St Kilda
A Fairer Scotland The People’s Lottocracy of Scotland Venice Biennale Exhibition Design Curated by M. McDotwood Graphics by Design as Politics - TU DELFT
INVENTORY Introduction Exhibition Brochure Exhibition Layout Exhibition Images Archival material The Lottocracy Handbook Example of the people’s lottery ticket Promotional Posters Important texts
INTRODUCTION We are happy to introduce the founding principles of a fairer Scotland with this exhibition at this year’s Venice Architecture Biennale.
The exhibition is centred upon the idea of the lottery as a tool of organising and distributing our society and its wealth.
The exhibition presents our story through the life of a typical Scot, who from birth until retirement lives by the lottery of life.
Accompanied by archival material documenting the development of the ideas behind the lottoracy in its current state, this exhibition provides a timely reminder of the power of an ambitious nation with a single purpose, fairness.
M. McDotwood – Curator
Exhibition Brochure
During campaigns for a series of referendums people decried a lack of connection between politicians and polity. On
We must cast our mind back to the early twentyfirst century, with Scots disaffected by justice and equality within their country within the United Kingdom (London Inc.).
This presentation traces a life led in The People’s Lottocracy of Scotland from the cradle to grave, drawing together for the first time some key Lotocratic texts, documents, and memorabilia.
OF LIFE”
LOTTERY
IN THE
PRIZE
FIRST
IS TO WIN
SCOTTISH
BORN
“TO BE
At this moment, the
The inherent good logic of this system rolling out of lottery to many aspects of life, participated in by all Scots and prospective Scots after an extended period of education.
achieving Independence it was chosen to move to a radical form of lottocratic governance, bringing to an end governance by career politicians. This lottocratically elected government establish broad global and local ambitions for the nation - every citizen could expect to be called to join government at any time.
LIFE”
MY
CHANGED
LOTTERY
“THE
Exhibition Brochure
“THE BEST LAID SCHEMES O’ MICE AN’ MEN GANG AFT AGLEY, LET THE LOTTERY MAKE YIR PLANS INSTEAD” It is the opinion of all Scots that this extreme form of social mobility, where no one is stuck in any one job, in any modes of thought or housing type, is a fair and thrilling system with which to live.
lottery is then able to calculate the required hours and occupations required to achieve broad targets. Occupations, hours of labor, GDP and resources are then distributed unequally between the population, in much the same way that it was done at the start of the twenty-first century. After a period, the lottery is drawn again.
“Adventure upon all the tickets in the lottery, and you lose for certain; and the greater the number of your tickets the nearer your approach to this certainty” F I R S T PAVILION OF THE PEOPL’ES L O T T O CRACY OF SCOTLAND
CRATIC
LOTTO-
LIFE
A
IMAGE 6 - NEW LIFE
IMAGE 5 - IMMIGRATION
IMAGE 4 - NEW LIFE
IMAGE 7 - NEW LIFE
IMAGE 3 - 1ST LOTTO LOTTOMACHINE
IMAGE 8 - RETIREMENT
IMAGE 2 - EDUCATION
WHAT IS FAIRNESS?
IMAGE 1 - BIRTH
FAIRNESS - EQUALITY? (GIF ON SCREEN)
FAIRNESS - LOTTERY? (GIF ON SCREEN)
Layout of the Exhibition
Video – Fairness through Equality
Video – Fairness through Lottery
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 1: Birth
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 2: Education
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 3: A New Life
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 4: A New Life
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 5: A New Life
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 6: A New Life
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 7: A citizen’s final lotto
Timeline of a citizen of Scotland – 8: Retirement
ARCHIVE
Early example of a Lottery Ticket
02a/48933
A FAIRER SCOTLAND THE
LOTTOCRACY HANDBOOK
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
267.
INDIVIDUAL, PAIR AND FAMILY UNITS
Scots reserve the right to choose their own partners. Reproduction is distributed by lottery according to the ongoing needs towards the objective of creating a prosperous and fair society. After the great immigration in the early levels of lottocracy, numbers of children were greatly reduced. This proved unpopular so the lottery decreased immigration and balanced with childbearing objective of creating a prosperous and fair society. There are family, pair and individual lottery tickets. Houses are appointed together but jobs are remain separate. Family units must remain together for the duration of the lottery. At the end of every lottery the family unit is assessed - children may leave, partners may leave, others may join. 268.
INTERACTIVE LOTTO MACHINE NETWORK
In the beginning of the lotto-union, taking stock and distributing tickets was done by the so-called “lottists”. Since 6 years now, technicians have developed an autonomous machine network, able to calculate and distribute the countries necessities in jobs, working hours and salaries completely unequal and by faith over all lottery-participants. This new machine, that is directly integrating the latest immigration and migration information in its system, is located all over the country on pedestals of 6 m2 and 1m high. The network is resistant to any circumstances beyond control, like power shortages, machines is taken care of by guards, driven by the army who are better known as: “the blue layabouts”. This because of the lack of interest of people seem to have in the machine besides lottery-times. No attacks or manipulations have ever been recorded. 269.
IMMEDIATE EXILE
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
310
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
In case of trespassing the law, the professional jury, chosen by lottery, will be remained the responsibility to banish a person from the state. Accusation of a crime leading to exile, can be fought by a lawyer which will be randomly addressed to a person after applying for legal aid. In case of exile, one is never aloud to join the lottery again. All access into the country is forbidden and impossible. No circumstances will make it possible to
INITIATION IN LOTTERY
initiation in lottery, often goes hand in hand with a celebration between family and friends during a feast. He or she gets letters of everyone with advice and wishes to of lottery. Presents are nearly never being given. After the last night in the parents house, the new scot will and life, often in a different city. According to working hours, family will visit each other through the country every now and then. 270.
IMMIGRATION
In the time-set a scot or family owns a house, he or she is able to make any changes he or she wants to the interior of the unit as long as there is an ICP requested at the department of Interiors. ICP’s are easy to achieve as long as the supporting structure is not being damaged and no additions are being made. Scots are funding these changes themselves with their individual or pair income according to the lottery ticket. After lotto-day, changes stay located at the former housing. New inhabitants are free to remove, keep or add something to the interior. 270.1. THE BUFFER ZONE
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
311
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
A holding area, dubbed “the buffer zone”, is created around each point of entry, allowing for people to wait for the immigration lotteries to be executed. Immigration levels are set according to calculations of appropriate labour hours, with no preference placed upon former profession, place of origin or other characteristic. Special protections are sustained along the border with England © (A London Corp. Brand), with suitable protections against unfair entrants into Scotland 270.2. ENTRANCES TO SCOTLAND All international ports and border crossings have appropriate facilities in accordance with the number of people processed per year. 271.
IMAGO
The word “Imago”: (psychoanalysis) an idealized image of someone (usually a parent) formed in childhood. Whereas old Scots used to have a certain imago according to their house, personal belongings, income and jobs; status now is an irrelevant phrasing. Although native young Scots are perfectly suitable for living in this situation without imago, immigrants or elder Scots can struggle with this sudden loss of “status”. Often psychiatrists with a background of being immigrant as well will be commissioned to help out in these situations. 272.
ISSUES WITH FAITH
There appears to be a story about a scot that had been allocated onto the countryside of Scotland to start working as a farmer. Although living in a huge villa and earning an enormous amount of money a year, he only had to work for 10 hours a week. For many years he had been living in the city, so his enthusiasm was great to start this new life. Unfortunately, he seemed to be allergic to any kind of fur animals, which was unpleasant because
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
312
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
his activities concerning the collection of sheepwool. He wasn’t aware of this allergy because he had never come across these animals during his stay in Scottish urban regions the years before. After two weeks of trying to make it work in the stables he applied for an opt out at the decision makers. A few tests later he started his new job as a surgeon in the Edinburgh hospital, working 80 hours a week, earning minimal income. of
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
313
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
340. LAW AND ORDER When law breaking does occur, it is dealt with swiftly body. Law breaking has greatly reduced since those early days but it is understood that when people do break the law it is usually a fault of the lottery system rather than a personal fault. Certain lottery outcomes which too closely resemble a pre-lottocracy correlation between house, hours, money and occupation (ie banker-£2millionmansion-60 hours a week). Even a short taste of such prelottocracy ‘complete lifestyles’ can have make people regress swiftly and dangerously and may even require a period of reeducation. These combinations are deleted from the system. For those disaffected with their lot, a reciprocal system has been arranged between the PLS and London Inc.. Those unwilling to abandon themselves fully to the lottery, those who might be heard to utter that they wish that they ‘could stay like this forever’ or that they ‘want a secure future for their children’ are invited to spend a lotteryphase in London Inc. Likewise, London Inc. citizens who might utter that they wish their ‘life could be different’ are swiftly taken to Scotland. Occasionally, but not often, citizens make these moves permanent - London Inc. citizens may enter within the lottery education system to remove dangerous beliefs about permanence, entitlement and notions about the superiority of certain jobs, houses, whilst Scot-Lot citizens must necessarily spend some time familiarising themselves with the complex and impenetrable themselves with the place, profession and prosperity in to which they are entered (based on a series of obscure appearance, somewhat ironically, of a lottery). Since no job is performed individually, underperforming candidates are balanced by the rest of the team - a high level of universal education ensures great variations in ability do not occur.
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
450
02a/48933
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
Date 24/06/2016
523. REGIONS People’s Lottocracy of Scotland and London Inc. (formerly rUK, formerly England, Wales and Northern Ireland) have a close reciprocal relationship as outlined in the entry on ‘Law and Order.’ Their radically different approaches to fairness reinforce the other. When the PLS left the Union it was forced to leave the European Union as well and found no reason to rejoin. It trades globally like any other small country - the inherent volatility of the global market has little effect on a country based on principles of lottocracy and noone notices the small adjustments made by the Lottomachine. In times of great prosperity there are some very rich and some poor citizens - in times of crisis there are some very rich and some poor citizens. There are some nations who have followed suit and employed lottery to a greater or lesser degree, so as to maximise some desired goal. See entries on ‘Venetian Producto-Lottery’ and ‘Catalottery.’
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
552
Document number
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
02/48933
Date 24/06/2016
Index Cities in Scotland
180
Etymology of “Scotland” 17
Agriculture in Scotland 132
Civil parishes
322
Airports in Scotland
590
Clarsach
240
Architecture
170
Climate change
238
Eurasia (but not on the 303 mainland) 39 Europe 101
Area of Scotland
496
Climate of Scotland
80
Executive
40
Art in Scotland
135
Coat of arms
591
178
Atlantic Ocean
408
Comedy in Scotland
55
Extreme points of Scotland
Atlas of Scotland
467
Commonwealth Games
9
Divisions of Scotland
161
388
Bagpipes
Communications
228
Faculty of Advocates Fauna of Scotland Festivals in Scotland
Bands from Scotland
111
Companies of Scotland
215
Bank of Scotland
8
Council areas
49
Banking in Scotland
35
Courts of Scotland
152
Baptists of Scotland
509
Cricket in Scotland
318
Basketball in Scotland
415
Cuisine of Scotland
430
Battles with England
197
Cultural icons
294
SBC
206
Culture of Scotland
295
Bean Nighe
266
Currency
20
Biosphere reserves
519
Scots
50
Birds of Scotland
114
Dirk dance
440
Border pipes
587
Domesticated breeds
504
Branches of Government
506
Ecology of Scotland
19
British Isles
205
Economic history
75
Buddhism in Scotland
335
Economic rank
106
Camanachd Association
147
Economy
16
Capital of Scotland
18
Ecoregions of Scotland
349
Freedom of religion in Scotland
Capital punishment Castles in Scotland
114 97 239 544
Field Hockey in Scotland
274
Fire services in Scotland
431
Firths Fiscal autonomy Flag of Scotland Flora of Scotland Folk music of Scotland Football in Scotland Form of government:
599 577 550 337 53 488 463 274
558 Fragments of Ancient Poetry collected in the 367 448 Highlands of Scotland 492 174
56
Edinburgh Sevens
211
Gaelic medium education 589
414
Education in Scotland
186
Gaels
220 525 484
Cathedrals in Scotland
310
Elections in Scotland
207
Galloway
Celt
259
Electoral systems
389
Gardens in Scotland
General Assembly of the 550 Church of Scotland 6 General reference 581
Celtic art
85
Energy in Scotland
72
Central Belt
62
481
Chess in Scotland
369
Energy policy of Scotland
Christianity
555
Church of Scotland
2
Cinema of Scotland
54
550 Environment of Scotland 107 Ethnic minorities in 417 Scotland
General Teaching Council for Scotland Geography of Scotland
45 49
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
038
Document number
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
02/48933
Date 24/06/2016
Index Geology of Scotland
542
Ghillies
486
Glaciers of Scotland
122
Golf
401
Government and politics 269 of Scotland 553 Grammar schools in 363 Scotland 11 Grammar schools in the 247 United Kingdom 431 Great Britain (the 65 northern third of the 380 island)
History of Scottish devolution
391 380
Interior Construction Permit
History of the Jews in Scotland
30
Internet in Scotland
History of the Jews in Scotland
389
History of the Outer Hebrides
187
542 of swings per communal area
465
Scotland
200
516
Legislative
573
INITIATION IN LOTTERY
479
LGBT rights in Scotland 253
Inner Hebrides
460
List of Acts of the Scottish Parliament from 1999
Hogmanay Hospitals in Scotland Human rights in Scotland Humour in Scotland
569 420 170 359 108 300
Harp Harris Tweed
72
Illegal common christmas232 118 garden decoration
Head of government: First Minister of Scotland
133
IMAGO
185
355
IMMEDIATE EXILE
190
91
Immigration
395
Immoral power plug usage
384 202
Hebrides
492
Highland Clearances
300
Highland English
282
Increasing amount of phone numbers
Highland Games
441
Independent school
190
Hill forts in Scotland
406
413
Hinduism in Scotland
469
Indie talentedmusicians hours on MTV INDIVIDUAL, PAIR AND FAMILY UNITS
283
Historic houses in Scotland
87
History of Edinburgh
121
7
History of education in 238 Scotland 304 History of local 70 government in Scotland 172 History of Orkney 509 History of rugby union 142 in Scotland History of Scotland
321
298
222 Inventions and 477 discoveries of Scottish 260 origin 392 Islam in Scotland 300 Islands of Scotland 266 Islands of the Clyde 67 Islands of the Forth 154 ISSUES WITH FAITH 88 Jacobitism 317 Jam, see breakfast 77 confection 223 Jig 363 Jingoism 43 Jobs 216 Judaism in Scotland 76 Judicial 578 Judicial power 502 Justice 82 Juvenile Justice 388 Kingdom of Scotland 464 Kingdom of Scotland 385 Lacrosse in Scotland 600 Languages of Scotland 475 Law and order in 376 Scotland 407 Law enforcement in
66
387
Health care in Scotland 200
407
autographs
327 230
409 391 422
Instore make-up testing 437 INTERACTIVE LOTTO MACHINE NETWORK
340
255 128 227
List of Acts of the
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
038
Document number
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
02/48933
Date 24/06/2016
Index Scottish Parliament to 1707 List of courts in Scotland List of freshwater islands in Scotland
360
386
152
Local government in Scotland
99
Location
341
314
Lochs of Scotland
347
75
Lord Advocate
585
451
Lord President of the Court of Session
499
List of Moderators of 160 the General Assembly of the Church of Scotland 24 438 List of monarchs of Scotland
256
List of monarchs of Scotland
559
List of Munros
508
List of newspapers in Scotland
184
List of political parties in Scotland
1
List of Queens of Scotland
416
439
140 352 285
List of schools in Scotland
309
51
Manrent
575
296
Marriage in Scotland
103
348
Marriage in Scotland
432
139
Media in Scotland
550
Main article: Demographics of Scotland
62
Melrose Sevens
411
536
203
241
Middle schools in Scotland
Main article: Economy of Scotland
75
Migration Period art
376
564
180
Main article: Ecoregions in Scotland
38
Military history of Scotland Military history of Scotland
492
Military of Scotland
222
Mining in Scotland
348
Modern Celts
316
Mountains and hills of Scotland
342
Municipalities of Scotland
292
Main article: Administrative divisions of Scotland Main article: Culture of Scotland
217
398
Main article: Education 281 in Scotland 167 Main article: Environment of Scotland 597 Main article: Geography 529
List of Scottish musicians List of Scottish novelists
499 339
of Scotland
68
List of Scottish rugby union players
426
Main article: Government of Scotland
462
List of Scottish scientists
381
158
List of Scottish writers
211
Main article: Government of Scotland and Politics of Scotland
201
List of universities in 182 Scotland 453 Lists of Scots 355 Literature of Scotland
389
Main article: Scots law
390
Lowland Scots
402
294
451
321
262
Lowland Clearances
277
197
556
468 Main article: Sports in 485 Scotland 180 Main articles: History 286 of Scotland and History 595 of the United Kingdom 76 Mammals of Scotland
List of Scottish Jews
101
Main article: Municipalities of Scotland
Main article: Local government in Scotland Main article: Military of Scotland
575 556
Municipalities of Scotland
501
418
28 466
164 308 260 570
213
Museums in Scotland
201
314
Music of Scotland
208
64
Mythology of Scotland
391
478
National anthem of
194
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
038
Document number
A Fairer Scotland - Lottocracy Handbook
02/48933
Date 24/06/2016
Index Scotland
4
Places in Scotland
National Conversation
77
National Gallery of Scotland
317
Population of Scotland: 196 5,254,800 (2011 est) 154 Ports in Scotland 514
67
National parks of Scotland
134 52
National sports teams of Scotland National symbols of Scotland
242 517 580
National Trust properties in Scotland
215 324
Power stations in Scotland Prehistoric Scotland Preparatory school
427
Rivers of Scotland
464
405
Roads in Scotland
485
Prison population of Scotland
340
593
233
Netball
111
164
NHS Scotland
282
314
North Sea Oil
102
Northern Europe
164
Prostitution in Scotland
398 438
481 31
Roman Catholicism in Scotland Royal and Ancient
Northern Isles
456 551
Public holidays in Scotland
160
Nuclear power in Scotland
Scotland in the High Middle Ages
330
name(s): Scotland
Orkney Islands Ossian Parliament of Scotland Parliament of Scotland Pastoral pipes Peerage of Scotland People of Scotland
371 296
Records of Scotland 120
207
Regions of Scotland
459
Outer Hebrides
39
Rail transport in Scotland
434
Oil industry in Scotland
596
73 18
Religion in Scotland
477 461 162 86 22 371
560
Religion in Scotland
79
Renewable energy in 213
77
216 238
530 470 262
Rugby league in Scotland Highlanders.
389
184
285
5
594
240
Rugby in Scotland
461
Public schools in Scotland
406
383
Protected areas of Scotland
582
484
Royal Bank of Scotland
Northern Hemisphere, on 448 the Prime Meridian 586
141
545
30 125
Pronunciation: i/
Renewable energy in 63 309 Scotland
277
205
Pressure Groups in Scotland
Procurator Fiscal
138
Rights of way in Scotland
Natural geographic features of Scotland
268
Scotland
Scotland in the Late Middle Ages Scotland is situated within the following regions Scotland is: a constituent country of the United Kingdom. See Countries of the United Kingdom. Scotland national
Department for Information
DRAFT
People’s Lottocracy of Scotland
Extract from a draft copy of Lottery Handbook published by the Scottish Government
038
Fragments of past independence movement’s goals for a fairer Scotland
Literature to guide new citizens of Scotland
Literature to guide new citizens of Scotland
Jorge Luis Borges. Collected Fictions. Tr. Andrew Hurley. New York: Penguin 1998 The Lottery in Babylon Like all the men of Babylon, I have been proconsul; like all, I have been a slave. I have known omnipotence, ignominy, imprisonment. Look here-- my right hand has no index finger. Look here--through this gash in my cape you can see on my stomach a crimson tattoo--it is the second letter, Beth. On nights when the moon is full, this symbol gives me power over men with the mark of Gimel, but it subjects me to those with the Aleph, who on nights when there is no moon owe obedience to those marked with the Gimel. In the half-light of dawn, in a cellar, standing before a black altar, I have slit the throats of sacred bulls. Once, for an entire lunar year, I was declared invisible--I would cry out and no
one would heed my call, I would steal bread and not be beheaded. I have known
that thing the Greeks knew not--uncertainty. In a chamber of brass, as I faced the stranglers silent scarf, hope did not abandon me; in the river of delights, panic has not failed me. Heraclides Ponticus reports, admiringly, that Pythagoras recalled having been Pyrrhus, and before that, Euphorbus, and before that, some other mortal; in order to recall similar vicissitudes, I have no need of death, nor even of imposture. I owe that almost monstrous variety to an institution--the Lottery-- which is unknown in other nations, or at work in them imperfectly or secretly. I have not delved into this institutions history. I know that sages cannot agree. About its mighty purposes I know as much as a man untutored in astrology might know about the moon. Mine is a dizzying country in which the Lottery is a major element of reality; until this day, I have thought as little about it as about the conduct of the indecipherable gods or of my heart. Now, far from Babylon and its beloved customs, I think with some bewilderment about the Lottery, and about the blasphemous conjectures that shrouded men whisper in the halflight of dawn or evening. My father would tell how once, long ago--centuries? years?--the lottery in Babylon was a game played by commoners. He would tell (though whether this is true or not, I cannot say) how barbers would take a mans copper coins and give back rectangles made of bone or parchment and adorned with symbols. Then, in broad daylight, a drawing would be held; those smiled upon by fate would, with no further corroboration by chance, win coins minted of silver. The procedure, as you can see, was rudimentary. Naturally, those so-called lotteries were a failure. They had no moral force whatsoever; they appealed not to all a mans faculties, but only to his hopefulness. Public indifference soon meant that the merchants who had founded these venal lotteries began to lose money. Someone tried something new: including among the list of lucky numbers a few unlucky draws.
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Lottery in Babylon Jorge Luis Borges – 1998
This innovation meant that those who bought those numbered rectangles now had a twofold chance: they might win a sum of money or they might be required to pay a fine-sometimes a considerable one. As one might expect, that small risk (for every thirty good numbers there was one ill-omened one) piqued the publics interest. Babylonians flocked to buy tickets. The man who bought none was considered a pusillanimous wretch, a man with no spirit of adventure. In time, this justified contempt found a second target: not just the man who didnt play, but also the man who lost and paid the fine. The Company (as it was now beginning to be known) had to protect the interest of the winners, who could not be paid their prizes unless the pot contained almost the entire amount of the fines. A lawsuit was filed against the losers: the judge sentenced them to pay the original fine, plus court costs, or spend a number of days in jail. In order to thwart the Company, they all chose jail. From that gauntlet thrown down by a few men sprang the Companys omnipotence--its ecclesiastical, metaphysical force. Some time after this, the announcements of the numbers drawn began to leave out the lists of fines and simply print the days of prison assigned to each losing number. That shorthand, as it were, which went virtually unnoticed at the time, was of utmost importance: It was the first appearance of nonpecuniary elements in the lottery. And it met with great success--indeed, the Company was forced by its players to increase the number of unlucky draws. As everyone knows, the people of Babylon are great admirers of logic, and even of symmetry. It was inconsistent that lucky numbers should pay off in round silver coins while unlucky ones were measured in days and nights of jail. Certain moralists argued that the possession of coins did not always bring about happiness, and that other forms of happiness were perhaps more direct. The lower-caste neighborhoods of the city voiced a different complaint. The members of the priestly class gambled heavily, and so enjoyed all the vicissitudes of terror and hope; the poor (with understandable, or inevitable, envy) saw themselves denied access to that famously delightful, even sensual, wheel. The fair and reasonable desire that all men and women, rich and poor, be able to take part equally in the Lottery inspired indignant demonstrations--the memory of which, time has failed to dim. Some stubborn souls could not (or pretended they could not) understand that this was a novus ordo seclorum, a necessary stage of history.... A slave stole a crimson ticket; the drawing determined that that ticket entitled the bearer to have his tongue burned out. The code of law provided the same sentence for stealing a lottery ticket. Some Babylonians argued that the slave deserved the burning iron for being a thief, others, more magnanimous, that the executioner should employ the iron because thus fate had decreed. There were disturbances, there were regrettable instances of bloodshed, but
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Lottery in Babylon Jorge Luis Borges – 1998
the masses of Babylon at last, over the opposition of the well-to-do, imposed their will; they saw their generous objectives fully achieved. First, the Company was forced to assume all public power. (The unification was necessary because of the vastness and complexity of the new operations.) Second, the Lottery was made secret, free of charge, and open to all. The
mercenary sale of lots was abolished; once initiated
into the mysteries of Baal, every free man automatically took part in the sacred drawings, which were held in the labyrinths of the god every sixty nights and determined each mans destiny until the next drawing. The consequences were incalculable. A lucky draw might bring about a mans elevation to the council of the magi or the imprisonment of his enemy (secret, or known by all to be so), or might allow him to find, in the peaceful dimness of his room, the woman who would begin to disturb him, or whom he had never hoped to see again; an unlucky draw: mutilation, dishonor of many kinds, death itself. Sometimes a single event--the murder of C in a tavern, Bs mysterious apotheosis--would be the inspired outcome of thirty or forty drawings. Combining bets was difficult, but we must recall that the individuals of the Company were (and still are) all--powerful, and clever. In many cases, the knowledge that certain happy turns were the simple result of chance would have lessened the force of those outcomes; to forestall that problem, agents of the Company employed suggestion, or even magic. The paths they followed, the intrigues they wove, were invariably secret. To penetrate the innermost hopes and innermost fears of every man, they called upon astrologers and spies. There were certain stone lions, a sacred latrine called Qaphqa, some cracks in a dusty aqueduct--these places, it was generally believed, gave access to the Company, and well- or ill-wishing persons would deposit confidential reports in them. An alphabetical file held those dossiers of varying veracity. Incredibly, there was talk of favoritism, of corruption. With its customary discretion, the Company did not reply directly; instead, it scrawled its brief argument in the rubble of a mask factory. This apologia is now numbered among the sacred Scriptures. It pointed out, doctrinally, that the Lottery is an interpolation of chance into the order of the universe, and observed that to accept errors is to strengthen chance, not contravene it. It also noted that those lions, that sacred squatting-place, though not disavowed by the Company (which reserved the right to consult them), functioned with no official guarantee. This statement quieted the publics concerns. But it also produced other effects perhaps unforeseen by its author. It profoundly altered both the spirit and the operations of the Company. I have but little time remaining; we are told that the ship is about to sail--but I will try to explain. However unlikely it may seem, no one, until that time, had attempted to produce a
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Lottery in Babylon Jorge Luis Borges – 1998
general theory of gaming. Babylonians are not a speculative people; they obey the dictates
of chance, surrender their lives, their hopes, their nameless terror to it,
but it never
occurs to them to delve into its labyrinthine laws or the revolving spheres
that
manifest its workings. Nonetheless, the semiofficial statement that I
mentioned inspired numerous debates of a legal and mathematical nature. From one of them, there emerged the following conjecture: If the Lottery is an intensification of chance, a periodic infusion of chaos into the cosmos, then is it not appropriate that chance intervene in every aspect of the drawing, not just one? Is it not ludicrous that chance should dictate a persons death while the circumstances of that death--whether private or public, whether drawn out for an hour or a century--should not be subject to chance? Those perfectly reasonable objections finally prompted sweeping reform; the complexities of the new system (complicated further by its having been in practice for centuries) are understood by only a handful
of specialists, though I will attempt to
summarize them, even if only symbolically. Let us imagine a first drawing, which condemns a man to death. In pursuance of that decree, another drawing is held; out of that second drawing come, say, nine possible executors. Of those nine, four might initiate a third drawing to determine the name of the executioner, two might replace the unlucky draw with a lucky one (the discovery of a treasure, say), another might decide that the death should be exacerbated (death with dishonor, that is, or with the refinement of torture), others might simply refuse to carry out the sentence. That is the scheme of the Lottery, put symbolically. In reality, the number of drawings is infinite. No decision is final; all branch into others. The ignorant assume that infinite drawings require infinite time; actually, all that is required is that time be infinitely subdivisible, as in the famous parable of the Race with the Tortoise. That infinitude coincides remarkably well with the sinuous numbers of Chance and with the Heavenly Archetype of the Lottery beloved of Platonists. Some distorted echo of our custom seems to have reached the Tiber: In his Life of Antoninus Heliogabalus, Aelius Lampridius tells us that the emperor wrote out on seashells the fate that he intended for his guests at dinner--some would receive ten pounds of gold; others, ten houseflies, ten dormice, ten bears. It is fair to recall that Heliogabalus was raised in Asia Minor, among the priests of his eponymous god. There are also impersonal drawings, whose purpose is unclear. One drawing decrees that a sapphire from Taprobana be thrown into the waters of the Euphrates; another, that a bird be released from the top of a certain tower; another, that every hundred years a grain of sand be added to (or taken from) the countless grains of sand on a certain beach. Sometimes, the consequences are terrible.
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Lottery in Babylon Jorge Luis Borges – 1998
Under the Companys beneficent influence, our customs are now steeped in chance. The purchaser of a dozen amphorae of Damascene wine will not be surprised if one contains a talisman, or a viper; the scribe who writes out a contract never fails to include some error; I myself, in this hurried statement, have misrepresented some splendor, some atrocity perhaps, too, some mysterious monotony.... Our historians, the most perspicacious on the planet, have invented a method for correcting chance; it is well known that the outcomes of this method are (in general) trust-worthy--although, of course, they are never divulged without a measure of deception. Besides, there is nothing so tainted with fiction as the history of the Company.... A paleographic document, unearthed at a certain temple, may come from yesterdays drawing or from a drawing that took place centuries ago. No book is published without some discrepancy between each of the editions copies. Scribes take a secret oath to omit, interpolate, alter. Indirect falsehood is also practiced. The Company, with godlike modesty, shuns all publicity. Its agents, of course, are secret; the orders it constantly (perhaps continually) imparts are no different from those spread wholesale by impostors. Besides--who will boast of being a mere impostor? The drunken man who blurts out an absurd command, the sleeping man who suddenly awakes and turns and chokes to death the woman sleeping at his side--are they not, perhaps, implementing one of the Companys secret decisions? That silent functioning, like Gods, inspires all manner of conjectures. One scurrilously suggests that the Company ceased to exist hundreds of years ago, and that the sacred disorder of our lives is purely hereditary, traditional; another believes that the Company is eternal, and teaches that it shall endure until the last night, when the last god shall annihilate the earth. Yet another declares that the Company is omnipotent, but affects only small things: the cry of a bird, the shades of rust and dust, the half dreams that come at dawn. Another, whispered by masked heresiarchs, says that the Company has never existed, and never will. Another, no less despicable, argues that it makes no difference whether one affirms or denies the reality of the shadowy corporation, because Babylon is nothing but an infinite game of chance.
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Lottery in Babylon Jorge Luis Borges – 1998
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Superiority Of A Political Lottery In Third Millennium Josephine Rearon – 1999
Guiding principles for a fairer Scotland The Superiority Of A Political Lottery In Third Millennium Josephine Rearon – 1999
PEOPLE’S LOTTOCRACY OF SCOTLAND The recent Scottish referendum was debated not only on the basis of national identity but on notions of justice and equality. These stem not from a regional identity but from disenchantment with dysfunctional democratic processes.
Scotland is not unique in this respect but provides a convenient boundary and broad political consensus in which to base a project.
Working within TU Delft’s Design as Politics studio focusing on– utopias and wannabe-autonomous states, this short project purports to add an archive to the Swiss Pavilion (Price/Burckhardt) archives from the pavilion of a future Scotland organised ‘lottocratically,’ in which a series of lotteries have replaced normal systems within society.
The government is elected lottocratically (all citizens may be called upon);. The lottery considers the hours of labour, leisure, GDP and housing required towards achieving the governments broad goals and distributes them unevenly, much in the way that resources are distributed unevenly in 2014. Money earned, house, salary and work hours are appointed at random and have no correlation to (eg. thanks to the lottery a butcher, working 3 hours a week, earn £400,000-a-year, living in a caravan in Peebles may find himself in Nairn the day after, a surgeon working 40 hours for £10,000-a-year whilst living in a high-rise). This is a form of fairness in which everything is not equal but in which all citizens will experience all ways of living it is our contention that empathy arising from this situation would create a better society (would undermine spatial segregation, condemnation of certain housing types, accepted forms of government etc.).
In the course of a week spent in Venice working through the utopia to its absurd conclusion, with its implications for human instinct, self-determination, reproduction, education, law making, immigration etc, we feel that it provides a compelling alternative to the situation in 2014.
Sharing his playful spirit of optimism and provocation we are pleased to place alongside Price’s explorations of (anti)establishment architecture and techno-utopias, some texts, landscapes, cityscapes and life moments from our {People’s Lottocracy of Scotland.
BF.DvH.HC.MG.
Design as Politics Masters Graduation Studio TU Delft