Posted by: 90sRetroFan
« on: December 15, 2023, 09:15:20 pm »Our enemies are completely wrong about Tolkien being a rightist. He was part of the Romantic movement arguing that the Renaissance should never have happened, which we agree with. In LOTR, Orcs represent the Industrial Revolution:
https://medium.com/literally-literary/isengard-represented-the-industrial-revolution-because-tolkien-hated-technology-6ed05430ecce
whereas Hobbits represent an idealization of a clearly pre-Renaissance lifestyle, as I pointed out here:
https://trueleft.createaforum.com/issues/wmds/msg100/#msg100
This is how Tolkien wished Britain could have stayed instead of becoming the British Empire. I agree with him. Do not confuse Tolkien with his illiterate Eurocentrist fans (including Hood):
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6p3eke/in_tolkiens_work_orcs_represented_industry_and/
The difference between Tolkien and his illiterate Eurocentrist fans is the same as the difference between Hitler and neo-Nazis. The irony is that Tolkien himself confused Hitler with the neo-Nazi portrayal of Hitler (and hence disliking the latter thought he disliked the former).
Also, in real life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race#Opposition_to_racism_in_South_Africa
https://medium.com/literally-literary/isengard-represented-the-industrial-revolution-because-tolkien-hated-technology-6ed05430ecce
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In Middle-earth everything is in decay. And a new force is rising: the force of darkness. It becomes apparent, not only through orcs and Uruks, but through a will to supplant the old world. The method: modernization.
In both the movies and books we see Isengard, the home of Saruman the White, go from forest to factory. Why: to build an army for the dark lord Sauron, who is coming to claim the world. Where trees once rested, swords and armor are being forged deep in the earth. And in the midst of this is the enemy. Their tool of destruction is steel. And flames.
And the forest pays the price. Numerous trees are cut down and burned. Tolkien is showing that in order for this new, mechanical world to prosper, it must abolish the old one completely.
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the villains of the story (Saruman and co., Sauron) are associated with machines.
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Tolkien’s views reflect a hard look at modern society. England’s Industrial Revolution, the culprit, had lasted from 1760 to about 1870, creating a brand new system of labor, trade, and transportation. Rural life was fast declining in the wake of urban cities and factories. With the Industrial Revolution came a new wave of hazards as well: pollutants, sewage problems, sanitation, workplace injuries, and a plethora of various diseases.
whereas Hobbits represent an idealization of a clearly pre-Renaissance lifestyle, as I pointed out here:
https://trueleft.createaforum.com/issues/wmds/msg100/#msg100
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(recall Tolkien's description of Hobbits: "no understanding of machinery more complicated than the watermill, forge bellows, and the hand loom")
This is how Tolkien wished Britain could have stayed instead of becoming the British Empire. I agree with him. Do not confuse Tolkien with his illiterate Eurocentrist fans (including Hood):
https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/6p3eke/in_tolkiens_work_orcs_represented_industry_and/
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Tolkien was an author traumatised by industrialised 20th century warfare, and there is definitely something of the industrialised military in his the portrayal of orcs - and especially of his portrayal of the orcs in Isengard.
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However, the authors and tabletop gaming pioneers following in Tolkien's wake didn't have the same theological compunction
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such writers fundamentally identify evil with stupidity and savagery
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Warhammer Fantasy Battle came to the tabletop, depicting orcs and goblins with bows and axes contrasted with humans and dwarfs with pistols and cannon
The difference between Tolkien and his illiterate Eurocentrist fans is the same as the difference between Hitler and neo-Nazis. The irony is that Tolkien himself confused Hitler with the neo-Nazi portrayal of Hitler (and hence disliking the latter thought he disliked the former).
Also, in real life:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tolkien_and_race#Opposition_to_racism_in_South_Africa
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Tolkien's son Christopher, training in South Africa, expressed concern about the treatment of black people at the hands of whites, and his father replied:[T 12]
As for what you say or hint of 'local' conditions: I knew of them. I don't think they have much changed (even for the worse). I used to hear them discussed by my mother; and have ever since taken a special interest in that part of the world. The treatment of colour nearly always horrifies anyone going out from Britain & not only in South Africa. Unfort[unately] not many retain that generous sentiment for long.[T 12]