J.G. Ballard on J.G. Ballard, part II

"I’m certainly no Luddite*.... [O]ne has to immerse oneself in the threatening possibilities offered by modern science and technology, and try to swim to the other end of the pool. I think my political views were formed by my childhood in Shanghai and my years in a detention camp. I detest barbed wire, whether of the real or the figurative variety. Marxism is a social philosophy for the poor, and what we need badly now is a social philosophy for the rich..., some moderating set of values, whether the noblesse oblige, the obligation owed to the less fortunate by the old English upper classes, or the Buddhist notion of gaining merit.... [M]odern communications landscape creates a different system of needs and obligations."

-- J.G. Ballard in the Paris Review interview 

* Curious:  Ballard naysayers would disagree.