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The Next Four Years? How About the Next Four Million …
Yes, stories of the future matter. The best science fiction, as I’ve said before, is an allegory for our present-day world.
So I think it’s extremely cool that the folks over at i09 have asked a variety of well-known pundits what science fiction texts are must-reads when considering the imminent choice for president.
I would rather they asked science fiction authors or science fiction scholars, to be honest, but the responses they got actually resurrected — for a fleeting moment — my faith in punditry.
Kos, for example, goes classic with Asimov, but Glenn Reynolds of Instapundit chooses one of my new favorites, Vernor Vinge.
The list is more than just a set of recommendations, though. The real treat is to hear why each pundit considers their text “good election-season material.” Take Amanda Marcotte’s justification of Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid Tale:
It probably sounds a little trite since it gets referenced so much, but in light of the promotion of a true-believer fundamentalist to a national ticket, I have to recommend Margaret Atwood’s The Handmaid’s Tale. It’s not just because it’s a dystopia that shows what America would be like under a Christian theocracy, but also because the book brilliantly skewers other aspects of the right-wing culture. You have the female misogynist Serena Joy that finds out the hard way that she isn’t exempt from the category ‘woman’ just because she was a stalwart soldier for the far right. You also are reminded that the conservative men who carry on about sexual morality in public all too often have their own closet full of secrets. The book is a reminder that right wing politics isn’t so much about ‘values’, but about power and control.
From the opposite side of the political spectrum, Jonah Goldberg of National Review Online actually wins big points for choosing an episode of Joss Whedon’s Angel, but unbelievably twists it into a warning that Obama’s calls for bi-partisanship are part of an evil totalitarian plot. Really.
If I were asked, I would have a difficult time choosing — but I might go with Octavia Butler’s Dawn — which, more than any text I know, describes the difficulty of coalition-building and the special qualities a true leader must have to bring divergent factions together.
As a bonus, in its look at relations between humans and an intriguing but incredibly alien alien race, it reminds us of what a sensitive, peace-focused foreign policy might look like.
Posted at 9:10 PM | Permalink | | 
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October 28, 2008 at 8:53 am
“Unity can be useful, but it is also very, very dangerous.”
Not equal to
“Obama’s calls for bi-partisanship are part of an evil totalitarian plot.”
October 28, 2008 at 8:55 am
I would choose a novelette from the RAH Future History series, I think it was “If This Goes On”, the one where the Prophet takes over the US. I am not worried about some hypothetical right wing Christian takeover, but I fear “the One”, or the “Obamessiah” could well decide he wants to be President for Life.
Don’t believe it couldn’t happen, we already elected a PfL once, in eeriely similar circumstances (our savior, FDR). And just like the last time, it is a secular humanist type who we need to be concerned about.
October 28, 2008 at 9:17 am
I’m surprised no one mentioned Empire by Orson Scott Card (for the near future) or Larry Niven’s “Known Space” books for a more long term look at humanity.
Despite the dystopian aspects of Niven’s Known Space books (overpopulation and an undefined government that smells suspiciously fascist) his confidence that we *would* mine the asteroids, conquer the solar system and move out to the stars was unshakable.
October 28, 2008 at 9:29 am
Since we are discussing science fiction, why not propose Das Kapital?
Or, since past is prelude, why not a book on the holocaust or the holdomor? Just do a search and replace on the proper nouns and garble the surnames and throw in a computer reference and it should sell pretty good.
October 28, 2008 at 9:35 am
Bernie, you wrote, “Jonah Goldberg… unbelievably twists it into a warning that Obama’s calls for bi-partisanship are part of an evil totalitarian plot. Really.”
Really? Can you read? Or did you see “Jonah Goldberg (National Review Online)” and figure that was enough? Let’s quote Jonah, shall we?
“I don’t think Obama is evil or a villain of any kind.”
But somehow he’s saying that Obama is “part of an evil totalitarian plot.”
Sheesh.
October 28, 2008 at 9:51 am
Jonah Goldberg does seem to inspire a disproportionate antipathy amongst his opponents…
October 28, 2008 at 9:57 am
I would add Greg Egan to the short list of science fiction writers to discuss here just because he pushes the envelope to such distant and fantastical - yet somehow plausible - limits.
Also, Greg Bear’s “Darwin’s Radio” is one of the best “realistic science fiction” stories I’ve read in years with a political aspect.
Overall, I’m surprised that folks are thinking just along the lines of the current election. It seems obvious to me that science fiction bears on politics on a much deeper level than partisan politics. For example, much of Darwin’s Radio deals with the political and social reaction to the emergence of people who represent an obvious next step in evolution. Bear avoids the temptation to make this just a crude bash on any one political faction and deals with it in ways that seem realistic and plausible. As far as Greg Egan goes, we *will* be dealing with extraordinary changes in human potential within our lifetimes that represent significant challenge to the way we understand ourselves. This cannot help but challenge, as well, the ways in which we have organized our political systems.
Lastly, I cannot agree with your take on the Handmaid’s Tale. It is really no more than an exercise in paranoia and strawman-bashing and simply doesn’t qualify as compelling fiction. Seriously, what prospect would hard-core Taliban-like Christian fundamentalism have for “taking over” America? How do they sway that 99% of America that simply is either not fundamentalist or not violent about their religious beliefs?
I almost hate to go here - into current politics…but, seriously, casually mentioning Palin’s name as if this is evidence of the risk of America falling into the Handmaid’s Tale is mind boggling. She goes to Church thus she is…what? Do you seriously propose that this automatically makes her a hard-core, anti-woman proponent of sexual slavery? Do you know *anything* about Christianity other than that you reflexively fear it?
She’s done *nothing* as Governor to earn these kinds of slurs. Creationism? She obviously doesn’t even care - the entire case against her was a radio response where she said, in essence, “hey, I don’t care, let ‘em teach both if that’s what the people want.” Abstinence only sex ed? Sorry, the program supported by her administration is a “comprehensive” sex ed program that *includes* a discussion of abstinence. Stem cell research? She’s for it for the most part. Everything else? She’s more of a Libertarian than a Social Conservative. Folks really need to distinguish between the spin of a candidate’s political opponents and the reality on the ground before making statements like these.
October 28, 2008 at 12:10 pm
I too would recommend “The Handmaiden’s Tale”.
The mere existence of the book, not to mention its popularity, shows just how insular, ignorant, paranoid and hate driven the contemporary left has become.
“Dune” would be a good text on messianic politics. “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” looks at revolution, democracy and freedom and the tensions between them.
Neal Stephenson’s Baroque Cycle covers a lot intellectual territory, including the relationship between politics and the monetary system.
October 28, 2008 at 1:44 pm
You badly misinterpreted Jonah Goldberg’s remarks. In no way did he claim that Obama is bringing forth an evil totalitarian plot; he even explicitly said that he in no way thinks Obama is any sort of an evil villain.
He was simply pointing out the dangers of the atmosphere that is being cultivated around Obama. He’s the One, children sing His praises, He’ll bring about a healing of the planets ills, listen to His words of enlightment, and on and on.
Too little critical examination of who the guy really is, what he has accomplished, and if his plans for the future are grounded in any reality (at least one that we would recognize or want to be a part of).
The being in Angel blinded people to her true nature. Jonah was pointing out that there seems to be many people blinded by the Obama myth to see him for what he is. He’s proposing the warmed over failed policies of the past. Raise taxes on production, expand welfare (and call it a tax cut), raise barriers to free trade, increase government involvement in the market and call it free health care, etc. And doing it all in the face of a recession and severe economic crisis as well. Been there, done that. It ends badly.
But He’s the One we’ve been waiting for, right?
October 28, 2008 at 1:45 pm
I’d recommend Stephenson’s Anathem on several levels, not least its suggestions for how the Marcottes of our world could more productively deal with their “Other”.
October 28, 2008 at 2:25 pm
A.E. Van Vogt’s The Weapon Shops of Isher. When Obama & cohorts DO come for our guns, (After all, he’s flat-out lied about everything else) it’ll be no surprise to me.
October 28, 2008 at 4:35 pm
The Culture novels by Iain M. Banks. His stories are set in the very far future — humans live (mostly) in a sort of libertarian communist society, spanning a large part of the galaxy, managed by AI’s with a weird sense of humor. For instance, a group of intelligent but bored starships tries to egg on some hostile aliens to attack the Culture just to have an excuse to blow them away. Be warned, though, these are not comic novels.
Current relevance? How do you live in a society where you can have infinite luxury without ever having to work at all? What makes you a valuable person?
October 28, 2008 at 5:47 pm
Several commenters have questioned my characterization of Jonah Goldberg’s analysis. Let me quote it in full:
In the story, the world is mesmerized by a god from another dimension played by a charismatic black woman who truly does bring universal peace and love to the planet. Her only price: we all must worship her (and provide her with a statistically irrelevant number of humans to eat) and unify around our love for her.
I don’t think Obama is evil or a villain of any kind. But the lesson is pretty valid. Obama is the high priest of a cult of unity. Unity can be useful, but it is also very, very dangerous. That’s why the founders conceived of a system of divided government, after all.
Goldberg can say that Obama isn’t evil or a villian — but he strongly implies in his final line (and especially with the Angel episode he chose) that an Obama presidency will somehow endanger our “system of divided government” because of the “cult of unity” around him. What does he mean other than that Obama will take his calls for bi-partisanship too far and that we will end up being a brainwashed one-person state? Kind of sounds like a relative of the Republican talking points that it’s dangerous to give the Democrats too much control because the Obama/Pelosi/Reid triumvirate will run wild.
October 28, 2008 at 7:10 pm
What were the reactions to Margaret Atwood’s novel A Handmaid’s Tale when it debuted way back when during Amanda Marcotte’s formative years?
Feminists in England: “Jolly good tale”
Feminists in Canada: “A frightening prospect”
Feminists in America: “How long do we have?”
Some things never change. Ms. Marcotte can relax now, if President Bush and Christians were really the monsters she and her echo-chamber of feminists and girly-men believe that he is, she’d have been stoned a long time ago. What novels like this and movies like The Stepford Wives do is manifest for everyone the secret impulses inside feminists that they project onto their betters.
October 28, 2008 at 7:50 pm
I was trying to write a comment to this thread, but your site keeps auto-updating, so I can’t comment here.
See you elsewhere on the blogoshpere.
October 28, 2008 at 10:14 pm
I recommend “The Next Million Years” (1953) by Charles Galton Darwin, grandson of the famous naturalist. You can read the whole book for free at Scribd:
http://www.scribd.com/doc/405285/The-Next-Million-Years-by-Charles-Galton-Darwin-1953-
In short, as long as mankind survives, there will be poverty, hunger, and war. Since 1800, food production has grown faster than population, but this “age of plenty” cannot last forever. Forget birth control — those who use it are eventually outnumbered and replaced by those who don’t. Natural selection always favors the races, religions, and societies that bear the most children, and most ruthlessly conquer their rivals to secure food for those children.
Colonizing other planets could temporarily relieve overpopulation, but only if we find a way to transport millions of people across interstellar distances for less than the cost of feeding them at home (IMO not likely).
October 28, 2008 at 10:41 pm
Bernie, Bernie,
Did Goldberg play a role in casting the actress that plays Angel?
I think not.
Remove the beam from your eye.
October 29, 2008 at 2:41 am
“The Handmaiden’s Tale” is a joke. Margaret Atwood is nothing but a hack compared to Salman Rushdie.
While Atwood was busy patting herself on the back for fighting an imaginary religious terror, Salman Rushdie had the courage to face REAL religious terror.
Maybe in a world without Islam a book warning of the theoretical future danger posed by Christianity might be worth something, but to strain at the gnat while ignoring the elephant and bask in the praise while REAL authors like Salman Rushdie face down Fatwahs and death threats is an insult to the printed word.
November 7, 2008 at 1:41 am
Hai I think the writer is a good talented and the story is very exited to the readers.Maybe in a world without Islam a book warning of the theoretical future danger posed by Christianity might be worth something, but to strain at the gnat while ignoring the elephant and bask in the praise while REAL authors like Salman Rushdie face down Fatwahs and death threats is an insult to the printed word.
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betty
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