Now imagine that some human beings have been living elsewhere in the galaxy for a very long time and that, when you travel there, you are identified as - a Solman! (Or Solwoman.) That is what happens in Poul Anderson's The Peregrine.
Peregrine Thorkild Sean is responsible for bringing both an Alorian and a Cordy onto the Peregrine. Is it just coincidence that both the Cordy Trevelyan and the Peregrine are investigating a possible threat to humanity and that the Peregrine is the Nomad ship that Trevelyan deliberately gets himself shanghaied onto? I am not going to find the answer at this time of night.
My night time prayer or invocation, if anyone wants to share it, is:
"From delusion, lead us to truth;
"From darkness, lead us to light." (three times)
I adapted it from an Upanishad. In the morning, I say:
"We meditate on the lovely light of the god, Savitri; may it stimulate our thoughts."
8 comments:
If you live in a country as a citizen and enjoy the privileges that go with that -- the right to hold office and own property and vote and so forth -- it's well to bear in mind that there are no legitimate rights without obligations. They're an inseparably paired duality.
Kaor, Paul!
And I agree with what Mr. Stirling said. I am a citizen of the US, and I hope I would feel the same way if I was a subject of Her Majesty. Or if, in Anderson's Technic History, a citizen of the Terran Empire.
Sean
I was brought up with a legacy of conflict between England and Ireland. People expected me to "take sides" and I reacted against this, regarding the circumstances of my birth as accidental. A lot of people identify Britain with oppression. Meanwhile, the rights that we have in either country have to be defended and extended. Someone pointed out to me that I have had, e.g., a better education than many people elsewhere in the world. Yes. He added that I should defend this. Defend good education? Yes. Defend a continued disparity between educational systems? No.
Kaor, Paul!
Of course it's an accident, the location and circumstances of one's birth--but I still argue some countries are better than others. And I believe the UK and US, for all their faults and self inflicted wounds, to be better than practically all other non-Western nations. And thus deserving of loyalty.
Not sure what you mean by "disparity between educational systems." You already know of the contempt I have for many gov't managed public schools in the US. I am inclined to favor systems replacing failed ideas and systems.
Sean
Sean,
I thought that the guy I was talking to might have meant, "There is a good educational system here and much poorer systems elsewhere. Let's keep it that way!"
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I would agree with that gentleman, esp. if he meant the UK has different kinds of schools for different kinds of people.
Sean
Sean,
He might have meant, "Let us maintain a global status quo in which we are permanently better educated than anyone else."
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
And I would disagree with that "beggar thy neighbor" attitude if that was what he meant!
Sean
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