Ender's Game
One of things that is supposed to be notable about Ender, is that he encourages other kids to think for themselves and chip in. He is even reminded of this just before his biggest battle against the bug aliens. So what does he in fact do? He leaves all his other commanders' forces to be sacrificed, and therefore left with nothing to individually command. How nice it would have been to see the focus pulled off him, as he ostensibly wishes, and actually witness some of the other commanders make decisions. But we don't get that, and instead the sense that all we need is one great leader, and everyone else might as well being prompt, order-applying drones. A good pilot or good gunner might get some special accolades--nice flying/gunning, ace! especially you, cutie!--but not for any property of leadership. Maybe one of the reasons he has so many sympathy for the Queen alien, is that he's effectively looking in the mirror. The two boss commanders, vastly superior to everyone else, in discussion, in camaraderie, after battle: "I alone know how you feel."
He's upset over his genocide, but how about making his own species shrug its shoulders and leaving Earth's purpose mostly all to him? We could try, but he'd do it ten times better anyway, so what's the point. I'll let an actual drone do my part, and be in the bar remembering the days when human volition had a demonstrable point. You all can go about still worshipping him if you like.
In actual truth, though, he--or his representatives in history--is not really special at all, atypical. But rather instead brilliantly representative of the current appetites of the people. Hitler was in in Germany, only because he wanted it as bad as Germans did. He directed the German "finger," this way or that. But the choice wasn't his whether or not to pull out the gun. If he was distinctive, they'd actually look past him, picking even an imbecile over him, to imagine as superhuman--which is what they had done for him, after all--if he's as thirsty for punishment, murder, and massive wasteful human sacrifice as self-punishment for the terrible sin of having enjoyed life too much, as they were. The best leaders, the ones remembered as singular, as genius, always end up being the bloodiest ones ... the point is, they delivered the gross blood bath we wanted, and for as much we're willing to dress them up, however preposterously, as if they were fundamentally neat-freak creatures of tactics and calibration.
One of things that is supposed to be notable about Ender, is that he encourages other kids to think for themselves and chip in. He is even reminded of this just before his biggest battle against the bug aliens. So what does he in fact do? He leaves all his other commanders' forces to be sacrificed, and therefore left with nothing to individually command. How nice it would have been to see the focus pulled off him, as he ostensibly wishes, and actually witness some of the other commanders make decisions. But we don't get that, and instead the sense that all we need is one great leader, and everyone else might as well being prompt, order-applying drones. A good pilot or good gunner might get some special accolades--nice flying/gunning, ace! especially you, cutie!--but not for any property of leadership. Maybe one of the reasons he has so many sympathy for the Queen alien, is that he's effectively looking in the mirror. The two boss commanders, vastly superior to everyone else, in discussion, in camaraderie, after battle: "I alone know how you feel."
He's upset over his genocide, but how about making his own species shrug its shoulders and leaving Earth's purpose mostly all to him? We could try, but he'd do it ten times better anyway, so what's the point. I'll let an actual drone do my part, and be in the bar remembering the days when human volition had a demonstrable point. You all can go about still worshipping him if you like.
In actual truth, though, he--or his representatives in history--is not really special at all, atypical. But rather instead brilliantly representative of the current appetites of the people. Hitler was in in Germany, only because he wanted it as bad as Germans did. He directed the German "finger," this way or that. But the choice wasn't his whether or not to pull out the gun. If he was distinctive, they'd actually look past him, picking even an imbecile over him, to imagine as superhuman--which is what they had done for him, after all--if he's as thirsty for punishment, murder, and massive wasteful human sacrifice as self-punishment for the terrible sin of having enjoyed life too much, as they were. The best leaders, the ones remembered as singular, as genius, always end up being the bloodiest ones ... the point is, they delivered the gross blood bath we wanted, and for as much we're willing to dress them up, however preposterously, as if they were fundamentally neat-freak creatures of tactics and calibration.
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