Things to Come: Overview


Figure 1.--Wells in "Thingsto Come" accurately depicts another world war. But in that depiction there is nothing to suggest that Britain stood for something essential. Wells would insist at various imes that he believed in ideas, that human history was in fact based on ideas. But he totally missed missed the ideas at stake in his own time. He failed to see the value of ideas like the rule of law, parlimentary democracy, and market capitalism.

Well had a science background, sort of. He performed poorly on an astronomical physics test and several other exams as a youth. He did finally get a university degree in niology. That shows in this films and hos books. What Welld failed tounderstand was the political issues of the day. Well like most British people believed was that the Great War as it was called was not a great mistake, but saved Europe from German domination. And he failed to appreciate that approaching was in fact Britain's greatest moment--helping to save Europe from NAZI and Communist domination--essentialy saving Western civilization. Wells would insist at various imes that he believed in ideas, that human history was in fact based on ideas. But he totally missed missed the ideas at stake in his own time. He failed to see the importance of individual rights and personal fteedom--expressed in the value of ideas like the rule of law, parlimentary democracy, and market capitalism. None of those ideas are central to any of his books. Instread he dissimilated with some of the worst ideas of all time. He interviewed Lenin, calling him "creative". He concluded that Communism was the best hope for reforming Russia. One observer points out that, "The man simply never met a collectivist movement that didn't intrigue him." [Miller] He admired Fascists, writing, "There is good in these Fascists. There is something brave and well-meaning about them." speaking of Italian Fascists in 1927." On the itherhand he throughly despised Catholicism and mocked Jewish traditions, calling them "nonsense." During the World War, another British author, George Orwell, wrote, "Much of what Wells has imagined and worked for is physically there in Nazi Germany." The ending reflects Well's basic outlook that science was what mattered when people begin to question science. But at the end there is still no discussion of politicall issues and great ideas such as individual liberty. And here Wells does not seem to connect the dots which point to the fact that societies which value individual rights are the sicieties where science flourishes.

Sources

Miller, John J. "War of the Worldviews: H.G. Wells was a sci-fi pioneer, but his political ideas were abominable, Wall Street Journal (June 21, 2005).






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Created: 6:31 AM 1/11/2010
Last updated: 5:23 AM 1/11/2010