Posted on 03/24/2010 11:57:27 PM PDT by GL of Sector 2814
I was just thinking that many quotes from the works of science fiction author Robert A. Heinlein seem to apply to the current political situation. Here are a few choice ones, please feel free to add more!
If you are part of a society that votes, then do so. There may be no candidates and no measures you want to vote for, but there are certain to be ones you want to vote against. In case of doubt, vote against. By this rule you will rarely go wrong. If this is too blind for your taste, consult some well-meaning fool (there is always one around) and ask his advice. Then vote the other way. This enables you to be a good citizen (if such is your wish) without spending the enormous amount of time on it that truly intelligent exercise of franchise requires. (Time Enough for Love)
In a mature society, "civil servant" is semantically equal to "civil master." (Time Enough for Love)
Political tags — such as royalist, communist, democrat, populist, fascist, liberal, conservative, and so forth — are never basic criteria. The human race divides politically into those who want people to be controlled and those who have no such desire. The former are idealists acting from highest motives for the greatest good of the greatest number. The latter are surly curmudgeons, suspicious and lacking in altruism. But they are more comfortable neighbors than the other sort. (Time Enough for Love)
There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him. (The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)
TANSTAFL!
I can't believe I didn't list that one to start with, it's so appropriate!
Considering some of the statements made in favor of BHOcare:
“Anyone who cannot cope with mathematics is not fully human. At best he is a tolerable subhuman who has learned to wear shoes, bathe and not make messes in the house.”
There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.
(The Moon is a Harsh Mistress)
Wasn’t it his idea, in one of his novels, that only veterans be allowed to vote? That’d be a game-changer!!
Never wrestle with pigs: you both get dirty and the pig likes it.
Always keep your clothing and firearms where you can find them in the dark. (Words to live by!)
No there ain’t.
Be wary of strong drink.
It can make you shoot at tax collectors, and miss.
Both by Lazarus Long.
>>>Wasn’t it his idea, in one of his novels, that only veterans be allowed to vote?
“Starship Troopers”. Remember the Obama quote about having some skin in the game, as it actually applies here. In the time prior to the novel there had been war with total civil breakdown. Local vigilante groups of veterans took charge and restored order. This developed into a general system of government. In an OCS class, the system is explained thus:
“The sovereign franchise has been bestowed by all sorts of rules —place of birth, family of birth, race, sex, property, education, age, religion, et cetera. All these systems worked and none of them well. All were regarded as tyrannical by many, all eventually collapsed or were overthrown.
“Now here are we with still another system . . . and our system works quite well. Many complain but none rebel; personal freedom for all is greatest in history, laws are few, taxes are low, living standards are as
high as productivity permits, crime is at its lowest ebb. Why? Not because our voters are smarter than other people; we’ve disposed of that argument.
Mr. Tammany can you tell us why our system works better than any used by our ancestors?”
I don’t know where Clyde Tammany got his name; I’d take him for a Hindu. He answered, “Uh, I’d venture to guess that it’s because the electors are a small group who know that the decisions are up to them . . . so they study the issues.”
“No guessing, please; this is exact science. And your guess is wrong. The ruling nobles of many another system were a small group fully aware of their grave power. Furthermore, our franchised citizens are not everywhere a small fraction; you know or should know that the percentage of citizens among adults ranges from over eighty per cent on Iskander to less than three per cent in some Terran nations yet government is much the same everywhere.
Nor are the voters picked men; they bring no special wisdom, talent, or training to their sovereign tasks. So what difference is there between our voters and wielders of franchise in the past? We have had enough guesses;
I’ll state the obvious: Under our system every voter and officeholder is a man who has demonstrated through voluntary and difficult service that he places the welfare of the group ahead of personal advantage.
“And that is the one practical difference.”
“He may fail in wisdom, he may lapse in civic virtue. But his average performance is enormously better than that of any other class of rulers in history.”
Major Reid paused to touch the face of an old-fashioned watch, “reading” its hands. “The period is almost over and we have yet to determine the moral reason for our success in governing ourselves. Now continued
success is never a matter of chance. Bear in mind that this is science, not wishful thinking; the universe is what it is, not what we want it to be. To vote is to wield authority; it is the supreme authority from which all other
authority derives — such as mine to make your lives miserable once a day.
Force, if you will! — the franchise is force, naked and raw, the Power of the Rods and the Ax. Whether it is exerted by ten men or by ten billion, political authority is force.”
“But this universe consists of paired dualities. What is the converse of authority? Mr. Rico.”
He had picked one I could answer. “Responsibility, sir.”
“Applause. Both for practical reasons and for mathematically verifiable moral reasons, authority and responsibility must be equal, else a balancing takes place as surely as current `flows between points of unequal
potential. To permit irresponsible authority is to sow disaster; to hold a man responsible for anything he does not control is to behave with blind idiocy. The unlimited democracies were unstable because their citizens were not responsible for the fashion in which they exerted their sovereign authority . . . other than through the tragic logic of history. The unique
`poll tax’ that we must pay was unheard of. No attempt was made to determine whether a voter was socially responsible to the extent of his literally unlimited authority. If he voted the impossible, the disastrous possible happened instead — and responsibility was then forced on him willy-nilly and destroyed both him and his foundationless temple.”
“Superficially, our system is only slightly different; we have democracy unlimited by race, color, creed, birth, wealth, sex, or conviction, and anyone may win sovereign power by a usually short and not
too arduous term of service — nothing more than a light workout to our cave-man ancestors. But that slight difference is one between a system that works, since it is constructed to match the facts, and one that is
inherently unstable. Since sovereign franchise is the ultimate in human authority, we insure that all who wield it accept the ultimate in social responsibility — we require each person who wishes to exert control over the state to wager his own life — and lose it, if need be — to save the life of the state. The maximum responsibility a human can accept is thus equated to the ultimate authority a human can exert. Yin and yang, perfect and equal.”
In The Moon is a Harsh Mistress, he also described a legislature where all laws requried a 2/3 majority, and every 3rd year the legislature could only repeal existing laws, with more than 1/3 voting for repeal. I always thought that eas his best idea.
Outstanding thanks!
See Starship Troopers especially Chapter 8 IIRC
And it was not military veterans but veterans of a tour of Federal service that earned the vote franchise.
Regards
alfa6 ;>}
Free Men by Robert A. Heinlein (Short Story)
My idiot cousin thinks that this concept is “Newton’s First Law of Economics” (seriously, I’m not kidding) and means that we all have to pay more taxes because we’ve been getting free stuff from the government and now it’s time to pay up. (Again... not making this part up either.)
It’s been at least 35 years since I read that. I had forgotten (or didn’t realize at the time) how great Heinlein’s words are.
Their sign reads:
FARNHAM’S FREEHOLD
TRADING POST & RESTAURANT BAR
American Vodka
Corn Liquor
Applejack
Pure Spring Water
Grade “A” Milk
Corned Beef & Potatoes
Steak & Fried Potatoes
Butter & some days Bread
Smoked Bear Meat
Jerked Quisling (by the neck)
!!!!Any BOOK Accepted as Cash!!!!
DAY NURSERY
!!FREE KITTENS!!
Blacksmithing, Machine Shop, Sheet Metal Work — You Supply the Metal
FARNHAM SCHOOL OF CONTRACT BRIDGE
Lessons by Arrangement
Social Evening Every Wednesday
WARNING!!!
Ring Bell. Wait. Advance with your Hands Up. Stay on path, avoid mines. We lost three customers last week. We can’t afford to lose you. No sales tax.
Hugh & Barbara Farnham & Family
Freeholders
This needs to get VIRAL. It is absolutely inspiring.
AMEN
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.