The Prologue is an extract from "...a master's degree in sociotechnics..." (p. 7) The Plenipoteniary of the Interbeing League refers to "'...the psychopolitical situation...'" (1, p. 12)
We are used to "psychotechnics" and to variations on that theme in Poul Anderson's works. What would "psychopolitics" be? Does the League understand not only the political interactions of a planetary population but also the individual and social psychologies underlying those interactions? With few exceptions, we have to treat every adult as equally free to vote whatever their mental states but obviously those mental states include every conceivable prejudice, immaturity and ignorance. Are things better in the Interbeing League? Are individuals pyschologically better equipped to address political issues? To quote Robert Heinlein's Future History Time Chart, will there be a
"mature culture"?
I like to end a day with profound questions. The future will provide the answers.
4 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
The impression I recollect of the Interbeing League was that it was very libertarian, very decentralized. Which certainly fitted the basic political preferences of Poul Anderson, at least. Also, I suggest looking up your copy of EARTHMAN'S BURDEN, and the story "The Sheriff of Canyon Gulch," to see an extract from an EMPLOYEES' ORIENTATION MANUAL, by Chief Commissioner Adalbert Parr, of the Cultural Development Service, an agency of the foreign ministry of the League. The extract gives some background information about the League.
Sean
Kaor, Paul!
And I strongly doubt there will ever a "mature" civilization or at least one that could last forever. Human beings what they are, flawed and prone to folly and error, will always, as a result, have some kind of defect and weakness in their societies that eventually brings them down to ruin. And if other intelligent races exist who are also fallen, that reasoning will apply to their societies as well.
Sean
Humans will always be the products of their evolutionary history. "Mature" is a matter of perceptions, too.
Kaor, Mr. Stirling!
Which is why I am so skeptical of such ideas as a "mature" society, short of the second coming of Christ.
Sean
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