{"id":7014,"date":"2022-10-19T15:22:14","date_gmt":"2022-10-19T19:22:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=7014"},"modified":"2025-11-13T14:14:09","modified_gmt":"2025-11-13T20:14:09","slug":"102-what-next","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/?p=7014","title":{"rendered":"102. What Next?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
\"We're<\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

Constitutional Law<\/p>\n

Part 2: \u201cWhat Were They Thinking?\u201d<\/p>\n

Digression: \u201cA History of Government in 6 Revolutions: From the Paleolithic to Philadelphia\u201d<\/p>\n

102. What Next?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 1: A Chinese-style inkwash painting of an ancient Chinese general leading an army of massed troops.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIS (talking head):<\/p>\n

All right!<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re off to China!<\/strong><\/p>\n

The land where war made the state<\/strong> and the state made war.<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 2: A Chinese-style inkwash painting of an ancient Chinese king pressing a red-hot stylus against the belly plate of a tortoise shell.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIS (offscreen):<\/p>\n

Where early kings gained authority as shamans practicing divination<\/strong>\u2014using turtle shells and the shoulder blades of cattle to ask yes\/no questions of their ancestors<\/strong> (and the occasional animist nature spirits.)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

KING:<\/p>\n

Ah, yes.<\/strong><\/p>\n

If I sacrifice a cow to ancestor Yi on his day, he will<\/strong> ensure a good harvest.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 3: Sis, in ancient Chinese garb, poses dramatically on a stage before a red backdrop decorated with Chinese patterns. Average Joe, in his usual clothing, reacts with a \u201cno\u201d gesture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIS:<\/p>\n

\u2026and ended up as emperors<\/strong> of a refined civilization!<\/p>\n

Civil service exams! A professional army! Philosophy! Poetry! Money! Dramatic history! Sophistica-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOE (interrupting):<\/p>\n

What? No, not China.<\/p>\n

China didn\u2019t get around to true state formation until maybe 475 B.C.
What we call<\/em> the first \u201cdynasties\u201d were really still tribal societies led by chieftains.<\/p>\n

Besides, the Chinese experience doesn\u2019t have much to do with the story leading to the American<\/strong> experiment.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 4: In front of a background of Ancient Greek temples and statues, Sis makes a triumphant fist-pump while Joe makes an explanatory gesture.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOE (offscreen):<\/p>\n

Instead, we\u2019re going to turn to<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIS (interrupting):<\/p>\n

I knew<\/strong> it! Ancient Greece<\/strong>, here we come!<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOE:<\/p>\n

Again, no.<\/p>\n

Not yet, anyway.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

SIS:<\/p>\n

Then I\u2019m confused.<\/p>\n

Where was<\/strong> this \u201cvery cool development\u201d in government?<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 5: A line drawing of the Earth with a big X painted over it.<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

JOE (offscreen):<\/p>\n

Not where.<\/strong><\/p>\n

WHAT.<\/strong><\/p>\n

We\u2019re going to witness the birth and development of an institution<\/strong> that\u2019s so basic, so inherent to our concept of society, that it\u2019s hard to imagine that it had to be invented.<\/strong><\/p>\n

And so, if you\u2019ll permit me to utter a command\u2026<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

-=-<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

Panel 6: An outer space of blue and orange, filled with stars, with Joe\u2019s next words as the title of the next section:<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

LET THERE BE LAW<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

<\/div><\/div>View Transcript<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_sitemap_exclude":false,"_sitemap_priority":"","_sitemap_frequency":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[48,35,63,60,1,46],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-7014","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-a-brief-history-of-government","category-constitutional-law","category-inventing-the-law","category-the-institution-revolution","category-uncategorized","category-what-were-they-thinking"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7014"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10572,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7014\/revisions\/10572"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7014"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7014"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lawcomic.net\/guide\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7014"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}