Carthage Must Be
Developed!
Okay. I went through
the The Green North again, and I
think I see the problem. I think I see
why I couldn’t identify the thesis the first time through. It’s because Rohmer assumes that the point is
self-evident: The arctic is empty. We have to put Canadians all over it.
(And drill the shit out of it. Although that’s another problem with The Green North; it’s program is sort of
a loop; we have to put Canadians cities on the permafrost in order to drill the
shit out of it, and once we start drilling, the delicious gold-lined
asbestos/nickel-coated natural gas will support the cities full of
Canadians.)
So don’t just stand there, near water and your friends, not
freezing to death! Hop in this de Havilland Otter! Time’s a wastin’!
I didn’t even get the double meaning of the title until just
now. The North isn’t green because it
arguably supports vegetation; it’s green because money.
Now, if the taxpayers would just build roads, railways,
ports, pipelines, green houses, schools, theatres, jails and nuclear power
plants – and maybe order people to live there; that part is unclear – rugged
free-enterprisers could make a fortune.
Stupid government.
They’d better not ruin this plan with a lot of red tape.
Rohmer only seems
to be working backwards from “let’s build six cities and make people move
there; it won’t be half as horrible as they think.” He assumes that you see what he sees: A land
without a people, and a perfect place for a Winnipeg.
Real estate does that to some people. Duddy Kravitz. Samuel de Champlain. I’m not shitting on it; I’ve just never felt
it. And maybe that’s like reading The Great Gatsby if you’ve never loved
someone who moved on. You had to be
there.
Brian/Stan: What did you think about the hints in The Green North that America in 1970 had
weeks if not days to live? And that the
probable cause of death was going to be a race war? Did that feel sort of creepy? That Rohmer had the same general domestic concerns as Charlie Manson? Or was Rohmer just reacting to what he read
in the paper?
You're right, of course, the reason for populating Mid-Canada is so glaringly obvious that it need not be stated… in a book meant to sell the idea of populating Mid-Canada.
ReplyDeleteBecause it's something just read - I finished the book only ten minutes ago - I came away thinking that it might have something to do with all the "moderate Americans" who'll be flooding over the border once their race war starts. And then there are all those Brits we'll have to accept once the UK economy collapses. (See: Exodus/UK).
It's like Mirabel. The government builds it and the people will come. The airlines and W.H. Smith will make a killing.
Oh, but on Mid-Canada Ottawa is being so unsupportive. It's being asked for nothing more than money, infrastructure and staffing; private industry will handle the rest. (Reminder to Ottawa: Mid-Canadians shouldn't be expected to pay much tax.)
Hey, the Soviets are doing it. Sure, they'll say all sorts of things - when The Green North was published they were claiming to have invented baseball - but you can take them at their word when it comes to Norilsk. They say it's a success and I believe them. Why, its residents are purchasing the very finest Soviet furnishings.
(Correction: Noriilsk was not "established only in 1953", as Rohmer claims.)
So, c'mon Canadians, let's show those commie bastards a thing or two, build our own planned communities, and get drilling and digging for Imperial Oil, Northern & Central Gas, the Steel Company of Canada and Cassiar Asbestos!