Posted on 11/13/2004 12:26:56 PM PST by WillRain
Calling for assistance from my fellow Heinlein fans here.
I'm an education student (and a Social Science major) who has an assignment which is related to using literature to teach Social Studies.
I'd like to use, for this project, an excerpt from Starship Troopers in which the political philosophy of earning the franchise through a term of service is most concisely described.
Do any of you know of an on-line source that makes reference to these ideas?
In the absence of that, can you specify for me the place in the novel which has the clearest and most concise reference to the ideas (I'm thinking of a passage in which Rico remembers a class in which his instructor described the reasoning behind the service for franchise system). I've read the book a dozen times but I'm having trouble finding the exact passage i want. I'm asking because it strikes me as the sort of think that might have been excerpted on some blog or other somewhere on the net.
Anyone have a suggestion? I'm on a deadline and the project must be completed this weekend.
Thanks in advance.
Use "The Borg" from Star Trec, better idea.
But you should really read the whole thing.
I know the one you're talking about. Lemme see if I can find it.
Google is your friend.
http://www.nitrosyncretic.com/rah/ftp/fedrlsvc.pdf
etc.
I fully agree.....Read the book. Otherwise, its in the middle when Raddizak (or however its spelled) is teaching history class.
Any of you guys ever play "Starship Troopeers" From Avalon Hill. (The original, not the movie tie in)?
My gosh. You're a Heinlein fan too!
I transcribed the entire scene from the book online. Danged if I remember what happened to it.
There were lots of justifications and ratioanalizations given for it, but Rico's citizenship instructor boiled it down to "because it works" as the actual reason beyond how it started.
Hi Samwise! I just found the passage in my book... LOL... page 144-145. Who me? Heinlein fan? hehehe... Not so much as Tolkien, but he sure wrote good stuff.
I am giving a 12 year old niece Heinlein for Christmas this year. She's something of a mis-fit. Has trouble in school. Doesn't seem to be able to find her nitch in life yet. Gave her Citizen of the Galaxy last summer and last time I saw her she was awestruck. Wants to know if I know of any other books like that one! Instead of getting her one new book, I've picked up several old ones on ebay. We have a new Heinlein fan in the making! :-)
ratioanalizations = rationalizations.
Now you know my secret reason for likenanating G. W. Bush.
Okay, the passage in the book that I found is a later one when Rico is in OCS, chapter XII, maybe halfway through the chapter.
I credit Heinlein for knocking a lot of the liberal 70s crap out of my head when I was a youngster. I don't think I would give his work to a 12-year-old though. Wait, I forgot about his kids books. They would be okay. I don't want my hobbit to grok some of his works. :^)
I remember two of my all-time, old time favorite Avalon Hill computer games..."Midway" and "Space 2500".
Is there a Heinlein ping list?
OMG ! I loved both the book and that game ! I might still have that game in a box in the basement somewhere.
The movie was HORRENDOUS. It should have been called "Starship Troopers 90210". None of the powerful ideas of the book (service and sacrifice) came through. I think it was directed by that German lib idiot that Hollywood loves.
Believe it or not, that book probably had a large influence on my life when I read it as a teenager. It's ideals of public service, sacrifice, and the idea that there are some things worth fighting for resonate with me to this day (a former Army offier, I turned down lucrative private sector job offers to stay a civil servant).
BTW, one of my collegues works on the Army's "Land warrior" program - the first effort to bring high-tech capabilities to the individual infantry soldier. I gave him my copy of the book - the same one I read whan I was 14 years old. It is now mandatory reading at his office. While "Powered armor" and "Y-launchers" are still far off, we at least have a target to shoot for.
-R
I dunno. BUMP.
LOL!
YOU should read the whole post before replying.
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