Author hints at ending the offices of national congressmen and senators

Author Phillip Hathaway envisions the nation operating efficiently without national congress-  men, senators, an IRS, income tax or fighting wars for other countries.

New York - "Congressmen and senators are, with very few exceptions, representatives of the central government," says Phillip Hathaway. "They represent the central government to the people yet seldom represent the people to the central government. They listen and accommodate the lobbyist, not the people. They create trillions of dollars in debt and have no idea where the money went, so they say. Yet, the truth is, the country can operate with only state representatives much more efficiently. National congressmen and senators are simply unnecessary and a source of burgeoning bureaucracy."

Hathaway is talking about his new book, The Romantic Struggle, in which the fictional Republic of Sovereign States eliminates the office of national congressmen and senators. It is no surprise that his short novella is getting a great deal of attention from people in the real world who are tired of being heavily taxed and then ignored by those they elect to office.

This fictional country, once a free nation of sovereign states, was pushed into a civil war when some of the states tried to exercise their constitutional rights to secede.  Those who started the war flooded the media with false propaganda that fighting a war to keep the nation together is a just cause. But their true intent was to centralize the government thereby taking away state sovereignty and, ultimately, individual free will. Then a dictator was placed in charge and everyone's movements were tracked with biometric technology.

Shockingly, it's not too dissimilar from the United States where The Real ID Act of 2005 would enable government officials to use Biometric Tracking to monitor our every move anywhere on the globe. They could track our trips to the grocery store or when we go for a walk, too. The current administration and the chief of homeland security are pushing for this bill and Senator Daniel Akaka (D-HI) introduced the Pass ID Act in July of 2009 which is a slightly adjusted version of the Real ID Act.

Hathaway addresses several other issues in his short novella that presently cause anger and worry in the United States. When asked why he uses fiction to stimulate change, he said, "With his writings, Victor Hugo effected social change to the sometimes heartless legal system of France where he intro-  duced the idea of mercy. If he had made an appeal to the courts, I doubt that he would have been nearly as successful. Yet, a good story can cause social change simply because people enjoy a good story and because it appeals to both liberals and conservatives. Gustave Flaubert was another writer who championed social change by causing awareness of the destructive nature of materialism; and, of course, there is the enormously influential Ayn Rand."

Hathaway's fictional country, the Republic of Sovereign States, has 700 illegal military bases around the world, just like the United States. It, therefore, needs a huge central taxing agency, like our IRS, to take income tax from everyone's paycheck. The protagonist of the novella proposes closing all those unconstitutional military bases as well as stopping other unconstitutional spending. All the necessary revenue is generated through import taxes and similar taxation. So, all the people are free from that crushing national tax burden.

We asked him if he thought the same thing could happen in in this country. "Yes, of course. We simply need to stop all the illegal spending, which is, by the way, just about all of our spending; this would be accomplished by simply operating our government under the auspices of the Constitution. It wouldn't be a bad idea to align the value of the dollar with the value of gold, as well."

Hathaway's ideas are unique but more and more people are beginning to feel they make sense.

The Romantic Struggle (Hardcastle ISBN 978-0-9796844-6-3) will be available in the summer of 2010.

Heated national debate linked to controversial book

A book of short stories and novellas titled, The Romantic Struggle, is brimming with provocative social commentary that is causing debate.

New York - There are ten short stories and two short novellas in Phillip Hathaway's new book. It is, however, the title story, The Romantic Struggle, that is getting all the attention.

The story takes place in the fictional Republic of Sovereign States where the government uses Biometric Tracking to monitor the people's every move - just like the Pass ID Act which the White House is pushing. If that weren't enough, same race marriage is forbidden with the convoluted logic that this is a way to celebrate diversity. But in so doing the state is actually eliminating diversity, particularly diverse thinking.

Yet there remains hope. A poet soldier, named Justin, leads a rebellion against the occupying rogue government.  Justin's character is revealed when, in a dream, he asks Helen, his true love to, "teach our son to always love. To never hate. To always tell the truth. To serve others in humility. To never incite violence. To take the sword as the very last resort. Yet, to wield it with cold bravery. These are the ways of the true aristocrat."

Justin is either rallying his followers, leading them into battle or writing poems about his struggle. It is, however, his amendments to the Constitution of the Republic of Sovereign States that is garnering much of the attention and debate. One of the most poignant ideas in his constitution is the elimination of the office of national senators and congressmen. In his constitution, all political matters are handled by the individual sovereign states - an idea that would give more sovereignty to the individual and just might work in real life.

I won't reveal how things turn out for Justin. But after you read this unique, short novella, there are several other stories to enjoy that have nothing to do with politics. Miss Ann Thrope - a clever play on the word misanthrope - is fun and especially well developed. Tempest of the Aquitania is a murder mystery suspense thriller that keeps you guessing until the very last sentences. Ian Andersen and the Sarcophagus Heart is a story of a young man's passionate fight for love and his place in the world that all takes place in 1816 England. Theocidal Tendencies is a science fiction story that may cause Ray Bradbury some envy. And there is the story described by the author as possibly his favorite: The Dream of Christopher Perkins. So, should you enjoy a good story, you will not go wrong with Hathaway's new book.

The Romantic Struggle (Hardcastle Publishing, ISBN 978-0-9796844-6-3) will be available in the summer of 2010.