Management is a real thing, a technical matter.Meanwhile in Germany the physicist and educator Kurd Lasswitz published his profound novel Auf Zwei Planeten (“Of Two Planets”, 1897). And so we still hand over our lives' labour, under duress, to feed rulers who do no real work. That is what capitalism is-a version of feudalism in which capital replaces land, and business leaders replace kings. And so for most of the day we return to feudalism. And then we wake up in the morning and go to work, and all those rights disappear. If democracy and self-rule are the fundamentals, then why should people give up these rights when they enter their work place? In politics we fight like tigers for freedom, for the right to elect our leaders, for freedom of movement, choice of residence, choice of what work to pursue-control of our lives in short.
As the trilogy's author, Kim Stanley Robinson, has himself put it, in the aftermath of the collapse of communism in Russia and Eastern Europe, it is very important not to throw the socialist baby out with the Stalinist bath water!Īt one point in the trilogy, a revolutionary congress is discussing the planet's future constitution and Vlad Taneev is arguing the socialist case:
640pp.Īt a time when the left seems to be on the defensive and in retreat just about everywhere, it is a cause of some celebration to have a best-selling, award-winning fictional trilogy that celebrates humanity's ability to take control of its destiny and to establish a socialist community, a community where economy and society are organized to satisfy human needs, where diversity flourishes and it is possible for everyone to fulfill their full potential, free from the chains of class, race, and gender. Blue Mars (New York: Bantom, 1996) $6.99 paper. Green Mars (New York: Bantom, 1993) $6.99 paper. Kim Stanley Robinson, Red Mars (New York: Bantom, 1992) $6.99 paper.
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