RE: I hate Star Trek fans doing this.
August 15, 2016 at 10:32 am
(This post was last modified: August 15, 2016 at 10:41 am by The Grand Nudger.)
Good sci-fi is never about the tech. It's about how that tech affects people..individually, and collectively. The accomplishments and failures of man. Verne set his rocket in the aftermath of the american civil war, in which what we would call the military complex devises a gun and subsequent interpersonal relationships and manouvering between power players threatens the process. His sub, ofc, has problems with the crew. The Nautilus merely provides a manner of commentary on various political axes Jules wanted to grind regarding british expansionism in the middle east and India. What a person motivated by the loss of their family might do (and how it would affect them) if they could make unilateral moves against a real or perceived oppressor - role reversal. 1870's
Dicks scanners are a way to view and empathize for the abusers, addicts, and other forms of "human waste" (like himself) that society had, at that time...roundly demonized. The conflict between the perceptions and interests of the state (and those who enforce them) with their own interests. Flavored with a hefty dose of cynicism as regards the ultimate dependencies between drug warriors and the element which they profess to be eliminating. 1970's
The stories are prophetic only insomuch as they're really about us..in the here and now, and what will happen if we keep doing this or that. Conveniently, in the case of the stories mentioned we did. Did the authors know that we would? No. Does it matter? No. I think Dick would have preferred a different future, whereas Verne was more clearly focused on the past and what he took to be the consequences of yesterdays mistakes in the context of what was then the exponentially growing power of scientific innovation. In either case the stories and authors were prophetic (in terms of tech..sure..but that;s just a plot device, more importantly in terms of the state of far reaching social and political affairs), in the only sensible meaning of that term.
(As a point of interest..this is -also- what biblical "prophecy" actually was. Socio-political commentary on then-current events and what they meant for affected people. Gods and magic drive that plot just like the Enterprise, handheld comms, and teleporters drive the other.)
Dicks scanners are a way to view and empathize for the abusers, addicts, and other forms of "human waste" (like himself) that society had, at that time...roundly demonized. The conflict between the perceptions and interests of the state (and those who enforce them) with their own interests. Flavored with a hefty dose of cynicism as regards the ultimate dependencies between drug warriors and the element which they profess to be eliminating. 1970's
The stories are prophetic only insomuch as they're really about us..in the here and now, and what will happen if we keep doing this or that. Conveniently, in the case of the stories mentioned we did. Did the authors know that we would? No. Does it matter? No. I think Dick would have preferred a different future, whereas Verne was more clearly focused on the past and what he took to be the consequences of yesterdays mistakes in the context of what was then the exponentially growing power of scientific innovation. In either case the stories and authors were prophetic (in terms of tech..sure..but that;s just a plot device, more importantly in terms of the state of far reaching social and political affairs), in the only sensible meaning of that term.
(As a point of interest..this is -also- what biblical "prophecy" actually was. Socio-political commentary on then-current events and what they meant for affected people. Gods and magic drive that plot just like the Enterprise, handheld comms, and teleporters drive the other.)
I am the Infantry. I am my country’s strength in war, her deterrent in peace. I am the heart of the fight… wherever, whenever. I carry America’s faith and honor against her enemies. I am the Queen of Battle. I am what my country expects me to be, the best trained Soldier in the world. In the race for victory, I am swift, determined, and courageous, armed with a fierce will to win. Never will I fail my country’s trust. Always I fight on…through the foe, to the objective, to triumph overall. If necessary, I will fight to my death. By my steadfast courage, I have won more than 200 years of freedom. I yield not to weakness, to hunger, to cowardice, to fatigue, to superior odds, For I am mentally tough, physically strong, and morally straight. I forsake not, my country, my mission, my comrades, my sacred duty. I am relentless. I am always there, now and forever. I AM THE INFANTRY! FOLLOW ME!
