Opinions

Alaska Robotics News: Is 'Victory Chili' secret to Republican success?

Editor's note: This is the second in a series of six Alaska Robotics News multimedia commentaries leading up to the 2014 general election. Look online for new videos each Monday and Thursday.

I opened my email and there it was, "Stop by for a bowl of homemade Victory Chili!"

With the general election so far away and polling still tight, I knew it was too early to celebrate victory. This must be something else. An ancient source of power upon which Alaskan Republicans have long dined? A dish imbued with the very essence of victory?

I had to know. I had to drink from this spicy fountain of bean juice.

Victory is a bloody word, derived from battle and conquest. The roots of victory tie deeply to warfare, and it's hard to argue that elections are not battles. Reputations are dismembered and soldiers fall for their leaders.

I suppose political battles are always fought this way, with noise and bombast. With reality distortion fields and rivers of cash corrupting the entire process. All for an audience that is barely awake or too busy to pay attention.

It seems like there must be a better way, but the system is alive and provides its own strange incentives.

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There's a film I like very much called "Princess Mononoke." It's an ambiguous story with very little room for good and evil. The protagonist, an exiled prince, views his own purpose in the story's conflict as seeing with eyes unclouded by hate. I think that's an important role in any conflict.

As the general election looms, it's tempting to pick a team and fire all guns in the opposite direction, but why? Look across the battlefield and you'll see people you know and love. Political ideologies aren't battle lines, and we can respectfully disagree if we abandon our own frustration.

I think I'm writing all this because of the chili. I feel slightly euphoric, probably an increase in endorphins brought on by magic beans.

Or maybe Victory Chili doesn't have any magical properties at all. Maybe Victory Chili isn't even about destruction of our enemies or which campaign has the bigger pile of cheddar. Maybe Victory Chili is something more powerful, maybe Victory Chili is just taking a moment to break bread, and wind, with your neighbors.

Created by Pat Race, Lou Logan, Aaron Suring, Jamie Karnik and many others, Alaska Robotics News is a political satire series focused on Alaska. The series was initially funded through Kickstarter and some cash donated in an unmarked brown paper bag. Alaska Robotics is a group in Juneau publishing short films, comics and many other creative works. Follow their projects online at AlaskaRobotics.com or in person at their gallery at 220 Front Street.

The views expressed here are the writer's own and are not necessarily endorsed by Alaska Dispatch News, which welcomes a broad range of viewpoints. To submit a piece for consideration, email commentary(at)alaskadispatch.com.

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