“Do not do to other what you would wish others not to do to you.” -Alien to Dr. Haber in The Lathe of Heaven
Most religions and philosophies have some variation on the idea of reciprocity. The Christian version we were all taught in preschool reads, “Do unto others as you would have them do to you.” It’s a much more active command. For Christians, or perhaps Westerners, love involves action – helping others, fighting for justice, etc. To sit at home and do nothing, or “let things be” is vilified as apathy. Or in Churchill’s words, “All that is necessary for evil to exist is for good men to do nothing.”
LeGuin is much more cautious. Her morality is more about what people don’t do than what they do. I don’t think she would entirely disagree with Churchill. After all, Dr. Haber is a madman controlling his patient’s dreams to change the world. He has to be stopped. But she certainly doesn’t place nearly as much value on action as many of her Western counterparts. Taking action is a last resort. It’s better to leave an imperfect but tolerable situation alone than interfere and make it worse.
