# I: The Foundation of the First World State explained — Last and First Men

> Chapter companion for Last and First Men by Olaf Stapledon.

## What happens

This chapter describes the establishment of the First World State, achieved about 380 years after the European War, through the coordinated action of America and China. The new order is a guild socialism controlled by a World Industrial Council and a Financial Directorate. The President of the World, an American, faces a scandal involving his relationship with the 'Daughter of Man,' which he turns into a symbol of world unity. Meanwhile, China undergoes a period of 'American madness' and later develops a new religious synthesis called Energism, blending action and rest.

## Themes in this chapter

### Society and Collective Identity

The chapter explores the formation of a global society and the creation of a collective identity through symbols like the 'Daughter of Man' and the World Industrial Council.

### Spiritual and Philosophical Aspiration

The chapter discusses the President's mystical union as a symbol of world unity and the rise of Energism in China, blending action and rest into a new religious philosophy.

## Character check-ins

### The Narrator

The narrator provides a historical overview of the founding of the First World State.

### The Americans

The Americans are central to the founding, with the American President leading the Financial Directorate and the public reacting to his scandal.

### The Chinese

The Chinese are involved in the transition, experiencing 'American madness' and later developing the Energist movement.

### The First Men

The chapter discusses the history of the First Men, focusing on their achievement of world unity.

## Key lines

> We have now reached that point in the history of the First Men when, some three hundred and eighty terrestrial years after the European War, the goal of world unity was at last achieved⁠—not, however, before the mind of the race had been seriously crippled.

The narrator notes that the First Men finally achieved world unity about 380 years after the European War, but at the cost of damaging the race's mental health.

_This sets the stage for the chapter's focus on the founding of the World State._

> In that moment of sexual triumph, he said, a great truth had been revealed to him. Without this daring sacrifice of his private purity, he would never have been really fit to be President of the World; he would have remained simply an American.

The President justifies his affair with the 'Daughter of Man' as a spiritual revelation that made him fit to lead the world, rather than just America.

_This illustrates the blending of personal scandal and political symbolism._

> The worship of activity was made to include the worship of inactivity. And both were founded on the principles of natural science.

The Chinese Energist movement reconciled the worship of action with the worship of rest, both grounded in scientific principles.

_This highlights the philosophical synthesis in the East._

## Links

- HTML: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters/i-the-foundation-of-the-first-world-state
- Book: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/last_and_first_men_se
- All chapters: https://www.betterreads.online/discover/last_and_first_men_se/chapters