I recall a comment that Wells’s Time Machine was a satire on both Darwin and Marx. Darwin because in the future evolution goes into reverse ending up with a primeval scene at the end of the world. Marx because the world of the Eloi and Morlocks is a reverse of capitalism in which the proletarian Morlocks have power over the feeble aristocratic Eloi.
I'll see if I can find the source though it may be a while before I get back to you. We are right in the middle of a storm with an unpronounceable name and have no Internet access unless I push my way to the nearest town as I've done here.
I should have mentioned that the passage I read aloud was written by Luciano Canfora. Here is the citation and the passage:
Luciano Canfora, “From Stalin to Gorbachev: How an Empire Ends”—Afterword for
Domenico Losurdo, "Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend" (2008, English translation by Iskra Books, 2023) 343-344.
No wonder that Gorbachev is one of the most detested people in his country (and less and less pampered by his friends abroad). One can expect anything from a scholar of history, except that of believing in the “naivete” that led Gorbachev to make mistake after mistake, capitulation after capitulation. Markus Wolf, the great artificer of the GDR’s security services, recalled, during an interview with the daily La Repubblica, that all of the three architects of the collapse of the USSR—Gorbachev, Shevardnadze, Yeltsin—had worked for the KGB.
To the Athenians, tired of the conflict with Sparta, Pericles, speaking to the assembly, taught a great geopolitical truth: “It is not possible for you to give up this empire.” And with the conceptual rawness from which he was not alien, he added that “the Empire is tyranny,” and that it may seem unfair to defend it, but it is certainly highly risky to lose it.” In the end, the Empire, which lasted little more than seventy years, lost thanks to those strategists (one was called Adeimantus) who in the decisive battle of Aegospotami, “betrayed—as they said at the time—the fleet.” By a curious historical combination, the Soviet Empire also lasted seventy years. The juxtaposition of Stalin and Pericles may give rise to some uneasiness (even though non-bigoted scholars, such as Mikhail Heller and Sergio Romano, insist on the greatness of the Georgian statesman). It is perhaps easier, even in the recklessness of analogies, to recognize in Gorbachev the mediocre and vituperated role of Adeimantus.
Discovered it at 8:30 pm EST Jan 23rd. Cleared cache on apple device. Still not working. Cleared cache on iphone, no go. Logged in on laptop, cleared cache there and still didn't work.. At that point 3 strikes so I inserted comment. Today 1/24 at 1 pm EST play button functionality restored, thanks.
Play button appears to have been disabled 8:30 pm EST
this has been frustrating. How did you determine this and the time?
I recall a comment that Wells’s Time Machine was a satire on both Darwin and Marx. Darwin because in the future evolution goes into reverse ending up with a primeval scene at the end of the world. Marx because the world of the Eloi and Morlocks is a reverse of capitalism in which the proletarian Morlocks have power over the feeble aristocratic Eloi.
I didn’t know that. I suppose it makes sense, given that Wells was a member of the Fabian Society
I'll see if I can find the source though it may be a while before I get back to you. We are right in the middle of a storm with an unpronounceable name and have no Internet access unless I push my way to the nearest town as I've done here.
Yikes! Hang in there
And here is an interesting backstory about Canfora and his dispute with the current prime minister of Italy. https://www.nybooks.com/online/2024/04/17/an-open-letter-in-support-of-luciano-canfora/
I should have mentioned that the passage I read aloud was written by Luciano Canfora. Here is the citation and the passage:
Luciano Canfora, “From Stalin to Gorbachev: How an Empire Ends”—Afterword for
Domenico Losurdo, "Stalin: History and Critique of a Black Legend" (2008, English translation by Iskra Books, 2023) 343-344.
No wonder that Gorbachev is one of the most detested people in his country (and less and less pampered by his friends abroad). One can expect anything from a scholar of history, except that of believing in the “naivete” that led Gorbachev to make mistake after mistake, capitulation after capitulation. Markus Wolf, the great artificer of the GDR’s security services, recalled, during an interview with the daily La Repubblica, that all of the three architects of the collapse of the USSR—Gorbachev, Shevardnadze, Yeltsin—had worked for the KGB.
To the Athenians, tired of the conflict with Sparta, Pericles, speaking to the assembly, taught a great geopolitical truth: “It is not possible for you to give up this empire.” And with the conceptual rawness from which he was not alien, he added that “the Empire is tyranny,” and that it may seem unfair to defend it, but it is certainly highly risky to lose it.” In the end, the Empire, which lasted little more than seventy years, lost thanks to those strategists (one was called Adeimantus) who in the decisive battle of Aegospotami, “betrayed—as they said at the time—the fleet.” By a curious historical combination, the Soviet Empire also lasted seventy years. The juxtaposition of Stalin and Pericles may give rise to some uneasiness (even though non-bigoted scholars, such as Mikhail Heller and Sergio Romano, insist on the greatness of the Georgian statesman). It is perhaps easier, even in the recklessness of analogies, to recognize in Gorbachev the mediocre and vituperated role of Adeimantus.
Discovered it at 8:30 pm EST Jan 23rd. Cleared cache on apple device. Still not working. Cleared cache on iphone, no go. Logged in on laptop, cleared cache there and still didn't work.. At that point 3 strikes so I inserted comment. Today 1/24 at 1 pm EST play button functionality restored, thanks.
I cannot play the podcast...are you going to fix it?
Trying. Seems to play on laptops but not phones