Blog Archives
CAN ANIMALS FARM WITHOUT PIGS?
Animal Farm was published in 1945 by author George Orwell, satirizing collectivism at a time when western countries felt threatened by Russia’s totalitarian communism.
Animal Farm 2 by Martin Knox is a new sequel to Orwell’s satire, from Soviet to modern times, when western countries may feel vulnerable to Russian restoration and expansionism.
The farm animals are on Caruba Island under superpower influence. They have learned English and climate science, to challenge the ruling pigs who exploit them cruelly. They are forced to labour in the farm’s coal mine. When the pigs shut it down, they are without pay and energy. Will the animals revolt again and depose the pigs, who deposed the farmer?
The animals are seeking animal liberation but how would they govern the farm?
On Amazon. Reviews see martinknox.com
CHANGING THE AUSTRALIAN CONSTITUTION
Australians will vote shortly in a referendum for alteration of the constitution to have an Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Voice. There is no argument for a Yes or No position following. My intention is to draw attention to considerations that do not seem to be acknowledged in the official Referendum Booklet where the cases are compared. Novels I have written expound on three issues omitted from this official guide.
Is the proposed change overreach of Australia’s nanny state? I have presented disadvantages of our nanny state in my novel Turkeys Not Bees. A nanny state can benefit people but it can also lead to totalitarianism. My novel Animal Farm 2 is a satirical sequel to George Orwell’s expose of totalitarianism. The proposal is for more control of our democracy, reducing individual freedom.
Recognition in the Constitution of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples would increase their collective access to Parliament and Executive Government, reducing relative access of other other individual Australians. A case for Australian individualism is presented in Turkeys Not Bees. The referendum proposes a new social spectacle, described by De Bord, 1967. It could appear to have solidarity within the Aboriginal and TSI community, which could result in exploitation by organisations and politicians, unless checks and balances would be adopted later.
Athletes’ access to government support should be equal for all Australians. Establishing affirmative action by this referendum could prevent performances by all Australians from being potentially equal. We need more Cathy Freemans, not an underclass of performers selected by race. My novel Time Is Gold makes cases for competition and innovation in sport.
In summary, the referendum could affirm nanny statism, collectivism, social exploitation and segregation.
My novels are available on Amazon. Excerpts and reviews are at martinknox.com
DO PERFORMERS CREATE OR OBEY?
Megan is a champion pole vaulter who self-coaches using phenomenology to identify potential for improving her performances. She is held back by event organisers who want close finishes to sell tickets and media advertising. Athletes are constrained by regulations and industry hype to provide crowd-pleasing performances and camera shots with the appearance of fair competition. The sporting juggernaut rolls through a season with athletics, soccer, gymnastics, cricket, tennis, swimming, golf, cycling, rugby and horse racing. Only horse racing has handicapping to obtain closer finishes but other sports prevent innovations by athletes who are paid to entertain.
When an Australian national sporting body tries to prevent Megan using an effective new training technique, developed by her partner Chance, based on his PhD research, they are opposed by levellers who want all ability levels to be able to succeed in competitions. Megan is an individualist who is prevented from doing her best by collectivists who subscribe to a nanny state that is running amok. The ethos of affirmative action is spreading to education, employment and arts.
The restrictions on Megan become intolerable during an outbreak of Covid. Faced with mandatory vaccinations, they lead a campaign of non-violent civil disobedience. If they succeed, future society can be individual, like brush turkeys, who live independent lives. But if they fail, collective living could assign them to slave-like worker roles, like honey bees. Which human destiny do people want? What action can you take to mend society? Turkeys Not Bees is novel fiction by Martin Knox. Available on Amazon. Reviews at martinknox.com
THE ART OF AIMING HIGH
This novel tells of a fictional couple’s journeys in idyllic careers, from a philosophical perspective.
Chance was a selfish entitled university student in Australia, having acquaintances but few loyal friends. Employed in Canada, he took risks and when they didn’t work out he gradually became more responsible. He was ambitious and his career emulated the Camel, Lion, Dragon and Child, told in an allegory by philosopher Nietzsche, in his novel Thus Spake Zarathustra (1883). Disillusioned with his job and wanting a child’s freedom to create, Chance quit his employer’s treadmill.
He became a physics researcher back in Australia and met Megan, an elite athlete and psychologist. They became partners. He helped her train using phenomenology, learned from philosopher Heidegger. He introduced her to Mihaly’s ‘flow’, a timeless psychological condition. Megan became self-coached and won a place on the Olympics squad. But her success with flow led to banning by nanny state officials, who wanted competitors to have equal success.
Megan and Chance are individualists who want to be virtuous. They study various philosophies and pursue free competition, abjuring collectivism. When they catch Covid, will they conform to quarantine and vaccination demands?
The story is speculative fiction, that exposes how their individual freedom is vulnerable to trends in athletics, ballet, sport, academia, media and capitalism, as described by Debord, in his book The Society of the Spectacle, 1967. After years of irresponsibility, they commit to living like scrub turkeys, with freedom and independence.
They avoid living like bees, conditioned for lives of work and dependence, without sex.
Turkeys Not Bees is available on Amazon. For reviews see martinknox.com
