Letters / Better, stronger, faster
I liked Brian Smith’s analogy and take well his point (‘The monkey’s paw’, SN, 25/10/14) about wishing to revive a mutilated, buried corpse.
I assume he is referring to my suggestion of resurrecting the currently defunct Shetland Movement (‘Time to resurrect the Shetland Movement’, SN 20/10/14), in which case, as Shetland archivist, he may well have “embalmed”, if not, actually, “identified the body”.
A Frankensteinian resurrection of the Shetland Movement, depending on how it was constituted and whether it was placed in suspended animation or, simply, interred, may well be no good.
We need to start somewhere and we do have an organisational body. Granted, it’s, at best, in coma, but I suggest its heart is still beating and I have yet to see evidence of it being formally “pronounced dead.”
It may well be necessary – and desirable – to start from scratch. However, at worst, we can learn from the Shetland Movement’s strengths and weaknesses and until more is known about its actual condition, history and diagnosis, my preferred analogy would be the more optimistic 1970s television show ‘The Six Million Dollar Man’, which began with secret service chiefs and boffins, around an intensive care hospital bed, accompanied by the immortal narration:
“Steve Austin, astronaut. A man barely alive. Gentlemen, we can rebuild him. We have the technology. We have the capability to build the world’s first bionic man. Steve Austin will be that man. Better than he was before. Better, stronger, faster.”— The Six Million Dollar Man, Opening Narration.
John Tulloch
Lyndon
Arrochar
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