I think it's a great essay - an unusual idea, thoroughly illustrated with the citations, even a Hiroshima link, you really went an extra mile for this! Funny, I guessed the houses but had the best and the worst swapped in my mind :) maybe because a medieval house with gothic robots is so much cooler than a modern house with regular techno robots, and it served a noble purpose of revenge on the bad guys, while the techno house ended up with pointless self-destruction, failing to kill anyone who mattered. But then, good and evil are subjective ;)

For some reason, I loathe politics-heavy literature, with very few exceptions (such as zombies, or if it's really funny). Perhaps it reflects my immaturity and egocentrism. Love religion, though. Just finished playing a game with an awesome story, which you would've enjoyed if it didn't involve mousing around the screen... alchemy, inquisition, secret cults, torture, betrayal... what's not to like?