The Dispossessed: Politics and Ecology

A little over halfway through the novel now. So one thing you get to see in the Dispossessed is people both living in and arguing for different political and economic systems. Which despite the didacticism, is still a nice change of pace from most science fiction, which usually keeps such concerns secondary or else in line with government propaganda.  This can be unintentional at times, but regardless of the intention, it tends to promote uncritical acceptance of our unimaginably violent status quo. The Dispossessed doesn't do this. It might seem strange that I consider the didacticism a negative quality given my interest in the political and economic themes--however I disagree that such ideas need to be presented in a dry or didactic way. I think if one wants to primarily teach, nonfiction is a much better medium for that. I feel stories are better at spurring us to ask better questions than they are at giving us answers to those questions.
 

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