fantasy ideology (was 'Sandton')

[Dddddd0814 at aol.com]

Michael wrote:
<<For want of a better term, call the phenomenon in question a fantasy 
ideology — by which I mean, 
political and ideological symbols and tropes used not for political purposes, 
but entirely for the 
benefit of furthering a specific personal or collective fantasy. It is, to be 
frank, something like 
“Dungeons and Dragons” carried out not with the trappings of medieval 
romances — old castles and 
maidens in distress — but entirely in terms of ideological symbols and 
emblems. The difference between 
them is that one is an innocent pastime while the other has proven to be one 
of the most terrible 
scourges to afflict the human race.>>

This certainly seems to describe many anarchists' parallel interests in 
sci-fi and fantasy novels. I wish I could remember where it was, but there is 
this one great anarchist website which goes seemlessly from quasi-political 
manifesto to a recount of Tolkien, as a direct justification of the relevance 
of the latter to the former....

-- david