Section II confirms that the planet inhabited by Zero, One, Two, Hundred etc is indeed Earth of the future although three billion years is longer than usual. Human beings who had departed the Solar System just before an imminent global conflict return but so much time has elapsed because of a fault in the field drive. Poul Anderson effortlessly invented ways to transport his characters into the further future for story purposes. Reactive thrust rotated through a fourth dimension was applied along the temporal axis. Or a faulty manifold generated a t-acceleration effect. Two characters present different rationales. Either would have sufficed and Anderson could easily have devised a dozen more.
Before they left:
"Tension had mounted so horribly fast..." (p. 190)
Like now. Can people learn to think outside the box instead of always blaming every conflict entirely on the other side? Things will get worse before they get better.
The Milky Way has changed shape. Earth has no polar caps. Continents have shifted. No longer green and brown, they are black and ocher with points of reflection. The atmosphere is nitrogen, not oxygen. There is no chlorophyll or other complex organic compound. The ground is metallic. We have already read the point of view of an inhabitant of this environment.
18 comments:
Kaor, Paul!
And one big reason why "Tensions had mounted so horribly fast..." in recent real times is because weak and bungling leaders like "Josip" keep refusing to take the decisive actions that would or could have reduced those tensions. Either because they are desperately trying to appease the un-appeasable (like the fanatical ayatollahs in Tehran) or voting blocs whose support they crave for re-election (such as the antisemitic radical left in the US).
Ad astra! Sean
I am bound to say that the left are anti-Zionist, not anti-semitic.
Paul: that's often a distinction without a difference, except that it provides a (thin) shroud.
I know and am involved with individuals who and organizations which:
actively oppose all racism, including anti-Semitism;
participate fully in the annual Holocaust Memorial Day alongside Jewish people, "righteous Gentiles," trade unionists, other groups that were persecuted by the Nazis etc;
support Palestinian rights.
For me and us, it is a distinction with a difference. On the current large frequent PSC (Palestine Solidarity Campaign) marches and rallies, the police find very few placards or slogans that they can class as anti-Semitic. (We cannot prevent a few from creeping in.) I saw a very visible group of rabbis opposed to current Israeli policies and actions.
Kaor, Paul!
First, an obvious point: being a leftist does not automatically you can't be a Jew hating bigot. Anyone of any kind of religious or political persuasion can be antisemitic.
I agree with Stirling and not with you. What has been happening since 10/7 shows the distinction you made is often without a difference. For many radical woke leftists "anti-Zionism" is code for antisemitism. And the howling, prancing mobs of radical leftists shrieking "Death to Israel" or "Death to America" waving that hideous Hamas flag vindicates my point. And I am not forgetting how these miserable creatures are disrupting the lives of untold thousands of Americans with their blocking of roads and bridges and airports.
The more so called moderate leftists try to square the circle of appeasing both woke antisemites and "supporting" Israel the more contemptible and discredited they get. "Josip" is already scorned and despised by many rad lefties because of that!
And many of these loathsome radicals even deny Iran attacked Israel with hundreds of drone and missiles last weekend!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
That is not an obvious point. Any Jew-hating bigot would be expelled from a left organisation or more likely not admitted to membership in the first place.
For many leftists, "anti-Zionism" is not code for antisemitism. We do not howl, prance or shriek "Death..." Life in Gaza is somewhat disrupted at present. If moderate leftists "support" what Israel is doing there, then I do not support them.
Do many people really deny that Iran attacked Israel? Iran attacked in response to an attack on its embassy. It targeted military, not civilian, sites, knowing that the drones would be intercepted. They were meant as a warning. The Israelis were given plenty of time to shoot them down but at great expense. A warning that worse can happen, both militarily and financially.
My comparison of international tension in Anderson's story to international tension now surely should not have led to this exchange? Anti-semites are indeed Jew-hating. Are you left-hating?
Paul.
BTW, I do not support but oppose the Iranian theocracy! It should not be necessary to say this but it is.
Kaor, Paul!
Incorrect, anyone can be a Jew hating bigot, including leftists, who are not somehow magically immune from the vices and follies of mankind because of being leftists.
Incorrect, for many leftists, "anti-Zionism" is code for antisemitism and has been shown to be such over and over since 10/7. Note, I said "many," not all.
Yes, leftists have denied Iran attacked Israel, including Democrat members of Congress like Rashida Tlaib.
Israel was right to strike that fake consulate in Syria because it was being used by Iranian Revolutionary Guard goons for plotting more attacks on Israel. A target outside Iran!
False, Iran did not focus only on military targets last weekend. Those drones and missiles were meant to cause as much civilian death and destruction as possible. By contrast Israel's recent counter strikes in Isfahan was far more precise and focused on military targets.
It's good you don't support the brutal theocracy in Iran. But, too many leftists are, in effect, doing just that. The ayatollahs in Tehran must be howling with laughter at the useful idiots (to paraphrase Lenin) doing what they want them to do!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Incorrect. We are not magically immune but we are a group of people who collectively oppose all racism, including anti-Semitism. You seem to be telling me what we think and how we feel instead of asking us.
Incorrect. For many leftists, anti-Zionism is not code for antisemitism. It has not been shown to be such over and over. I know the people that I am talking about.
Well, if some (not many, surely?) have denied the Iranian attack, then this confirms that there are fact-deniers everywhere.
Israel was not right to strike a consulate. (Let's not have the word "goons" used on either side.)
Those drones and missiles were meant to be intercepted. They were only a warning and a drain on Israeli resources. Israel's destruction in Gaza and the West Bank is not precise or focused.
Of course I don't support theocracy! That should not have to be said. I think I once asked you for a reference for that quote from Lenin.
This is what I mentioned in my post: someone seeing all the evil as only on the other side. That attitude would perpetuate a conflict indefinitely. But nothing will continue indefinitely. Conditions will change.
Paul.
Kaor, Paul!
I still disagree. Leftists can be as racist as anybody else.
Disagree, "anti-Zionism" is often code for antisemitism--and that has been demonstrated over and over since 10/7.
Disagree, the Assad regime brutally misruling Syria is beholden in Iran. Meaning Iran would use fake consulates there in its war against Israel.
I have only contempt for the agents of the IRG, who are not only terrorists but also act as the secret police and Praetorians propping up the tyrannical theocracy in Iran. They belong to the same odious category as the Cheka/KGB of the USSR and the Nazi Gestapo. "Goons" is too mild a word for them!
An open attack of any kind by a sovereign nation on another sovereign state is an act of war! Which is what Iran did with those drones/missiles. Israel had every right to strike back at Iran.
We have discussed the war against the Hamas scum before. Hamas is responsible for the destruction there, not Israel. And Israel has been discriminating in its use of force there, making efforts to warn non-combatants of the need to leave war zones. Including leaving routes open for refugees to use.
I checked, the late William Safire was interested enough to get a librarian to pore thru the works of the monster and found nothing showing Lenin ever using "useful idiots." So I was wrong there.
And I believe some sides are better or more right than others.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Of course you disagree. That does not need to keep being said.
You do not know what you are talking about when it comes to "leftists." We are actively anti-racist.
I think all countries use consulates for nefarious purposes.
Anti-Zionism is not code for anti-Semitism and this has not been proved over and over. To oppose Israeli devastation in the West Bank and Gaza is certainly not anti-Semitic.
Hamas is responsible for its own violent actions, not for the number of Palestinian women and children killed by the IDF which will only drive more to support Hamas.
Paul.
Terms like "goons," "scum" etc can be applied to anyone who is guilty of war crimes, torture, violations of human rights etc. Such criminals exist right across the board. All this hate, contempt etc is part of the problem, not the solution.
This will not do: wielding the blunt instruments of terms like "leftist." We are probably talking about completely different groups of people but everyone who can be labelled as "leftist" is to be tarred with the same brush.
Kaor, Paul!
I'm speaking from my experience as an American, where left wing racism often takes the form of the of the condescending racism of low expectations. A conservative black writer, the late Thomas Sowell, wrote of how in his youth at university he experienced that kind of racism from "liberals." It was sort of expected that he would not work as hard as white students.
So, yes, leftists can be racists!
Then we are not going to agree about "anti-Zionism." The mobs howling "Death to Israel!" are showing themselves to be antisemitic. To say nothing of how individual Jews are being persecuted by such bigots.
The Syrian Assad regime is beholden to Iran, and allows the IRG to plot in those fake consulates.
Tragic as it was, the responsibility for the deaths of those non-combatants in the war Hamas started belong with Hamas, not Israel. Hamas started that war, and is responsible.
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Anti-Zionism means opposition to a Jewish settler colonial state, not opposition to Jews.
Leftists can be racists? - but most of us are anti-racist.
Plotting (espionage etc) goes on in all consulates.
Israel is responsible for what it does in response to Hamas. Your arguments are completely partisan and one-sided.
Paul.
These mobs howling "Death..." are simply not the marches that we have through London which are peaceful.
It has just been in the news that a stupid and insensitive policeman stopped a man wearing a skull cap from crossing the street during a march because he thought that the march would have objected to the man's mere presence or even his existence. The cop argued with the Jewish man and threatened to arrest him. The march would not have objected to the man's presence. There are Jewish people on the marches. As I said earlier, I saw a group of very visible and obvious rabbis who were displaying placards which made it very clear that they oppose Israeli policies. None of us here that I know about - which is a lot of people - are harassing Jews yet a representative of a Jewish organization described our peaceful marches as "lawless mobs." A very great deal is in the eye of the beholder.
Kaor, Paul!
I don't care about those London marches, I'm talking about the anti-Jewish pogroms in the US, which disgusts me.
You are supporting the wrong side!
Ad astra! Sean
Sean,
Many aspects of the present situation are indeed disgusting.
I think you are misusing the word, "pogrom." Doesn't it mean members of a population being killed as in Gaza at present?
I do care about those massive London marches which are anti-Zionist and not anti-semitic.
I am supporting the right side!
Paul.
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