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Scientifictionist, v. 2, issue 1, November 1946-January 1947
Page 2
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group together a bevy of sympathetic minds. Now sometimes this produces results. Too often, though, it all just serves either to bore or offend the average fan, who, upon noting that nine pages of his favorite fan mag are devoted to plugs for the Greenwich Village Social Club's latest campaign to liberate the proletariat, wails in anguish, "What's this got to do with stf?", or,"Gimme Lovecraft articles, reviews of Flash Gordon, anything but this!" However, political movements in fandom aren't checked by such luke-warm opposition, as we can easily see by taking a look at the record. II Michelism may not have been the first, but it will probably be among the longest remembered. It all began back in '37 at a convention in Philadelphia, when the Futurians unsuccessfully attempted to put across a resolution that convention attendees should ally themselves with world powers advocating the application of science to international affairs, and striving for a better world --as defined by the theories of Marxist Communism. Although the FSNY bunch plugged it long afterward, the movement never gained too much support throughout the rest of fandom. Many of the Futurians continued to hold personal beliefs similar to the basic outlines of Michelism, but eventually they abandoned the attempt to thrust the program down fandom's collective throat; too, the entrance of individual Futurians into the professional field cut down the impetus of the Michelist movement as a whole. Communism has not been dormant in fandom of late, however, for some of the FSNY old-guard plus angelenos Kepner, Brown and Saha have publicized their Communist sympathies. Kepner actually published a vermillion version of Toward Tomorrow. Those versed in fan history should have no trouble in recalling the self-styled Intellectual Brotherhood of Pro-Scientists. Back around 1940 or there-abouts, Ray Van Houten, Max Bart, and a few others distributed a mimeographed sheet suggestively titled "A White Paper". This sheet boasted lengthy paragraphs of glaring capitalization that would have put to shame a Cosmic Circle Commentator. The Pro-Scientist movement opposed the use of science-fiction as a means to disseminate anti-scientific propaganda, citing Frankenstein as an example of the type of story that was doing much to harm the reputation of science-fiction. Here's a typical example of the Pro-Scientists' line, taken from the "White Paper": "Did the kids on your block ever call you 'mad scientist' or 'Buck Rodgers' because they caught you reading a copy of Amazing Stories in the back alley? Up to now we have bravely told ourselves that they were merely paying us a back-handed compliment, but we can see now that it is a direct and alarming outcome of the anti-scientific tone of science-fiction itself..." -- All of which leads me to suspect that the boys must've been pretty hard up for crusading material. As you might've guessed, the Pro-Scientists unceremoniously flopped. Technocracy, the proposed system for running the country on a scientifically controlled basis after the price system collapses in 1942, has won a number of advocates throughout fandom. During the period from 1939-42, the technocrats were most prominent in fandom, with T. Bruce Yerke and Russell Hodgkins among the leading lights. Miske, Lowndes, Michel, and others have endorsed the technocratic program in the past, though their interest was only temporary. There has been comparatively little active fan cooperation working toward the technocratic ideals, while Technocracy Inc's endorsement of World War II alienated a couple of fandom's pacifists from its doctrines. Taurasi's Fantasy Reporter made it an issue in fan feuds by republishing a "technocracy expose" from the individzine Van Houten Says. In recent times, fandom's principle advocates of technocracy have been Hodgkins, Henry Elsner Jr., and Harold Bertram. Inasmuch as the technocratic movement has gained several avid long-time supporters in the fan field, it must be added to the list of fandom's important political programs. Not particularly allied with any world-wide political or scientific theory page 2
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group together a bevy of sympathetic minds. Now sometimes this produces results. Too often, though, it all just serves either to bore or offend the average fan, who, upon noting that nine pages of his favorite fan mag are devoted to plugs for the Greenwich Village Social Club's latest campaign to liberate the proletariat, wails in anguish, "What's this got to do with stf?", or,"Gimme Lovecraft articles, reviews of Flash Gordon, anything but this!" However, political movements in fandom aren't checked by such luke-warm opposition, as we can easily see by taking a look at the record. II Michelism may not have been the first, but it will probably be among the longest remembered. It all began back in '37 at a convention in Philadelphia, when the Futurians unsuccessfully attempted to put across a resolution that convention attendees should ally themselves with world powers advocating the application of science to international affairs, and striving for a better world --as defined by the theories of Marxist Communism. Although the FSNY bunch plugged it long afterward, the movement never gained too much support throughout the rest of fandom. Many of the Futurians continued to hold personal beliefs similar to the basic outlines of Michelism, but eventually they abandoned the attempt to thrust the program down fandom's collective throat; too, the entrance of individual Futurians into the professional field cut down the impetus of the Michelist movement as a whole. Communism has not been dormant in fandom of late, however, for some of the FSNY old-guard plus angelenos Kepner, Brown and Saha have publicized their Communist sympathies. Kepner actually published a vermillion version of Toward Tomorrow. Those versed in fan history should have no trouble in recalling the self-styled Intellectual Brotherhood of Pro-Scientists. Back around 1940 or there-abouts, Ray Van Houten, Max Bart, and a few others distributed a mimeographed sheet suggestively titled "A White Paper". This sheet boasted lengthy paragraphs of glaring capitalization that would have put to shame a Cosmic Circle Commentator. The Pro-Scientist movement opposed the use of science-fiction as a means to disseminate anti-scientific propaganda, citing Frankenstein as an example of the type of story that was doing much to harm the reputation of science-fiction. Here's a typical example of the Pro-Scientists' line, taken from the "White Paper": "Did the kids on your block ever call you 'mad scientist' or 'Buck Rodgers' because they caught you reading a copy of Amazing Stories in the back alley? Up to now we have bravely told ourselves that they were merely paying us a back-handed compliment, but we can see now that it is a direct and alarming outcome of the anti-scientific tone of science-fiction itself..." -- All of which leads me to suspect that the boys must've been pretty hard up for crusading material. As you might've guessed, the Pro-Scientists unceremoniously flopped. Technocracy, the proposed system for running the country on a scientifically controlled basis after the price system collapses in 1942, has won a number of advocates throughout fandom. During the period from 1939-42, the technocrats were most prominent in fandom, with T. Bruce Yerke and Russell Hodgkins among the leading lights. Miske, Lowndes, Michel, and others have endorsed the technocratic program in the past, though their interest was only temporary. There has been comparatively little active fan cooperation working toward the technocratic ideals, while Technocracy Inc's endorsement of World War II alienated a couple of fandom's pacifists from its doctrines. Taurasi's Fantasy Reporter made it an issue in fan feuds by republishing a "technocracy expose" from the individzine Van Houten Says. In recent times, fandom's principle advocates of technocracy have been Hodgkins, Henry Elsner Jr., and Harold Bertram. Inasmuch as the technocratic movement has gained several avid long-time supporters in the fan field, it must be added to the list of fandom's important political programs. Not particularly allied with any world-wide political or scientific theory page 2
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