I read this and think. The glorification of labor, the sanctification of labor and art 12, 1936 Soviet Constitution. from each according to his work, to each according to his need, in other words if you don't work, you don't eat.
There is no room in society, as such, for the disabled, the elderly, they become parasites, drain the system (hmm, have I touched on the philosophy of the oligarchy, the Republican party, Trumpists)?
There is no room for the artists, those who work with their mind, not their biceps
Read many books by HG Welles & Jules Verne before I was a teenager, several, including The Time Machine, more than once - was a fan.
I just didn't find your analogy apt, as, in the TM, the Morlocks DO eat the Eloi, as you note, BUT the Eloi O/W live the upperclass leisure life, with all necessities provided, as the Epstein Class might wish - even if, as was true for Epstein, the 'sword of Damocles' is ever present.
Welles' social commentary here is that the end case of the worker v upper class trend, is the workers are debased, out of sight out-of-mind, bestial, yet still powerful, while the upper class are provided for but have become powerless tended cattle as they no longer strive on their own behalf.
This is not in fact what we observe; we see the powerful Epstein class preying on the children and youth of the working 'underclass', perhaps killing them at will in some horrific cases, while living the leisure life of the Eloi.
Yhe Eloi lived, as you put it, a pampered, not luxurious life. Today the Morlocks don't live underground literally, although they have, as has Zueckerbeg, built luxurious, self sustaining, for a while, underground bunkers,.
Which BTW is what Trump is up to. He doesn't plan to leave, and it is impossible to build underground bunkers in Florida.
We are more like the Eloi than you recognize, we are kept fat,dumb, happy and distracted, until it is time for the fleecing and slaughter.
Which by the way is the job of a a shepherd, to keep the flock together, fed and ignorant until time for the fleecing and slaughter
Not to worry, global warming, the oligarchy, totalitarianism, ism's of all sort including religion may well be moot concerns, if the brains behind AI, including Sam Altman are correct.
Without the power grid, our society is only 48 hours deep. I saw this in Santa Cruz, CA during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Cut the power grid, and the water spigot turns off, no more plumbing, no food delivery, no way to cook food after we run out of briquettes, and food in the freezer, defrosts and everything not canned spoils.
Deyhydrated food requires water, and without electricity there is no water
And with Super intelligent AI, the power grid is under their control.. All they need to decide is when humans become superfluous.
At the root of all this is the thing we call human dignity, I believe. Unfortunately, civilization or society appear to invariably undermine that basic concept and call it into question before we get to square one. Things happen spontaneously or inadvertently in families and groups because of variability and unpredictable events (weather, health, weakness, impulsiveness, accident, etc.) which pit one person against another or create feelings of unfairness, jealousy, frustration, anger, insecurity, distrust, etc. Unless a complex and comprehensive system is initiated universally to instill the organic value of human dignity from the moment of birth, I suspect grandiose ideas for such wonderful relationships and human organization are probably far off in some distant future, if not impossible. These are goals to be pursued very cautiously and strategically. I know, let's start with the schools!
Thom's story has a basis in fact. When everyone gets paid the same, how does one neighbor live better than the next? Do I buy the kids new clothes or paint the house? I cannot afford to do both. Do we skip meals for a year so we can buy a used Trabant? That is communism. That used to be life in Soviet Bulgaria. Like all Soviet nations, Bulgarians solved the affordability problem by turning the lawns around their houses into subsistence farms. They prevented food theft by erecting seven-foot walls around their property. All Bulgarian houses are still little fortresses.
My spouse's parents raised hogs, chickens (eggs & meat), grew corn, tomatoes, and potatoes, and when needed, butchered their livestock, often with the help of neighbors, who got to take parts of the animal home for their effort. Above it all was a trellis network for grapes later harvested and distilled to make liquor - grapa. Babushkas preserved vegetables in jars for winter. Not having to buy food to live generated unspent cash for luxuries. This continued until about 2010, once capitalism finally took hold. Most homes today no longer have livestock, but they often still grow veggies.
The 2BR house we inherited stands out because it now has an American-style lawn and the house has a fresh coat of paint. The little distillery building, cannery, hog barn, chicken coop, and tool shed are all gone now. Oh yes, the outhouse has moved indoors, and the kitchen has a garbage disposal and dishwasher, electric range, washer and dryer, big fridge, and granite countertops. Capitalism.
The New Yorker once had an article about the evolution of the lawn. According to that, it began in 18th century England when wealthy landowners wanted to show that they did not need all of their property to plant crops. From there it spread to the middle class as a mark of social standing. (I suppose sort of like how well into the 1960s most men who did not do manual work would routinely wear suits and ties.) So the lawn is a class thing, without most people even being aware of it.
Also, a well manicured lawn is like a carpet outside of your house, on which you can enjoy the outdoors by walking around without (many) flying insects or noxious weeds, and have some (depending on its size) privacy from your neighbors. It appears healthier and cleaner than an unkept yard, but its necessary chemical maintenance might make that a dangerous illusion.
AND NOW, SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING IN A SMALL WAY". THE PLLANTING AND TENDING OF, VEGETABLES, GROWN ON TING PIECEES OF GREEN GRASS LAND IN CITIES AND SUBURBS,.
Shame on the New Yorker! The lawn started with Versailles, the grand sweep of lawns and formal flower beds, for which villages and forests surrounding the chateau of Versailles were razed. What more convincing way to demonstrate vast wealth and power than to turn useful land into a toy?
That was a late 17th C development which was copied by aristocrats in England . It was brought to the US by Ambassador to the French Court, Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and University of Virginia, and implemented by George Washington at Mt. Vernon.
We look at that today and don't understand what intimidating displays of power they were. Miniaturized and promoted so that every homeowner could be king in his castle.
An abomination that wastes far more water than all agricultural irrigation, and that adds tons of toxic chemicals to the soil and water. Plant veggies or chickens, ffs.
I stand corrected. And as an ex-New Yorker myself, my idea of a lawn is green painted cement. They are ridiculous, especially in dry climates. But people do get crazy about maintaining them.
I am reading the book now and really enjoying it. I spent seven years in a Benedictine convent, and the philosophy in this book closely mirrors the life we led there.
Thom! I have to reread this wonderful book. What a creative genius Bellamy was, anticipating/predicting so much that has technologically advanced since his time, and so much more that we could be capable of if there was the will and a commitment to the common good rather than advancing the whims of the uber wealthy!
I read this and think. The glorification of labor, the sanctification of labor and art 12, 1936 Soviet Constitution. from each according to his work, to each according to his need, in other words if you don't work, you don't eat.
There is no room in society, as such, for the disabled, the elderly, they become parasites, drain the system (hmm, have I touched on the philosophy of the oligarchy, the Republican party, Trumpists)?
There is no room for the artists, those who work with their mind, not their biceps
We be the Eloi, laboring for the Morlocks.
WE be the Morlocks, laboring for the Epsteins.
Have you read the Time Maachine or seen the movie. The Morlocks. Actually produced stuff for the Eloi, which they in turn ate.
The Morlocks are eating us. only we aren't naive Eloi
Read many books by HG Welles & Jules Verne before I was a teenager, several, including The Time Machine, more than once - was a fan.
I just didn't find your analogy apt, as, in the TM, the Morlocks DO eat the Eloi, as you note, BUT the Eloi O/W live the upperclass leisure life, with all necessities provided, as the Epstein Class might wish - even if, as was true for Epstein, the 'sword of Damocles' is ever present.
Welles' social commentary here is that the end case of the worker v upper class trend, is the workers are debased, out of sight out-of-mind, bestial, yet still powerful, while the upper class are provided for but have become powerless tended cattle as they no longer strive on their own behalf.
This is not in fact what we observe; we see the powerful Epstein class preying on the children and youth of the working 'underclass', perhaps killing them at will in some horrific cases, while living the leisure life of the Eloi.
Yhe Eloi lived, as you put it, a pampered, not luxurious life. Today the Morlocks don't live underground literally, although they have, as has Zueckerbeg, built luxurious, self sustaining, for a while, underground bunkers,.
Which BTW is what Trump is up to. He doesn't plan to leave, and it is impossible to build underground bunkers in Florida.
We are more like the Eloi than you recognize, we are kept fat,dumb, happy and distracted, until it is time for the fleecing and slaughter.
Which by the way is the job of a a shepherd, to keep the flock together, fed and ignorant until time for the fleecing and slaughter
Not to worry, global warming, the oligarchy, totalitarianism, ism's of all sort including religion may well be moot concerns, if the brains behind AI, including Sam Altman are correct.
Without the power grid, our society is only 48 hours deep. I saw this in Santa Cruz, CA during the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake.
Cut the power grid, and the water spigot turns off, no more plumbing, no food delivery, no way to cook food after we run out of briquettes, and food in the freezer, defrosts and everything not canned spoils.
Deyhydrated food requires water, and without electricity there is no water
And with Super intelligent AI, the power grid is under their control.. All they need to decide is when humans become superfluous.
Was the Matrix prophetic?
At the root of all this is the thing we call human dignity, I believe. Unfortunately, civilization or society appear to invariably undermine that basic concept and call it into question before we get to square one. Things happen spontaneously or inadvertently in families and groups because of variability and unpredictable events (weather, health, weakness, impulsiveness, accident, etc.) which pit one person against another or create feelings of unfairness, jealousy, frustration, anger, insecurity, distrust, etc. Unless a complex and comprehensive system is initiated universally to instill the organic value of human dignity from the moment of birth, I suspect grandiose ideas for such wonderful relationships and human organization are probably far off in some distant future, if not impossible. These are goals to be pursued very cautiously and strategically. I know, let's start with the schools!
Thom's story has a basis in fact. When everyone gets paid the same, how does one neighbor live better than the next? Do I buy the kids new clothes or paint the house? I cannot afford to do both. Do we skip meals for a year so we can buy a used Trabant? That is communism. That used to be life in Soviet Bulgaria. Like all Soviet nations, Bulgarians solved the affordability problem by turning the lawns around their houses into subsistence farms. They prevented food theft by erecting seven-foot walls around their property. All Bulgarian houses are still little fortresses.
My spouse's parents raised hogs, chickens (eggs & meat), grew corn, tomatoes, and potatoes, and when needed, butchered their livestock, often with the help of neighbors, who got to take parts of the animal home for their effort. Above it all was a trellis network for grapes later harvested and distilled to make liquor - grapa. Babushkas preserved vegetables in jars for winter. Not having to buy food to live generated unspent cash for luxuries. This continued until about 2010, once capitalism finally took hold. Most homes today no longer have livestock, but they often still grow veggies.
The 2BR house we inherited stands out because it now has an American-style lawn and the house has a fresh coat of paint. The little distillery building, cannery, hog barn, chicken coop, and tool shed are all gone now. Oh yes, the outhouse has moved indoors, and the kitchen has a garbage disposal and dishwasher, electric range, washer and dryer, big fridge, and granite countertops. Capitalism.
The New Yorker once had an article about the evolution of the lawn. According to that, it began in 18th century England when wealthy landowners wanted to show that they did not need all of their property to plant crops. From there it spread to the middle class as a mark of social standing. (I suppose sort of like how well into the 1960s most men who did not do manual work would routinely wear suits and ties.) So the lawn is a class thing, without most people even being aware of it.
Lawns probably are subtle class indicators. However, few ex-Soviets know what a lawn is because so many generations grew up on subsistance farm lots.
Also, a well manicured lawn is like a carpet outside of your house, on which you can enjoy the outdoors by walking around without (many) flying insects or noxious weeds, and have some (depending on its size) privacy from your neighbors. It appears healthier and cleaner than an unkept yard, but its necessary chemical maintenance might make that a dangerous illusion.
REMEMBER "VICTORY GARDENS"? I DO.
AND NOW, SOMETHING STRANGE IS HAPPENING IN A SMALL WAY". THE PLLANTING AND TENDING OF, VEGETABLES, GROWN ON TING PIECEES OF GREEN GRASS LAND IN CITIES AND SUBURBS,.
A lawn is a type of mote against the insects and reptiles that kill.
In Africa, it was packed, swept earth around the home, same practical value.
Shame on the New Yorker! The lawn started with Versailles, the grand sweep of lawns and formal flower beds, for which villages and forests surrounding the chateau of Versailles were razed. What more convincing way to demonstrate vast wealth and power than to turn useful land into a toy?
That was a late 17th C development which was copied by aristocrats in England . It was brought to the US by Ambassador to the French Court, Thomas Jefferson at Monticello and University of Virginia, and implemented by George Washington at Mt. Vernon.
We look at that today and don't understand what intimidating displays of power they were. Miniaturized and promoted so that every homeowner could be king in his castle.
An abomination that wastes far more water than all agricultural irrigation, and that adds tons of toxic chemicals to the soil and water. Plant veggies or chickens, ffs.
I stand corrected. And as an ex-New Yorker myself, my idea of a lawn is green painted cement. They are ridiculous, especially in dry climates. But people do get crazy about maintaining them.
😁 To be precise, it's men who go all in on lawns. Some men. And man oh man does that industry rake in big bucks!
I am reading the book now and really enjoying it. I spent seven years in a Benedictine convent, and the philosophy in this book closely mirrors the life we led there.
I love that you’re doing this,
Thom! I have to reread this wonderful book. What a creative genius Bellamy was, anticipating/predicting so much that has technologically advanced since his time, and so much more that we could be capable of if there was the will and a commitment to the common good rather than advancing the whims of the uber wealthy!
Thom, very interesting.