I read Heinlein’s books about 50 years ago. The “we can throw rocks at them” sequence from the Moon is a Harsh Mistress still resonates the best with me. I seem to recall there being no good governments in Troopers. The Earth government was only counting contract time while they were thawed out, if I recall correctly. As I said, it has been a long time.
Many years ago, the Cajuns tried to figure out a way to eat those things. They failed. And if the Cajuns cannot figure out how to make something edible, what hope do the rest of us have?