silk, the dancing toy, gods in the tunnels

Lee Berman · 28 Aug 2013, 11:52 · from 2013-August.txt.gz

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From: severiansola at hotmail.com (Lee Berman)
Date: Wed, 28 Aug 2013 07:52:11 -0400
Subject: (urth) silk, the dancing toy, gods in the tunnels
Message-ID: <BLU175-W1573B234ECC19A51936A6ECF4B0 at phx.gbl>

>Marc Aramini: Silk is the shepherd who puts others first, Severian the 
>culler and the butcher whose salvation leaves only himself standing alone. 
>I am still thinking that Typhon did more good for humanity in the long run 
>than Severian... Maybe. So hard to say if the green man's future is even any 
>good.

Surely the answer to this question is an individual one. It is an old question,
but one which has been recently framed in terms of socialism vs. libertarianism.

Which is the "better" way to live? With the technological and social advantages
and the compromises and restrictions of high density population ?

Or with the freedoms, loneliness and boredom which accompanies a more solitary
isolated lifestyle?

Surely this is an individual choice. I suppose we could look at global trends
toward urban, suburban and rural living and draw some conclusions about 
humanity. But I think it is safe to conclude that the competing drives for 
socializing and freedom-seeking will continue to shape the course of human
history for its duration.

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