At 06:48 AM 5/8/2004, Jose Marquez wrote:
>>>Does society change permanently when Teklas rule?
>>
>>Let's think about this: how many Teckla reigns have there been? And how many
>>time has society been changed permanently? It seems pretty much the same, as
>>far as I can tell.
How can any of us tell? We've only been exposed to one reign...that of the
Phoenix in this particular cycle. Granted, the actual ruler changed but
that isn't necessarily uncommon. Ask Sethra how many times society has been
changed permanently. I bet she'd laugh. Then, if you shortened the question
by one word ("permanently"), she might deign some such answer as "I lost
count two hundred thousand years ago." I imagine it's more like what our
world has experienced (given that some thousands of years of history were
pre-writing and therefore we know nothing of): widespread injustice giving
way to some equality (for the lucky ones) giving way to more equality
(except for the unlucky ones) giving way to some equality giving way to
widespread injustice.
So in a way I agree. It doesn't change permanently. But it doesn't stay
"pretty much the same", rather it sways from one extreme to the other.
>I don't think there's ever really been a Teckla reign. Maybe I'm just
>quibbling, but the Teckla "reign" is actually a Teckla Republic. Which
>makes me wonder about the role of the Teckla heir: Is he a sacrificial
>lamb to a French Revolution-like republican mob? In other words, does the
>cycle turn, the heir made emperor, and then all the other Teckla rise up
>against him, guillotine him, and install a republic until their Turn is over?
I would guess the Teckla heir is elected. When it's the Teckla's turn,
their elected heir is, well, not emperor. President? Actually what I find
more likely is that the Teckla send an elected representative to those
assemblies that the rest of the Houses send their heir to.
Rachel