01 September 2017

The sheep look up


Cartoon from The New YorkerPost title stolen from John Brunner and John Milton.

Reposted from three years ago because sadly it's still relevant.

11 comments:

  1. It is good for us to be distracted from Syria, for it serves no productive purpose for us to be involved there.

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  2. We could always turn our attention to the planet that we're raping, poisoning, and denuding to the point that it will no longer sustain the very creatures doing it- but something's bound to turn up...

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    1. I see that you've been reading some lively science fiction.

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  3. You're right, we're not bombing enough Middle-Eastern countries.

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  4. Count me in with Stan B. and MuddyValley. I have seven grandchildren, and I worry about their future on this planet.

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  5. Side comment: John Brunner was also the author of possibly the worst SF novel ever printed by ACE Books: _The Atlantic Abomination_. It's mentioned next to "trite" in the dictionary.

    Lurker111

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  6. 'The Sheep Look Up" is a fun read. I read it over every now and then. I'll have to give The Atlantic Abomination a try, see how bad it could be. sounds like a Lovecraft meets Campbell kind of thing.
    Now, back to my stamp collection.

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    1. "Fun read" explained -- "By the end of the book, rioting and civil unrest sweep the United States, due to a combination of poor health, poor sanitation, lack of food, lack of services, ineffectiveness of services (medical, policing), disillusionment with government/companies, oppressive government, civil unrest, high incidence of birth defects (pollution-induced), and other factors; all services (military, government, private, infrastructure) break down."

      Only those of us who enjoy dystopian SF will understand your enthusiasm. Now back to my selvage collection.

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    2. Its the only Brunner I've read. Its very...terse...yes terse would be the word, but its not without humor. like this...
      "At the big Georgia paper mill the saboteur was obviously a chemist. Some kind of catalyst was substituted for a drum of regular sizing solution and vast billowing waves of corrosive fumes ruined the plant. Anonymous calls to a local TV station claimed it had been done to preserve trees.
      The same day, in northern California, signs were posted on a stand of redwoods that the governor had authorized for lumbering: about two hundred of the last six hundred in the state. The signs said: FOR EVERY TREE YOU KILL ONE OF YOU WILL DIE TOO.
      The promise was carried out with Schmiesser machine-pistols. The actual score was eighteen people for seventeen trees.
      Close enough."

      Thats fun, yes?

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  7. Reagan, as governor of California, once said in a speech, "Trees cause pollution" and "if you've seen one redwood, you've seen them all." And people still voted him in as President...

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