They believe that the past is just that,
the past: the ignorant and selfish times of the unenlightened who were
too shrouded by prejudices to understand the world clearly. Instead they
place their faith in the scientific and philosophical ideas of the day,
believing that while history and the past were delegated to the control
of the unsophisticated whose ways were superstitious and outdated, the
present contains truth in its pure form. Reform and revolution are their
watchwords, for they tinker with the very foundations of society and
life in an attempt to cultivate it. Zimri is their Lord, of the Future,
and they follow him loosely, for he doesn't require the strict adhesion
that Onan does, which suits their independent and relaxed world view
very well."
He went on, in summary, "In a word, the Pastites believe that history,
the reality of the past, governs the present and the future, while the
Futurists believe that the future defines the present and the past."
"I begin to see the differences," I replied in a humble, questioning
manner, "And yet they seem to me to be passive, secondary differences,
the kind that result in a conflict of subtle disagreements here and
there, argued over dessert like tariffs or taxes, not at all violent.
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