Posted on 01/24/2016 2:57:47 AM PST by Fhios
I was a big fan in the early 80's. I had a week long correspondence with him in the mid 90's.
I loved reading his Chaos Manner column in Byte magazine along with Garcia s circuit cellar.
It was a great mag.
I've been rereading some of his works lately and just reminiscing.
Jerry Pournelle s Iron law:
...in any bureaucratic organization there will be two kinds of people: those who work to further the actual goals of the organization, and those who work for the organization itself. Examples in education would be teachers who work and sacrifice to teach children, vs. union representatives who work to protect any teacher including the most incompetent. The Iron Law states that in all cases, the second type of person will always gain control of the organization, and will always write the rules under which the organization functions.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jerry_Pournelle
I would like to email him again and ask him about Trump. But I think his brain has turned to margarine. He's 81 and had a stroke in 2014.
I’ve loved everything I’ve read that he has written, especially some of his collaborations with Larry Niven. Real page turners.
I liked his columns in Infoworld. He named his best computers. Cheetah was always the best.
bttt
I’ve just finished reading the Janissary series. A stand alone work from him.
Shared a bottle of Australian wine with Jerry Pournelle, Gordy Dickson, et al at Discon II, 1974. Met on some other occasions, and discussed the merits of word processors like MicroPro WordStar 2.2. Used to collect his early books and later read Byte. I have to sell my Byte collection. 1950s to 1970s Analog, F&SF, and Galaxy are in storage boxes. Enjoyed Chaos Manor.
I have been a Jerry Pournelle fan since 1981.
His brain is fine, but he is few in words, now.
I have exchanged a personal communication with him as of early fall 2015.
I still have my BYTE magazines from 1981 through to the end.
Loved his “There Will Be War” anthology series.
His Iron Law is dead on.
L
Long time fan. Read him in Byte back in the day, have read all his Science Fiction, still read his Chaos Manor blog. It’s still worthwhile just for the links to material he posts, that he gets from his readers/friends.
Here!
He just published a new one as a Kindle eBook. I finished it in the last few days.
http://www.amazon.com/There-Will-Be-War-X-ebook/dp/B019KYLOKQ
Isn’t that just a restatement of the Peter Principle?
I always loved his Chaos Manor columns.
I never could make myself like his fiction, but in honor of his work being represented in various boardgames and role-playing games I gave it a go several times.
Isn't that just a restatement of the Peter Principle?
I’d call it more of a close cousin of Michels's Iron Law of OligarchyThe iron law of oligarchy is a political theory, first developed by the German syndicalist sociologist Robert Michels in his 1911 book, Political Parties.[1] It claims that rule by an elite, or "oligarchy", is inevitable as an "iron law" within any organization as part of the "tactical and technical necessities" of organization.[1] Michels particularly addressed the application of this law to representative democracy, and stated: "It is organization which gives birth to the dominion of the elected over the electors, of the mandataries over the mandators, of the delegates over the delegators. Who says organization, says oligarchy." He went on to state that "Historical evolution mocks all the prophylactic measures that have been adopted for the prevention of oligarchy." Michels stated that the official goal of representative democracy of eliminating elite rule was impossible, that representative democracy is a facade legitimizing the rule of a particular elite, and that elite rule, that he refers to as oligarchy, is inevitable.. . . which is the basis of O'Sullivan's First Law:All organizations that are not actually right-wing will over time become left-wing. I cite as supporting evidence the ACLU, the Ford Foundation, and the Episcopal Church. The reason is, of course, that people who staff such bodies tend to be the sort who don't like private profit, business, making money, the current organization of society, and, by extension, the Western world. At which point Michels's Iron Law of Oligarchy takes over -- and the rest follows.
I was a fan of Byte Magazine (RIP) and of Chaos Manor in particular. Never read any of his fiction, nevertheless.
Thanks for posting those.
I second the Lucifer’s Hammer recommendation.
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