A couple of thoughts or comments on UC, by John Ross.
Some correspondents have voiced "concern" over what they described as the "x rated" nature of parts of the book. While I may be jaded, personally I believe that they are making a mountain out of a couple of grains of sand. Otherwise put, if one wanted to talk about "x rated" writing, read Canterbury Tales, by Chaucer, originally written in Middle English, though modern English translations are available, and they are a RIOT. It is also a classic, and while not written for "the children", neither was UC. Actually, the tempest in a teapot, if I may so describe it, over the "x rated" portitions of the book remind me of the complaints one hears dealing with the "brutal recoil" of the Government Model Pistol, firing the 45 ACP cartridge. There is some recoil, but then one cannot discharge a firearm, of any sort, without recoil.
More important however, I thought, was some of the comment dealing with the last 200 or so pages of the book, pages that were more than a little bloody. Described therein were the undesirable results of a situation that could well be described as "government gone wild", where otherwise peaceful, law abiding citizens were, so to speak, pushed over the edge, by what were plainly THE CRIMINAL ACTS OF GOVERNMENT AGENTS.
While one remembers that we are dealing with a work of fiction, a historical novel, faced with the situation therein described, a situation that could well come to pass, at some point in the not all that distant future, in the case of such undesirable events, to whom would one look.
While blame would be parceled out amongst the people, who didn't pay attention to what was going on around them, the ones who accepted an ongoing circus, instead of bread, and amongst self aggrandizing bureaucrats and faceless civil servants, who were all to ready to abuse the nickels worth of authority they had been granted, and to The President, who set an entirely wrong tone, the bulk of blame would lay in two (2) places.
Place number 1 would be with The Judiciary, who have always had the power to toss out, the specious cases brought by out of control government and police agencies, but failed to so do, thereby failing THE PEOPLE.
Place number 2, and by far the largest place in view would be in and with The Congress. The Congress who had oversight responsibility, which it failed, on an ongoing basis, to shoulder. The Congress, which allowed itself, time and time again, to be stampeded into enactment of really stupid, not to mention CONSTITUTIONALLY QUESTIONABLE laws. The Congress, our law making body, that when showered with example after example of improper if not illegal acts by government agencies and their employees, not only failed to check the transgressions of run away agencies and their employees, but failed to take the requisite action regarding the ill advised legislation it had enacted, REPEAL.
So ladies and gentlemen, should the situation depicted in UC come to pass, and should one desire to know whom to blame, you all might want to remember the foregoing, for if you remember, it is possible that the undesirable situation depicted might be avoided, yet we all might still see the time when the problems depicted had been peacefully solved, the most desirable of the possibilities.
[This message has been edited by alan (edited October 07, 2000).]
I have not had the pleasure of reading this book. I am, however, in the process of remedying that. Just ordered it via Amazon.com and expect to see it next week. I am looking forward to it. Thanks to AmericanFreeBird for brining this title to my attention.