From: Mike Lorrey (mlorrey@datamann.com)
Date: Thu Feb 28 2002 - 08:32:58 MST
Technotranscendence wrote:
>
> On Thursday, February 28, 2002 3:21 AM Richard Steven Hack
> richardhack@pcmagic.net wrote:
> > Agreed - what's the point of criticizing fiction as if it were
> > reality? Just to get the goat of lib Star Trek fans?
>
> I gather one reason is that "Star Trek" is so influential in influencing
> how many people see the future.
Yes, science fiction is propaganda about how the future *should* look,
or how it *might* look, as the author sees it, given a certain set of
circumstances. Star Trek is presented as a glorious future to live in,
where nobody is poor, sick, maligned, or ignorant. Everybody is
beautiful, there is food and wine aplenty, and the entire galaxy is the
oyster of everyone. To proclaim this society as 'communist', and that
the Star Trek world is great *specifically because it is* would
therefore lend the dead concept of communism a level of credibility it
doesn't deserve, and is just the sort of romanticizing that Hakim Bey
was talking about, projecting a 'golden age' in the future on an
ideology which is obviously not making anyone happy today.
So, lets look at communism today. I suggest reading Ann Marlowe's piece
on salon.com:
http://www.salon.com/people/feature/2002/02/07/cuba_milk/index.html
Where she reports on the neglect of puppies, the price of milk, and the
prevalence of prostitution and racial injustice in Castro's Cuban
Communist Paradise. Truth is always a good antidote to disinformation
propaganda, and Marlowe's reporting is powerful medicine indeed.
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