Kinds Of Contradictions

"Un-Man."

Real societies contain conflicts, unevennesses and anachronisms. One word for social contrasts and conflicts is "contradictions." These cannot be logical contractions because contradictions in that sense cannot exist. In symbolic logic: not (p and not-p).  However, we can talk about a contradiction between the interests of an employer who must cut costs because of economic competition and an employee who must secure a wage increase to pay his mortgage. Such conflicts or contradictions are inherent in a particular kind of economy.

When Poul Anderson shows us contradictory aspects of post-World War III society, are these logical inconsistencies, i.e., impossibilities, or plausible social conflicts? On the one hand, there seems to be an attempt to house the entire population in high-tech "colonies," not only the large apartment buildings but also floating oceanic colonies. On the other hand, the need for highly trained personnel leads to a selective, stratified educational system generating social friction. Egalitarianism versus elitism.

But not everyone (yet) lives in a "colony":

"Murderers lurked in the slums around Manhattan Crater while a technician could buy a house and furniture for six month's pay." (VI, p. 48)

(There is crime around a Crater in Anderson's Shield.)

The recent past of nuclear conflict is acknowledged, "...Crater...," and there are still slums. Globally, Hindu peasants living in mud huts still cultivate small fields while natives of the Congo drum at rain-clouds.

My provisional assessment: Either the large agricultural and other combines cooperate to satisfy needs or they still compete to accumulate profits. If the latter, then there will continue be a contradiction between wealth and poverty. There will also continue to be environmental destruction because environmental preservation, although a need, is not a priority for profit-seeking organizations.