Babel Q3: Hermes and overthrowing oppressors

NeilNjae

The Hermes conspiracy was a small group of ex-students who thought that a few pamphlets could change the course of empires. I don't think we need to discuss how delusional they were. But did it seem believable that this was the only significant group acting against Babel? And how did Hermes relate to the factory workers rebelling and building barricades? (Was Kuang making a point about how class divisions can prevent solidarity when its needed?)

And how should people come together to change oppressive systems? Find a modus vivendi to survive in them? Persude and cajole? Civil disobedience? Violent uprising and coups? All of these were tried in the book, and none of them was successful. What was Kuang trying to say here?

RichardAbbott

I found it interesting that the factory workers were the more "professional" in terms of how to conduct a rebellion, and also more realistic when it came to the time to stand down (presumably, for the time being).

I wasn't sure what Kuang was trying to say in the end, other than "it's all doomed and so are we"! Maybe that social change is an enormously slow process that seems not to be having any effect for a while?