckled to himself that many of those groans might be in anticipation of what they believed would be surely coming next, but he went ahead with saying that he felt like he had accomplished all he could as governor and the time had come for him to try to do even more for the citizens of Arkansas as president of the United States of America.

The collective groan quickly turned into a hearty roar of approval, which grew even louder when Zeke continued with that he expected to work very closely with next governor of Arkansas, Scot Campbell.  Yes, this was the same Scot Campbell who had spent the last seven years strongly supporting Zeke’s proposals as the state auditor.

Zeke ended his announcement with that he would be running as an Independent on the same basic platform he had before while running for governor of Arkansas.  He then took questions, but when repeatedly asked if he would seek to expand on the programs he had implemented in the state if elected president and what those expansions might entail, he repeatedly answered that it was a wait and see situation.  Zeke just smiled when a devoutly conservative reporter sarcastically asked, “Don’t you mean hide and watch?”