The 'Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy' has a lot to say about 2016

As a humourous and eloquent writer with a keen interest in social commentary, Douglas Adams suffers, much like George Orwell does, from being quoted out of context.

So please forgive us for our advancing sin. We may be, much like the Ameglion Major Cow at Milliway's, offering ourselves up for dissection.

A section from The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is being shared as an apt parallel for the political situation in 2016.

In the pertinent passage, Ford Prefect (an alien) is explaining the political situation of a planet to the human protagonist Arthur Dent.

It reads:

'On its world, the people are people. The leaders are Lizards. The people hate the lizards and the lizards rule the people.'

'Odd,' said Arthur, 'I thought you said it was a democracy.'

'I did,' said Ford, 'It is.'

'So,' said Arthur, hoping he wasn't sounding ridiculously obtuse, 'why don't the people get rid of the lizards?'

'It honestly doesn't occur to them,' said Ford. 'They've all got the vote, so they all pretty much assume that the government they've voted in more or less approximates to the government they want.'

'You mean they actually vote for the lizards?'

'Oh yes,' said Ford with a shrug 'of course.'

'But,' said Arthur, going for the big one again, 'why?'

'Because if they didn't vote for a lizard,' said Ford, 'the wrong lizard might get in. Got any gin?'

This wasn't the only comment Douglas Adams made on government. In chapter 28 of The Restaurant at the End of the Universe, he discusses the reason behind a series of inept Galactic Presidents.

He postulated that a figurehead president's only role is to effectively deflect attention from the government:

The major problem — one of the major problems, for there are several — one of the many major problems with governing people is that of whom you get to do it; or rather of who manages to get people to let them do it to them.

To summarize: it is a well known fact, that those people who most want to rule people are, ipso facto, those least suited to do it. To summarize the summary: anyone who is capable of getting themselves made President should on no account be allowed to do the job. To summarize the summary of the summary: people are a problem.

And so this is the situation we find: a succession of Galactic Presidents who so much enjoy the fun and palaver of being in power that they very rarely notice that they're not.

And somewhere in the shadows behind them — who?

Who can possibly rule if no one who wants to do it can be allowed to?

Zaphod Beeblebrox, a president more likely to go to a party than respond to a political crisis, or steal a ship on his 200th birthday (because why not?) is noted as one of the most successful presidents in the history of the office due to his aptitude for distracting people from the problems of the state with his own outrage and scandals.

Is any of this sounding familiar?

The question is: Has Donald Trump read his Douglas Adams? And will we be lucky enough to be visited by some Vogons soon?

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