On Ganymede, each member of the ruling group has bodyguards to protect him not from the commoners but from other members of the ruling group.
"'God gives victory to the righteous, but we men can't know who that is. Many're called but few're chosen. So all got to have their chance.'" (p. 166)
(Another Biblical quotation.)
A secular version of this ethos is shown in A Shock To The System. The man who gets the headship of a company department is the one who proves his ability to stab his colleagues in the back. The central character learns not that it is right to kill others for selfish ends but that, according to the value system that is being presented to him, it is right to kill others for selfish ends if you can get away with it so he does.
3 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And ultimately that kind of system cannot last! To use a Biblical metaphor myself, a a house divided against itself will not stand.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
When I once quoted, "A house divided cannot stand," someone said, "That's very good. You should write it down." (But he was joking.)
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I fear many metaphors, allusions, or direct quotes from the OT or NT have become time worn cliches, which is regrettable.
Ad astra! Sean
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