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By Root 361 0

treasonous? If they were in fact treasonous, does it make sense to call that treason “light” or “medium to heavy”? And on what basis would it make sense to call treason light: because he was a patsy of some shadowy British syndicate (Mr. F!), because the mini-palaces he built were poorly constructed, or because he only intended to make money, not hurt the US? We’re going to try to answer these questions about George Sr.’s possibly treasonous and actually inferior homebuilding from the standpoint of political philosophy, the study of how individuals relate to governments. In particular, we’re going to explore the nature of the duties we may owe to our government with a focus on the duty to not commit treason against one’s own country. We’re especially concerned with how George Sr. may have failed to fulfill this duty and to what degree he failed to do so.

“Do You Know How They Punish Treason?”—First Time . . .—“I’ve Never Heard of a Second!”

The fact that treason is the only crime defined in the U.S. Constitution highlights the significance of George Sr.’s alleged crime, no matter how light it may be. Article III, section 3 defines treason in the following way: “Treason against the United States, shall consist only in levying War against them, or in adhering to their Enemies, giving them Aid and Comfort.” The constitutional definition gives us several key concepts to focus on when evaluating whether someone committed treason. Citizens can commit treason in two ways: Either by levying war against their country or by helping an enemy. We’ll call the first type of treason aggressive treason and the second type, in accordance with the defining behavioral trait of the Bluth family, passive-aggressive treason.

Aggressive treason is clear enough. It involves trying to bring down the state. Fortunately, nothing throughout the three seasons of Arrested Development ever indicates that George is a revolutionary hell-bent on bringing down the American government. So, the question at hand is really whether George’s actions amount to passive-aggressive treason.

Passive-aggressive treason is the kind of treason that involves benefiting or helping out some group or state that is hostile to your homeland. What does this entail? It could involve giving an enemy of the state “aid and comfort,” something that might show that you adhere to their cause. But adhering to a cause and aiding a cause aren’t always the same thing. For example, Lindsay’s charitable endeavors involve raising money for many causes, including the anti-circumcision group H.O.O.P. (Hands Off Our Penises) and the inconsistent triad of “No More Meat,” “No More Fish” and “More Meat and More Fish.” She definitely provides aid, however inept, to each organization without adhering to, supporting, or standing by any of the causes. Alternatively, you can support a cause or country without ever benefiting it. Gob manages to support the cause of the Magician’s Alliance while simultaneously hurting it by inadvertently revealing the secrets to many of his magic tricks.1

Actions against one’s country that are analogous to Lindsay’s and Gob’s don’t seem to fully capture the idea of treason spelled out in the Constitution. It’s possible to provide aid and comfort to an enemy without adhering to their cause, and it’s possible to adhere to their cause without providing any aid and comfort. So, adhering to a cause and supporting an enemy with aid and comfort are two different things. This means we shouldn’t understand passive-aggressive treason as just providing aid and comfort to an enemy.

Where does this get us? Well, we can see that unambiguous cases of passive-aggressive treason involve at least three elements. First, there has to be an enemy of the state. If a state doesn’t have any enemies, this type of treason is impossible. There’s no rival cause to support. Second, the alleged criminal must support or stand by that enemy. This is how the alleged traitor adheres to the enemy. Finally, committing passive-aggressive treason requires providing some kind of comfort