July 11, 2010: Book Club Parable of the Talents

What is the narrative purpose behind Lauren and Bankole, other than the resources he has?
She's more mature than most people around her regardless of age
Father issues?
What do you think of Acorn?
Constant learning is good
Technically primitive but socially/culturally advanced
Has traditional family roles, as opposed to some communes
Sort of opposite to a commune, trying to get away from craziness and be more conventional, rather than establish a radical alternative to the mainstream
Was Acorn a mistake?
Easy to destroy
But the story of its destruction, and the survival of Lauren and others in spite of it, is powerful and could help build the religion of Earthseed
Also, the survivors (not just Lauren) might become missionaries
Dan saving his sisters (Ben doesn't remember this)
Simple self-sacrifice vs. more complex heroism?
Planned third book would have been about the challenges of settling an alien world
Similar issues as first two books? (coping with a "desolate world" here on Earth)
In space travel, social, economic, and political issues will always be more complex than the technical challenges
Can we get positive philosophies or religions like Earthseed to prevent misuse of space ex. by pushing asteroids toward Earth? Or will space just be dominated by corporations and/or the military?
Could company towns and debt slavery recur in space?
Common theme in other SF: However well-chosen the crew is, they will end up acting like average people
Power and corruption
Christian America people abusing slave collars are corrupt partly because their ethical "powers" are less advanced than they need to be, since CA deliberately goes backward in ethical history