If
indeed social movements occur in cycles that over time have a net result of
zero, what then is the value of scientific pursuit? If humanity will inevitably revert to
primitivism, of what use is maneuvering toward that fuzzy idea of ‘civilization’? Is it just to give us something to do with
our time on Earth? Is it an innate,
unavoidable aspect of being human we should shun? Is it just false hope? Or, is there a light at the end of the
tunnel? These questions and more Leigh
Brackett examines in her oft-overlooked 1955 magnum opus The Long Tomorrow. A simple
tale, it nevertheless lays bare one of the most fundamental questions we face: to
what goal should humanity strive?
Post
apocalypse, The Long Tomorrow posits
an America where technologically advanced civilization was put to blame for the
catastrophe of global nuclear war that followed upon Hiroshima. Religious groups jumping into the void of
leadership that followed, new laws were enacted to prevent cities from
developing larger than 1,000 people.
Large gatherings of minds seen as the root cause for the development of
such destructive technology, in the years that followed America became a
scattering of pastoral micro-communities of religious groups of varying
fervor. Neighbor keeping close watch
over neighbor, technology such as radios and tvs is the work of the devil, the
simple life of farming the norm.
