Dennis Fisher wrote,
> Well, Rex, your comment does bring the Niven and Pournelle work OATH
> OF FEALTY to mind, which describes a "safe" society where members
> sacrifice privacy for security.
This ain't SF, but an SF author, David Brin, wrote on this subject.
His "The Transparent Society" discusses the subject of privacy, quite
well, I think. The main point is this: you and I will never be able to
prevent the intrusion into our privacy by powerful interests, from the
government to corporations. As long as we depend on cloaking everything,
nothing can be known about these activities. So instead of secrecy, he
suggests that opening up everything will let us keep track of who is
collecting information, and what they are doing with it. Keeping
cameras on street corners then is no more ornerous than knowing that
folks see you shopping at KMart.
> The writers seem to consider it utopian, though there are dissidents
> and difficulties, while I find the description to be not far from
> Orwell's 1984 and something I would not wish to endure myself.
I'm not sure if "Oath" is utopian. I read it as another take on
Camelot, with the utopian flavor carefully removed. If anything, it is
a dystopia, since the reason for the arcology's existence is the
insecure world that surrounds it. Dragons and monsters hem Arthur's
castle in, and his knights don't even dare to venture out in the open.
When they do go questing, they dig tunnels to rescue their comrades.
Which also makes it a bit of a return-to-the-womb fantasy, if you see
the symbolism as I do. I'm not sure if that was deliberate, but it's
there.
It does all depend on spin. I noted this while reading Bear's "Slant."
He describes a secret society he names the "Aristos," which has
arrogated to itself the task of making a better humanity. They are
essentially evil, the source of most of the bad stuff that happens in
the story. On the other hand there's Williams's "Aristoi." This is a
story of the far future, where we've abrogated our responsibility for
ourselves to a few individuals who get to run literally everything. They
are, of course, carefully tested and trained, and anyone may aspire to
their status. The story regards how a few renegade Aristoi are defeated,
which suggests that Williams recognizes the problem with such a utopia.
"Slant" came out after "Aristoi" did, and I've been wondering if it is
Bear's answer to Williams. (The title certainly is suggestive.)
---
Helge Moulding
mailto:[log in to unmask] Just another guy
http://hmoulding.cjb.net/ with a weird name
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