Vinton Looking Further Backward

1. Auflage 2015
ISBN: 978-963-526-639-5
Verlag: Booklassic
Format: EPUB
Kopierschutz: 0 - No protection

E-Book, Englisch, 89 Seiten

China invades the United States to restore US capitalism in the year 2020 in this dystopian 1890 sequel to Edward Bellamy's 1888 novel Looking Backward. Vinton's novel is written as a series of lectures delivered at Shawmut College (Boston, Mass., USA) in the year 2023 by a Chinese historian who took charge as chief of the history department after the occupation of the socialized United States by capitalist China. Bellamy's novel described a utopian re-organization of the United States where by the year 2000 every aspect of the economy was owned and controlled by the government, which was termed 'Nationalism' to avoid the stigma of the term 'socialism'. Bellamy's best-selling novel spawned 160 Nationalist Clubs in the United States, and a Nationalist political movement in the late 19th century. It also inspired many novels critical of Bellamy's premises, such as this one.Here Vinton fabricates a history of the two decades after Bellamy's story ended in year 2000, during which the entire world, except China, abandoned its capitalist system and adopted Nationalism. Fearing civil unrest fomented by foreign Nationalists proselytizing within China, the Chinese government takes over France in 2012 and launches a military invasion of the United States in 2020 to preempt Nationalization of China and to restore capitalism in the US. Vinton shows the folly of the abolition of a peacetime standing military for defense, the replacement of currency by government-issued credit cards, dis-incentives for personal initiative and thrift, deletion of Presidential war powers, and more, all of which were consequences of the Nationalized system proposed by Bellamy.The story is told in quotations from a diary kept by Julian West, the historian protagonist of Bellamy's novel, which dramatize the events starting when China's warships are approaching various US ports with the intention of landing an invasion by Chinese soldiers. The Chinese professor who took over West's position at the college gives his explanations among the quotations as he lectures to the history students.This Feedbooks edition adds a postscript with historical commentary by the volunteer who uploaded and edited this eBook.

Autoren/Hrsg.

Vinton, Arthur Dudley

Leseproben

Chapter 2 LECTURE II.
 At the time that the Marseillais revolted, France was under the  Nationalistic system of government. There were no police and no regular army, and the government had no machinery to quell the disorder that arose. To be sure the superintendents of the other trades in Marseilles, acting under telegraphic instructions from the Central Council at Paris, attempted to organize the employees of those trades into restraining forces; but as these employees sympathized with the rioters they exercised no restraint upon the disorder, so that the authorities at Paris found themselves obliged to recruit a force from the Parisians, and to dispatch this force to Marseilles. This was, as your histories will tell you, the work of several days, and the delay gave the Marseillais time to organize into a regular military force. This rebellion brought to light two defects in the Nationalist form of government. First, the lack of secrecy in the deliberations of those high in office; and second, the peril which every government must be in when it has failed to maintain a standing army large enough to enforce order, or to do police duty in times of local rebellion or disturbance. Because there had been no war for a century, the Nationalists had looked upon war as an impossibility; military science had been forgotten, and there had been no manufacture of munitions of war. Hence now, when there was an imperative need of an army, the only military force which the French government could put into the field was no better than an undisciplined mob armed with antiquated weapons which had been manufactured more than a century before. We have one of these identical weapons among the curiosities in the museum of Shawmut College; it was intended to be discharged with " powder " — a somewhat bulky material, the principal ingredients of which were charcoal, sulphur and saltpetre. This nondescript army was enlisted, equipped and forwarded by rail to within a few miles of Marseilles, about a fortnight after the rioting first broke out. This delay gave the revolutionists time to mature their plans. Happily I am in position to throw new light upon the subject of this French Revolution. About two years previous to its outbreak, I had been appointed to a responsible position in the Chinese Bureau of Foreign Intelligence, and with a view of acquiring knowledge which would fit me for the duties of that position, I had spent the preceding year and six months in Europe and North America. Though the policy of China, ever since the Nationalistic systein of government was generally adopted, had- been to render more strict our ancient policy of non-intercourse with foreign nations, our rulers had none the less recognized the importance of knowing accurately and intimately exactly what foreign governments were doing. Our Bureau of Foreign Intelligence was, therefore, considered by our statesmen as one of the most important departments of the government, and was maintained most liberally and admirably. Subsequent events proved that our statesmen had acted most wisely. We, in China, had long seen the signs of a disintegration of the Nationalistic governments, although your philosophers and rulers appeared lamentably blind to them. The French Revolution had not surprised us. We not only foresaw it, but we aided it. The men, who, during the, fortnight that the Paris government was practically paralyzed, organized and drilled the Marseillais, had visited China and had had the benefit of instruction in our military schools. The self-supplying airguns, with which the Marseillais were armed, were manufactured in China and had been secretly shipped to France.in anticipation of this very uprising. Indeed, there is now no harm in saying that the revolutionary movement in France was fomented, aided and abetted by China. Your school-books have already told you how the Marseillais met and defeated the government troops — that mockery of an army. You know how one success followed another and how the Nationalistic government melted before the armies of the new rulers as the snow melts beneath the rays of the April sun. You know, too, what general distress followed among the people, who had been so long accustomed to rely upon government for labor and support that they were too bewildered to labor individually and too helpless to support life by their individual resources. You know, too, how gladly they welcomed the establishment of the Empire and the reorganization of society on the feudal basis with modifications derived from the Chinese system of government. You know all this. It was part of your earlier historical studies. Therefore, I will not dwell upon it now. But while, as I have said, we in China were not surprised at the French Revolution nor at its success, we were surprised, and very greatly surprised, that the United States were so little warned by it. That the people were blind was not astonishing, since all the news that they received was what the government gave them in daily bulletins, usually very meagre; and to adversely criticise Nationalism or to point out its many weaknesses, at home or abroad, was treason and promptly punished as such. I repeat, that we in China were not surprised that the people of the United States took no note of the danger that might threaten them; but that their rulers were not warned was to us indeed astonishing. I do not think that your school histories impart the information that after the establishment of the French Empire, France became practically a dependency of China and annually paid to China a tribute of many million taels. Such, however, was the fact— and it is a fact that must be remembered in considering the subsequent events that took place during the war between the United States and China. The declaration, by China, of war against the United States undoubtedly took the latter nation by surprise. I quote, on this subject, from Professor Julian West's diary. He says, under date of September 29th, 2020: " We arrived in town this morning, all well but all sorry that our summer vacation in the Adiron-dacks has ended. Edith has been very busy all day getting the house in order." Under date of September 30th, he writes : " We returned home last night, too late for me to complete the entries of yesterday's happenings under their proper date. I, therefore, write them down to-day. We dined last night with the Berrians (descendants of the novelist). I was afraid that Edith was too tired to go out after her day's travel and household labors, and suggested, when we received the invitation, that we send a regret and spend the evening quietly at home — but she would have none of my suggestions, so we went. On our way we noticed that the streets seemed more full of people than usual; but as there was no appearance of excitement, it did not occur to us that any thing unusual had called the people from their houses. It was not until we were seated at the dinner table and my host had asked me what I thought of the news, and I had answered that, having just returned to town, I knew of no news of importance, that I learned that China had declared war against us. " The news was a surprise to me for I had never surmised that what few relations we had with China were otherwise than friendly. I was inclined to be alarmed at it also, but Edith and the Berrians were so calm, and so confident that our rulers at Washington would take all necessary measures of offense and defense, that I was almost assured that my alarm was groundless. The news, however, served as a topic of conversation during dinner and afterward, and I was obliged to recall what little I knew about our relations with China in the nineteenth century. Unfortunately this was not a subject to which I had given attention, and I was astonished at my ignorance of it. " As we went home we took occasion to pass by one of the public bulletin boards on which the news is printed by the government; but the announcement there simply stated that war had been declared, that the President was in consultation with the Generals of the several great guilds, and that further information would be furnished to-morrow. This was not very satisfactory to me, and I so expressed myself to Edith as we walked homeward, telling her also, as well as I was able, how the news would have been promulgated and received in my day; how the news-boys would have been crying extra editions of the newspapers through the streets; how the city would have been awake all the night; how the regular army would be hurrying east and west to man the coast defenses, and every navy yard hard at work. She listened with apparent interest to my descriptions and advised me to embody them in a lecture; but she was so confident that it was the duty of the officials at Washington to attend to all affairs of national defense, that I could not get her to show the slightest interest in anticipating what their action would be. Her reliance upon these officials and her confidence in their wisdom seemed to be shared by the Bostonians generally, for, though it was not midnight when we were returning, the city was as quiet and the streets as deserted as on a Sunday night. " Leete[6] was sitting up for us on our return. We naturally expressed surprise that he was not in bed, whereupon he said that he had waited for us in order to announce to his mother and myself his engagement to Margaretta Nesmyth. The news evidently did not take his mother entirely by surprise; women are quicker than men in discerning affairs of the heart; but to me it was altogether unexpected. We congratulated him, of course, and wished him joy, and he went happily to bed to dream blissfully of his lady love. " The first engagement in...