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Colonial Mindsets and Ancillary Sword

I came to the U.S. from Puerto Rico because of the economy, a slo-mo apocalypse that many people I know here can’t begin to understand. I have family and friends who still live there, and I’ve been following how it’s been reported in the U.S. as a result.

$72 billion is an astounding number, and is a debt the island will likely never be able to repay in full. However, the U.S. government appointed a group to preside over Puerto Rico’s economy. The Junta wasn’t voted for, yet they will have the power to override the democratically elected government of Puerto Rico whenever payments to service the debt are endangered.

This could mean pension plans and other welfare could be slashed to ensure the debt is serviced. It also means that young people (up to 25 years of age) can be subject to a minimum wage of $4.25.

I’ve seen many articles which point to Puerto Rico mirroring the Federal minimum wage as a cautionary tale for the Fight for $15 people in the U.S. Most of these articles don’t really delve into the economic and political history of  Puerto Rico. This would illustrate a far more complex picture.

I’ve been critical of how the U.S. decided to handle this crisis. I hoped for more than what amounts to a bunch of debt collectors flying down to the island to ensure hedge fund managers get their payments.

Why am I telling you this?

Not long after I posted something on social media someone I know told me I

shouldn’t post anything that could be construed as Anti-American. To be clear, I posted this:

 

Puerto Rico has been conquered twice before, and in the right-most picture the Junta can be seen debarking to get to the Condado Beach Hotel (out of the frame are hundreds, if not thousands of citizens protesting their arrival). I liked the how the juxtaposition of these images told a story of an island which has always known colonial status.

However, the person who contacted me is not alone in believing that they are not a colony, that because the oppression is economic it’s not happening.

What, I’m sure you’re asking yourself, does any of this have to do with Ann Leckie’s Ancillary Sword? I came here for the sci-fi, not the poli-sci, you also might be saying.

One of Ancillary Sword‘s subplots has to do with the downtrodden people of the Undergarden. After reading it, I couldn’t help but agree with Analee Newitz:

 To the extent that there is an overarching plot, it’s simply that Breq is a kind of human rights superhero, able to dispense equal rights wherever she goes.

The underclass presented is somewhat monolithic, with no splinter groups. There aren’t any splinter groups or schisms that complicate things. Granted, Breq may be thousands of years old, but she’s also a ship perhaps used to strict, military order, and could have slipped into the ever-growing chaos of people being people. This plot didn’t ring true to me.

Take another look at that picture. Imagine how wave after wave of Radch came to “civilize” you (as if you weren’t already civilized in your own way). Imagine how much more angry you’d be if–after the Radch sand away all the rough edges of your culture that aren’t compatible with theirs–even their promise of bringing you a better life isn’t true. There would be people who are angry and want change, but there would also be people frightened who don’t want it on the off-chance it might anger their Colonizers. There might also be people who want to see it all go down in flames.

None of these things happen in the book, which disappointed me. Sure, there’s some effort to bring awareness of this aspect of Leckie’s impressive world, but it’s not really important enough to place Breq in any danger.

Ancillary Sword was a good read, and I enjoyed visiting the world of the Imperial Radch again, but I wished it could have been more than what it was.