The Man in the High Castle in Albany and The First Amendment

Popehat ^ | December 12, 2015 | Marc Randazza

[OddLane]

The Man in the High Castle is a piece of alternative history fiction, which imagines an alternate future in which fascist forces won World War II. The Nazis occupy the eastern part of the United States, while the Japanese take up residence in the west. The Italians are non-existent in the series. You would think that they would get Rhode Island, Connecticut, and New Jersey… but I digress.

So there is an alternate future in which America loses its civil liberties and fascist forces occupy it. There is a surveillance state. Political dissent is not tolerated. Hmm… add in a butterfly ballot and some hanging chads and its… well, I digress again.

Suffice to say, this alternate future provokes the imagination. What lessons does it teach us? There is something for everyone in it. Stand up to fascism? Defend the homeland? We should all be armed?

But, in a day and age when Americans flee both left and right to avoid thought, it just couldn't be without some controversy. Someone had to complain that it invaded their "safe space." THEY'RE FEELS!!! THIS IS ARE COUNTRY!!!

[ifinnegan]

Huh?

[Dr. Sivana]

In the book, they get southern Europe and northern Africa. Not bad, considering . . .

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Man_in_the_High_Castle#/media/File:Man_in_the_High_Castle_Dick.png

[Dr. Sivana]

My alternative history has Reagan winning the Republican nomination in ‘68.

Another one has a terrorist attack on teh Dem national convention in SF in 1984, leveling the place and everyone in it (Dems, reporters, local activists).

We’ll just have to live in the history we’ve got.

[Dr. Sivana]

There is a red, white, and blue “rising sun” flag, and a stars and stripes that replaces the 50 stars with one big fascist looking eagle.

Actually, the eagle on the back of the U.S. One Dollar Bill is even more fascist.

[Larry Lucido]

Maybe if you posted the whole blog it might make more sense. But probably not.

[Drango]

It was brilliant marketing by Amazon that bought them far more exposure than they could have imagined. Plus it exposed the fascist left and their intolerance.

NOTE: I’ve tried to watch “Man in the High Castle” as it has a great premise. Unfortunately it drags in large segments and I turn it off to watch something with a faster pace, like golf.

[Pollster1]

An alternative history in which a national socialist or any breed of socialist takes power in the United States? An alternative history in which a petty tyrant has absolute power in the United States?

It seems plausible . . . except for the word “alternative”.

[Robert DeLong]

There is a surveillance state. Political dissent is not tolerated.

Sounds like we are already there, even though the "fascists" lost.

[ifinnegan]

“I’ve tried to watch “Man in the High Castle” as it has a great premise. Unfortunately it drags in large segments”

I didn’t see it at all, but I read a lot of Dick books, loved them at the time, except for this one which was exactly as you describe. It was the only Dick book I had to drag myself through to read.

[Dr. Sivana]

Unfortunately it drags in large segments and I turn it off to watch something with a faster pace, like golf.

It picks up as the pieces fit together. In the last episode it starts going all existential on us, and I had to think about the ending a read a synopsis of the book to get it. I don't know if there will be a Season 2. A lot is left unresolved. The actors who play Frank and Nazi Smith are both very good. The actress who plays Julianna is very beautiful. Ed (who becomes more important later) is perfectly cast. A little hard to tell all of those black haired Japanese party officials apart.

[Still Thinking]

My experience exactly. Dick wrote a lot of great stories....and this one. Blech. Very unlikable characters, for one thing.

One of the many that I like is the one where the dissipated libertine goes to the place to get cloned, over and over again, only to realize as the new clone is leaving that is cloning and not a miracle medical treatment.

[Mears]

The Japanese head of security/intelligence (with the glasses) is played by an Hispanic actor.

The certainly surprised me.

.

.

[JoeFromSidney]

I'm probably wasting my breath (or bandwidth), but I'll try again.

The Nazis were not Fascists. They were National Socialists. The Japanese were not Fascists. They were emperor-worshipers and Shintoists. One might argue some similarities with Mussolini-style Fascism in government support of major industries in Japan, but Mussolini would never have recognized it as Fascism.

If we're going to turn the word Fascism into nothing but a label for things we don't like, then we lose the ability to describe a specific set of beliefs. As the philosopher Wittgenstein wrote, "The limits of my language mean the limits of my world.." Turn the word "fascism" into a meaningless noise, and we can no longer identify it when we encounter it.

Historically, the National Socialists in Germany were lumped together with the Italian Fascists so as not to upset our ally, the Union of Soviet Socialist Republics.

[dljordan]

“America loses its civil liberties and fascist forces occupy it. There is a surveillance state.”

Uhhh. Already happened?

[tbw2]

Which story is this one: One of the many that I like is the one where the dissipated libertine goes to the place to get cloned, over and over again, only to realize as the new clone is leaving that is cloning and not a miracle medical treatment.?

[tbw2]

They irony of showing a foreign occupying fascist government in an alternate past while revealing the native one of today.

[Still Thinking]

Don’t know the name (apparently I don’t know Dick!). It’s not a novel; is a short story, maybe 20 pages. Don’t remember where I read it, maybe an anthology of Dick short stories.