Esperance

Nicholas van Rijn works with an Esperancian on the planet t'Kela in "Territory" and Philippe Rochefort visits Esperance in The People Of The Wind. Instead of maintaining armed forces, the utopian Esperancians in van Rijn's time helped other races in order to gain their goodwill. Unfortunately for this optimistic view, the t'Kelans understand profit but not charity.

Van Rijn can induce this race to become civilized by giving them opportunities to make profits in ways that are also profitable to himself, of course, but, on this planet, no other approach is practicable - and, indeed, the Esperancians are able to accept that this is the case.

Rochefort informs us that goodwill generated by Esperancian good works did not outlast the Troubles. However, a strong pacifist tradition remains and there are demonstrations against the planned attack on the Domain of Ythri. Esperance, like Avalon, Hermes, Dennitza etc is a well realized colony planet in the Technic History. Bells ring from the cathedral and from other churches in Fleurville when it is thought that the war is ended.

The T'Kelan Solution

See here.

(i) Van Rijn shows the T'Kelans that they cannot trust each other and therefore need armed but benign Earthmen to keep the peace.

(ii) Solar Spice and Liquors will build nitrogen-fixing plants, produce ammonia and nitrates and exchange them for wine and furs.

(iii) T'Kelans will use ammonia and nitrates to enrich their soil and will cultivate nitrogen-fixing bacteria to increase crop yields to buy more ammonia and nitrates.

(iv) They will buy guns because they are hunters but will also buy other modern tools and machines that will gradually civilize them.

(v) Carnivorous T'Kelans do not understand charity but will understand profit-making and will even be happy to swindle SSL on the price of wine.

(vi) SSL will not disempower the established intelligentsia, the Ancients, first because they will employ young Ancients as agents and clerks and secondly because they will build oil wells and electrolyzer plants, then sell these on long-term mortgage to the Ancients.

(vii) The electrolyzer plants will sell hydrogen to the ammonia plants and the oil industry will sell electricity.

Van Rijn makes a market economy sound good for everybody. It is not always like that in practice as Anderson shows later in the Technic History.

T'Kela

I am rereading Poul Anderson, "Territory" IN Anderson, Ed. Hank Davis, David Falkayn: Star Trader (New York, 2010), pp. 1-76. Before posting about this story, I searched the blog and found that I had previously posted about:

the planet, t'Kela;
t'Kelan society;
t'Kelan psychology.

With the passage of time, a story can be reread but almost as if for the first time. (This is particularly true of the Sherlock Holmes series.) I am amazed at how much environmental information Anderson was able to convey in one short story - and also how much I was able to summarize without fully understanding it.

I have nothing to add as yet. (Later: see The T'Kelan Solution.)