Although the t'Kelans do not organize for war, they are forced into Volkerwanderungs, displacing other populations in the process. For Joyce's and his own survival, van Rijn must motivate some t'Kelans to fight others and he lies in order to do this:
"'...all's fair in love and propaganda,' he said." (p. 53)
It is not. I would want to accuse an enemy of atrocities only if he was in fact guilty of them. However, van Rijn's need is urgent and he is in fact working toward a settlement that will be good for all concerned - including himself.
10 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
Which raises the question: what would WE do to both survive and persuade the t'Kelans to accept the advice that would save their if we did not use the means chosen by Old Nick? Would we have succeeded? Or fail?
But of course I agree with you on the RIGHTNESS of not falsely accusing an enemy of crimes he had not committed.
Sean
Indeed. Do you think ON would tell a a lie about a competitor to gain an advantage? Would On spread a n easily disprovable lie about HIMSELF to gain advantage? How far would ON go to "win"? What WOULDN'T he do to win?
-kh
Keith,
Van Rijn does have some moral constraints but we can only deduce what he might do from what he does do in particular stories.
Paul.
Kaor, Keith!
I go by what Paul said. Moreover, as regards Old Nick's ORDINARY behavior as a businessman in advanced Technic worlds, I think he would behave and act withing the constraints of his own sense of ethics and ordinary tort and business law. Albeit, there would be real differences from our tort/commercial laws due to them being applied on an INTERSTELLAR scale.
Sean
Thank you, Paul and Sean. I ask you both: based on your extensive reading and discussion of the relevant works, how far do YOU think ON would go to further his ends (either his personal ends, SSL's or the greater society's)? What line would he NOT cross to win, and how close to that line would he go?
-kh
Kaor, Keith!
I think there are certain things Old Nick would never do. Such as enslaving others or or "brain conditioning" (see "Margin of Profit"). Nor was he interested in conquering an empire, which he very well might have done.
Old Nick was capable of bribing bureaucrats and politicians, but I would put that down as a matter of self defense, resisting hostile politicians like Edward Garver.
Sean
Keith,
He says that the nuclear bombardment of Borthu would be bad not only for Borthu but also for the League.
He wants the t'Kelans to be happy because they think they are swindling the League. He would not be happy with a situation where his clients or customers were unhappy.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
Aha! Good points I wished I had thought of making.
Sean
Much obliged, Gents.
ON: Bribery: Yes
Nuclear bombardment: No
Enslaving: No
Mind conditioning: No
Blackmail: ?
False character assassination/ Lying about a competitor: ?
Collateral damage to innocents: ?
Also, if I don't reply, it's usually because I've lost which posting it is! I'm working my way backwards now...
Kaor, Keith!
Old Nick sometimes describes rival and competitors in comically derisive terms. But I would not call that "character assassination" in the truly nasty sense. It was more a means used by Anderson to insert humor in stories featuring Nicholas van Rijn.
Sean
Post a Comment