Howdy all,
I got a complaint recently that I've been thinking a bit about.
That being my portrayal of the Zhodani Consulate in the story
I've been posting.
Well, the complaint was along the lines that I was portraying a
distopia in a more favorable light than it is deserving of.
Quite possibly true, however, I should point out that the story
is *FAR* from over. Perceptions may change.
In any case, I found that the description of the Zhodani
*DIStopia* is very similar to some people's conceptions of a
*Utopia*. I don't necessarily *agree* with their concept of what
constitutes a utopia, but their's is rather similar to the
Consulate.
So, I thought I'd examine how it gets looked at.
Ok, now, there are a LOT of people who advocate the kind of
collective society that the Consulate is. Many of these people
advocate re-education of the masses to bring them around to their
point of view. They say criminals should be re-educated, not
imprisoned. Or in extreme cases re-educated then executed.
Those who disagree with them are attacked and would undoubtedly
be put into re-education centers if this group had their way.
Who are these folks? The Politically Correct Nazis we often find
today. If you gave the PC's psionics, they would turn into
something *VERY* like the Thought Police. After all what other
groups have defined *thoughts* as crimes? Laughing at a non-PC
joke is an offence. |-P
Acually, the Zho Thought Police would probably be much more
understanding of human emotions than the PC's. After all the
Zho's have had millenia to study and map the human mind in
*exactitude*. Thus, they would realize that some human emotions
which are suppressed and attacked in a PC society are more firmly
based in the human mind and are fundamental to the health of the
mind.
I don't want to get into an argument on the PC movement. I have
sympathies to the more moderate side, but the radical edge of the
PC's are truely out of their minds.
Ok, let's look at a utopic Politically Correct society, which
uses psionics that we all (unfortuately) are familiar with: The
New Star Trek. There is a psi officer aboard the Enterprise who
serves as the ship's 'councellor' (Thought Police, Zampolit,
Political Officer). She monitors the emotions of the crew and
those they interact with. She 'councels' or 're-educates'
individuals who are in need of 'help'. If a crew member was
contemplating a crime, you can bet that the ship's 'councellor'
would take steps to prevent it. How different is this from the
Evil Zhodani Thought Police? (tm) Not very far if you ask me.
Where does the Zhodani Consulate diverge from these?
Well, the Zho's aren't a cashless society. But that's not
important here.
The Zho's have a hereditary nobility, and their education is
strongly linked to their social rank. The PC's wouldn't like
that bit.
Well, the hereditary nobility can be put off according to the
theory that psi ability is genetic. (It might be, it mightn't be
there is no real way to tell for certain from the character
generation tables) This system is understandable and to be
expected. Note however, that proles can become nobles if they
show promise in the field of psionics. Proles stand a much
better chance of getting into the nobility than Imperial
commoners.
The education bit is the real sticking point. You can't have an
education greater than your social standing unless it is aquired
during your terms of service. Presumably, Proles aren't admitted
to college. (gotta check that one)
Scott "2G" Kellogg
(New Star Trek: Note that we never see the Proles there. All
characters are officers. And you never see a psi who isn't
either an officer or a noble or official of some kind)
PS. Please let's not start talking about Star Trek on the TML.
I just needed to use an example.