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Michael Moorcock on Sci-Fi luminaries (web.archive.org)

submitted 1 month ago by dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net to c/collapse@slrpnk.net

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I know this is a little outside the normal scope of this community. However, I think it’s undeniable that a contributing factor to the ideas and behavior of contemporary tech oligarchs is their love of older sci-fi and fantasy literature. Seeing the authoritarian and sometimes even straightforwardly fascist ideals hidden in those works can be helpful in understanding how these people think.

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[–] perestroika@slrpnk.net 1 points 1 month ago* (last edited 1 month ago) (1 children)

The concerns are legit. :(

Then again, empires and wars make for great story material. Persistent peace... not so much. So I believe science fiction has a bias towards epic messes.

As for when this was written - wow, 1978. Probably before Iain M. Banks brought a typewriter home and started typing his first Culture novel...

...but as a result of his typing, even libertarian / socialist viewpoints of science fiction contain empires (often defeated) and wars (sometimes resolved without mass casualties, but not always). The damnable reality of literature tends to be: if there's no gun on the wall in chapter 1 and someone isn't shot by chapter 3, you have to figure out what sells the story. :(

[–] dylanmorgan@slrpnk.net 2 points 1 month ago

I think Moorcock does recognize the value of having empires in fiction, his point is more about the underlying philosophy revealed by the protagonist(s).