Sixteen years ago today, Robert A. Heinlein died. He remains the greatest science fiction writer ever, even though he is not the household name as is Isaac Asimov or Ray Bradbury. RAH fandom is notoriously fervent in their admiration. Many, including myself. Consider him some sort of guru.
I got most of my political beliefs from Heinlein.
Heinlein’s politics baffled many. And they baffled me, at first.
He was a liberal who campaigned for socialist Upton Sinclair in the 1930s. He campaigned against a ban on nuclear testing in the 1950s and for Barry Goldwater in the 1960s.
He advocated free love in “Stranger in a Strange Land.”
He seemed to advocate letting only veterans have the power to vote in “Starship Troopers.” That book earned him an undeserved reputation as a “fascist,” an opinion held by ignoramuses who don’t understand the true meanign of the term.
His novel “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” is a primer in libertarian philosophy. He would have been disgusted by modern members of the Libertarian Party, who recently seem to blame America itself for the attacks against us. Heinlein would have enlisted on Sept. 11, had he been able.
More than anyone else, Heinlein is responsible for my evolution from a liberal Democrat into a libertarian. It didn’t happen all at once, of course. I read his books because I enjoyed them, but was disturbed by some of the radical ideas. I tried to not read any more, but doggone it, the first one was so much fun, I had to pick up another. Then another.
I made a pact with myself: I would read every single thing the man wrote, but I would not let them change my mind about anything. Nosiree. I was a liberal and I knew that was the right position because anything not liberal was conservative, and conservatives were bigots, they wanted to keep the work class down and were pro war.
So I read and enjoyed. After Heinlein died, I could only re-read his stuff. I began to admit to myself that a lot of what he was saying made sense. He certainly didn’t seem like the hateful conservative monster my parents warned me about. I read an interview in which Heinlein described himself as essentially a libertarian.
I was baffled. Wasn’t the Libertarian Party those strange people who based their campaigns on legalizing drug use and prostitution? Oh, yeah, they want the government to stop interfering with people’s lives.
Heh. ‘In a perfect world, sure,’ I thought. ‘But we need the government to help us.’
The older I got, the more I realized that the government isn’t helping.
I think it was during Clinton’s second term in office when I realized that the party for which I had been voting since I was able to do so was every bit as bad the Republicans, and that both parties were more concerned about staying in office than in living up to their principles. Besides, two decades of paying taxes so that others get rich or at least avoid their own responsibilities had taken their toll.
I joined the LP. Of course, I quit two years later after 9/11 because the LP’s position on the War on Terror is that it’s all America’s fault. Screw ‘em.
Heinlein would have punched Harry Browne in the nose if he could.
Heinlein hated to be considered anyone’s guru. His books were designed to make people think and to ask questions about what they really think about what is wrong or right. They were also about fun.
But make no mistake: If more people read Heinlein’s books and paid attention to what he was trying to say, then the world would be a better place.
Heinlein set his stories on the Moon and Mars, in the future and in alternative universes. But, they were about politics, culture, society, family, religion and sex (lots of sex). In the end, readers come away with a simple philosophy: Assume responsibility for yourself, let other people do the same, and things just might work out for the better.
It’s certainly a small-”L” libertarian system of belief. It certainly had its effect on me.
Don’t take my word for it. Go down to your bookstore and see for yourself.
You won’t get brainwashed. But it might brush away some of those cobwebs in your brain.
What’s the matter? Afraid you might learn something?
UPDATE: I cannot think of a better essay on why Heinlein is important that this article by J. Neil Schulman, posted on the Heinlein Society Website.
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