“It is confusing, yes. Mankind pretends to love nature but destroys it wherever he goes. We claim life is sacred, but we leave it no room in which to exist. Not long ago, when we said every human is unique & holy, our children were taught which types of unique & holy were the best & which they should hate.”
“Not long ago?”
“Before we met any outsiders, people not of Earth. Now we don’t learn to hate humans anymore.”
“Just outsiders eh?” She laughed, a truly amused sound. “You. How are you different from most?”
“I’m an arkist. We’re suspicious of following anyone. We like figure things out for ourselves. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we know that we aren’t the best or wisest creature in the galaxy; we also know we aren’t nothing. When we consider that we will die, we struggle to do something with the time we have. We don’t confuse heedless & selfish proliferation of our race with reverence for life. We know that other creatures are sometimes better than we are. We try to learn from them.”
The companions, Sheri Tepper.
“Their prime motivation is money or jobs – for humans, of course – because money & jobs buy votes or power. If wiping out forests means jobs & room for more people, they will wipe out forests. If killing animals means jobs & more room for people, they will drive the animals to extinction. Animals & forests do not vote. These destroyers care only that more room & more jobs be made available to accommodate the ever increasing number of people they encourage to be born, because an ever increasing population fuels our economic system.”
The Countess said, “But can’t they see what is happening to the world? Don’t they worry about it?”Dora snorted. “They worry only that they be allowed to live out their lives in power & comfort. They buy the kind of lives they are destroying for others. They live in gated communities or in mansions on stretches of untouched land or perhaps in twelve room apartments at the tops of very tall, exclusive buildings. As for the poor, as for the animals, as for the trees, let them die.”
The family tree, Sheri Tepper
'People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.'
-Stephen King
"I did know what she meant. She meant there were good homosexuals & bad homosexuals, & she would never think of me as a bad one. My parents, I remembered, had once categorised black folks in much the same way. They didn’t disapprove of all Negroes. Just the uppity ones. The ones who insisted on special rights."
Michael Tolliver lives, Armistead Maupin.
"As she spoke, I had a vision of myself trapped in the pigsty, wandering from room to room wearing huge incontinence pants underneath voluminous tracksuit trousers. My wife & child had fled. My only visitor was the incontinence nurse bringing me fresh supplies."
Adrian Mole, the prostrate years. Sue Townsend.
"A tiny percentage of the population owns the vast majority of the country’s wealth. That suits them, but at the same time it’s terrifying; they are so outnumbered & have so much to lose. The idea that we might act in concert is appalling, that we might work towards something grander & more permanent than the filling of our bellies – they will crush this; they are too terrified to do otherwise."
(About the Chartist movement, 19th century)
The Telling, Jo Baker
“Not long ago?”
“Before we met any outsiders, people not of Earth. Now we don’t learn to hate humans anymore.”
“Just outsiders eh?” She laughed, a truly amused sound. “You. How are you different from most?”
“I’m an arkist. We’re suspicious of following anyone. We like figure things out for ourselves. When we look at ourselves in the mirror, we know that we aren’t the best or wisest creature in the galaxy; we also know we aren’t nothing. When we consider that we will die, we struggle to do something with the time we have. We don’t confuse heedless & selfish proliferation of our race with reverence for life. We know that other creatures are sometimes better than we are. We try to learn from them.”
The companions, Sheri Tepper.
“Their prime motivation is money or jobs – for humans, of course – because money & jobs buy votes or power. If wiping out forests means jobs & room for more people, they will wipe out forests. If killing animals means jobs & more room for people, they will drive the animals to extinction. Animals & forests do not vote. These destroyers care only that more room & more jobs be made available to accommodate the ever increasing number of people they encourage to be born, because an ever increasing population fuels our economic system.”
The Countess said, “But can’t they see what is happening to the world? Don’t they worry about it?”Dora snorted. “They worry only that they be allowed to live out their lives in power & comfort. They buy the kind of lives they are destroying for others. They live in gated communities or in mansions on stretches of untouched land or perhaps in twelve room apartments at the tops of very tall, exclusive buildings. As for the poor, as for the animals, as for the trees, let them die.”
The family tree, Sheri Tepper
'People want to know why I do this, why I write such gross stuff. I like to tell them I have the heart of a small boy... and I keep it in a jar on my desk.'
-Stephen King
"I did know what she meant. She meant there were good homosexuals & bad homosexuals, & she would never think of me as a bad one. My parents, I remembered, had once categorised black folks in much the same way. They didn’t disapprove of all Negroes. Just the uppity ones. The ones who insisted on special rights."
Michael Tolliver lives, Armistead Maupin.
"As she spoke, I had a vision of myself trapped in the pigsty, wandering from room to room wearing huge incontinence pants underneath voluminous tracksuit trousers. My wife & child had fled. My only visitor was the incontinence nurse bringing me fresh supplies."
Adrian Mole, the prostrate years. Sue Townsend.
"A tiny percentage of the population owns the vast majority of the country’s wealth. That suits them, but at the same time it’s terrifying; they are so outnumbered & have so much to lose. The idea that we might act in concert is appalling, that we might work towards something grander & more permanent than the filling of our bellies – they will crush this; they are too terrified to do otherwise."
(About the Chartist movement, 19th century)
The Telling, Jo Baker
in order to be old & wise, you must first be young & stupid. (I'm still working on that.)