heinleinblog

Republicans, Democrats and Libertarians all say they favor equal rights. And so did Heinlein, who believed in equality under the law, but possessed a libertarian distrust of affirmative action, set asides and quotas that perpetuate economic inequities and fosters continued animosity between the races.

Check out “Over the Rainbow” (1980) in Expanded Universe. Its hero is a black woman vice president who becomes president upon the death of the president (a character reportedly based on Nichelle Nichols, who played Uhura in the original Star Trek ). She was placed on the ticket simply to garner votes and no one in her predecessor’s cabinet has the slightest bit of respect for her skills and talents. She only becomes the best president the United States ever has, solving the problems of pollution and drugs in the military. She also gets mankind into space permanently. She unites the country by refusing to pander to special interest groups, including a group of black “leaders.” Heinlein did not suffer the delusion that all people are equal in fact, just equal under the law. Obviously, they are not; some people are smarter or stronger than others. Heinlein never believed such superiority or inferiority was based on the color of one’s skin. How un-fascist of him.

Heinlein believed race-based politics (as well as ethnicity-based, religion based, class-based, etc.) was divisive.

“What are the marks of a sick culture? It is a bad sign when the people of a country stop identifying themselves with the county and start identifying with a group. A racial group. Or a religion. Or a language. Anything, as long as it isn’t the whole population,” said Boss in Friday.

Heinlein was often coy with his readers when it comes to the race of his characters. Juan Rico in Starship Troopers is Filipino, but you have to read the book carefully to notice it. This gives lie to those who call Starship a fascist diatribe.

Dr. Richard Colin Campbell Ames in The Cat Who Walked Through Walls, is black, but this is revealed near the end of the book. Ironically, the cover of my paperback shows him as white.

Eunice, the main female character in I Will Fear No Evil, is also black, although this is revealed through had to notice clues.

“Stealth diversity” was common in Heinlein’s works. It was his way to get subversive material past editors and critics who might object.

In all honesty, some of his earliest fiction contained stereotypical characterizations and politically incorrect language (he refered to Kansas City’s “darktown society” in Requiem). But remember, his very early work was written when he was a liberal, before he became a “rock-ribbed far-right conservative” and “fascist.”

Libertarians believe it is not the place of government to provide goods and services that can be provided by the private sector. Examples are stadiums and other facilities that are used for professional sports. Libertarians believe the Social Security system can be overhauled so that investments are made in the private sector, which would provide a higher return and stimulate the economy.

Another potential target for privatization is the NASA. Libertarians believe the duties performed by this quasi-military organization could better be performed by the private sector.

Judging from his writing, Heinlein would have preferred this as well.

In The Man Who Sold The Moon (1950), entrepreneur D.D. Harriman raises the capital for the risky venture of sending the first man to the Moon. A similar private venture is described in his movie and novella Destination: Moon.

Both were written before man landed on the Moon by way of the NASA Appolo missions, all funded by the government. Heinlein was a television commentaror for the NASA missions and was honored by the space agency.

But in the end, he still favored private space efforts.

In To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987), Maureen says this about Harriman: “The exploitation of space flourished unbelievably. Mr. Harriman’s decision to keep it out of government hands, let private enterprise go at it for profit, was vindicated.”

In the real world, so to speak, private enterprise was not allowed to “go for it” and no one has walked on the moon for 30 years.

NASA has virtually monopolized space travel in the U.S. Heinlein would be in a red hot fury over the sorry state of affairs at NASA, which acquiesced to delay after delay caused by our Russian “partners” in the permanently manned international space station.

Ironically, the former Soviets are decades ahead of us in creating economic reasons to venture into space: Advertising and tourism. Pizza Hut recently paid to have Russian cosmonauts on the international space station film an advertisement. An American millionaire recently stayed at the station in return for a huge fee paid the Russian space agency. Meanwhile, officials of the supposedly capitalistic United Stated of America clucked their tongues and bemoaned the commercialization of outer space.

Libertarians oppose government collection of information about its citizens. Such intelligence gathering threatens freedom.

Heinlein pretty much agrees.

In Time Enough for Love (1973), hero Lazarus Long notes: “When a place gets crowded enough to require IDs, social collapse is not far away.” Privacy includes the right to be secure in one’s own home. In Stranger in a Strange Land (1961), Jubal Harshaw, a surrogate who expresses Heinlein’s opinions, demands police prove they have search warrants before entering his home. Intrusive government authorities are villains in The Cat Who Walks Through Walls (1985).

L. Neil Smith’s new book, “The American Zone,” is out in bookstores right now. It is a sequel to his award-winning “The Probability Broach.” It features the newest adventure of Detective “Win” Bear, who escaped from an oppressive United States of America to the parallel universe of the “North American Confederacy.” Why is this news Heinlein-related? Heinlein greatly influenced L. Neil Smith. Readers of TPB and TAZ will notice Heinleinesque elements. Like his hero, Neil likes to toss out concepts that challenge our concepts of freedom, liberty, honor and responsibility. Also of note, in the universe of the North American Confederacy, Heinlein became a famous, war-hero admiral. (maybe the next sequel will have Heinlein as a character) Neil has been a guest on the Heinelin AIM chat. I am just getting started on TAZ and will post a review as soon as possible (it may be a while now that I have a day job).

(Originally posted at Libertarianism & Robert A. Heinlein.)

Libertarians believe that free people should be able to cross borders freely.

In “Over the Rainbow,” printed in Expanded Universe, the president of the United States discusses with her Mexican counterpart some of the mistakes her country has made over the years, one of which is the closed border between the two nations. “What is the point of a fence that doesn’t work,” Madam President asks. “So I had it torn down.”

At one point, Heinlein believed in a one-world government. This was a throwback to his days as a Wellsian socialist. Some students of Heinlein say it was his trip around the world with Virginia Heinlein that convinced him this was impossible.

Mrs. Heinlein reports that the content of the new British edition of “Citizen of the Galaxy” will be virtually identical to the U.S. version, except spelling of some words will be changed. (”Color” changed to “colour,” I would imagine). The exact changes depends on who does the editing. The book will be available throughout the British Commonwealth. It is a hardback trade edition. Maybe I’ll be able to post an image of the cover. Check back.

(Originally posted at Libertarianism & Robert A. Heinlein.)

An essential tenet of libertarianism — and a rule for membership in the Libertarian Party — is that neither people nor governments have the right to initiate force. In a free society, the only time it is appropriate to use violence is in self-defense. Before granting membership, the Libertarian Party requires its applicants to swear not to initiate force. It is that important.

Heinlein never openly states agreement with this philosophy. Yet agreement is inherent in various comments. Heinlein’s greatest hero, Lazarus Long, often expressed his distrust for getting involved in other persons’ and other nations’ affairs. Heinlein’s essays in Expanded Universe express a professional soldier’s hatred of war and a desire to avoid it. These are hardly the sentiments of a “fascist,” a word that conjures up memories of the Nazis storming into Poland and Czechoslovakia.

“The itch to be a world saver should not be scratched; it rarely does any good and can drastically shorten your life,” says Lazarus in Time Enough for Love (1973). He was talking about the “itch” as a private citizen and as a nation. Lazarus Long often comments that the best way to win a fight is to avoid getting into one in the first place.

This is an itch that George W. Bush coudn’t resist scratching, although an argument can and has been made that 9-11 was the first blow struck a world-wide movement by an Islamic-fascist movement.

This commonsense approach caused Lazarus all sorts of grief when he traveled back in time to 1916, several later earlier than he intended. When America enters the first World War a year later, he has no intention of getting involved — until he is shamed into doing so by his “adoptive” family.” He ends up getting his ass shot off. (Perhaps the Master is making a point here.)

Heinlein did not chose the names of his characters on a whim. The names had meaning, including the name Heinlein chose as the birth name of Lazarus Long: “Woodrow Wilson Smith.” In Time Enough for Love, Lazarus writes a time-capsule letter to Laz and Lor in the future in which he discusses the attitudes of Americans before the nation’s entry into the Great War.

“They won’t even believe they are about to be enmeshed in the first of the Final Wars: that is why the man for whom I am named is about to be reelected. ‘We Are Neutral.’ ‘Too Proud to Fight.’ ‘He Kept Us Out of War’,” Lazarus writes. Wilson helped create the League of Nations, the first real attempt at world government, a concept Heinlein favored at one time in his life.

Of course, the contention that Heinlein opposed intervention into the affairs of other nations takes a beating in the short story “Solution Unsatisfactory,” (1940) reprinted in Expanded Universe (1980). It is the story of the creation of “atomic dust” whose deadly radiation gives the United States the superweapon it needs to defeat the Axis. Of course, once the war is over, our Soviet allies could not be trusted and they develop their own version of the dust. The Soviets were put down, but the only solution Col. Clyde Manning can foresee is a form of “Pax Americana,” which must be headed by Manning, as the President is to short sighted to do what is necessary. Manning, by the way, is described as a liberal.

This story was written before the creation of the first atomic bomb. “Solution Unsatisfactory” demonstrated Heinlein’s skill as a Cassandra.

Mrs. Virginia Heinlein reports that today’s mail included a copy of the new British edition of “Citizen of the Galaxy.” Details to follow.

(Originally posted at Libertarianism & Robert A Heinlein.) 

Essentially, libertarians believe the government eventually screws up whatever it touches, including schools. In To Sail Beyond the Sunset, Maureen Johnson bemoans how during her lifetime, the public high school her children attended degenerated from academic excellence to a crime-infested warehouse for children. As RAH pointed out in Expanded Universe and many other of his works, the public school system system is failing.

In “A Tenderfoot in Space,” (Requiem), the young hero finds after immigrating to the frontier world of Venus that the “socialization” skills taught in Earth’s public schools left him years behind his colonial classmates in math and reading. Because Venus had no compulsory education laws, he is given a choice: Either study harder or leave and make his fortune without a diploma. The need to “socialize” children is one of the primary arguments by those who oppose the right of parents to educate their own children in their own homes. Libertarians support the rights of parents to home school their students.

“…from the ignoramuses we get for recruits I’ve reached the conclusion that this new-fangled ‘functional educational’ has abolished studying in favor of developing their cute little personalities,” says Captain Walker in Tunnel in the Sky.

Heinlein blamed lack of quality public education for the decline of American society.

In To Sail Beyond the Sunset (1987), Maureen Johnson Smith (Lazarus Long’s mother) includes certain education policies when listing possible reasons for the decline of American society before it became a religious dictatorship under the Prophet, Nehemiah Scudder, which was detailed in “If This Goes On — ” (1940) which was reprinted in Revolt in 2100.

“Consider these:
‘Bread and Circuses’;
The abolition of the pauper’s oath in Franklin Roosevelt’s first term;
‘Peer group’ promotion in public school.

“These three conditions heterodyne each other. The abolition of the pauper’s oath as a condition for public charity insured that habitual failures, incompetents of every sort, people who can’t support themselves and people who won’t, each of these would have the same voice in ruling the country, in assessing taxes and spending them, as (for example) Thomas Edison or Thomas Jefferson, Andrew Carnegie or Andrew Jackson. Peer group promotion insured that the franchise would be exercised by ignorant incompetents. And ‘Bread and Circuses’ is invariably what happens in a democracy that goes this route. Unlimited spending on ’social’ programs ends in national bankruptcy, which historically is always followed by dictatorship.”

(Originally posted at Libertarianism & Robert A. Heinlein.)

Libertarians favor the legalization of marijuana and other drugs. They believe it is not the business of the government to decide what one does with one’s own body, including whether or not a person self-medicates. Libertarians argue that this is not only sound philosophy, it is practical advice for a healthy culture and society. The government’s war on drug use has led to predicable abuses and corruption within government and police. Take, for example, the use of marijuana for medicinal purposes, such as fighting nausea in cancer and AIDS patients. The government denies these benefits exist, yet and will not allow the type of research that might prove or disprove it.

From what Heinlein has written, I believe he might have favored legalizing marijuana use for medicinal purposes, but probably was opposed to outright legalization. In The Number of the Beast, the crew of Gay Deceiver visit a parallel version of Mars inhabited by British colonists. Their chief economic export of this conservative penal colony is the “raw pharmaceutical” crop known as “Cannabis Magnifica Martia.” Later, Captain Hilda Burroughs orders Gay Deceiver’s immediate evacuation from the E.E. Doc Smith’s “Lensman” universe because their cargo includes “two pounds of concentrated extract of Cannabis magnifica,” which Hilda was told is “incredibly valuable in therapy, as a basis for endless drugs.” Hilda feared the law-and-order Lensman they had encountered would be obligated to arrest the four of them and seize their ship.

Another noteworthy mention of illegal drug use was in To Sail Beyond the Sunset. Maureen’s son and daughter come to live with her after running away from their father, who held custody of the two after his divorce from Mamma Maureen. The kids are undisciplined and in trouble. At one point, Maureen searches Prisilla’s room and finds marijuana and cocaine. Both resist all efforts to discipline them, and Maureen threatens to have them arrested — Prisilla for drug possession— unless her ex-husband, Brian, comes to retrieve them.

Later in the book, Maureen related why she decided to move to her universe’s version Albuquerque, N.M., late in life. Among the reasons was the the enactment of the death penalty for drug dealing, by way of public hanging. She also expressed appreciation for tough anti drug policies at the University of New Mexico, which apparently included drug testing and searches.

There are numerous instances — in Friday, for example — in which major and minor characters enjoy recreational cannabis use. I don’t believe this was an endorsement of marijuana, or necessarily an endorsement of legalization. Friday’s setting was an Earth on the verge of total collapse because of it’s “sick culture.”

It is a mistake to always assume opinions expressed by a Heinlein character are always those of Heinlein himself. Maureen’s intolerant approach could be Heinlein’s way of showing her advanced age. But, they could also be Heinlein’s, as well.