I never imagined, when I wrote The Resurrection of Deacon Shader all those years ago in Australia, that fantasy and reality would start to converge so much in my lifetime. But then, I never imagined Orwell’s dystopian nightmare would descend upon us with such rapidity. But we are there, in terms of the Shader narrative: under the thumb of the technocrats in a world that has shifted ever closer to Mussolini’s definition of fascism.
Is there anything the technocrats don’t want to control (farms, vaccination, infectious diseases, population)?
It’s always been a bizarre irony how readily we accept the “well-meaning” solutions to the world’s “problems” by the very people and corporations responsible for the mess they claim we’re in. And it’s odd how we accept the imposition of some of the worst aspects of socialism from a bunch of multi-billionaire plutocrats without even noticing the hypocrisy (for the record, I’m closer to Distributism than Capitalism).
It reminds me of the Arthur Jones system of body building, using machines and “high intensity” training. The advocates would show off the herculean physiques they had built using the new methods of training, but would neglect to mention that they had built their muscle the old school way with volume training.
Same with these purveyors of technocratic communism: They built their wealth and power from unbridled free market Capitalism, while their industrial practices cause the environmental damage they bemoan. They invariably use the wealth they have accrued through their brand of cutthroat Capitalism to influence, buy, even control outright governments and impose changes to the way we eat, spend, earn, live, which benefit them and reduce the rest of us to various forms of social credit (which they then use to punish or cancel those who don’t adhere to the new orthodoxies these same technocrats also impose).
Sektis Gandaw did the same. With the lore of the underworld faen, he got a leg up in the world of technology, which he was able to market for huge profits. His power and influence grew exponentially, until most of the world was dependent upon his goods and services. Then, of course, he decided it was time to make the world he had benefited from (raped and plundered might be a more accurate way of putting it) a better place. A perfect one. And who better to decide what perfection entailed than Sektis Gandaw himself?
Before he could finish his Babel project, though, the masses rose against Sektis Gandaw and drove him into exile. He turns up on the continent of Medryn-Tha, where he resumes his work of Unweaving the whole of creation, though at a much slower pace.
Sektis is a relentless, narcissistic, technocratic egomaniac, a psychopath of the highest order. His power is so absolute, that only a mead-swilling dwarf with a big axe can cut him down to size.
So, what, for us, is the remedy?
I don’t have the answer to that, only a generalized theory of subsidiarity, self-sufficiency, and withdrawal from the matrix of lies that is social media.
We are but hobbits confronted with the might of Mordor, and we have been divided along all manner of lies. Thus a coordinated pushback seems a distant pipe dream. For now, perhaps the best we can do is focus on our own limited spheres of influence. Change, resistance, liberty starts closest to home.
It’s about seeking what is truly important: faith, family, the real world, as opposed to the virtual one we waste so much of our time on. Growing vegetables, raising animals and children, hill-walking, live music pubs, sailing, diving, playing, lifting weights, sparring, reading, writing.
Do all these things while they are still permissible. In some places, like my beloved England, some are already close to (if not already) illegal.
It’s a tough road to extricate oneself from the web of lies and manipulation. I’ve taken a few small steps: I’ve come off of Twitter, Facebook, and Instagram. Instead I spend more time learning about self-sufficiency–growing things, foraging, off-grid power. And the good news is, the research often finds its way into my writing.
Oh, and I’ve also extricated myself from the concerns about what “big publishers” might or might not want (quick clue: your hard-earned success). For the first time in half a decade, I’m free to write what the shog I like, and I’m loving it.
Productivity is through the roof. Whilst finishing off some huge ghost-writing commissions, I’ve made the time to work on three new Nameless Dwarf novels (the first will be released this summer), and City of Tombs, which is a labor of love I’m in no rush to finish. I also have Sorcerers’ Isle 2 to start writing, new editions of Husk and Dead or Alive to revise, and new ways if keeping gin touch with readers to devise (the hardest thing abut canceling Facebook was not being able to have such instant feedback and banter).
