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Robert Heinlein, et al.

Posted by $ MikeMarotta 9 years, 2 months ago to Books
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We can and will add others whom we acknowledge or even admire, but I am willing to bet that of all the science fiction writers, Heinlein is held in the highest regard here.

"I would say that my position is not too far from that of Ayn Rand's; that I would like to see government reduced to no more than internal police and courts, external armed forces — with the other matters handled otherwise. I'm sick of the way the government sticks its nose into everything, now.
The Robert Heinlein Interview (1973)"
-- https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Robert_...
(But even this one resource provides a rich array to choose from.)

Every law that was ever written opened up a new way to graft. -- Red Planet (1949)


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  • Posted by Rolf 9 years, 2 months ago
    Totally agree. Philip K Dick is another one, especially with his "The Man in the High Castle".
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  • Posted by Temlakos 9 years, 2 months ago
    In "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress," Heinlein seemed to express a preference for rational anarchy. That would work inside the Gulch, because membership in it was by invitation only. It would not work in practice. But what Heinlein actually said in that interview--"internal police and courts, and external armed forces"--makes sense. Also: forbid government to stick its nose into everything, and you cut bribery out almost completely.
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  • Posted by DanShu 9 years, 2 months ago
    Heinlien was my favorite writer back when I was a kid. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress was a favorite too. It's probably because I was raised by my Conservative Parents.
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  • Posted by wiggys 9 years, 2 months ago
    I haven't read much of Heinlein after I read Stranger in a Strange Land. A classic if there ever was one in sifi. Maybe girls of today were influenced to get tattooed all over their bodies like his female character. Still to this day you hear people use the word "groke". Good to know more about his thoughts.
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  • Posted by $ blarman 9 years, 2 months ago
    I found many of the ideas in "Starship Trooper" novel as well. The notion of voting only after having served the people, the analyses of why democracy is apt to fail, and others showed Heinlein's true depth of insight.
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Rand was not the only one with similar thoughts Taylor Caldwell preceded her by a decade without the philosophy...Both used the mechanism of science fiction (for those days) to paint analogies

    But the master was and is Heinlein
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  • Posted by $ MichaelAarethun 9 years, 2 months ago in reply to this comment.
    Heinlein guided my life into a certain segment of the military and into a positive concept of citizenship. I have I think all of this books on kindle or cd.

    the one book I'm missing has a section about equating cooking with chemistry does that ring any bells?
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  • Posted by SBilko 9 years, 2 months ago
    Heinlein was a great influence on me in my formative years.
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  • Posted by freedomforall 9 years, 2 months ago
    David Friedman agrees with you. In his book Machinery of Freedom he says that Heinlein's Moon Is A Harsh Mistress inspired his ideas on anarcho-capitalism.

    Heinlein's The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress should be required reading for every teenager, along with The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged.
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  • Posted by Lucky 9 years, 2 months ago
    I am a great admirer of the work of Gorge Orwell (1984 etc).
    Orwell was a better writer and novelist than Rand tho' there is an absence of over-riding philosophy and a general pessimism that create unease in the reader.
    Orwell's political affiliation will shock many but once the reader is aware of this it makes the political and social narratives in his stories more poignant.
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