Shikasta was a rich planet, rich in the variety and abundance of its life forms. But every life form preyed on another, and
in turn was preyed upon by another. Shikasta was an assault upon one’s senses - to experience Shikasta in full was to experience the chaos of all its sounds and colours. Change was part of Shikasta’s nature, for it was its strength, and it was its weakness.
Shikasta was organized into nations – temporaray associations of people for purpose of defense or aggression. The author says that war on Shikasta was marked by savagery, stupidity, and by the total inability of people to understand what was going on. New nations were born, and new generations stepped forward to die for the cause. Truth was the worst casualty. The author says that war strengthened the armaments industry and laid the basis for the next war. It also impaired the innate compassion and the faculty of judgement of its
inhabitants. Those under Shikasta’s influence became victims of emotionalism and extreme conduct. People know that things were wrong, but could only hope that things would become better again.
Science had become the new dogma in service to the nation. Psychological methods of warfare and control of civilian populations had been developed. Technology was the key. People were taught to live for their own advancement, and for the acquisition of goods. Their purpose (sustained by greed) lay in increasing material wealth. The earth was spoiled, the soil depleted, and the atmosphere polluted. All in the name of progress. War – and its consequences – was something that was happening elsewhere, as it did not touch upon their lives. Looked at from outside, one would have thought that the whole species has gone mad. Restored to themselves, the inhabitants of Shikasta wondered why they had lost their senses.
It cannot be said that the degeneration on Shikasta was unforseen. The link between Canopus and Shikasta was weakening. Those
individuals with a certain level of perception and understanding, individuals who were prepared to listen, formed a core which was used to maintain the link. A handful of individuals rescued from forgetfulness. Was it all worth the effort ? There are those who say that Shikasta should have been abandoned.
The people of Shikasta, being the offspring of materialism, had been taught to believe that they were entitled to everything, and that there would be nothing to pay for it. Having been promised everything, they soon came to understand that this would not happen. This was the cause for their resentment. They looked for emotional props (such as sex, alcohol and drugs) to dull their pain.
For the ruling elite, idealogical and national barriers were breaking down, but for the masses they were being strengthened. The energies of large numbers of unemployed had to be harnessed, if not in war then in competitive sports. It was easy to see that the people of Shikasta were not in control of what was happening to them, and did not comprehend the methods that were being used for their own subjection. The inhabitants could not recognize who their friends were or who were their enemies, even as real events were taking place and real battles were being fought.