A divided kingdom?

I am currently reading ‘Divided Kingdom’ by Rupert Thomson which is set in a parallel world in which Britain is split into four different countries where people are ‘rearranged’ by the old-fashioned ‘humours’ – choleric, melancholic, phlegmatic and sanguine.

The book covers lots of issues which I feel are very relevant to the way that Government wants to move society – something I have covered before in this blog. Issues such as freedom and individual choice are clearly apparent in the book as well as more complex themes such as alienation and social engineering.

One passage struck home with me, a passage that – while not wholly relevant as yet - could become a scary reality if we, as a society, remain passive and supine and are not willing to challenge the things that will have a major impact on our lives.

“It’s like racism really … I don’t mean the old racism. That’s dead and gone. I’m not interested in the colour of someone’s skin. It’s their thoughts that bother me. The new racism is psychological. What’s strange is, we seem to need it – we thrive on it. If we don’t have someone to despise, we feel uncomfortable, we feel we haven’t properly defined ourselves. Hate gives us hard edges. And the authorities knew that, of course. In fact, they were banking on it. They force-fed us our own weakness – our intolerance, our bigotry. They rammed it down our throats … They took the worst part of us, and built a system out of it. And it worked –“

Find out more …

http://www.dividedkingdom.co.uk/

… or buy the book!

And, on a similar theme, I see they are remaking the sixties TV series, ‘The Prisoner’, as a film. Another timely reminder about things we need to be wary of.

Live by Number 6’s mantra:

“I will not be pushed, filed, stamped, indexed, briefed, debriefed or numbered. My life is my own. “