This dark hard science-fiction story from long ago seems, these days, to inspire many correlations with our current social situation. Honestly, this could have been written by Andy Nowicki yesterday:

“..to awake to find the foundation of your life being gnawed away.”

Anderson begins with a statement as to mankind’s motivation being two-part; the need, and ‘the want’, and the problem with continuing forward when ‘the want’ had faded.

Poul Anderson is the author of one of my favorite novels ‘To Sail Beyond The World’. His seeming gift for social prophecy is based on his historical reading which was deep, broad, and insightful. I really don’t think this could be sold today, even by Anderson.