Science Reality

The Great Condi and Straw show in Baghdad has inspired many witty and sarcastic articles, particularly in Britain. Over this side of the pond, Newsweek has one rather interesting but inconsistent article by Michael Hirsh. His description of the Green Zone in Baghdad is particularly interesting. It at once invokes the images of a gated community and cities in science fictions like Code 46 and Mad Max. I suppose they are all pretty much the same thing, at least in basic ideas, in that they are all despotic locales behind walls and guns, with which they maintain their domination of the outside. Disconnect and misinformation are typical. The power relationship between the inside and the outside is metaphoric and imaginary in science fiction but in Baghdad or Isleworth it is reality. Build a wall, close your eyes and hire someone to subdue the restless natives, that is the whole idea. Now the U.S. may soon build a wall along its border, I guess it is just appropriate.