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SF-LIT  June 1999

SF-LIT June 1999

Subject:

Brin 3 & 4 - commentary

From:

"Andrew E. Baumann" <[log in to unmask]>

Reply-To:

Science Fiction and Fantasy Listserv <[log in to unmask]>, Andrew E. Baumann

Date:

Thu, 17 Jun 1999 21:56:40 -0400

Content-Type:

text/plain

Parts/Attachments:

Parts/Attachments

text/plain (225 lines)

-[continued from Brin 2 - commentary]

I will not go paragraph by paragraph through 3 and 4: it would serve
little purpose. Instead, with but a few references to 3 and 4, let me
speak generally against Brin and the crap he is peddling.

Most of the discussion about StarWars vs Star Trek I leave to you
readers. It just isn=92t worth the effort. You can pick out his errors as
well as I can (naval vs. air force? ever heard of a mobile air force
base? oh wait, aircraft carriers!).

Let me only point out that his argument is inherently biased. The
Star Trek universe is, to a degree, a utopian society: it is a
peaceful federation long established. As for Star Wars, Brin himself
says:

> By contrast, the oppressed =93rebels=94 in =93Star Wars=94 have no
recourse in law or markets or science or democracy. They can
only choose sides in a civil war between two wings of the same
genetically superior family.

First - I am fairly sure that being rebels somewhat precludes them
from any sort of recourse to established forms of government or
law. They are in rebellion, are they not? Second - the rebellion has
existed in the opening of 4 before this superior family shows up
on their side. And right up to the end of 6 Luke is not the leader
of the rebellion: he is part of the rebellion. I do not remember a
scene where Luke is crowned king of all the galaxy. The allusion
to Homer just does not exist as Brin so desperately desires to use
it. If it was as he desired, Luke would have ascended to a position
of demigod status by the middle of 5. Instead, the film ends with
he getting a hand glued on. Very Achillean, indeed.

> In historical fact, all of history=92s despots, combined, never
managed to =93get things done=94 as well as this rambunctious, self-
critical civilization of free and sovereign citizens, who have finally
broken free of worshiping a ruling class and begun thinking for
themselves. Democracy can seem frustrating and messy at times,
but it delivers.

Read a little history, bud. Ever hear of Peter the Great?
Democritus? Elizabeth I? And of your own targeted bad guys, it is
still joked of the Fascists that at least the trains ran on time. And
Hitler came into a defeated, humiliated, post-WWI Germany and
took it out of the worst depression the modern world has seen and
turned it into one of the most powerful nations on the planet. He
may have been a horror of a human being, but in no way can you
say he did not =91get things done=92. I have no doubt that no
democracy could have done the same. Here in the (already strong)
US we climbed out of the depression not because of our
democratic government, but because one man, FDR, took control
of that government.

Brin seems to think that the masses are the blessed people, and
that democracy is the highest, most =91moral=92 form of government
because of this =91civilization of free and sovereign citizens=92 who have=

=91begun thinking for themselves.=92 Let me ask you a very basic
question, a very simple but painfully accurate example: what do
you think life would be like in the southeast if the masses were
permitted to rule as they would think? I don=92t think the national
guard had to be called in to Alabama schools to protect the masses
from the elite, there, did they?

Here=92s a quote by another philosopher, Ortega y Gasset:

=93Behind all contemporary life lurks the provoking and profound
injustice of the assumption that men are actually equal. Each move
among men so obviously reveals the opposite that each move
results in a painful clash.=94 (Pg 7. =93The Dehumanization of Art.=94
_The Dehumanization of Art and Other Essays on Art, Culture
and Literature_. Trans. Helene Weyl. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1968 (2-54))

Brin, your glorious praises of the masses are a bit hollow,
methinks. Any objective look about affirms the fact in trumps.

But I am digressing. Above all I wish to make one point here, that
of my original intent: to show the nonsense and idiocy that is
being passed on in Brin=92s essay as something worth considering,
even as something of intellectual value. In fact it=92s only value is as
an example of what to watch for when people do open their
mouths to speak. As an example that just because someone with a
famous name speaks, that doesn=92t mean it is automatically thought
out or thought at all. Above all, as an example of the very reason
why Brin=92s appeal to the masses does not float. If this is an
example of the voice of a free and sovereign citizen, I am safely
and happily reaffirmed as to the reasons why I care little about the
masses=92 opinions on matters of import.

>I don=92t expect to win this argument any time soon.

That=92s a good thing. I hate seeing people set themselves up for
heartbreak.

And that is also enough. I could go on and on, but after part of
two of Brin=92s crap it was beginning to get redundant. The point
was, is made.

But for one last thing.

I=92ve got a film for ya, Mr. Brin: _Starship_Troopers_. Look for
the morals in that one. You probably will have to look very, very
hard, because they are right smack in front of your face. But then,
as I discovered in talking about the film with others, your free and
sovereign masses pretty much missed them entirely. So don=92t feel
bad if you do as well.

I will not go paragraph by paragraph through 3 and 4: it would
serve little purpose. Instead, with but a few references to 3 and 4,
let me speak generally against Brin and the crap he is peddling.

Most of the discussion about StarWars vs Star Trek I leave to you
readers. It just isn=92t worth the effort. You can pick out his errors
as well as I can (naval vs. air force? ever heard of a mobile air
force base? oh wait, aircraft carriers!).

Let me only point out that his argument is inherently biased. The
Star Trek universe is, to a degree, a utopian society: it is a
peaceful federation long established. As for Star Wars, Brin
himself says:

> By contrast, the oppressed =93rebels=94 in =93Star Wars=94 have no
recourse in law or markets or science or democracy. They can
only choose sides in a civil war between two wings of the same
genetically superior family.

First - I am fairly sure that being rebels somewhat precludes them
from any sort of recourse to established forms of government or
law. They are in rebellion, are they not? Second - the rebellion has
existed in the opening of 4 before this superior family shows up
on their side. And right up to the end of 6 Luke is not the leader
of the rebellion: he is part of the rebellion. I do not remember a
scene where Luke is crowned king of all the galaxy. The allusion
to Homer just does not exist as Brin so desperately desires to use
it. If it was as he desired, Luke would have ascended to a position
of demigod status by the middle of 5. Instead, the film ends with
he getting a hand glued on. Very Achillean, indeed.

> In historical fact, all of history=92s despots, combined, never
managed to =93get things done=94 as well as this rambunctious, self-
critical civilization of free and sovereign citizens, who have finally
broken free of worshiping a ruling class and begun thinking for
themselves. Democracy can seem frustrating and messy at times,
but it delivers.

Read a little history, bud. Ever hear of Peter the Great?
Democritus? Elizabeth I? And of your own targeted bad guys, it is
still joked of the Fascists that at least the trains ran on time. And
Hitler came into a defeated, humiliated, post-WWI Germany and
took it out of the worst depression the modern world has seen and
turned it into one of the most powerful nations on the planet. He
may have been a horror of a human being, but in no way can you
say he did not =91get things done=92. I have no doubt that no
democracy could have done the same. Here in the (already strong)
US we climbed out of the depression not because of our
democratic government, but because one man, FDR, took control
of that government.

Brin seems to think that the masses are the blessed people, and
that democracy is the highest, most =91moral=92 form of government
because of this =91civilization of free and sovereign citizens=92 who have=

=91begun thinking for themselves.=92 Let me ask you a very basic
question, a very simple but painfully accurate example: what do
you think life would be like in the southeast if the masses were
permitted to rule as they would think? I don=92t think the national
guard had to be called in to Alabama schools to protect the masses
from the elite, there, did they?

Here=92s a quote by another philosopher, Ortega y Gasset:

=93Behind all contemporary life lurks the provoking and profound
injustice of the assumption that men are actually equal. Each move
among men so obviously reveals the opposite that each move
results in a painful clash.=94 (Pg 7. =93The Dehumanization of Art.=94
_The Dehumanization of Art and Other Essays on Art, Culture
and Literature_. Trans. Helene Weyl. Princeton: Princeton UP,
1968 (2-54))

Brin, your glorious praises of the masses are a bit hollow,
methinks. Any objective look about affirms the fact in trumps.

But I am digressing. Above all I wish to make one point here, that
of my original intent: to show the nonsense and idiocy that is
being passed on in Brin=92s essay as something worth considering,
even as something of intellectual value. In fact it=92s only value is as
an example of what to watch for when people do open their
mouths to speak. As an example that just because someone with a
famous name speaks, that doesn=92t mean it is automatically thought
out or thought at all. Above all, as an example of the very reason
why Brin=92s appeal to the masses does not float. If this is an
example of the voice of a free and sovereign citizen, I am safely
and happily reaffirmed as to the reasons why I care little about the
masses=92 opinions on matters of import.

>I don=92t expect to win this argument any time soon.

That=92s a good thing. I hate seeing people set themselves up for
heartbreak.

And that is also enough. I could go on and on, but after part of
two of Brin=92s crap it was beginning to get redundant. The point
was, is made.

But for one last thing.

I=92ve got a film for ya, Mr. Brin: _Starship_Troopers_. Look for
the morals in that one. You probably will have to look very, very
hard, because they are right smack in front of your face. But then,
as I discovered in talking about the film with others, your free and
sovereign masses pretty much missed them entirely. So don=92t feel
bad if you do as well.




Andrew E. Baumann
[log in to unmask]                          (#=3D)=3D
***********************************************
FYI: the last day of the 20th century is
December 31st, 2000; not December 31st, 1999!
Learn to add, you morons!
***********************************************

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