SPOILERS The Long Earth "Code" - SPOILERS!
- Thread starter poohcarrot
- Start date
I just finished this, so I'm late to the game, but.
I don't agree that the Humanity Firsters are supposed to be Tea Partiers. Unlike the Tea Partiers, the HFers aren't against government nor are they against paying taxes--they simply want their taxes to be used to only benefit Datum Earth Americans and not to subsidize the Long Earth colonizers. The HFers may be anti-Washington, but they're not libertarians like the Tea Partiers. If they were, they would be fully supporting the idea of stepping and doing everything they could to find a way to step to new worlds themselves, far away from gummint control).
What the HFers are are simply a broad parody of violent right-wing extremists in general. People who, being left out of the opportunity to share in the economic opportunities enjoyed by the more fortunate (i.e., the steppers), become violently jealous, paranoid, and use any kind of rationalization to justify their anger.
I don't agree that the Humanity Firsters are supposed to be Tea Partiers. Unlike the Tea Partiers, the HFers aren't against government nor are they against paying taxes--they simply want their taxes to be used to only benefit Datum Earth Americans and not to subsidize the Long Earth colonizers. The HFers may be anti-Washington, but they're not libertarians like the Tea Partiers. If they were, they would be fully supporting the idea of stepping and doing everything they could to find a way to step to new worlds themselves, far away from gummint control).
What the HFers are are simply a broad parody of violent right-wing extremists in general. People who, being left out of the opportunity to share in the economic opportunities enjoyed by the more fortunate (i.e., the steppers), become violently jealous, paranoid, and use any kind of rationalization to justify their anger.
I am surprised at the focus on 2012 US politics when there are so many other things going on. For example:
* Lobsang the motorcycle mechanic (Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance),
* Joshua, son of Maria - Joshua is Jesus' name in Aramaic (Jesus is the Greek version), and Maria is a form of Mary. Joshua's father isn't known. Joshua coming down to earth protected by his 'heavenly father' Lobsang. Joshua doesn't have sex, or even try to.
There are no inconsistencies around all the other worlds having no people - homo sapiens only evolved in one world - in all the others our ancestors learned to step, so they never needed to evolve intelligence to escape enemies or find food. I suppose their populations stayed relatively low because they retained the hunter/gatherer lifestyle.
There's a lot of depth in the book.
* Lobsang the motorcycle mechanic (Zen and the art of motorcycle maintenance),
* Joshua, son of Maria - Joshua is Jesus' name in Aramaic (Jesus is the Greek version), and Maria is a form of Mary. Joshua's father isn't known. Joshua coming down to earth protected by his 'heavenly father' Lobsang. Joshua doesn't have sex, or even try to.
There are no inconsistencies around all the other worlds having no people - homo sapiens only evolved in one world - in all the others our ancestors learned to step, so they never needed to evolve intelligence to escape enemies or find food. I suppose their populations stayed relatively low because they retained the hunter/gatherer lifestyle.
There's a lot of depth in the book.
