Ervin (Powerless)

Ervin was an older man living in Los Angeles, West Coast People's Republic. He'd learned early on that, while he wasn't made for the martyrdom of overt revolution, he still could make the most of the power he had as a little person.

Ervin sought to move at the microlevel: rather than moving to change the system, he and his fellows would have to build up "breathing room" within the system to allow ordinary citizens to go about their business. He also realized that the "powerless" had more power than they thought. The state and the Party could take things away, but since the people had little to begin with, they had little to lose. Ervin also became conversant with the laws of the WCPDR, and asked questions in public as much as possible. He realized that change would come gradually, and it might not even come within his own lifetime, but with enough pushing, it would come.

Ervin met Charlie Simpkins, who'd already been declared deviationist, in the Valley Relic pub. Ervin explained his philosophy to Simpkins. Simpkins adopted Ervin's recommendations, halting the Party's plan to level an apartment building for Party housing. Ervin heard about it, but only learned it was Charlie a few evenings later. Ervin congratulated him, and the two had a beer in the pub.