> Chaos / Entropy has a very convenient analogy in 21st century RW : Nuclear Power. It
> sprang to my mind recently since we have a nice political ruckus going on here (in France)
> these days, what with presidential elections getting nearer. The analogy goes only for
> civilized, peaceful lunar faced with the use of entropy by "the governement" :
>
> - 99,9% of population doesn't understand what entropy is, how it works, what its limits are
> - there are extremists who clamor for its suppression and other extremists who loudly argue it is vital to
> the country's prosperity and survival
> - only a very small group ("nucleocrats") understand and control access to entropy
> - it has civilian and military uses
>
> I can see the average lunar craftsman not even understanding "Entropy" is in fact chaos.
> I can see crazy generals (ŕ la Doctor Strangelove) itching to loose it on their ennemies. It's all there !
>
> Chaos is nuke power.
I can see the analogy of chaos magic with the nuclear bomb. It's an extreme weapon which can win a war on it's own but with potentially horrible consequences. Nuclear power less so - I don't know of any peaceful uses of chaos magic. Maybe there's someone tapping into a chaos source to provide a limitless source of magical power but it's a crackpot inventor somewhere not a Lunar government project. Perhaps it's something the Godlearners tried.
Nor does the political angle work - the Lunar Empire isn't a democracy. So what the average Lunar citizen thinks is of little concern to the Emperor or government. Sure there will be demagoges insisting that chaos must be eliminated and others who call on everyone to "make friends with chaos" but they will just be ignored until they cause too much trouble.
--
Donald Oddy
Powered by hypermail