The General Will in "Catch 22"

A letter from a "fan"

I nearly posted a sarcastic comment re: Rousseau on your blog but decided against it last minute....

"Too bad, I was just getting into this book I haven't read in awhile called "Analytical Politics" but the authors can't seem to stop talking about Rousseau beginning on page 7, so I guess I'll just toss it - since it must be an epic fail."

Sarcasm often doesn't translate well on the 'nets... so I decided against. Anyway, I haven't figured out your conclusions on the "majority will" so it might have made me look like an idiot anyway... and I doubt I'll find out in the very-near future since I'm reading catch-22 for the first time in a decade and i'm laughing so hard it hurts. some quotes on majority will, slightly different than Rousseau:

Yossarian: "I don't want to fly milk runs. I don't want to be in the war any more."
"Would you like to see our country lose?" Major Major asked.
"We won't lose. We've got more men, more money and more material. There are ten million men in uniform who could replace me. Some people are getting killed and a lot more are making money and having fun. Let somebody else get killed."
"But suppose everybody on our side felt that way."
"Then I'd certainly be a damned fool to feel any other way. Wouldn't I?" ch 9

and as for how to direct the general will (if it exists) :

Milo: "But how will I get the government to [buy all my Egyptian cotton]?"
"Bribe it," Yossarian said.
"Bribe it!" Milo was outraged and almost lost his balance and broke his neck again. "Shame on you!.... Bribery is against the law, and you know it. But it's not against the law to make a profit, is it? So it can't be against the law for me to bribe someone in order to make a fair profit, can it? No, of course not!"
.....
"I wish you'd come with me," Milo remarked. "I won't feel safe among people who take bribes. They're no better than a bunch of crooks."
"You'll be all right," Yossarian assured him with confidence. "If you run into trouble, just tell everybody that the security of the country requires a strong domestic Egyptian-cotton speculating industry."
"It does," Milo informed him solemnly. "A strong Egyptian-cotton speculating industry means a much stronger America."
"Of course it does. And if that doesn't work, point out the great number of American families that depend on it for income."
"A great many American families do depend on it for income."
"You see?" said Yossarian. "You're much better at it than I am. You almost make it sound true.".....
"I wish you'd put your uniform on instead of going around naked that way," [Milo] confided pensively before he climbed back down again and hurried away. "You might start a trend, and then I'll never get rid of all this goldarned cotton." ch 24

(As the old saw goes: Countries that want to be ruled by the general will, will generally be ruled by the will of a general)