Red Rising.
It’s a title that is extremely popular right now, and for good reason. From its color coded caste system, to its solar dystopia, massive battles and tense duels, the series has a lot to look forward to for anyone.
But the scariest thing about the world of Red Rising isn’t the genocide, it isn’t the Gold hierarchy. It’s how the Golds built it all.
Golds are the very best of society. Genetically modified stock, bred for intellect and strength. They are divided further into classes, some of which uphold the system, some of which leach off of it.
They built this system on the bones of our history, creating the “Society”.
But what barely gets mentioned, and glossed over, is that all of the history is buried. Locked away. The Reds, the lowest members of the caste system, are fed what seems to be an entirely or very heavily false history. Their dominant source of information comes from the top, the Society, in the form of a centralized news projector of a sort.
The other castes have some access to the real world, though in a limited capacity.
But the Golds, they get access to the good stuff. Science, philosophy, history, they have access to all of it. And they use it to maintain their grasp on all of the worlds of the solar system.
History is the foundation of civilization. The inability to learn from the mistakes of those prior to us can lead us into realities like this.
And what’s frightening is that it’s these sections of your library that shrink. The local bookstore loses more and more philosophy, history, theology. The importance of these things is slowly being lost.
Written history and true history are not the same thing. But without the written history, our ability to follow the path of true history will get harder and harder. And thus, we will repeat the lessons once learned.
Perhaps we will be the next Society?
Or perhaps, if we aren’t careful, we may be the conquered.
Modern Survival Arkansas 