one post, on "Class Warriors," will compare a passage in Poul Anderson's Kith future history with a passage in Karl Marx's and Friedrich Engels' The Communist Manifesto;
the other post, on "Self-Reference," will compare a comment on Anderson's Maurai future history in the same author's There Will Be Time with a passage in Ian Fleming's You Only Live Twice.
Alert readers might deduce to which passages I refer.
But it might be a while before either post gets written. This weekend just got busier. To the activities listed here have been added:
helping Aileen with a musical event that she organizes;
attending an "Indian Evening" at another friend's house tomorrow.
Onwards and upwards.
8 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
I am not in the least a Marxist, nor do I believe a bit in the argument Marx/Engels made in their booklet THE COMMUNIST MANIFESTO, but I will read your "Class Warriors" piece with interest. I think it's possible you have "Ghetto" in mind and how those of the Kith on Earth were being oppressed by a corrupt and decadent civilization.
And I'm pretty sure I know which part of THERE WILL BE TIME you are thinking about! Alas, my memory of Fleming's YOU ONLY LIVE TWICE is far vaguer than what I recall of Anderson's works. But I almost think I can guess at which part of YOU ONLY... that's in your mind.
It seems to me you are, perhaps to your surprise, finding your self more busy in retirement than when you were still working!
Sean
Sean,
Not to my surprise. I always expected and intended an active retirement.
I will reread "Ghetto." As I remember it, our hero's prospective father-in-law consciously promoted the economic interests of his social group at the expense of another. This overtly parallels passages about history being a record of conflicts between classes - whether or not society happens to be corrupt or decadent at any given time.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
You wanted an active retirement? Good! That's better than dozing away in your rocking chair! (Smiles
Darn! I may have been wrong to think you were going to use "Ghetto" for a blog piece. What I recall was that the nephew of the woman the Kith hero was in love with defended his people from the sneers and attacks of members of his class (caste is probably a better word).
Sean
Sean,
Yes, I was referring to "G
Sean,
Yes, I meant "Ghetto" and have just started to reread it but it was the "class warrior" prospective father-in-law (if that is what he was) that I had in mind. Caste and economic class are two kinds of social groupings although they obviously overlap.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, but considering how widely genetic manipulation was used by the Star Domination, "caste" seems more appropriate a word. A "class" is a vaguer word with many social/political/economic shadings, gradations, variants, and permutations.
Sean
As you can see, I got distracted while writing a reply. Then I had to go out and drive around town with food for the musical event in a pub so I had better stop trying to communicate while doing other things. We will soon be going out for the evening anyway.
There is an English social sense of "class" and a specifically economic sense. Important issues.
Laters.
Kaor, Paul!
Understood, re "distractions."
I don't really care that much about "classes." There will always be upper or lower classes. Because I believe that to be an inevitable consequence of how different humans are from each other. Some will be wealthier, wiser, more intelligent, luckier, etc., than others. That alone will make for "social distinctions." What really matters is whether or not not the "upperlings" make it too hard for "underlings" to prosper and rise.
Sean
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