tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-49422205435105106962024-03-14T00:13:23.816+00:00Once Upon a ConWhy do so many people get conned into supporting charlatans whose real interest is just to get even more rich and powerful at the expense of everyone else? The grandest political lies are too often hidden in plain sight. Unmask them with our Anti-Con novels – 'Kuan's Wonderland'; 'Whitehall through the Looking Glass'; and 'The Hunting of the Gods'.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comBlogger51125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-27193373746464670112023-06-16T10:40:00.000+01:002023-06-16T10:44:59.971+01:00The Anti-Con MissionWhen they lie, distort and provoke to turn the public against vulnerable people, they say their freedom of speech is sacrosanct. When we expose their tricks and manipulation, they attack us for daring to indoctrinate the public with our ‘biased’ interpretation of their shameless deceit. <br />
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But that of course is the way of the Con. From falsely invoking ‘God’ as their backer, committing crimes behind the cloak of the national flag, to extorting compliance in the name of a groundless neoliberal economic model, Con advocates have banked on retaining control through systemic misdirection.<br />
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We all have a duty to expose the Con whenever we can. Novels can reach many who would not read books on political criticism or follow documentary reports on the harm of demagoguery. They can stimulate reflections on what the real threats are to society, and facilitate wider group discussions about what ought to be done to counter the Con.<br />
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For any novel to engage, an intriguing and entertaining read is a prerequisite. Beyond that, as the story opens the mind to new perspectives and as yet unexplored possibilities, there is the opportunity to unmask the motives and techniques of diverse exponents of the Con. With the help of allegories, satires, and epic adventures, we can promote greater interest and understanding of what we must resist and overcome.<br />
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That is our Anti-Con mission.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-56448632706610769522019-01-01T17:11:00.000+00:002019-01-01T17:28:32.165+00:00Resist Dystopia: Expose the ConThe Con works through lies and misdirection, tricking people into supporting charlatans who only care about themselves. Unless the Con is exposed, a bleak dystopian future edges ever closer. But logic and evidence are not enough to unmask the deceivers, who play on people's emotions. To counter their trickery, we should encourage people to engage with stories that will transport them to new perspectives, and see for themselves why resistance to the Con is essential and urgent.<br />
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The Anti-Con novels – <i>Kuan's Wonderland</i>; <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>; and <i>The Hunting of the Gods</i> – reveal the insidious essence of Con politics that turns those with little power against those with no power at all. Each novel brings into sharp relief the real threats posed by ‘populist’ manipulators, and explores through contrasting scenarios how their domination can be overcome.<br />
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Theses thought-provoking tales have been praised in diverse quarters: “An unmissable page-turner” (President, the Independent Publishers Guild); “An important reminder of the risks of crude neoliberal ideology” (General Secretary, TUC); “Simply a tour de force” (Director for Education, WEA); “Original and very engaging” (Fantasy Book Review); “The ending is tense, unexpected and powerful” (Economics Editor, The Independent newspaper); “Beautifully, deftly written” (Dame Jane Roberts, NLGN); "It's a cautionary tale and a call to action, but also a gripping read" (Director, Speakers’ Corner Trust).<br />
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• <i><a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a></i> is an allegorical story about a young boy, Kuan, who is taken against his will to the mysterious realm of Shiyan, where nothing is as it appears. Held back by quite unexpected threats and diversions, he hopes his father will come to his rescue, not suspecting that they may both be the target of a dark conspiracy. <br />
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• <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a></i> is a satirical tale about how a group of corporations known as the Consortium, with George VIII as a figurehead, has come to rule over both the UK and the US. They possess the Super Utility Network, the most advanced opinion manipulation technology in the world, but someone has a plan to dismantle it.<br />
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• <i><a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Gods-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B01FKF212O/">The Hunting of the Gods</a></i> is a saga set on an unrecognisable Earth under the control of immortal ‘gods’, whose subjects accept that all life on the planet was created by their rulers just 500 years ago. The masses routinely spend their time starving or fighting wars until a resurrected man heralds the end of the gods’ reign.<br />
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You can get the Kindle versions of all three novels for just £5.97 (readable on all electronic devices).<br />
Or you can get them individually in paperback.<br />
Click on the links below and select either the Kindle edition or the paperback option:<br />
<i>Kuan's Wonderland</i>: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/</a> <br />
<i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/</a> <br />
<i>The Hunting of the Gods</i>: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Gods-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B01FKF212O/">https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Gods-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B01FKF212O/</a>Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-81383443524867186462018-12-28T19:04:00.000+00:002019-01-01T17:37:07.346+00:005 Predictions from ‘ The Hunting of the Gods’What radical innovations did I conjure up for the futuristic Earth in ‘The Hunting of the Gods’? There are quite a few, but here are five that are particularly significant:<br />
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<b>[1] <i>Heartbeat Surveillance</i></b><br />
The unique heartbeat of every individual is registered and tracked. Scanner can detect any individual and identify who it is instantly. No one can disappear from the pervasive surveillance system. One further use of this technology is that in line with the agreed protocol, governments share their information on how many of their people have died in war so that fighting will stop when fatalities on either side has reached one million (with victory going to the side with under a million killed at that point).<br />
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<b>[2] <i>Cloning/Memory Transfer & Identity Therapy</i></b><br />
Others have imagined the technology for cloning a body to transfer one’s memory into. But in ‘The Hunting of the Gods’, we have the realisation that such a technology does not preserve one’s identity, it merely creates another being with a replicated memory when one’s true self is terminated. The new self then needs therapy to cope with bearing the guilt of the previous person while trying to realise that one is a new person.<br />
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<b>[3] <i>Virtual Immortality</i></b><br />
People can live in a relatively youthful and healthy state depending on the dosage they can access for longevity treatment. Most people cannot afford any treatment, and given the lack of nutrition, will die young. A minority can get the medication to live like a youthful middle-aged person until they are 100 or 150. With a weaker dose, some live a long but not quite youthful life. But those on the highest rung can secure the supply that will guarantee them virtual immortality (though it does not make them invulnerable to violent attacks).<br />
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<b>[4] <i>Human Reproduction & Biological Convergence</i></b><br />
Any pair of human partners can for a fee, submit a request for a foetus to be incubated in a commercial facility that will use randomly selected and mixed genetic codes from a data bank. Ethnic differences have disappeared and all inhabitants have a similar ‘mixed-race’ profile. As men and women alike acquire an offspring in the same way, there is little divergence in what careers they pursue. However, strong divisions still surface as a result of political leaders presenting targeted scapegoats as enemies.<br />
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<b>[5] <i>Microbot Technology</i></b><br />
Microbots are small dot-sized automatons that can combine to form larger units to perform a vast variety of functions. They can carry out domestic chores, basic gardening, visual projections, medical tasks, and many other duties, including, where a special licence has been granted, military actions. Separated as individual microbots, they can vanish from human sight with ease.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-52442967429390085772018-12-24T14:56:00.000+00:002019-01-01T17:29:54.701+00:00Dystopian EssaysWhat can dystopian fiction tell us about the society in which it is written? What do different approaches reveal about the concerns of the authors and how they want to tackle the underlying threats? What forms of utopia risk degenerating into dystopia?<br />
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Here are 10 essays on dystopian themes you may find of interest:<br />
<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/11/dystopian-origins-how-did-we-get-here.html"><br />
'Dystopian Origins: how did we get here?'</a>: on what gave rise to the dystopian genre.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/09/the-politics-of-control-huxley-orwell.html">'The Politics of Control: Huxley, Orwell or Burdekin?'</a>: comparing Huxley, Orwell, and their lesser known contemporary, Katherine Burdekin, whose novel, <i>Swastika Night</i> is insightful and terrifying.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/08/triffids-high-rise-lord-of-flies.html">'Triffids, High-Rise or Lord of the Flies'</a>: on the common themes of lawlessness and disorder in three contrasting novels.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/utopian-jekyll-dystopian-hyde.html">'Utopian Jekyll & Dystopian Hyde'</a>: on how utopian intentions can turn into dystopian rule in practice.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/05/power-disparity-dystopian-breakdown.html">'Power Disparity & Dystopian Breakdown'</a>: on the central theme of widening power gaps as a precursor to dystopian nightmares.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/04/the-good-bad-ugly-in-dystopian-fiction.html">'The ‘Good’, ‘Bad’ & ‘Ugly’ in Dystopian Fiction'</a>: comparing the political targets of different dystopian novels and what they reveal about their authors' attitudes towards social issues.<br />
<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/02/cooperative-gestalt-dystopian-fiction.html"><br />
'Cooperative Gestalt & Dystopian Fiction'</a>: on the core communitarian themes and their relationship to the cooperative gestalt in the writings of Thomas More, Francis Bacon, and James Harrington.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/contesting-dystopian-visions.html">'Contesting Dystopian Visions'</a>: on the recurring dystopian concern with the concentration of wealth in an elite and the consequences for the vulnerable masses.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/09/dystopia-goes-to-hollywood.html">'Dystopia Goes to Hollywood'</a>: a look at the popularity of dystopian films and the opportunities they offer to widen serious political discussions.<br />
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<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/redrawing-utopia-dystopia-roadmap.html">'Redrawing the Utopia-Dystopia Roadmap'</a>: on some of the ideas that may inform a remapping of utopian and dystopian writings.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-49237537681631542022018-10-01T14:39:00.000+01:002018-10-03T14:45:22.925+01:00Silver Age Superheroes (DC and Marvel)What led me to write my kind of novels? As a child growing up in the 1960s, I was fired up by sci-fi ideas, alien worlds, and superheroes battling villains of every form. Much of that was down to the Silver Age of comics inaugurated by DC and Marvel. The heroes of that era were not just outstanding in protecting the defenceless against powerful enemies, they stood for a new hope that justice and fairness could prevail over deceit and domination. I can still recall the excitement of finding the latest issues appearing on the comics stand …<br />
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There were <b><i>Superman & Captain America</i></b>, the ultimate Red, White and Blue heroes, whose idealism extended beyond the US, as they regularly led from the front, fighting for the world against the most serious threats wherever these emerged. Back in the 1940s they helped to defeat the Nazis, and through the 1960s they continued to stand ready to deal with any powerful megalomaniac.<br />
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Then at the first sign of trouble, <b><i>Batman & Spiderman</i></b> would literally swing by and knock any villain out cold. Yet beneath the mask, each carried a deep psychological scar. Bruce Wayne as a boy watching his parents shot dead by a street mugger, and Peter Parker realising a criminal he didn’t stop went on to kill his beloved Uncle Ben. But the pain made them stronger and more resolute.<br />
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With <b><i>Wonder Woman & Thor</i></b>, the powers of Aegean and Nordic divinities flowed through them. They could hold off an invading army, match Hercules in strength, and defeat those who sought victories through lies. The warrior from Themyscira could make any deceiver reveal the truth, while the prince of Asgard would repeatedly foil his brother Loki, the god of deception. <br />
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<b><i>Aquaman & Namor the Sub-Mariner</i></b> were both mixed progeny of the land-based human race and the sea-dwelling race of Atlantis. The two races had mistrusted each other, but in Aquaman (in the DC universe) and Namor (in the Marvel universe), they found common cause in having a noble hero who would fight for all of them in repelling real enemies who threatened their existence.<br />
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While one abnormal explosion released energy that turned Barry Allen into the fastest person in the world, another one changed Bruce Banner into the strongest human being on Earth. But <b><i>the Flash & the Hulk</i></b> never had it easy. With unexpected shifts in timeline for one, and anger-fuelled disorientation for the other, they both had to keep working on controlling their powers for the sake of others.<br />
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Oliver Queen fought for social justice as well as against common criminals; Matt Murdoch hunted down gangsters and as a lawyer defended the wrongfully accused. As <b><i>Green Arrow & Daredevil</i></b>, they did not have super speed or strength, but they developed their combat skills through relentless training. To make things even more challenging, Oliver had a sidekick with a drug addiction problem, and Matt was blind.<br />
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<b><i>Green Lantern & Doctor Strange</i></b> took us to completely different realms. Hal Jordan was chosen by the cosmic Green Lantern Corp to be their champion on Earth, and given the power ring. Stephen Strange was chosen by the Ancient One to be the sorcerer supreme on Earth, and given the amulet that housed the Eye of Agamotto. The projection of will power as a solid force and the casting of mystical spells were awesome to behold.<br />
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<b><i>Hawkman & Iron Man</i></b> came closest to being modern knights in shining armour, even if Katar Hol’s was made of Nth metal while Tony Stark’s was made with Nitinol. Suiting up gave them the power to fly, withstand the hardest blows, and take to the offensive against any criminal whose latest weapon acquisition might otherwise have given them a deadly advantage.<br />
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The Silver Age was the age of science, and Ray Palmer and Hank Pym were two of the greatest scientific minds (of the DC and Marvel universe), and they worked out how to shrink objects and enlarge them, and became <b><i>the Atom & the Ant-Man</i></b> respectively. It was surprising how being tiny could overcome fearsome enemies, though being super smart was a more predictable asset.<br />
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J’onn J’onzz or Norrin Radd, better known perhaps as <b><i>the Martian Manhunter & the Silver Surfer</i></b>, were alien beings brought to Earth against their will, and unable to return to their home world. Possessing greater powers than most of the superheroes mentioned above, they coped with their own predicament stoically while tirelessly helping the people of their adopted planet.<br />
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In addition to the 10 pairs of solo superheroes from DC and Marvel I looked back on above, I was a huge fan of teams such as the Fantastic Four, X-Men, Justice League, and Avengers. But I’ll save my reminiscence about them for another day. <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-18675160598555025512018-04-12T18:47:00.000+01:002018-05-15T19:03:12.194+01:00Political Engagement of the Surreal Kind[Below are extracts from my interview with <i>Shout Out UK</i>, about the thinking behind my dystopian novel, <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>, and its predecessor, <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>.]<br />
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<b>Your last book was called <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>, I’m sure most of our readers will have not failed to miss the reference to Lewis Carroll’s Alice books. How does <i>Whitehall Through the Looking Glass</i> follow on from your last book, and why did you choose to make such explicit reference to Alice in both titles?</b><br />
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Lewis Carroll was fascinated with logical puzzles and he created surreal worlds in his stories to engage readers, old and young, in thinking about those puzzles when a more formal presentation of them would have bored them. I’ve always been a great admirer of Carroll. But for me, the surreal worlds I create are to engage people in thinking about political puzzles – what is wrong with certain forms of society? what can be done about them? <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> is more of an allegorical tale – it’s part ‘Animal Farm’, part ‘Star Trek’, but turns out to be something completely different with the final twist. <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> is in part a prequel to <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>, but also takes the story beyond where the first novel ended. It’s essentially a political thriller – a mix of ‘1984’, ‘Fahrenheit 451’ and Sinclair Lewis’ ‘It Can’t Happen Here’. <br />
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<b>Why do you think a novel is such a great form through which to explore political ideas? </b><br />
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It gives the writer the opportunity to paint a vivid picture of what would happen if certain political ideas and practices win out against others. Not many people enjoy reading through detailed policy analyses or dense expositions of political theories. But few can resist a good story. It is particularly powerful when you can present the reader with both characters they can come to empathise with, and characters they can look upon with derision. Once drawn into the fictional universe, they relate to events and problems with far greater intensity than they would in relation to abstract facts and figures.<br />
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<b>Upon who did you model the characters that dominate and reside within your Whitehall?</b><br />
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Nearly all the characters in the novel owe something to people I have met or worked with in Whitehall, especially in the senior civil service. There is no simple one-to-one correspondence. Each fictional figure is a composite drawn from a number of real-life people, with in many cases a good dose of Dickensian exaggeration stirred in. <br />
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<b>How did you conceive the ideas behind this book? What inspired this vision of the future in politics, social dynamics and technology? </b><br />
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After my first novel, <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>, which was set in what appeared to be an other-worldly realm, I wanted to turn to the world we inhabit. And three trends struck me as more menacing than anything else: first, the way plutocrats were tightening their grip on government policies; secondly, how the public were increasingly deflected by the media controlled by large corporations so they overlooked the key political issues of the day; and thirdly, the rapid technological development that was making data capture about every minute aspect of our lives a simple and routine task. I asked myself what it would look like if these trends were to continue unabated, and the corporate elite at the heart of all of them were able to pull them together into a strategy of dominance. The Consortium was born.<br />
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<b>In the book you describe ‘The Consortium’ a league of large corporations acting together to exercise total dominance over the UK and US, do you see big business being able to put aside concerns over their own balance sheets and stop competing with one another in order to act with solidarity for the greater consolidation of power to big business? </b><br />
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The powerful, be they medieval barons or modern corporate giants, have always zigzagged between fighting amongst themselves and joining forces to crush their common enemy. I don’t think they can stay united on a permanent basis, and the novel hints at internal problems within the Consortium as time goes on. But there will be times when they think the gain in coming together is great enough to make it worth their while to eliminate those who get in their way. The law is the only thing that has historically stood in the way of monopolies and cartels, it shouldn’t be surprising that given half a chance, big businesses will rewrite the law to enable them to grow richer and stronger without any serious competition.<br />
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<b>How closer do things like TTIPs (Transatlantic Trade and Investment Partnership) and the obsession of successive government with Public/Private partnership get us to the world of <i>Whitehall Through the Looking Glass</i>? </b><br />
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TTIP, Public-Private Finance Initiatives, corporate lobbying on an industrial scale, party donations followed by the award of billions of pounds’ worth of public contracts, board positions waiting for government Ministers when they leave office, secondment of top accountancy firms’ staff into government to advise on the drafting of tax regulations before the same staff return to their firms to advise their clients on tax avoidance – these all suggest that we are not far from the world of <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>. Large corporations have been securing an insidiously powerful influence over every major aspect of government. If you look at what billionaires such as the Koch brothers are doing in America, and how the Republican Party is becoming simply the political wing of transnational corporations, the nightmare scenario of the novel is really not far off at all.<br />
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<b>How large a role do you think there is for fiction and literary arts to get people involved in politics? </b><br />
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There is huge potential to use fiction – novels, drama, films – to get more people to take an active interest in politics. As an academic and an activist, I’m very familiar with the expectations different people have in different contexts. Some people want detailed arguments, statistics, and critical analyses. Some want rousing speeches and rallying calls. But for those who are not open to either of these approaches, we need to go back to the oldest form of human engagement – storytelling. Weave a good tale and let people see what they make of the heroes and villains. Few political writers are making use of popular fiction to reach the public; and not enough people at the forefront of literature are prepared to use their art in the cause of politics for fear of being dismissed as partisan. But hopefully, <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>, and <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> will show what dystopian novels can really do for political engagement. During the Adult Learners’ Week this summer, for example, I [worked] with WEA to run an event called ‘A Novel Exploration of Inequality’, [to] consider how sci-fi/fantasy fiction can help to raise political interest. And the Equality Trust is promoting <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> and a companion learning guide as part of their 'Young Person’s Guide to Inequality'.<br />
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***<br />
To find out more about <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> and <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>, and how to get them in your preferred format, go to: <a href="http://www.hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dystopia-of-powerful-novels.html">www.hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/dystopia-of-powerful-novels.html</a> <br />
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To read the interview with Shout Out UK in full, go to: <a href="http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/05/08/whitehall-looking-glass-novel-expose-corporate-govt/">http://www.shoutoutuk.org/2014/05/08/whitehall-looking-glass-novel-expose-corporate-govt/</a><br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-83238566828253275182018-03-30T16:38:00.000+01:002018-05-15T19:13:18.984+01:00A-Z: 26 Curiosities from Kuan's WonderlandHere is an A-Z selection of some of the allusions and references in <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> that may interest you (beware of spoilers): <br />
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• <i><b>Alice</b>’s Adventures in Wonderland</i>: There are echoes of Lewis Carroll’s Alice books throughout the novel. Wu-yin, the white cat morphing into an Alice-like girl is one such moment. A deeper homage is to be found in the closing poem – a variation of the melancholic acrostic at the end of Carroll’s <i>Through the Looking Glass</i>.<br />
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• <b>Batya</b>’s pebble: Batya, the orangutan-like outsider asks Kuan to return the emerald pebble to his son, a memento about a father-son relationship the meaning of which only becomes clear when it is no longer in Kuan’s possession.<br />
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• <b>Camus</b>, Albert (1913-1960): <i>The Rebel</i> and <i>The Plague</i> are major influences on <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>; the Clinic for Potokans is named ‘Oran’ after the city where the story of <i>The Plague</i> is set.<br />
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• <b>Dante</b>’s Vision of Hell (from <i>The Divine Comedy</i>): The 9 Circles of Challenge mirror Dante’s 9 Circles of Hell (hence the use of names such as Minos, Asterion, and Antaeus). What for the Mauveans merits the highest honour is therefore the most unforgivable.<br />
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• <b>Elephantium</b>: Comparable to any substantial energy-producing substance which has many harmful side-effects, and which enables those who have control over it to enrich themselves and dominate others.<br />
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• <b>Father</b>: The psychological motif of the novel is the transition from asking, “will father save me?” to “can I save father?”<br />
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• <b>Guantanamo</b>: A hint to the final destination is given with Kuan, and the two characters who have been steadfast in helping him get to where he will find the truth: Tan and Amo (Note: the ‘K’ in ‘Kuan’ is pronounced ‘G’ in Chinese). A former British resident, Shaker Aamer, was held at the US Guantanamo Bay facilities for over ten years before he was eventually released without ever having been charged with, let alone convicted of, any wrongdoing.<br />
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• <b>Hades</b>: hell is where the mind is imprisoned with no hope of being released.<br />
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• ‘<b>I</b>’m About To Die’: Amadeus’ most heinous retribution is to trap his victim in the inescapable moment before death, so that one is consumed by ever-lasting despair. It captures the state of mind of arbitrarily held and tortured political prisoners.<br />
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• <i><b>Journey</b> to the West</i> by Wu Cheng’en (1505-1580): this classic Chinese novel (also known as <i>The Monkey King</i>), often available in comic book versions (like the one Kuan was reading), uses the format of a fantasy adventure to tell the story of someone struggling through a long and trying journey to discover vital truths kept in an inaccessible place.<br />
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• <b>Kafka</b>, Franz (1883-1924): <i>The Trial</i> is an important influence on Kuan’s Wonderland, but it is from the title of another Kafka novel (with its theme of being inescapably thwarted) that a recurring symbol in our novel is derived – <i>The Castle</i>. Kuan’s predicament follows him on the submarine, FSS Castle; the place known as Schloss 22 (‘schloss’ - German for ‘castle’); Rook Mansion (‘rook’ is another name for ‘castle’ in chess); the city of Bastille (‘bastille’ - French for ‘castle’); and with Dr Erica Lee in jeopardy on Chengbao Island (‘chengbao’ - Chinese for ‘castle’).<br />
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• <b>Long March</b> (1934-1935): The chapter heading ‘Long March’ (referring to the difficult journey for Dr Lee and the Potokans to escape to Chengbao Island) alludes to the historical Long March when the Communists in China, being hunted down by their enemy, escaped on foot over some 12,500 kilometers (8,000 miles) over 370 days. Around 7,000 of the 100,000 soldiers who began the march made it to the end. <br />
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• <b>Moon</b>: a recurring motif about painful separations. The poem by Su Shi (1037-1011), referred to by Dao in the novel, contains this final stanza, <br />
“人有悲歡離合,<br />
月有陰晴圓缺,<br />
此事古難全。<br />
但願人長久,<br />
千里共嬋娟” <br />
“People may be joyful or sad, together or kept apart,<br />
The moon may be bright or dim, full or hidden from view,<br />
This unavoidably is how it has always been.<br />
Let us hope we endure,<br />
And though far from each other, we can in unison admire the lunar beauty.”<br />
<br />
• <b>New</b> Beginning: The prophecy of Amadeus demands for its own fulfilment the cleansing of all impure elements in Shiyan so that an imagined past can commence again. It is a staple of religious and ideological charlatans.<br />
<br />
• <b>Orwell</b>, George (1903-1950): <i>Animal Farm</i> as a political fable in part inspires <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i>, but it is <i>1984</i> which is most strongly echoed. Can you spot where ‘1984’ is displayed in the novel?<br />
<br />
• <b>Peterloo</b> Massacre: when Dao mentions the name of his uncle, ‘Peter Lu’, to Kuan, the latter is reminded of the Peterloo Massacre, a historical incident that took place at St Peter's Field, Manchester, on 16 August 1819, when cavalry charged into a crowd estimated to be around 60,000–80,000 that had gathered to demand the reform of parliamentary representation (15 civilians were killed and 500-600 were injured).<br />
<br />
• <b>Quantum</b> Level Nebula: Amo’s home turns out not to be in some far off nebula, but in a tiny space far closer than Kuan could have expected.<br />
<br />
• <b>Reflectors</b>: This ubiquitous technology, embedded in every reflective surface in Shiyan to transmit and receive all forms of signal, is a reminder of how communications are widely monitored and manipulated in contemporary society. <br />
<br />
• <b>Shiyan</b>: The name of our dystopian world means ‘experiment’ in Chinese. At one level it represents the plutocratic experiment initiated by Dao (serving as a warning to countries such as China which in embracing it, risks creating oppressive divisions). At a deeper level, it is an experiment for Kuan to see if turning his back on the world he has left behind is a feasible way to cope with the tragedy in his life.<br />
<br />
• <b>Typewriter</b>: The typewriter motif points to the reason why an innocent person is wrongfully imprisoned in the story. It is said that the pen is mightier than the sword, and a downside of that is that anyone typing out unwelcome words can end up being locked up without charge for years.<br />
<br />
• “<b>Underground</b> spirits and their reflected sound”: This phrase comes from Terry Pratchett’s word play on ‘economics’ in <i>The Colour of Magic</i> (1983). In our novel, Kuan asked if it was true that such spirits were responsible for bringing Potokans into the world. In fact, it is precisely the economic system that is the cause.<br />
<br />
• <b>Vortex</b> of Charybdis: The vortex signifies the danger of death by drowning, and is part of the series of incidents throughout the novel which eventually led Kuan to the realisation of what the eerie splashing sound he heard was about.<br />
<br />
• <b>Wuchang</b> Tearoom: The Tearoom where Kuan met up with Agent Tan to talk about the “mission” gets its name from the Wuchang Uprising of 1911, which heralded the Xinhai Revolution to end the Qing Dynasty and replace it by the Republic of China.<br />
<br />
• <b>Xian</b>: The character of Chief Engineer Xian (the one with the leopard head atop her human body) shows how dedication to a patriotic or environmental cause can be manipulated into serving the opposite if one does not question what one is being asked to do by those in more powerful positions.<br />
<br />
• <b>Yearning</b>: Kuan’s and Amo’s yearning to regain the life they have lost provides the emotional engine for our story, propelling us to the shock revelation of what has in truth been lost.<br />
<br />
• <b>Zamenhof</b> particles: The name given to the particles, which supposedly enable diverse beings to communicate with each other in Shiyan, is derived from Ludwig Lazarus Zamenhof (1859-1917), the inventor of Esperanto (the international language).Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-29724630166714066942018-03-01T11:13:00.000+00:002018-05-15T19:14:20.977+01:0020 Dystopian Classics: how many have you read?Dystopian literature emerged in the 20th century. When the optimism for progress in the late 1800s was confronted by a series of unprecedented disasters in the early 1900s, a new genre was born to highlight possible futures and warn against the dangers of misrule.<br />
<br />
To look back on the dystopian classics is to revisit the major forms of dysfunctional society, many of which still pose a threat to us today.<br />
<br />
Here’s a chronological list of 20 dystopian classics of the 20th century:<br />
<br />
'The Iron Heel' (1908) by Jack London.<br />
A group of powerful business people take it upon themselves to get rid of all protection for workers and systematically eliminate anyone who dares stand up against their exploitative regime.<br />
<br />
‘The Sleeper Awakes’ (1910) by H. G. Wells.<br />
A man awakes in the distant future to discover that an oppressive regime is now in power, yet when that is overthrown, the new leader betrays the people by imposing ruthless controls over them, provoking a new rebellion.<br />
<br />
‘We” (1924) by Yevgeny Zamyatin.<br />
A ruling clique seeks to retain absolute power by imposing mass surveillance and stripping people of their sense of individuality. But some people begin to discover there is an alternative beyond their confines.<br />
<br />
‘Brave New World’ (1932) by Aldous Huxley.<br />
A hierarchical social system is sustained by dividing all new born into classes with distinct capability, diffusing all potential frustration with a ready supply of pleasure-inducing substance, and promoting a culture of unquestioning contentment.<br />
<br />
‘It Can’t Happen Here’ (1935) by Sinclair Lewis.<br />
A politician with the public persona of an affable man-of-the-people gets himself elected as the President, and proceeds to use his power to crush all opposition, while amassing more wealth and power for himself and his cronies.<br />
<br />
‘Swastika Night’ (1937) by Katherine Burdekin (writing as Murray Constantine).<br />
The Nazis have won the Second World War and established an enduring regime that exploits non-Germans, marginalises non-Nazis, and dehumanises women. History has been completely rewritten but one man has a true record of the past.<br />
<br />
‘Animal Farm’ (1945) by George Orwell.<br />
An allegorical tale wherein the rebel leaders promise equality for all until they have seized power, after which they deviously widen inequality and deepen exploitation until they are no different from those they overthrew.<br />
<br />
‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (1949) by George Orwell.<br />
A regime that turns deception into a round-the-clock strategy, feeds the masses with jingoistic stories, monitors the behaviour of the people, and inflicts psychological torture on anyone suspected of dissent.<br />
<br />
‘The Day of the Triffids’ (1951) by John Wyndham.<br />
Disorder spreads when the unforeseen consequences of genetically modified plants, combined with the loss of vision amongst most people, leave individuals exposed to harm until a new democratic sanctuary begins to be developed.<br />
<br />
‘Fahrenheit 451’ (1953) by Ray Bradbury.<br />
Society is rendered ignorant by the burning of all books, and control of the masses is reinforced by entertainment that ranges from mind-numbing TV drama and reality shows that focus on the hunting down of those designated public enemies.<br />
<br />
‘The Chrysalids’ (1955) by John Wyndham.<br />
Following a devastating nuclear war, a regime rises to impose its own religious orthodoxy on the survivors and eliminate any ‘deviants’ not conforming to the prescribed normality.<br />
<br />
‘A Canticle for Leibowitz’ (1960) by Walter Miller.<br />
A monastic order preserves fragmentary learning after deadly weapons have wiped out most of humankind, not realising that the fragments contain information that will one day be used by irresponsible rulers to develop and deploy similar weapons.<br />
<br />
‘Cat’s Cradle’ (1963) by Kurt Vonnegut.<br />
An ailing ruler controls his people with a mixture of physical threats and the secret promotion of quasi-religious doctrines that will breed a sense of contentment. A substance that can destroy the world then falls into the hands of this ruler.<br />
<br />
‘Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?’ (1968) by Philip K. Dick.<br />
Android slaves are made to do all the dirty work and subject to arbitrarily shortened lifespan. When they question if there should be alternative arrangements for their existence, they are hunted down one by one.<br />
<br />
‘The Lathe of Heaven’ (1971) by Ursula Le Guin.<br />
A doctor discovers his patient can alter realities through his dreams, and seeks to change things better for the world and himself. But each attempt to bring about a new utopia is ruined by overlooked details or unforeseen twists.<br />
<br />
‘The Running Man’ (1982) by Stephen King (writing as Richard Bachman).<br />
In a society structured purely for the profit of rich corporations, a destitute man is forced to go on a reality TV show where he will get money to pay for his sick wife’s treatment, if he survives being hunted down by professional killers.<br />
<br />
‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ (1985) by Margaret Atwood.<br />
An oppressive regime uses force to quash dissent and deploys religion to reduce women to the roles of wives, child-bearers and servants. A resistance movement emerges but it is hard to tell who fights for it and who is a government agent.<br />
<br />
‘The Children of Men’ (1992) by P. D. James.<br />
As for some unknown reason, children can no longer be conceived, the government takes on absolute power to determine whose lives are to be curtailed, and what to do about the dwindling labour supply and the end of the human race.<br />
<br />
‘Parable of the Sower’ (1993) by Octavia E. Butler.<br />
With the extreme rich living in their own protected domain, everyone else descends into abject poverty, with many becoming vulnerable to being robbed and killed by others. A young woman hopes to escape and build a new, fairer community.<br />
<br />
‘The Ice People’ (1998) by Maggie Lee.<br />
In a bleak future where, in the midst of the returning ice age, men and women are divided into antagonistic camps, food is scarce, robotic pets are turned into killing machines, lawlessness threatens to destroy everyone.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-641803592425081902018-01-24T17:03:00.000+00:002018-01-24T17:06:37.220+00:00Novel Explorations of Political DeceptionHenry Tam’s Anti-Con novels – 'Kuan's Wonderland'; 'Whitehall through the Looking Glass'; and 'The Hunting of the Gods' – explore how tricksters and ideologues can con people into submitting to their callous rule, and why we must make the case for a better future. Each has its own distinct setting. While some of the characters appear in one or more of the novels, the stories are largely self-contained. <br />
<br />
Tam’s fiction has been praised in diverse quarters: “An unmissable page-turner” (President, the Independent Publishers Guild); “Simply a tour de force” (Director for Education, WEA); “Original and very engaging” (Fantasy Book Review); “The ending is tense, unexpected and powerful” (Economics Editor, The Independent newspaper); “A sharp satirical look at life inside the corridors of power” (Chief Executive, Civil Service College); “Beautifully, deftly written” (Dame Jane Roberts, NLGN); “An important reminder of the risks of crude neoliberal ideology” (General Secretary, TUC); "It's a cautionary tale and a call to action, but also a gripping read" (Director, Speakers’ Corner Trust).<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> </b><br />
In this allegorical story, a young boy, Kuan, is taken against his will to the mysterious realm of Shiyan, where nothing is as it appears. He hopes his reclusive father will come to his rescue, not suspecting that both father and son may be the target of a dark conspiracy. In his attempt to escape from Shiyan, where the lower order routinely pledge to give more of their time to do the bidding of the ruling elite, Kuan encounters a host of enigmatic characters, from the unseen Curator to Dr Erica Lee, to whom the motherless boy develops a deep attachment. In the end he has to face up to a painful secret from his past and make the ultimate sacrifice to save his own world from annihilation.<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i></b><br />
This satirical tale begins with a group of powerful corporations known as the Consortium, working in cahoots with multi-billionaire monarch, George VIII, coming to rule over both Britain and the US. In this timid new world, civil servants jostle to be of the greatest service to their new political masters, except for Philip K. Rainsborough when he learns of the Consortium’s real agenda. Alas, the Consortium has on its side the Super Utility Network, the most advanced opinion manipulation technology in the world. Rainsborough gets a chance to bring down the government when Chief Supt Carrie Edel asks for his help in charging the Prime Minister with murder. But who can he really trust?<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>The Hunting of the Gods</i></b><br />
The technologically advanced inhabitants of Earth accept beyond all doubt that life on the planet was created by the gods 500 years ago. In that time, all racial differences have merged into homogeneity; gender discrimination has vanished; the poor die young; and the elite prosper and live very long indeed. There is nothing beyond the grasp of the gods except how to make peace with each other. From the beginning, the two immortal rivals have divided the world into interminably warring realms. But during the latest conflict, rumours start to circulate that the reign of the gods must be terminated. Amidst the revolutionary intrigues stands a recently resurrected man whose past has long been forgotten by everyone. Rebels turn to him for help, but his second coming may soon be over.<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Gods-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B01FKF212O/">The Hunting of the Gods</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>The Author</b><br />
In addition to his novels, Henry Tam has had many books and articles published on social and political issues. These include <i>Time to Save Democracy</i>; <i>Communitarianism</i>, which was nominated by New York University Press for the 2000 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order; and a global history of the progressive struggle, <i>Against Power Inequalities</i>, which has been acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. He has also been a senior adviser in the UK Government; lecturer at Cambridge University; Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London; and a speaker at key events on democracy and governance around the world from Washington and Warsaw to Oxford and Strasbourg.<br />
(Learn more at: <a href="http://hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/">Henry Tam: Words & Politics</a>) <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-73493719032139775852018-01-01T17:50:00.000+00:002018-01-24T17:07:55.650+00:00The Politics of Control: Huxley, Orwell, or Burdekin?Talk about writers of dystopian novels, and the two names that come up most will be those of Huxley and Orwell. And there’s the perennial debate about which out of ‘Brave New World’ (1932) and ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (1949) gives the more prescient warning.<br />
<br />
Over decades much has been made of the contrast between the Huxleyan vision of control through artificially induced contentment, and the Orwellian nightmare of control through fear and surveillance. <br />
<br />
In ‘Brave New World’, a stratified society ensures the lower classes are systematically disadvantaged and kept from rejecting their station in life by a false consciousness generated by a supply of cheap pleasures. It is so inescapable that the rebel in the story gives up all hope of defying it and commits suicide. In ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, a rigid hierarchy diverts the masses with sensationalist media stories and jingoistic propaganda, while intrusive surveillance and psychological torture combine to crush the spirit of the would-be insurgent.<br />
<br />
However, one key aspect of the politics of control that neither Huxley nor Orwell dealt with is that which was the subject of the novel, ‘Swastika Night’ (1937) by their contemporary, Katherine Burdekin (who wrote under the name of ‘Murray Constantine’). In her novel, Burdekin depicted a world in which the Nazi Party not only won the Second World War but went on to keep control of its oppressive empire for centuries by means of a dehumanising hierarchy. Under this system, gender and ethnic differences are turned into markers for separating the privileged upper class Germanic males from non-Aryan males, who were treated with disdain; and women, who were deprived of all respect and used to breed labourers for the working class, and heirs for the elite.<br />
<br />
Instead of crowning Huxley’s or Orwell’s as the definitive vision of dystopian politics, we should consider them alongside Burdekin’s. The three together provide a more comprehensive and accurate picture of how the nightmare of oppressive control may come about. All three set out a callously demarcated system wherein the few at the top can do as they wish, and the lower down you go, the more you have to do as you are told – no question asked.<br />
<br />
But each of the novels elaborates on a different approach the powerful uses to maintain their hegemony over others. Huxley highlights how superficial pleasures can divert rebellious impulses into mindless indulgence. Orwell draws out the systematic deployment of fear as a weapon to eradicate dissent. Burdekin shows us how a myth of superiority/inferiority can be inflated by stoking latent prejudices until it becomes a key lever to deepen submission.<br />
<br />
Oppressive regimes that endanger society will not exclusively take just one of these dystopian forms. They will almost certainly combine elements from all three. Fundamentalism has nothing to do with whether someone is wearing a keffiyeh or a suit. Just look out for those espousing such views: preserve privileges for the lucky few and deny them to the majority; deregulate the market for cheap pleasures irrespective of the consequences; expand mass surveillance without any corresponding increase in public accountability; prolong detention without trial; bring in ever harsher punishment; demonise ethnic minorities; deprive women of equal respect and control. They are the ones we must guard against.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-43271854484005665542017-10-11T14:02:00.000+01:002018-01-24T17:08:29.303+00:00The Levellers' ConnectionThe Levellers' quest for democratic inclusion and social justice is a theme that pervades my novels.<br />
<br />
In the beginning, the predicament of the central character in 'Kuan's Wonderland', echoes that of Kafka's familiar protagonist, K, who cannot escape from an existential trap that brings total oppression. As we learn later, Kuan is also known as K. And as a hint, 'K' is the letter between 'J' and 'L' - the initials for 'John Lilburne'.<br />
<br />
In the second novel, 'Whitehall through the Looking Glass', we learn more about K, whose full name is Philip K. Rainsborough. Like Colonel Rainsborough at the famous Putney Debate, he refuses to accept an unjust system imposed by a dictatorial ruler, and chooses to side with those who are willing to challenge it.<br />
<br />
In 'The Hunting of the Gods', we are reacquainted with the character who has now adopted the name 'Overton' to protect his identity. Richard Overton wrote many pamphlets to advance the Levellers' cause, one of which carried the title, 'The Hunting of the Foxes', which attacked Cromwell. He was no friend of the Royalists either, and wanted to see true democracy established.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-3383040224097865262017-09-02T14:19:00.000+01:002018-01-24T17:10:45.477+00:00Synetopia Quest: looking for a different world?From H. G. Wells to Margaret Atwood, writers have reimagined our world to depict more vividly the threats facing society and impress upon us the need for radical alternatives. The Anti-Con series of novels take this to a new level with their distinctive blend of offbeat characters, poignant plot-twists, and unmasking of ideological humbug. <br />
<br />
Henry Tam’s fiction has been praised in diverse quarters: “An unmissable page-turner” (President, the Independent Publishers Guild); “Simply a tour de force” (Director for Education, WEA); “Original and very engaging” (Fantasy Book Review); “The ending is tense, unexpected and powerful” (Economics Editor, The Independent newspaper); “A sharp satirical look at life inside the corridors of power” (Chief Executive, Civil Service College); “Beautifully, deftly written” (Dame Jane Roberts); “An important reminder of the risks of crude neoliberal ideology” (General Secretary, TUC); "It's a cautionary tale and a call to action, but also a gripping read" (Director, Speakers’ Corner Trust).<br />
<br />
The three novels – 'Kuan's Wonderland'; 'Whitehall through the Looking Glass'; 'The Hunting of the Gods' – share a thematic concern with why we need to steer our way to a different future. Each is set in its own curiously unique world, with a largely self-contained story. Some of the characters appear in one or more of the novels, and their relationships are developed over the series.<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> </b><br />
In this allegorical tale, a young boy, Kuan, is taken against his will to the mysterious realm of Shiyan, where nothing is as it appears. He hopes his reclusive father will come to his rescue, not suspecting that both father and son may be the target of a dark conspiracy. In his attempt to escape from Shiyan, where the lower order routinely pledge to give more of their time to do the bidding of the ruling elite, Kuan encounters a host of enigmatic characters, from the unseen Curator to Dr Erica Lee, to whom the motherless boy develops a deep attachment. In the end he has to face up to a painful secret from his past and make the ultimate sacrifice to save his own world from annihilation.<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i></b><br />
This is the story of how a group of powerful corporations known as the Consortium, working in cahoots with multi-billionaire monarch, George VIII, come to rule over both Britain and the US. In this timid new world, civil servants jostle to be of the greatest service to their new political masters, except for Philip K. Rainsborough when he learns of the Consortium’s real agenda. Alas, the Consortium has on its side the Super Utility Network, the most advanced opinion manipulation technology in the world. Rainsborough gets a chance to bring down the government when Chief Supt Carrie Edel asks for his help in charging the Prime Minister with murder. But who can he really trust?<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>• <i>The Hunting of the Gods</i></b><br />
The technologically advanced inhabitants of Earth accept beyond all doubt that life on the planet was created by the gods 500 years ago. In that time, all racial differences have merged into homogeneity; gender discrimination has vanished; the poor die young; and the elite prosper and live very long indeed. There is nothing beyond the grasp of the gods except how to make peace with each other. From the beginning, the two immortal rivals have divided the world into interminably warring realms. But during the latest conflict, rumours start to circulate that the reign of the gods must be terminated. Amidst the revolutionary intrigues stands a recently resurrected man whose past has long been forgotten by everyone. Rebels turn to him for help, and he shares with them the secret of the Synetopia Quest. But his second coming may soon be over.<br />
(Find out more about: <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/Hunting-Gods-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B01FKF212O/">The Hunting of the Gods</a>)<br />
<br />
<b>The Author</b><br />
In addition to his novels, Henry Tam has had many books and articles published on social and political issues. These include <i>Time to Save Democracy</i>; <i>Communitarianism</i>, which was nominated by New York University Press for the 2000 Grawemeyer Award for Ideas Improving World Order; and a global history of the progressive struggle, <i>Against Power Inequalities</i>, has been acclaimed on both sides of the Atlantic. He has also been a senior adviser in the UK Government; lecturer at Cambridge University; Visiting Professor at Birkbeck, University of London; and a speaker at key events on democracy and governance around the world from Washington and Warsaw to Oxford and Strasbourg.<br />
(Learn more at: <a href="http://hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/">Henry Tam: Words & Politics</a>) <br />
<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-70118515120239612322015-12-24T15:28:00.000+00:002015-12-24T15:28:01.470+00:00Dystopian Writings by Henry TamLong before ‘dystopia’ became shorthand for any kind of terrifying event set in the future, it denoted a specific genre of political fiction. Around the first half of the 20th century, Wells, London, Zamyatin, Čapek, Huxley, Burdekin, and Orwell wrote novels that presented societies that had degenerated into an appalling state because of their flawed governance. They wanted to draw attention to the grievous socio-economic trends that would concentrate too much power in a few individuals or an elite group, who could then exert total control over everyone else. With two world wars and an extended period of global economic collapse in between, it was not surprising that writers with first hand experience of the fallout from unrestrained capitalism and the rise of totalitarianism should want to focus attention on these dangers and help prevent their recurrence. <br />
<br />
In the first half the 21st century, extremist cravings for repressive controls and the spread of crony capitalism have plunged the world into pervasive insecurity. Financial crises, climate change threats, countless caught up in wars, scapegoats routinely persecuted – all stemming from a powerful few steam-rolling their agenda forward. Henry Tam’s ‘Synetopia Quest’ series follows the core dystopian tradition in holding up a mirror to contemporary political failings, and drawing out the unsavoury development that can only be reversed through an inclusive redistribution of power. Each novel in the series tells a distinct story in its own unique setting, while a central character appears in all of them in different guises as the quest to end oppression unfolds.<br />
<br />
• <b><i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i></b> <br />
An allegorical tale about a young boy taken against his will to the mysterious realm of Shiyan, where nothing is as it appears. His efforts to find a way home to his father is repeatedly thwarted. But just when he is about to resign to accepting what this strange world has to offer him, he discovers what that could mean for his father and their homeland. So alongside the curious characters who have come to his aid, he seeks to unmask and bring down the insidious oppressors. <br />
<br />
- “An unmissable page-turner” (President, the Independent Publishers Guild).<br />
- “Simply a tour de force … full of plot surprises and layers of deeper meaning” (Ann Walker, Director for Education, WEA)<br />
- “Original and very engaging” (Fantasy Book Review)<br />
- “A great book to open debate and enquiry with young people on society and politics.” (Chief Executive, Young Advisors)<br />
- “I can't remember the last time I was so gripped by a book … It's by turns funny, moving and frightening.” (A. J. Marks, Amazon Review)<br />
- “The ending is tense, unexpected and powerful.” (Ben Chu, The Independent newspaper)<br />
<br />
<i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> is the recommended novel of the Equality Trust in their resource guide for promoting understanding of the problem of inequality. <br />
(Find out more about <a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/kuans-wonderland-quick-guide.html"><i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i></a> or order it <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">here</a>).<br />
<br />
• <b><i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i></b><br />
A satirical novel about how a group of powerful corporations known as the Consortium, working in cahoots with multi-billionaire monarch, George VIII, come to control those governing both Britain and the US. By using the monitoring and manipulation technology of the Super Utility Network, the Consortium expands its power until there is no one left who can stand in its way. Or so it appears, until a defiant civil servant and a secret resistance movement threaten to bring its reign to an end. <br />
<br />
- “[A] timely reminder of the dangers of the rapidly-accelerating corporatisation of our political and economic life.” (Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, TUC); <br />
- “Beautifully, deftly written, [it] is dark and compelling reading.” (Dame Jane Roberts, Chair, NLGN)<br />
- “We need Tam's absurdist vision of Whitehall to help wake us all up” (Simon Duffy, Director, Centre for Welfare Reform); <br />
- “One of those rare novels that has the power to change the way you think” (Caroline Anslow, Amazon Review)<br />
- “It should be read by anyone interested in the state of our democracy” (Sonny Leong, Chief Executive, Civil Service College).<br />
- “It kept me hooked to the very end.” (Baroness Kay Andrews, ex-Government Minister). <br />
<br />
<i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> has been selected by WEA (Workers’ Educational Association) reading circles to facilitate discussions of current political issues.<br />
(Find out more about <a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/whitehall-through-looking-glass-quick.html"><i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i></a> or order it <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">here</a>.<br />
<br />
• <b><i>The Hunting of the Gods</i></b><br />
A saga about the conflicts on Earth as it enters the sixth century of its Present Era. Its technologically advanced inhabitants have established beyond all reasonable doubt that life on the planet was created by the gods no more than 500 years ago. From the beginning, the two dominant immortal rulers have fought each other for ultimate supremacy. Now their hold on power is threatened by revolutionaries with their own contrasting agendas. But none of the rebels knows what they are truly up against until a resurrected man brings forward a revelation about the past that will transform their future.<br />
<br />
(<i>The Hunting of the Gods</i> is scheduled for publication in the summer of 2016)<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-761217503287655172015-11-20T11:29:00.000+00:002015-11-20T11:29:00.614+00:00Dystopian Origins: how did we get here?After Thomas More wrote ‘Utopia’ in the early 16th century, Europe was rapidly transformed, first by the major scientific breakthroughs in the 17th century, then by the political revolutions that shook the 18th. By the 19th century, there was widespread belief in the prospect of progress towards a world that could be perfected through science and democracy. Utopian writings proliferated about how such perfection could be achieved.<br />
<br />
The outlook spread to the rest of the world as well, and in China, the reformists indeed referred to ‘Science’ and ‘Democracy’ as the twin teachers that would bring their country to a more enlightened and successful future. Kang Yu-Wei wrote his utopian masterpiece, ‘The Book of Great Unity’, setting out how universal harmony and cooperation could be secured.<br />
<br />
But something around the end of the 19th and beginning of the 20th century brought dark clouds to the horizon. Instead of mapping out more utopias, minds turned to the new genre of dystopia – writings that would focus on how dangerous trends, if unchecked, could ruin society in the worst possible terms.<br />
<br />
Looking back on history, it’s not difficult to see what transformed the world’s zeitgeist. Industrialisation had led to an ever widening the gap between owners of capital and ordinary workers, produced vast pollution, and accelerated urbanisation that created overcrowding and public health hazards. The lopsided economic system, exacerbated by public policies that favoured the superrich even more at the expense of the poor and vulnerable, led to the Great Depression. Unemployment and marginalisation fuelled extremism, which paved the way for gross atrocities perpetrated by the Nazi, Italian Fascist, Japanese militarist, and Stalinist regimes. The tragedy of one world war erupting was repeated within merely two decades with a second world war causing even greater devastation. That was to end only with the use of nuclear weapons that demonstrated grotesquely their potential to wipe out humankind.<br />
<br />
Within a single generation, writers such as H. G. Wells (1866-1946); Aldous Huxley (1894-1963); George Orwell (1903-1950); and John Wyndham (1903-1969); had produced dystopian masterpieces that depicted the threats posed by unregulated capitalism, totalitarianism, religious deception, the stoking of prejudice, unaccountable technological and military development, mass surveillance, and the widening gap between the powerful and ordinary people.<br />
<br />
Science and democracy still provided invaluable support to improving human existence, but the focus had shifted to the dangers that might get in the way. Utopias might be built in the future, but today dystopian trends must be detected and halted fast if there is to be a future of free and constructive development.<br />
<br />
In the 1950s and 1960s, steps were taken in the western world to constrain corporate excesses, erect a welfare safety net for all, tackle prejudices and discrimination, and reduce global conflicts through the European Community and the United Nations. But from the 1980s on, all these achievements have been rolled back by the champions of military jingoism, economic inequalities, and traditional prejudices. <br />
<br />
It is not surprising that dystopian literature and drama are once again prominent in contemporary culture. The threats they seek to counter are sadly multiplying around us once again.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-18998451947686318472015-08-23T19:06:00.001+01:002015-08-23T19:06:24.612+01:00Triffids, High-Rise, & Lord of the FliesDystopian literature is often regarded as being preoccupied with an overbearing authority imposing unreasonable rules on people. While that is a central theme in novels such as ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, ‘Fahrenheit 451’, and ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’, that is only one aspect of dysfunctional governance to be exposed. Another, equally important, warning concerns the total breakdown of governance.<br />
<br />
Let us take three novels that may serve as an antidote for anyone who thinks the best way to keep oppressive governments at bay is to do away with government altogether. Anarchists, libertarians, anti-government militias, have for their different reasons considered the disappearance of government controls as inherently preferable. But however appealing a utopia of diverse individuals living happily with no enforceable rule to bind them may seem, the actual consequences may be highly disturbing.<br />
<br />
In John Wyndham’s ‘The Day of The Triffids’ (1951), an unforeseeable natural disaster combined with an unfortunate accident of genetic plant engineering had left the vast majority of people blind while flesh-eating plants stalked and killed sightless people wandering around in a confused state. The pervasive blindness and deadly triffids are Wyndham’s symbols of forces that could rip society apart and render every individual vulnerable at all times. No heroic person could single-handedly save the day. Instead Wydham skilfully showed that amidst the chaos, there would be gangs out to rob others, fools who would risk their own and others’ lives pointlessly, and even militaristic groups imposing “neo-feudal” order on the defenceless. The only hope came with the beginning of a new democratic community rebuilding itself over at the Isle of Wight with fair rules and effective enforcement to protect their members.<br />
<br />
In William Golding’s ‘Lord of the Flies’ (1954), there was no inexplicable ailment or mutated predators, but what was at first sight an idyllic island on which a group of school children had been marooned, quickly became a terrifying battleground. In the beginning, when the residual sense of respect for law and order still held sway, Ralph was able to organise activities to some extent for their common good. Yet when the infrastructure for ensuring compliance vanished totally, the unreasonable and the uncaring had no compunction about trampling over others. Thus Jack took advantage of the anarchic state to wreak havoc. Two boys were killed, and the island was left to burn. The survivors were finally rescued by the arrival of the naval officer who would connect them back to a world governed by the rule of law.<br />
<br />
Without the successful attempt to re-introduce democratic governance, chaos would just keep proliferating. This was most dramatically illustrated by J. G. Ballard’s ‘High-Rise’ (1975). From Wydham’s world, through Golding’s island, we’re now down to Ballard’s block of high-rise in London. The people who lived in this residential building were not under any external threats, but they were fuelled by internal tensions that were symbolic of wider social class differences – the superrich looking down from the top floors, the frowned-upon stuck on the lower floors, and the middle sections feeling squeezed by the others. Ballard depicted how negative emotions, left unchecked by any objective system of governance, would boil over to the point that the people caught up in them would rather push the rule of law away (as when some of the residents deliberately kept the police away by pretending everything was find in the high-rise) than to end their escalating feuds.<br />
<br />
These three dystopian novels make a powerful case in telling us that dystopian failure of governance may not just take the form of an all-controlling authoritarian state, but it can also come from the state being pushed aside, leaving the irrational and aggressive to ruin everyone’s lives. The threat of oppressive governance must be tackled by replacing it by <a href="http://hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/2015/06/communitarian-governance-9-point-guide.html">good governance</a>, and not by the elimination of governance itself.<br />
<br />
--<br />
‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a>’: a satirical dystopian novel about a Consortium that comes to take charge of both Britain and America. <br />
‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a>’: an allegorical dystopian novel about how wealth and dogmas rule in the surreal world of Shiyan.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-56741454543123437212015-08-10T15:03:00.000+01:002015-12-25T14:54:29.696+00:00Kuan’s Wonderland: a quick guideA young boy, raised by his solitary father, is captured and taken to Shiyan, a bizarre world where shape-shifting beings can morph into superior forms if they meet the challenges set by their masters. He is pressed by torturers to reveal a secret he is not aware he possesses. He finds himself cornered by Potokans, creatures despised and feared in equal measure. And he almost loses his life when he succumbs to temptation to take the Blessing dispensed by the mysterious Curator.<br />
<br />
Exhausted by his failed attempts to escape, Kuan’s hope is revived by Amo, a being who only ever manifests herself as a small flame. She promises to help him reunite with his father. As they look for a way out, the boy is offered a chance to attain the highest form in Shiyan if he does the bidding of the most powerful figure in the realm. But as he gradually discovers what that involves, he begins to have second thoughts. At the same time, he starts to remember a dark secret connected with his father.<br />
<br />
In the end, Kuan has to decide what to do when Shiyan splits into warring factions, knowing that what father would have wanted him to do requires him to make the ultimate sacrifice.<br />
<br />
<i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> has been widely acclaimed for its pace, imagination, and layers of political meaning: <br />
• “Dark, twisted, sardonic, … [it is] an unmissable page-turner. Henry Tam has created a fantasy universe unlike any that has come before.” (President, the Independent Publishers Guild)<br />
• “Simply a tour de force. It is … full of plot surprises and layers of deeper meaning.” (Ann Walker, Director for Education, WEA [Workers’ Educational Association])<br />
• “It is vital that young people understand the problems of power inequality if we are to bring about change and <i>Kuan's Wonderland</i> offers a unique, imaginative, way of introducing them to the issue. We highly recommend it!" (Julie Thorpe, Head of School & Youth Programmes, the Co-operative College)<br />
• “The fast-moving adventure in a new world, which sparkles with visually captivating creatures and imaginative technology, has already begun by the first line. … [The ending is] astonishing.” (Fantasy Book Review)<br />
• “… a mesmerizing novel. It makes the imagination spring to life with amazing visions of strange beings and places.” (Nicolette Burford, Director, Documentary Film-Makers Cooperative)<br />
• “A great book to open debate and enquiry with young people on society and politics.” (Gary Buxton, Chief Executive, Young Advisors)<br />
• “An innovative and valuable way of engaging young people to explore issues surrounding equality and democracy in a way which speaks to them.” (Rachel Roberts, Director, Phoenix Education Trust)<br />
• “… fast-paced while containing beautifully written and memorable passages. And the ending is tense, unexpected and powerful.” (Ben Chu, Economics Editor, The Independent newspaper)<br />
<br />
You can get:<br />
The E-book version from: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Amazon UK</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Kuans-Wonderland-Henry-Tam-ebook/dp/B008144G9I">Amazon US</a> <br />
The Paperback version from: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/kuans-wonderland-henry-tam/1117511602">Barnes & Noble</a> or <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4062249">CreateSpace</a><br />
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When The Equality Trust launched the ‘Young Person’s Guide to Inequality’ in 2013, it selected <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> as <i><a href="https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/read">the novel to recommend</a></i> to raise interest in the problem of inequality.<br />
<br />
According to Kate Pickett (Director, Equality Trust; & co-author of The Spirit Level):<br />
“ <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> is a didactic novel that doesn’t hesitate to entertain the reader. It shows that political theorists can engage a wider public with an imaginative medium such as popular fiction without losing intellectual force. The Equality Trust welcomes this opportunity to work with Henry Tam with the publication of the learning resource for his novel as part of our Young Person’s Guide to Inequality.”<br />
<br />
The supplementary learning resource setting out the key themes and discussion points of the novel, can be downloaded for free from the Equality Trust (beware of spoilers): <a href="https://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/sites/default/files/Kuan%27s%20Wonderland%20Resource%20guide.pdf">‘A Novel Exploration of Inequality'</a>. <br />
--<br />
For a selection of readers’ comments on Amazon Review, click <i><a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/readers-feedback-kuans-wonderland.html">here</a></i>. <br />
<br />
For the article ‘When Plato Met Potter’ (published on Bookbrunch), click <i><a href="http://www.bookbrunch.co.uk/article_free.asp?pid=when_plato_met_potter">here</a></i>. <br />
<br />
For ‘Political Engagement of the Surreal Kind’ (excerpts from an interview with Henry Tam in ‘Shout Out’), click <i><a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/political-engagement-of-surreal-kind.html">here</a></i>. <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-10876574679660333802015-08-03T16:18:00.000+01:002015-12-26T14:34:32.648+00:00Whitehall through the Looking Glass: a quick guideIn the not-too-distant future, the Consortium has brought America, which it practically owns through its corporate subsidiaries, back under the British Crown. In return, all it asks for is unfettered control over policy decisions in Whitehall. <br />
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In this timid new world, nobody dares question the Consortium, and everybody is expected to carry out orders. But while many of his civil service colleagues jostle to be of the greatest service to their new political masters, Philip K. Rainsborough decides that enough is enough. He sets out to expose the Consortium’s dark secrets. Unfortunately, the Consortium has on its side the Super Utility Network, the most advanced opinion manipulation technology in the world. And as life for most people sinks into chaos and misery, the Consortium remains as popular as ever by serving up gimmicks and endless scapegoats. <br />
<br />
Caught between the Consortium and subversives who want to overthrow the government, Rainsborough is desperate to find a way for a peaceful regime change. He is given a chance when Chief Supt Carrie Edel seeks his help in a murder case that may bring down the Prime Minister. But what is actually asked of him amounts to treason. In any event, even if he can pull it off, he suspects he won’t live to tell the tale.<br />
<br />
You can get:<br />
The E-book version from: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Amazon UK</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Amazon US</a><br />
The Paperback version from: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whitehall-through-the-looking-glass-henry-tam/1118953239">Barnes & Noble</a> or <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4709766">CreateSpace</a><br />
<br />
<b>What do commentators say about it</b><br />
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“Forget ‘Yes, Minister’ and ‘The Thick of It’; if you want a sharp satirical look at life inside the corridors of power, read <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>, written by a true insider. Apart from the humour and a storyline full of remarkable twists, Tam’s novel also has a serious message about the dire consequences when corporations take over the running of a government. It should be read by anyone interested in the state of our democracy.”<br />
- Sonny Leong, Chief Executive, Civil Service College<br />
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"Tam strips back the veil on a world dominated and decimated by a ruthless consortium. But, chillingly, its relentless pursuit of profit and power is legitimised by a hollowed-out democracy in which citizens, manipulated by the technologies of surveillance and suggestion, submit meekly to their thralldom. The narrative is all the more compelling because Tam's world is often as familiar as it is fantastical. This is not so much a lesson from history as a warning from the here and now. It's a cautionary tale and a call to action, but also a gripping read."<br />
- Peter Bradley, Director, Speakers’ Corner Trust<br />
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“This is a timely reminder of the dangers of the rapidly-accelerating corporatisation of our political and economic life. With private firms increasingly running our NHS and administering welfare, so many of the services we cherish are at risk from the profit motive. From utilities to railways, we’ve already seen how the interests of shareholders and bosses trump those of workers, service users and taxpayers. As the general election approaches, Tam’s book is an important reminder of the risks of crude neoliberal ideology”.<br />
- Frances O'Grady, General Secretary, TUC (Trades Union Congress)<br />
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“Beautifully, deftly written, <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> is dark and compelling reading. A deeply sobering wake up call to us all against the political complacency of our times.”<br />
- Dame Jane Roberts, Chair, NLGN (New Local Government Network)<br />
<br />
“Henry Tam knows how government works, and how fragile democracy is. With his insider knowledge and surreal imagination, he has given us an extraordinary dystopian tale about corporate greed and political collusion. It kept me hooked to the very end.”<br />
- Baroness Kay Andrews, former Government Minister<br />
<br />
“The bleak, but believable, picture of corporatism gone crazy combines with a witty and insightful portrayal of the civil service to make for a novel that is both funny and scary in equal measure.” <br />
- Toby Blume, Founder, the Archer Academy<br />
<br />
“Although set in the future, the civil service lampooned in <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> is instantly recognisable to anyone who's been part of it. Tam’s novel paints a superb picture of how people can be governed, or rather manipulated, by unscrupulous politicians. Funny, alarming, and poignant, it’s quite an achievement.”<br />
- Ellie Roy, former Crime Reduction Director, Home Office, UK Government<br />
<br />
“[<i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> is] a fascinating and disturbing narrative on where global corporate power and neo-liberal orthodoxy is leading us, though perhaps we are already half-way there.”<br />
- Stuart Weir, Founder, Democratic Audit <br />
<br />
<b>Must-Read Political Satire</b><br />
<br />
<i>Readers’ positive comments have included</i>:<br />
“I was sufficiently enthralled by <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> that I read it cover to cover (pixel to pixel, perhaps) in a single day … What a lot of fun. Science fiction in something of the style of the early Asimov, combined with a biting satire on neoliberal trends in the post Cold War West.” (Con Grano Salis)<br />
<br />
“Tam writes with both intelligence and wit, engaging the reader, and forcing them to look past the minutiae of life and into the very mechanisms that control our everyday existence. … Thoroughly recommended!” (Caroline)<br />
<br />
“Henry Tam has done something that's very hard to pull-off. He's written a real page-turner, a novel that is easy to read and full of invention, twists and unexpected turns. But he's also provided an insight into modern government … Although the novel is set in the future it can be read as a very exact account of how power really works in modern Britain.” (Dr. J. Duffy)<br />
<br />
“I found myself chuckling at the book's events and people … people one had read about or personally come across in work situations - how horribly familiar it all seemed!!! A fascinating read.” (G. Samuel)<br />
<br />
“Full of Machiavellian characters and dark humour, with a great twist in the tail. Anyone who's worked in Whitehall will find much to smile at in this sharply observed novel.” (YakinaMac)<br />
<br />
“A deliciously funny book which moves at great speed as the government promotes privatisation and begins to hand over to the all-powerful Consortium. … With an Orwellian touch, it is full of vision for what can happen if we stop caring about how to share power fairly.” (freedom22) <br />
<br />
(Full versions of readers’ reviews of <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> can be found <i><a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/readers-feedback-whitehall-through.html">here</a></i>.) <br />
<br />
--<br />
For a shortened version of the interview with Henry Tam in ‘Shout Out’ magazine on the writing of <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i>, click <i><a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2015/03/political-engagement-of-surreal-kind.html">here</a></i>. <br />
<br />
For Simon J. Duffy’s full review of <i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i> for the Centre for Welfare Reform, click <i><a href="http://www.centreforwelfarereform.org/library/type/books/whitehall-through-the-looking-glass.html">here</a></i>. <br />
<br />
Excerpts from ‘What would Whitehall be like in fifty years’ time?’, can be found in <a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/10/nightmare-on-downing-street.html">‘Nightmare on Downing Street’</a>. <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-77498179723384368292015-07-01T00:02:00.000+01:002015-07-12T18:36:29.903+01:00Diagnosing the Dystopian SyndromeIt may not be possible to fool all the people all of the time, but history has shown repeatedly that it is all too easy to fool enough people for long enough to trap a whole country under dysfunctional governance and ruin countless lives.<br />
<br />
There has never been a shortage of tyrants and tricksters who claim they can bring improvements when they just plan to amass enough power to dictate to everyone else. And all too often they get away with their deception since demagogues know how to exploit irrationality, and rich manipulators can always churn out the most convincing lies money can buy. <br />
<br />
But there is a way to cut through the miasma of falsehood. Wells, Orwell, Wyndham, Atwood and others have shown how the misruling of society can be highlighted by presenting its insidious symptoms in a captivating narrative that challenges us to deal with them.<br />
<br />
Although they conjure up different fantastical events or futuristic scenarios in which to set their stories, the symptoms they target share three core elements, which together constitute what I have termed the ‘Dystopian Syndrome’. Their manifestations are the surest signs that the governance of society needs urgent resuscitation. The three elements are: ignorance, isolation, and inequity.<br />
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Let us take ignorance first. A well-governed society would enable its members to learn continuously from each other, drawing on the objectively verifiable evidence and coherent reasons put forward, and revising their beliefs and attitudes in the light of shared experiences. This provides the basis for critical understanding of claims made about the world and leads to informed judgements about what should be believed or rejected. But an authority which dogmatically or deviously propounds views without due justification will breed ignorance. The absence of any thoughtful authority on the other hand will be just as bad, since an ‘anything goes’ culture allows superstitions, prejudices, errors to become entrenched without being challenged and displaced.<br />
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The second element is that of isolation. The purpose of any social grouping is to enable people to cultivate supportive relationships with others, share the good times and care for each other in the bad, and build a sense of mutual responsibility in utilising resources fairly and sustainably. Any system of governance which perverts this aim and deprives sub-groups or individuals of a chance to live well like others is inherently flawed. So is any system that penalises targeted citizens without due cause. Where a system fragments to the point that it in effect leaves most if not all its members feeling insecure with nothing more reliable to count on, it would have failed completely.<br />
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Last but not least, there is inequity. No system of governance is likely to secure, or deserve to secure, the acceptance of its members if it does not respect the notion of reciprocity. People are ready to cooperate with each other provided the risks and benefits are shared out through joint deliberations and mutual agreement. But once some can decide on outcomes irrespective of what others may think, inequity corrodes social bonds and gives rise to distrust and resentment. Irrevocably giving the power to decide to just one person or an elite group is a recipe for oppression, as is removing all procedures for collective decision-making since that would just leave some to exploit the vulnerabilities of others without any public constraint.<br />
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All three elements of the dystopian syndrome are actually becoming ever more prevalent in the world today. Nationalistic extremism, religious fundamentalism, plutocratic exploitation, the arms & surveillance industry, anarchic rejection of the rule of law, all infect and damage the governance of our society. Dystopian fiction may just help to stir the imagination of many who would not otherwise engage in political deliberations, and inject renewed resistance into our democratic veins.<br />
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--<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">‘Whitehall through the Looking Glass’</a>: a satirical dystopian novel about a Consortium that comes to take charge of both Britain and America.<br />
<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">‘Kuan’s Wonderland’</a>: an allegorical dystopian novel about how wealth and dogmas rule in the surreal world of Shiyan. <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-53959344156335565982015-06-14T23:21:00.000+01:002015-06-14T23:21:37.811+01:00Utopian Jekyll & Dystopian HydeUtopian portraits of the ideal society and dystopian depictions of dysfunctional governance may at first glance appear to be as different as heaven and hell. With the former, perfected laws and customs are shown to banish negative dispositions, and enable harmony and cooperation to prevail. Whereas with the latter, people are seen as systematically oppressed, and caught up in fear and atrocities fuelled by the worst of human traits.<br />
<br />
But the utopian impulse may actually have a much closer and darker relationship with dystopian scenarios. J. C. Davis, in his book, ‘Utopia and the Ideal Society’, reviewed the works of a wide range of utopian writers and found one distinctive feature that characterised their output – namely, the prescription of detailed rules and practices that regulated human interactions to such an extent that individual spontaneity was largely displaced by socio-economic rigidity.<br />
<br />
Davis noted that utopian blueprints contained extensive proposals on the premise that these would transform human interactions comprehensively. Unlike the reform projects of thinkers, such as Francis Bacon and Robert Owen, whose ideas were often considered too pragmatically open-ended to be truly utopian, the utopian plans in the tradition from Thomas More to Edward Bellamy were admired precisely because they offered to bring about total social unity in every key sphere of life.<br />
<br />
Although the reformist followers of Bacon and Owen have often been attacked by critics for not coming up with a guaranteed path to reinvent society within a fixed timescale, they are the ones who have steered progressive changes over time to bring about the tangible betterment of people’s lives. By contrast, utopian ideas have historically had three outcomes.<br />
<br />
First, they had been taken up in small communities but the demands on those involved would prove to be too much, and those communities were not sustained beyond a short period of time. In the second type of cases, their proponents adapted their practices so that on the one hand, human nature would not be forced into remoulding itself to fit a purist ideal, while on the other hand, collaboration with the wider society was developed to pave the way for gradualist reforms elsewhere.<br />
<br />
Thirdly, there were the notorious cases of blueprints for the ideal society uncompromisingly implemented on a national scale even though they had not been embraced by the general public. In all these cases, the new laws and arrangements imposed on society to make everyone conform to the unquestionable ideal led inevitably to repression.<br />
<br />
Ultimately the problems facing society can only be tackled effectively if we engage in a process of inclusive and continuous learning. By adapting their proposals experimentally in the light of what people think and feel about them, the Baconians and Owenites successfully secured improvements for our common wellbeing. But anyone proclaiming to have come up with an absolutely thorough and unquestionable solution that has to be delivered without exception, regardless of what subsequent experience may show, can only be inviting us to go down the most dangerous path. <br />
<br />
Dystopian writers have been at the forefront in exposing utopian fantasies – the communist revolutionary, the plutocratic ‘free’ market, the fundamentalist theocracy, or the dogmatic anarchist – and their warnings must continue to be heeded. Otherwise, the utopian Jekyll would once again transform into a dystopian Hyde.<br />
<br />
--<br />
Read ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a>’, for a satirical dystopian novel about an attempt to create the perfect corporate-run society.<br />
<br />
Or give ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a>’ a try, for an allegorical dystopian novel about an ideal world where everyone lives in pre-planned harmony.<br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-69730674894791007212015-05-23T19:47:00.000+01:002015-05-23T19:47:42.824+01:00Power Disparity & Dystopian BreakdownFascination with reports on catastrophic accidents and stories about apocalyptic horrors may be due in part to a sense of relief that one has not been caught up in the former or is ever likely to be trapped in the latter. <br />
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But accounts of dystopian events grip us precisely because they bring to our attention the calamitous consequences that could unfold if we allowed certain trends to continue. Instead of serving up escapist or sensationalist diversions, dystopian writers are concerned with presenting us with danger signs, pointers to underlying threats, and what should be done before it is too late.<br />
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All the paradigmatic dystopian writers have one core diagnostic perspective in common – power disparity. When some in society have managed to amass excessive power in relation to others, what tends to follow is that the powerful few impose their will on the rest, and irrespective of the suffering caused, no one by then is strong enough to resist them. <br />
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In ‘The Time Machine’, Wells paints a grotesque picture of what the growing divergence between rich and poor can lead to. In ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’, Orwell depicts a world in which an unaccountable political regime with totalitarian powers can manipulate and ruin everyone’s life at will. In ‘Oryx and Crake’, Atwood presents the dire consequences of handing too much power to a scientific genius even when his intentions are not inherently evil. In ‘Brave New World’, Huxley shows how an elite can perpetuate its dominance by breeding ‘inferior’ stock and promoting drug-induced contentment. In ‘Fahrenheit 451’, Bradbury sets out the slippery slope that awaits any society that lets a self-styled elite take control of what it can learn and discover through books and the media. In ‘The Iron Heel’, London foretells how corporate leaders can band together to crush any resistance from government or workers. And in ‘The Chrysalids’, Wyndham gives us a disconcerting portrait of how ‘religious orthodoxy’ backed by unquestionable power will deal with those who are ‘different’.<br />
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Although some novelists and screenwriters have dipped into this genre superficially and whipped up 2-dimensional political, religious, business or scientific figures as easy targets, the real problem behind dystopian breakdown has always been recognised by those who take the issue seriously as the polarisation between the excessively powerful few and the increasingly disempowered majority.<br />
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Beyond the realm of fiction, historical works have also provided some of the best dystopian stories – their being true only adds poignancy to them. For example: the degeneration of the Roman Republic towards the brutality and chaos of imperial Rome; the growth of power that transformed humble Christian congregations into a Church that tortured and killed in the name of God; the power imbalance that fuelled colonial oppression; the plutocratic irresponsibility that brought about the Great Depression and the rise of fascism; the powerlessness of those who lived under Soviet totalitarianism; and the contemporary dehumanisation of the poor under neo-liberal regimes. (For an account of the problem of power disparity through history, see ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Against-Power-Inequalities-progressive-struggle-ebook/dp/B00RQQYA5M/">Against Power Inequalities: a history of the progressive struggle</a>’)<br />
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To counter dystopian trends, power needs to be redistributed from those with too much already to those with little. To do that, the disempowered must join forces. And one of the key prerequisites for people to line up behind any collective endeavour is the development of a shared understanding amongst them of the problem they face and what must be done about it. Dystopian literature has an important role to play in nurturing such a shared understanding.<br />
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For a satirical dystopian novel about corporate-led government over Britain and America, try ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Whitehall through the Looking Glass</a>’.<br />
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For an allegorical dystopian novel about how wealth and power divides society in the surreal world of Shiyan, try ‘<a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Kuans-Wonderland-ebook/dp/B008144G9I/">Kuan’s Wonderland</a>’. <br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-1777853420231381032015-04-15T20:18:00.001+01:002015-04-15T20:18:36.734+01:00The ‘Good’, ‘Bad’ & ‘Ugly’ in Dystopian FictionThe popularity of dystopian fiction has of late generated a lot of interest in cataloguing together novels that present a disturbing vision of the future. But without differentiating them by their political intent, which is the essence of the dystopian genre, their significance simply cannot be appreciated.<br />
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From a progressive perspective, the dystopian structure can be deployed to depict three very different types of societal future. These may be termed ‘The Good’, ‘The Bad’, and ‘The Ugly’, corresponding as they do to the three political scenarios of: ‘progressive aims being fulfilled’; ‘progressive aims being thwarted’; and ‘progressive aims being pursued by anti-progressive means with disastrous consequences’.<br />
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So to kick off, who would present ‘The Good’ outcome of a progressive future in undesirable dystopian terms? Who but the regressive-minded desperate to preserve oppressive customs or exploitative arrangements regardless of the harm they bring to countless people. For them, attempts to cut back discrimination and inequalities are tantamount to destroying all that is decent in society. This can be found in the dystopian works of writers such as Jerome B. Holgate (whose 1835 ‘A Sojourn in the City of Amalgamation’ depicted the ending of slavery and the occurrence of interracial marriage in purely negative terms); Anna Bowman Dodd (whose 1887 ‘The Republic of the Future’ attacked the emergence of socialist and feminist ideas as ruining the lives of people); and Ayn Rand (whose 1957 ‘Atlas Shrugged’ foretold the ‘disaster’ when rich ‘entrepreneurs’ were deprived of their freedom to act as they pleased).<br />
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Let us turn to ‘The Bad’ scenario of a future dominated by a self-absorbed elite, rampant consumerism, and deepening social divisions. H.G. Wells’ ‘Time Machine’ gave us a terrifying glimpse of the human race split into the Eloi and the Morlocks; Jack London’s ‘The Iron Heel’ warned us how the corporate elite would end up trampling over anyone who stood in their way; Aldous Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’ showed how the class system would become entrenched even at the level of our DNA; Stephen King (aka Richard Bachman)’s ‘The Running Man’ depicted how corporate hegemony would strip away human sympathy and leave everyone in the moral gutter. And my own dystopian novels follow this tradition in exposing the nasty effects of corrosive inequalities.<br />
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Then there is ‘The Ugly’ situation wherein zealots seek to bring about justice and harmony by the most anti-progressive means. Whereas progressive reformists want to see a more open, inclusive society where the democratic cooperation of citizens is everywhere the norm, some radical revolutionaries have claimed that a powerful, unquestionable ruling regime could bring about the best of all possible societies by imposing some form of rigid uniformity from above. To show how these utopian dreams are in fact precursors to unrelenting nightmares is what characterises the third group of dystopian writings. George Orwell’s ‘Nineteen Eighty-Four’ (and in allegorical form, ‘Animal Farm’) presented us with a preview of all totalitarian regimes claiming to act for the common good; Yevgeny Zamyatin’s ‘We’ and Margaret Atwood’s ‘The Handmaid’s Tale’ opened the reader’s eyes to what such regimes would do in practice irrespective of their official proclamations; and John Wyndham’s ‘The Chrysalids’ depicted vividly how self-justification would go side-by-side with the unjustifiable ruthlessness when anyone were handed such power.<br />
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There are many ways to look at dystopian writings, but a politically illuminating way is to explore if they actually take aim at the Good, the Bad, or the Ugly of what our society may become.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-49411116279453913422015-02-17T18:52:00.000+00:002015-02-17T23:41:13.759+00:00Cooperative Gestalt & Dystopian FictionHumpty Dumpty once said that a word meant whatever he chose it to mean. And the Humpty-Dumpties of modern media clearly think they can do the same thing when they use the word ‘dystopian’ to describe any unpleasant scenario any writer may conjure up for the future. <br />
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But merely a horrid situation does not a dystopia make.<br />
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A dystopia is the outcome of any dysfunctional attempt to create or subvert a utopian vision. An asteroid hitting earth and wiping out half of its population is a monumental disaster, but it is not necessarily the precursor to a dystopia unless in the aftermath, some people try to institute a new form of society with anti-utopian consequences.<br />
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So to understand what truly constitutes a dystopia, we need to begin with utopian aspirations. And while ‘utopia’ has also been loosely used to refer to anything some individual may fancy as an ideal world, there is an indisputable historical basis for connecting ‘utopia’ to a core set of societal transformations.<br />
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We can take three representative books that between them set out the main utopian themes for overcoming society’s deficiencies. It is important to note that they are utopian in the sense that while they recognise how far prevailing conditions were from what they present as an alternative, they do not envisage the need for any fantastical or other-worldly intervention for those conditions to be reformed in the direction of the alternative proffered.<br />
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These three books appeared between 1516 and 1656, during a period that witnessed a series of revolutionary changes in England that were to have major intellectual and political impact on the whole of Europe, and eventually across the world. It began with the declaration that the Pope and the Catholic monopoly of religious ideas were to be firmly rejected; a declaration made not by some quirky mystic or obscure theologian, but by the King of England himself. And it was to end with political upheavals that cost another English King not only his throne, but also his head.<br />
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The first of these books is Thomas More’s <i>Utopia</i>, which set out a moral vision of society wherein mutual respect and community bonds were secured through the minimisation of inequalities. No one was to possess or command access to much more resources than others; and none was left vulnerable through having too little of value to live on. The second is Francis Bacon’s <i>New Atlantis</i>, with an intellectual vision of society that recognised no authority on what was to be accepted as true except for when a given claim or hypothesis had been tested through observation, experimentation, cross-examination, and remained open to further revision. The third is James Harrington’s <i>Oceana</i>, which put forward a political vision of society that was democratically governed by citizens none of whom would be significantly disadvantaged in exercising their power over those who were to rule on their behalf, especially with land ownership spread more evenly, and political offices rotated frequently.<br />
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These three utopian tracts engendered in England radical currents of thought that were to come together in the <a href="http://hbtam.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/communitarians-introduction.html">cooperative communitarian outlook</a> of the Owenites in the 19th century. Communities, on this view, should continue to progress towards the fuller realisation of three related objectives: mutual responsibility in sharing common resources and supporting each other in solidarity (the vision of Utopia); cooperative enquiry in checking and validating truth claims in every domain (the vision of New Atlantis); and citizen participation in securing democratic governance for the good of all (the vision of Oceana). The extent to which these tendencies are advanced, at the personal, organisational, and societal level, provides a measure for attaining what has been termed the <a href="http://henry-tam.blogspot.co.uk/2013/11/the-cooperative-gestalt.html">Cooperative Gestalt</a>.<br />
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Accordingly, dystopian portrayals of the future are best understood in relation to how they envision the Cooperative Gestalt of a society and its members come to be severely and systematically displaced. For example, in Orwell’s <i>Nineteen Eighty-Four</i>, Huxley’s <i>Brave New World</i>, Atwood’s <i>The Handmaid’s Tale</i>, and Wyndham’s <i>The Chrysalids</i>, the disposition to care for others on equal and respectful terms is pushed aside by alienation and distrust promoted by an oppressive hierarchy; the disposition to establish what warrants belief through open exchanges is held back by an unquestionable regime that has the sole say about what is ‘true’; and the disposition to take others’ views and concerns into account when making collectively binding decisions is subverted by the inclination to submit to the diktats of a Big Brother, a World Controller, a Commander, or some faceless ‘authorities’.<br />
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The art of dystopian fiction should ultimately be judged by how moving, imaginative and memorable it is in showing us the loss of the vital constituents of the Cooperative Gestalt. Whereas classic utopian writers have painted for us the dimensions that together would give us all a better society to live in, dystopia is where the readiness to embrace these improvements is institutionally and culturally suffocated.<br />
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For more examples of how dystopian literature can highlight the threats to the Cooperative Gestalt and alert us to the dangers to our most precious dispositions, take a look at: <br />
<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/kuans-wonderland-quick-guide.html"><i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i></a>; or <br />
<a href="http://kuanswonderland.blogspot.co.uk/2014/08/whitehall-through-looking-glass-quick.html"><i>Whitehall through the Looking Glass</i></a><br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-55939861481975845622015-01-25T12:20:00.000+00:002015-01-25T12:21:21.923+00:00A Novel Exploration of Inequality<i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> tells the story of a ten-year old boy being snatched from home and taken to a bizarre world, where he is suspected of being an enemy of the state. As hope of escape begins to fade, he tries to adapt to his new life only to discover the true nightmare awaiting him.<br />
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Suitable for anyone aged 14/15 (KS4/Year 10) upwards, <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> has been widely acclaimed as a fantasy adventure & political fable, as well as a novel resource to help explore problems of inequality and exploitation:<br />
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Kate Pickett (Director, Equality Trust; & co-author of 'The Spirit Level: why more equal societies almost always do better'): <br />
“<i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> is a didactic novel that doesn’t hesitate to entertain the reader. It shows that political theorists can engage a wider public with an imaginative medium such as popular fiction without losing intellectual force. The Equality Trust welcomes this opportunity to work with Henry Tam with the publication of the learning resource for his novel as part of our Young Person’s Guide to Inequality.”<br />
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Julie Thorpe (Head of School & Youth Programmes, the Co-operative College):<br />
"All the evidence points to the fact that more equal societies are happier places and yet the country we live in remains one of the least egalitarian and most divided in the world. The co-operative movement is committed to creating social institutions and enterprises where all members have an equal right and opportunity to participate and have their voices heard. It is vital that young people understand the problems of power inequality if we are to bring about change and <i>Kuan's Wonderland</i> offers a unique, imaginative, way of introducing them to the issue. We highly recommend it!" <br />
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Rachel Roberts (Director, Phoenix Education Trust; & Supporter, Student Voice): <br />
“In our experience of working in schools we see young people are highly concerned with issues of justice, respect and equality. We also realise the value of empowering young people to explore these topics in an open way which captures their imaginations, awakens their curiosity and allows to develop their learning and understanding by following their own motivation. <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> and the resource guide which accompanies it enables just this. It is an innovative and valuable way of engaging young people to explore issues surrounding equality and democracy in a way which speaks to them.”<br />
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Nicolette Burford (Director, Documentary Film-Makers Cooperative; & Producer/Director, ‘No Room for Manoeuvre’): <br />
“<i>Kuan's Wonderland</i> is a mesmerizing novel. It makes the imagination spring to life with amazing visions of strange beings and places. Readers young and old will be intrigued by the story and both teachers and students are going to have much to talk about and around it. There are very few books that offer so complex yet so clear and captivating a plot that mirrors the excesses, impunity, treachery and manipulativeness with which governments and oppressive regimes amass and abuse power to further the selfish interests of a small minority. The learning resource developed by the novelist and the Equality Trust will clearly be of great value to young people and schools.”<br />
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Pat Conaty (Fellow, New Economics Foundation; & co-author of 'The Resilience Imperative: Cooperative Transitions to a Steady-State Economy'):<br />
“There is ample evidence that cooperative forms of interaction, in business as well as in social relations more generally, work much better than the top-down approach which is regrettably still the norm in our economy. To change the prevailing mindset we need to explore new ways to engage people of all ages in thinking about why mutuality and equality are vital to our wellbeing. The Equality Trust and Cambridge University are leading the way in showing how this can be done with Henry Tam’s novel, <i>Kuan’s Wonderland</i> – a thought-provoking political fable, and the accompanying learning resource, ‘A Novel Exploration of Inequality’.”<br />
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More details about the 'Novel Exploration of Inequality' project are available from: <a href="http://www.equalitytrust.org.uk/get-involved/take-action/learn-and-play/kuans%20wonderland">The Equality Trust</a>.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-9740680125479867152015-01-24T18:03:00.000+00:002015-01-25T12:24:03.196+00:00Contesting Dystopian VisionsDystopian stories in novels, films and TV drama, have become fashionable of late. But while they compete in painting nightmarish scenarios of our future, they do not provide a shared vision of what the source of the imminent threat is. That is to be expected if one looks back on the history of dystopian writing. Some have focused on the restrictions placed on individuals – e.g., nameless subjects of a totalitarian state in the case of Zamyatin, or wealthy business executives in the case of Rand. Others have presented a dire fate for humanity resulting from some unexpected disaster – e.g., the arrival of the new-born in Wyndham’s ‘The Midwich Cuckoos’, or what preceded the journey recounted in McCarthy’s ‘The Road’.<br />
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However, one strand that runs from Wells’ ‘Time Machine’, through London’s ‘The Iron Heel’, Huxley’s ‘Brave New World’, Lewis’ ‘It Can’t Happen Here’, King’s ‘The Running Man’, to Atwood’s ‘The Year of the Flood’, shows that there is a core theme that many dystopian writers are concerned with – namely, the ruthless demarcation of society into the wealthy elite and the vulnerable masses. Of course they weave their contrasting accounts of how the pervasive divisiveness give rise to different kinds of problem – self doubt or even self loathing; starvation; resentment and hatred; environmental destruction; ending of the rule of law. And they come up with strikingly diverse responses – armed rebellion; drug-induced contentment; socio-biological transformation; and suicidal retaliation.<br />
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The reason why dystopias about wealth-driven fissures in society resonates with me most is that at the dawn of the 21st century, the inexorable expansion of corporate power is simply the biggest threat to our wellbeing. It is already pushing people into self-numbing consumerism, soul-crushing poverty, or in other cases, seething anger against the prevailing order. It is also fuelling unprecedented profit-led environmental destruction, and paving the way for plutocratic governments that will exclusively serve the rich and impose stringent controls over the rest. Unless writers and activists rouse the public to reverse its hegemony, the worst of all possible dystopias will be upon us soon.Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-4942220543510510696.post-82243305061862278482015-01-02T12:40:00.000+00:002015-01-02T12:40:48.924+00:00A Novel Indictment of NeoliberalismNeoliberalism is nothing more than a fig leaf to cover up the most shameless campaign to reverse the democratic distribution of power, and hand ever more control and resources to the wealthy corporate elite.<br />
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Whitehall through the Looking Glass is a dystopian novel that shows what could happen if the current trends of rewarding the privileged and scapegoating the vulnerable were allowed to continue.<br />
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Frances O'Grady, the General Secretary of TUC (Trades Union Congress), has described it as “a timely reminder of the dangers of the rapidly-accelerating corporatisation of our political and economic life. With private firms increasingly running our NHS and administering welfare, so many of the services we cherish are at risk from the profit motive. From utilities to railways, we’ve already seen how the interests of shareholders and bosses trump those of workers, service users and taxpayers. As the general election approaches, Tam’s book is an important reminder of the risks of crude neoliberal ideology”.<br />
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The novel is available in both e-book and paperback format:<br />
E-book version: <a href="http://www.amazon.co.uk/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Amazon UK</a> or <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Whitehall-through-Looking-Glass-Novel-ebook/dp/B00J3VRGEU/">Amazon US</a><br />
Paperback version: <a href="http://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/whitehall-through-the-looking-glass-henry-tam/1118953239">Barnes & Noble</a> or <a href="https://www.createspace.com/4709766">CreateSpace</a><br />
Henry Benedict Tamhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/15317153382084185304noreply@blogger.com