On 7 July 2014 10:17, spudboy100 via Everything List < [email protected]> wrote:
> In Robert Heinlein's vericose veined, juvenile novel, Starship Troopers, > the right to vote was earned through service in an all volunteer military. > I Never liked Heinlein's preachiness, and stridency, because, meh, if that > was his mythical society of the 24th century, whats the real incentive, to > care about anything? The only incentive was the right to bear young, and > the I have to ask, ok, if birthing young was the earned only by military > service, so did all their parents serve also? > He dashed off ST in about 2 weeks IIRC - which may well mean we got his real ideas. Of course ST is based on the assumption that the society is in perpetual danger from the outer-space insect hordes, which could justify the ideas within it. Allowing only ex-soldiers to give birth is sure to speed up evolution and turn the human race into a species able to defend itself better against the Bugs. But the society was propped up by war, much like the one in 1984. Still I'm not sure if ST should be taken as seriously as it seems to have been, I have heard that Heinlein was fairly liberal in some ways so it may have been intended satirically. > > I don't think you will beat religion, Liz, until you get some sort of > afterlife designed somehow? > If you think I'm trying to beat religion, you *may* be reading a bit too much into what was intended as a humorous aside. But I happen to agree that religion in some form is unlikely to go away anytime soon. (Maybe if we can modify the brain to remove the "God Spot" - but that might have bad consequences...) -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Everything List" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to [email protected]. To post to this group, send email to [email protected]. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/everything-list. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.
