@MLClark perhaps fuel for commentary, I’m curious to see your thoughts on The Ones Who Walk Away from Omelas by Le Guin.
This is one of the most routinely discussed stories in SF, so "thoughts" on the topic can go in many directions! (Every few years, someone publishes a new story riffing on it too.)
Le Guin was inspired by a scene from my favourite novel, The Brothers Karamazov, in which Ivan argues that the concept of Heaven is unjust if it requires the tears of even one child in this lifetime.
Le Guin's story works because it doesn't explain what comes next. Just that *some* choose not to stay.
Probably way off topic here, but I always thought Le Guin should have won a Nobel in literature.
No American author in the field of speculative fiction did as much, and as well, as she did. Short stories, novellas, novels, essays, criticism and poetry: the Granola Eating Woman did it all, and did it better than almost anyone else in or out of the field. .
@countZZero @MLClark the Chicago Northwest suburban judge will allow it. 👍