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Fan Slants, v. 1, issue 1, September 1943
Page 17
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FAN SLANTS..........................................................17 fourth of the population) should be sterilized long before there is any chance of their having offspring. The average 50% should be lim-ited to no more than one or two offspring per couple, but the top fourth should be expected to bear the bulk of children, and should be assisted by the state financially and in every other way. In time, the average intelligence of the world would slowly rise, and we would have a race well-developed enought to make sensible use of the science the present sub-race has abused. This would take care of heredity, but environment is equally im-portant. Obviously, high standards of existence are a prime require-ment which will provide the utmost in mental and emotional advantages. Education should be wholly on a basis of merit and ability, and the whole school system should be revamped to turn out thinking, civilized individuals. Stupid people will probably continue to find the family group necessary, but it seems to me far better to put our geniuses to-gether so that they may stimulate one another, rather than leave them in the stultifying surroundings of the average home. As I have said before, the greatest difficulty in making a better world is the problem of coping with the average person, and his unrea-soning religious, economic, and biological prejudices. All other difficulties in the way of progress are a mere nothing compared with this. In order to get Mr. Average Man to accept a better civilization it must be shoved down his throat with a bayonet. If a new system such as I have in view should come into power, ti would have to adopt a pa-ternalistic attitude towards all the inferior members of the human race---give them full bellies, warm houses, lots of stupid shows and radio programs, and all the booze and sex they want--let them go their own gait so long as they do not interfere with the great work of pro-gress. The bulk of the race could easily be bought in this manner, and any recalcitrants could readily be exterminated. Then our handful of geniuses could go ahead and do their utmost to make the kind of world that is worht having, and at the same time gradually breed the great bulk of average strains out of existence. Where does fandom fit into this picture? I, as one rather cowardly little fellow, prefer to find what happiness I can with my various hobbies, rather than go out and fight organized society. I realize that, feeling as I do about the future world, I have no right to shirk my share of building it; yet on the other hand, by prostituting myself to the present system, I can enjoy life for a while at least. Fans who would like to get into the struggle would first of all do well to cultivate the scientific attitude in their daily lives. Joe Gibson's rebuttal to my article in the Vom Annish has another splendid idea---that of subtly propagandizing the new ideas in pro science-fiction. This will at lease recruit many more fans, whether ornot it affects the general population. Then, any movement which tends to des-troy or undermine religion, abolish the profit system, or remove racial prejudice and discrimination is well worth the support of all fans. Though some of these movements aim more towards retrogression than progression, in the long run any disintegration of the present sys-tem will make our own task that much easier. And last but not least, don't forget we're going to have to lick the Axis before we do any-thing else. [line break] so you don't agree with him? well, then, let's have your ideas!!
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FAN SLANTS..........................................................17 fourth of the population) should be sterilized long before there is any chance of their having offspring. The average 50% should be lim-ited to no more than one or two offspring per couple, but the top fourth should be expected to bear the bulk of children, and should be assisted by the state financially and in every other way. In time, the average intelligence of the world would slowly rise, and we would have a race well-developed enought to make sensible use of the science the present sub-race has abused. This would take care of heredity, but environment is equally im-portant. Obviously, high standards of existence are a prime require-ment which will provide the utmost in mental and emotional advantages. Education should be wholly on a basis of merit and ability, and the whole school system should be revamped to turn out thinking, civilized individuals. Stupid people will probably continue to find the family group necessary, but it seems to me far better to put our geniuses to-gether so that they may stimulate one another, rather than leave them in the stultifying surroundings of the average home. As I have said before, the greatest difficulty in making a better world is the problem of coping with the average person, and his unrea-soning religious, economic, and biological prejudices. All other difficulties in the way of progress are a mere nothing compared with this. In order to get Mr. Average Man to accept a better civilization it must be shoved down his throat with a bayonet. If a new system such as I have in view should come into power, ti would have to adopt a pa-ternalistic attitude towards all the inferior members of the human race---give them full bellies, warm houses, lots of stupid shows and radio programs, and all the booze and sex they want--let them go their own gait so long as they do not interfere with the great work of pro-gress. The bulk of the race could easily be bought in this manner, and any recalcitrants could readily be exterminated. Then our handful of geniuses could go ahead and do their utmost to make the kind of world that is worht having, and at the same time gradually breed the great bulk of average strains out of existence. Where does fandom fit into this picture? I, as one rather cowardly little fellow, prefer to find what happiness I can with my various hobbies, rather than go out and fight organized society. I realize that, feeling as I do about the future world, I have no right to shirk my share of building it; yet on the other hand, by prostituting myself to the present system, I can enjoy life for a while at least. Fans who would like to get into the struggle would first of all do well to cultivate the scientific attitude in their daily lives. Joe Gibson's rebuttal to my article in the Vom Annish has another splendid idea---that of subtly propagandizing the new ideas in pro science-fiction. This will at lease recruit many more fans, whether ornot it affects the general population. Then, any movement which tends to des-troy or undermine religion, abolish the profit system, or remove racial prejudice and discrimination is well worth the support of all fans. Though some of these movements aim more towards retrogression than progression, in the long run any disintegration of the present sys-tem will make our own task that much easier. And last but not least, don't forget we're going to have to lick the Axis before we do any-thing else. [line break] so you don't agree with him? well, then, let's have your ideas!!
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