[A short teaser. I may be headed “back to Hope.” If so, it will be to a time separated from the time of the stories in the Spooner Federation Saga novels. For Hope, as the events of Freedom’s Fury indicated, is in crisis. States are forming among a people whose ancestors traveled between the stars specifically to leave the State and all its works behind. For twelve centuries and more, they kept that foul entity from arising among them.
But anarchy is not stable. Nothing is.
Among a people dedicated to human freedom, some would react against the emergence of embryonic States. I’ve striven to imagine how they would seek to combat statism. Here’s is one of my imaginings. – FWP.]
None of the freshmen had the slightest idea what to expect of the course.
“The course” was what they called it. It had no other title, for none had been assigned. It had a catalogue number. It was listed as a first-year requirement. But nothing else was published about it. Upperclassmen refused to discuss it.
Professor Paul Wengen had a curious reputation. The catalogue gave his vital statistics and a long list of honors awarded to him. It cited a great many affinities and pastimes, including awards earned in fields as diverse as diplomacy, cooking, and the high jump. Yet it failed to state his academic specialty. It made him seem the least academic of men, yet his praises were sung far and wide as a trailblazer of the intellect.
Only one upperclassman, a senior with a towering reputation of his own, had deigned to say anything about Wengen. It was brief: “He means every word. Take him seriously.”
It gave rise to a considerable tension among those waiting for class to begin.
Wengen strode to the front of the lecture hall without preliminary. He wore a white polo shirt, black slacks, and a broad smile. He carried no briefcase, no sheaves of notes. He faced the young men with an expression that combined excitement and confidence in equal parts.
“Good morning. I’m Paul Wengen. You are here for several reasons. The strongest, of course, is that you’re required to be here. For you know nothing about this course. You’ve been told nothing. You have no basis for expecting anything in particular. And of course, you know nothing about me, your instructor.
“I, on the other hand, am here for a single, well-defined reason: To get you to fall in love.
“I am in love. I have been for my whole life, all fifty-four years of it. I’ll be in love for however many years remain to me. I expect that if I should ever die, I’ll still be in love. And I’m here to infect you with that same love.
“The love of which I speak is the love of life itself.
“This is the most selective educational institution that has ever existed. Yet its requirements for admission are unpublished. You were admitted here not because you’re academically gifted, not because your parents were alumni, not because your families are wealthy. It’s possible that none of those things are true of any of you. You were asked to apply for a unique reason: because our scouts sensed a spark in you, a spark I and others hope to fan into a mighty flame. A spark of love for life.
“You are vital. You’ve exhibited curiosity and demonstrated courage. You’ve taken the lead among your fellows, at times when no one else dared. Those are indications of the spark. It’s uncommon, rarer than a perfect ten-carat diamond. That is why we invited you to apply. That is why we charge no tuition.
“Not all those we invited were accepted. The ratio of invitations to acceptances is about fifteen to one. Nor are you all guaranteed to graduate. You cannot do so without first passing this course.
“There is no syllabus. There is no text. There will be no examinations. I am the sole determinant of what will occur here. I will also be the one to decide who will pass and who will fail.
“Here you will learn something that no other academic institution has ever dared to teach: what it takes to lead without coercion. Even those who fail will understand it by the year’s end. And you will understand this as well: why a society that has forgotten what it means to love life begets States and their tyranny. Conveying that understanding to others—those not privileged to attend this school—will be your life’s great task.
“Alta has already fallen to the States. Great families, once admired for true leadership and true achievement, have spawned coercive mechanisms that even they failed to foresee. Their own leaders have told themselves and their neighbors that police forces and militias are necessary evils, required to keep order. They mean well. The first generations of tyrants always do.
“You will be their antithesis. You will provide the refutations of their ‘necessity’ arguments. You will do so with your very lives—and not by traveling to Alta and preaching among them, but here, on Sulla, where the seed of statism has not taken root. You will lead free men, free families, and free societies. Families and societies suffused by the love of life.
“Do you accept the challenge?”
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