Voyage From Yesteryear - James P. Hogan

TYPE: Hardcover

CONDITION: GOOD

Comments: Pages are clean and unmarked. Binding is in good shape. Dust jacket present. Some wear and tear on the outer cover. See photos. 

Voyage From Yesteryear

Some of the Terrans privately reflected that the greatest weapon the Chirans possessed was their power of seduction. In the 40 years since the planet had been colonized - as Earth's massive conflict seemed inevitable - Chiron had become a world populated by simple, seemingly naive people.

For how could responsible adults create a world with no class system, no ceremony and no government?

Of course, the innocence of the Chiroans was enticing. And even the Chiroans' severest critics were forced to admit that Chiroan productivity was extremely high, that their non-money economy was successful, that shoddy workmanship was a quality unknown on the planet, that the Chiroans were happy, healthy, peaceful and intellectually alive. Which was exactly why the Terrans, in ever-increasing numbers, were joining the Chiroans.

Only a few of the Terrans realized that to call the Chiraons children was akin to calling foxes stupid.

***

The Mayflower II had come to Chiron after a 20-year voyage, leaving the turmoil of Earth far behind. As one Terran aboard put it, the iceberg of Earth's society had capsized, with the masses at the bottom scrambling for the privileges at the top. And to those fleeing Earth, the solution seemed to be greater socialorganization, with regimented responsibilities and inviolate social borders.

Howard Kalens, the Director of Liason, and Garfield Wellesley, the Mission Director, agreed that persuasion of the Chiroans to return to traditional Terran values. Unfortunately, the Chiroans, while pacifistic, seemed to possess superior powers of persuasion. 

For on Chiron, workers were not mere underlings. Each chose a job that fitted his or her tastes and capabilities, and each was respected and deferred to on the basis of competence alone. A project director was no more powerful than a house-painter.

Not surprisingly, this terrified the Terran leaders. For without a caste system, their power would crumble. And to preserve the Terran way of life, they were prepared to utilize even the ultimate devastation of atomic weapons...

The riveting story of two worlds in conflict, by the author of The Minervan Experiment.