In After Doomsday
, Anderson immediately establishes the alienness
of an avian-descended extraterrestrial by giving him an exotic name,
“Ramri of Monwaing’s Katkinu,” aka “Ramri of Tantha.” Ramri is a
personal name. Monwaing is a home planet. Katkinu is a colonized planet.
Tantha is a Monwaingi Society. Thus, the first version of Ramri’s name
reflects the fact that Monwaingi are space travelers whereas the second
version expresses their internal organization. In fact, space travel
facilitates Monwaingi organization because Societies preserve their
distinctiveness by spreading to other planets although not on the basis
of one Society per planet. Individualistic Tanthai and communistic Kodau
sharing Katkinu simply ignore each other although, recognizing that
conflicts may occur, they also accept a common peace-keeping technology.
-copied from
here.
The Tanthai had disliked the callous manipulation of life inherent in Monwaingi biological technology. Some Societies had even begun to talk of adjusting personalities. Then Earth, and especially the US, showed them:
"'...a socio-economic system based on physics rather than biology.'" (
CHAPTER TEN, p. 105)
Tanthai find this Terrestrial system less subtle but potentially more powerful and even more humane "'...than the traditional Monwaingi approach.'" (
ibid.)
Our economy more humane than theirs? Good grief!
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Yes, a free enterprise oriented economy based on physics (which I interpret to mean based on things and people as they actually ARE) is and would be more humane than the traditional Monwaingi approach. That "approach" laid stress on the cold blooded biological and genetic manipulation of life. Of regarding even intelligent beings of having value only insofar as they advanced biological goals. The free enterprise system introduced by the humans laid stress on the value of the individual.
That, I concede, is the ideal, and not always borne out in practice. BUT, when allowed to function, a free enterprise system has WORKED, and worked far better than any kind of socialism has ever done. Socialism, has been far more callous than free enterprise has ever been (e.g., the gulags of the USSR, the killing fields of Cambodia, or the chaos and near civil war in Venezuela right now).
Sean
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