In Pournelle's CoDominium History, the US and the USSR become the CoDominium whereas, in James Blish's Cities In Flight, the USSR incorporates the US. In both these histories, life is bad on Earth but no one knows how to improve it - but some can escape out of the Solar System. The CoDominium is succeeded by Empires whereas, in Cities In Flight, the Bureaucratic State is succeeded by interstellar trade and peripheral empires although the trade is more important - as it is in Anderson's Polesotechnic League and Kith series.
Like sf in general, future histories are a dialogue.
Addendum: The CoDominium suppresses scientific research. In Cities In Flight, security stifles research.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
I was reminded of Anderson's stories "The High Ones" and "The Pugilist." In the former all of Earth was conquered by the USSR while in the latter Earth was divided between the USSR and Maoist China, with a fallen US ruled by the Soviets. Dystopian!
However bad, foolish, short-sighted, etc., it was, I can follow the reasoning for why the CoDominium and the Soviet Bureaucratic state suppressed scientific research. That kind of research might lead to discoveries whose consequences would undermine the rule of these regimes.
Ad astra! Sean
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