Here Be Dragons

A Simple Folk

As ever I lounged around, and yesterday I did so whilst reading Last and First Men, by Olaf Stapledon. (Book 11 in the SF Masterworks series)

The book was written in 1930, and tells the story of the evolution of mankind over the next say 2 Billion years. Oh yes, the author took a long term view of things. The recent edition has a preface which suggests that readers may want to skip the first four chapters as they deal with Earth from just after WW1 through till the downfall of the "first men," which would be us. He gets it all wrong in this section (so they claim) because he concentrates on Germany and England and doesn't worry about Russia much claims America will really go mental and will eventually kill Europe, then turn to killing of China.

Hmmm, doesn't seem to wrong (or atleast not too far fetched) from where I'm sitting, but none of this is important. If you want to know, read the book. (It is interesting to read about the cross and the swastika in a book read prior to the rise of the Nazis. I know that the swastika is not new, but still reading the book finished in 1930 it is interesting to think back to what it meant then, and how the author must have felt a decade later. Onwards.

What is important is this excellent quote, coming directly after the Americans have killed everyone in Europe with a nerve agent (page 33)...

There were indeed the British Colonies, but they were by now far less European than American. The war had, of course disintegrated the British Empire. Canada sided with the United States. South Africa and India declared their neutrality at the outbreak of the war. Australia, not through cowardice, but through conflict of loyalties, was soon reduced to neutrality. The New Zealanders took to their mountains and maintained an insane but heroic resistance for a year. A simple and gallant folk, they had almost no conception of the European spirit, yet obscurely and in spite of their Americanisation they were loyal to it, or at least to that symbol of one aspect of Europeanism, 'England'. Indeed so extravegantly loyal were they, or so innately dogged and opinionated, that when further resistance became impossible, many of them, both men and woman, killed themselves rather than submit.

Yeah.

---

Now Jaegar raises a good point. Where is the discussion of Star Wars Galaxies Beta? Huh? Tark, I'm looking at you. I would look at Wreak, but he has seen fit to hide his face once more from the sun, (which I'm sure we all appreciate) and so we can't look to him. Cardinal King of Star Wars should certainly have commented on his experiences in Beta but no, he has not. Even I have witnessed the fitness of Wreak attempting to blast something, whilst Tark hung out nearby. Although I missed the geek out that was Card and Tark standing in the imperial palace on Naboo quoting lines at each other.

"A Communications disruption could mean only one thing... invasion" Indeed.

Posted by luther at June 3, 2003 12:45 PM