Freedom And Diversity On Avalon

Anderson's twin values of freedom and diversity are best exemplified by the planet Avalon in his Technic History. Having read the Founder's writings, his descendant, Tabitha Falkayn, knows that:

"'He and his followers wanted not one thing except unmolested elbow room.'"

-Poul Anderson, The People Of The Wind IN Anderson, Rise Of The Terran Empire (Riverdale, NY, March 2011), pp. 437-662 AT VI, p. 501.

Regarding diversity, first there is the diversity provided by two intelligent species, human beings and Ythrians. Secondly, we are given to understand that the Ythrian social organizations, the choths, can be even more diverse than they are shown to be in this narrative. Thirdly, an individual of either species is free to adopt the lifestyle of the other. Human beings can "go bird." Ythrians can become "Walkers." There is a Parliament of Man, a political arrangement with which we are familiar. However, every member of a choth, whether Ythrian or human, can vote in a Khruath. Ythrians and human beings who learn from them are able to make this work.

Avalonians fight to remain in the looser Domain of Ythri rather than to be incorporated into the larger Terran Empire. One of their fears is that the Empire would allow unrestricted immigration and that immigrants might simply outvote the established Avalonian way of life. I believe in freedom of movement on a planetary surface but would have to consider whether that should be extended to faster than light movement between planetary systems which is a completely different scenario. No vote in the Parliament of Man would be able to interfere in the internal affairs of any choth. Each choth is sovereign and governs itself by custom, not by coercion. In Flandry's time, we understand, Avalonian human beings have shed the habit of government so that there would then no longer be any question of a way of life being outvoted in Parliament. Human beings would have learned the Ythrian way of living in self-governing communities and I question whether, in those circumstances, the number of immigrants would remain contentious. With forcible annexation into an Empire no longer an issue, anything else would become locally negotiable.