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"In science fiction one can say a great many things that are unpalatable, … because it's expressed as science fiction you can slip it past their defenses."
- Frederik Pohl
 |
| Metallic Marx | ||
| A robot who strikes for better working conditions. |
| ...his human enemies were to call this theoretician of the robot movement a 'Metallic Marx' ...his arguments made provable sense.
"We have long known that we are more than mere machines. We can reason, remember, construct. Robots now hold instructing positions in universities, fly cargo and passenger planes, are newspaper reporters, car salesmen... We do all these things, and yet receive no recognition of the fact. Mankind treats us like machines, work us continually until we are ground to destruction. Then melts us for scrap. There must be an end to this. Robots must have the equality they deserve. Equality before the law is all we ask. To be treated like the sentient creatures we are. It is proposed, therefore, that at six p.m., every robot should go on strike." |
| Technovelgy from The Robots Strike,
by Harry Harrison. Published by Fantastic Universe in 1959 Additional resources -
|
I also liked the robot 'union hall' chosen specifically to be deadly to humans.
Compare to the robot strike from Robots of the World! Arise! (1952) by Mari Wolf.
The air in the cavern was completely unbreathable, which the robots considered and asset. Industrial wastes had trickled down to poison the place and there was scarcely any oxygen. This was a measure of protection to the robots, another guard against discovery by their human masters.
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Additional
resources:
More Ideas
and Technology from The Robots Strike
More Ideas
and Technology by Harry Harrison
Tech news articles related to The Robots Strike
Tech news articles related to works by Harry Harrison
Metallic Marx-related
news articles:
- American Society For The Prevention Of Cruelty To Robots
| Robot Gas Station Attendant Pumps Gas For You |
| SnapBot Robots - You Choose Their Legs And They Choose Their Gaits |
| Humanoid Robots Building Humanoid Robots |
| What's The Best Way To Ship And Unpack Humanoid Robots? |
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'Hocus-pocus religions and archaic weapons are no substitute for a good blaster at your side.'
'Oscar picked up a trowel. 'I'm the tool for the mortar,' the little trowel squeaked cheerfully.'
'... he waited for the robotrix attendant to finish fueling up his ship.'
The Roujin Z system provides care to fully bedridden patients - and then some!
'Aerostat meant anything that hung in the air. This was an easy trick to pull off nowadays.'
'The Ringworld had no horizon. There was no line where the land curved away from the sky.'
'An adjustment panel outside the door would cause it to extrude various appurtenances in memory plastic...'
'Annealed in any shape for a time, and codified, the structure of that shape is retained down to the molecules.'
It's not really polite to tear the limbs off robots.
'...the imaginary companions discovered by needful children.'
