Blackbox

It is eye-opening to learn a certain noble council member uses the term blackbox politics to comment on the operation of another party. By definition, politics is a blackbox operation.

It is an ingenuous - no, it's not a typo; not ingenious - idea that politics means democracy, election, or referendum. I'm not saying what is good or bad, or should or should not. Just that the game is not played in that way.

Oh, rather than dwelling on the dull drama of local politics, for those who are interested in soiling their hands, may I introduce the best preparatory course before joining the blackbox operation:

I am referring to the boardgame Diplomacy.

No, this is no Risk or other ordinary chess. On the map of Europe, each of the seven players takes the control of one country. Contrary to other games, movement is simultaneous, not by turn; all players secretly write down their moves after a negotiation period, and then all moves are revealed and put into effect simultaneously. The major target of the game is to fight for the fixed number of supply centers (34 in total) - it is a zero sum game; any gains in a player's resources comes at the expense of a rival.

And, you see, the beauty of the game is all for that negotiation phase; all the (important) things happen here. Players form alliances; arrangements and agreements may be made public knowledge or kept secret. Players are not bound to anything they say during this period, and no agreements of any sort are enforceable. Players must forge alliances with opponents and observe them to ensure their trustworthiness; at the same time, they must convince others of their own trustworthiness while making plans to turn on their allies when others least expect it.

PS. It is often said that Diplomacy was the favorite game of Henry Kissinger, and the Kennedy family the game to teach their children. I'm not sure it is a good thing to learn stabbing on others' back at such an early stage, but the map of Europe is certainly an excellent gadget to teach our kids history.