tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post5974063936445129896..comments2024-03-18T21:52:45.757-07:00Comments on CONTRARY BRIN: Looking back at Heinlein's Future History - coming true before our eyes.David Brinhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/14465315130418506525noreply@blogger.comBlogger377125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59684344628710027722023-03-20T14:32:16.431-07:002023-03-20T14:32:16.431-07:00@Thomas - an "active street-level antifascist...@Thomas - an "active street-level antifascist"? Should you be acting in concert with rioters, I wish you the very best defense in court, swift and sure due process, and respectfully suggest you purchase buildings and property before damaging them. Just a thought.Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04076612295097459890noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-27158548321034770892023-03-20T10:00:42.926-07:002023-03-20T10:00:42.926-07:00I know this is six years after your post, and mayb...I know this is six years after your post, and maybe your views have evolved, but I feel I need to rebut your statements about the “far left” and its views regarding the military. I’m pretty far left, at least by American standards. I’m an active street-level antifascist. I’ve been to a lot of actions throughout the mid south over the last several years. And I know a good number of people who are farther left than I am. A nontrivial percentage of my lefty friends are ex-military. None of the leftists I know hate service members. This country recruits its poor to go overseas and fight for rich people’s profits, often literally risking their lives for an education. The soldiers on the ground are victims too. We know that. The leftist you’re describing do not exist in any experience I’ve had, and I know a lot of leftists. If you haven’t updated your views about the “far left”, as you describe us, please consider doing so. I’m available if you’re interested in hearing more of my perspective. On an unrelated note, I’m huge fan of your work. More than once I’ve gone on full geek infodump mode explaining the various galactic languages in the Uplift works to my friends. Thanks!Thomashttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07904624521953171427noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75152831584026156012020-09-23T18:27:44.065-07:002020-09-23T18:27:44.065-07:00I think you misread the situation, from your perso...I think you misread the situation, from your personal bias.<br />The Democrats tried very hard to implement the church of Woke, and their blackshirts are on the streets now rioting, and trying to exercise control out of line with their small numbers. Their computer company allies are shutting off conservative voices at every opportunity, with biased application of Terms of service - and often with no actual infarction of those, no matter how broadly interpreted.<br />The President has exercised restraint, attempted to build bridges, and been rebuffed time and again, all the way to a sham of an impeachment with no crime alleged.<br />And this doesn't even get into the dirty tricks department, vote fraud, and other manifest criminality, likely practiced by both sides political operatives. America hasn't had an honest election since the dawn of the 20th century.<br />WizWomhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/09780003008394222841noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-22574861306612542182020-06-25T11:47:08.057-07:002020-06-25T11:47:08.057-07:00People who have read only one sentence from "...People who have read only one sentence from "Beyond this Horizon" take the "Armed society is a polite society" at face value. <br /><br />If you read the rest of the book, the story is somewhat different. Guns are a fashion accessory, along with fingernail paint for the men in BTH. People who have productive jobs (scientists) in the book, show very little interest in guns. And the humans in BTH who are capable of using guns to promote politeness are not 20th/21st century humans - they are so superior to us in intellect and reaction time that a wealthy, fit white man from 1925 is so outclassed by the racially mixed average man of the future that he would not survive a duel against anyone. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-44368466600703668772020-06-02T18:09:18.070-07:002020-06-02T18:09:18.070-07:00In Heinlein's Starship Troopers, the reader fi...In Heinlein's Starship Troopers, the reader finds out that the protagonist is Filipino halfway through.Secure Basehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14104693836161542554noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-64653811579600915582020-06-01T23:07:26.719-07:002020-06-01T23:07:26.719-07:00JeffB Some readers of the Heinlein book in questi...JeffB Some readers of the Heinlein book in question might be interested in an earlier and prophetic novel: "It Can't Happen Here" by Sinclair Lewis. Written in the 30s when fascism was on the rise, it shows how even the US can turn into an authoritarian state. "If fascism comes to America, it will be bearing a cross, and wrapped in a flag." And some comments mention Heinlein (or Clarke) having a sympathetic hero for a novel, the reader assumes to be white, only to be revealed at the end as black. So far as I know, this trick was used first and best by Anthony Burgess in his novel "MF".Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-72317040846462546212019-12-22T21:54:29.554-08:002019-12-22T21:54:29.554-08:00I grew up with Heinlein books and adored them for ...I grew up with Heinlein books and adored them for how they taught me to question my own assumptions and preconceptions. Just finished re-listening to Moon is a Harsh Mistress for the umpteenth time. RAH was a masterful writer of dialogue and while I don't agree with all his points, I enjoy hearing about them. I felt like he was trying on a lot of his ideas, more than espousing them. Such things as giving he vote only to vets and treating as second class citizens people who were not willing to fight duels over affronts. I enjoy the points he is making with these experiments, even if I don't think that's what we as a society should do. That's what scifi is for, to explore all the 'what ifs'.<br /><br />'Moon' is a wonderful example of his kind of backhanded feminism (IMO) where he shows women as fully in control of their fate and sexuality while modeling all his female characters as ones who are randy and promiscuous, willing to pop out babies and know when to keep their mouths shut. Can I celebrate the first while snorting with annoyance at the second? Sure I can. Nobody gets woke overnight.<br /><br />As to the point of this article and RAH's prophetic voice in Revolt, I confess to some inner conflict. I was brought up in the Christian Church, and what grieves me and keeps me away from it these days is not the poisonousness of the theology, it's the inability of believers to believe in the more beautiful teachings. Jesus taught that the Kingdom of God was like yeast in meal, in other words, that it create transformation gradually within each person from the inside out, and this could happen within a society that was completely alien to those teachings, leaving no need to be threatened by the influence of other belief systems or try to exclude them. Or what about the feeding of the 5000 or the other stories that taught an exuberant generosity that paid no heed to statistics or economics? How many times have I reminded my friends on the Right that we believe that if we share all that we have, there will still be enough to go around? Yet people who claim to believe that are the ones who want to keep the immigrants out, who claim there aren't enough resources. If Christians really lived like they believe what they told ME they believed, the culture wars would not be wars.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-62291411028704189572019-12-21T23:33:43.870-08:002019-12-21T23:33:43.870-08:00The danger confronting America at the present mome...The danger confronting America at the present moment is NOT traditional religion, but the religion of state power. And it's currently manifesting itself as the religion of catastrophic "climate change" and economic "equality" (Among several other prominent leftist articles of faith.)<br /><br />Hijacking Heinlein in support of the current wave of anti-science, anti-freedom leftist hysteria is obscene, by the way. And all while dutifully apologizing for his "unfortunate" right-wing "prejudices." It's disgusting.Jim Gillhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10360318812626909513noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-75570502739142214702019-10-22T12:53:58.728-07:002019-10-22T12:53:58.728-07:00Nehemiah Scudder was originally in For Us, the Liv...Nehemiah Scudder was originally in <i>For Us, the Living</i>, the semi-Utopian work Heinlein wrote, decided it wasn't publishable, and mined for useful concepts. Read that section (if you are a completist, or want to know where RAH was coming from, read the whole book) and see what you think about seeing the man in action, so to speak.<br /><br />And the book is a social-credit advocacy. Heinlein's political beliefs changed over the years (and in connection with who he married, apparently); remember, he ran for the California State Legislature on Upton Sinclair's End Poverty In California platform, which proposed massive state-owned industries.Major Majorhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00517713211026600871noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59142620061814894282018-10-07T09:00:10.321-07:002018-10-07T09:00:10.321-07:00As a Canadian living here in the US (Salut mon tab...As a Canadian living here in the US (Salut mon tabarnak, Zepp). I am often disgusted with the amount of religion in your politics. Trump supporters are beyond the pale in this regard. It is time to start bolstering secular organisations like the Freedom From Religion Foundation who is waging war against those who would violate the US constitution by introducing religion in schools, the workplace and most importantly after yesterday's vote, the judiciary. RAH also believed that you had to be willing to fight for your freedom. I firmly believe that RAH would say to the current Trump opposition, Get off your ass and stop whining. DO SOMETHING.Lazarus Longhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791637796507296449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70379301465436034562018-01-10T18:22:20.679-08:002018-01-10T18:22:20.679-08:00Why has no one picked up the movie rights to Revol...Why has no one picked up the movie rights to Revolt in 2100 or If This Goes On? If they could start filming this summer for a 2019 release, they would make bank! Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-76201825060815834632017-09-09T22:28:23.588-07:002017-09-09T22:28:23.588-07:00Heinlein stated in Expanded Universe that he thoug...Heinlein stated in Expanded Universe that he thought the vote should be restricted in some way. He proposed the idea of solving math problems, or buying your right to franchise. He proposed limiting the vote to women, and only allowing mothers to be judges and serve in Congress. <br /><br />In these restrictions, he wasn't fascist, he was human, and idealist. We all have 'those people' we don't want voting, even leftists. (Have any of you posted one of those facebook memes about how men shouldn't vote on abortion until they have uteruses?) <br /><br />Unfortunately, people are jerks and would manipulate any such system to keep a permanent underclass, because, hey, the Turks really don't want the Kurds voting themselves out of Turkey. So Heinlein was an idealist, not a fascist. <br /><br />My book Target Seventeen Must Die is a great time travel novel science fiction adventure! Available now on Amazon, Nook, iBook, Tolino and CreateSpace. <br /><br />M L Clarkhttp://serverfarm17.weebly.comnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-1271151215880217842017-09-02T11:20:26.077-07:002017-09-02T11:20:26.077-07:00I think it's Sixth Column -- a rebellion of sc...I think it's Sixth Column -- a rebellion of scientists dressed up with religious trappings (do I have the right book?) -- that I find uncomfortably racist against Asians. It trivializes them. I understand the period he wrote it in and the historical context, so I don't judge him by it. But neither does the book age well. Too bad. Because the theme of science vs religious cultism is one we could use now.<br /><br />I grew up on Heinlein. Loved his books. Reread some of them frequently. Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a favorite. But some age better than others. No writer is immune to that.LoisBhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04694459378110797093noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-70300278519345509232017-08-20T18:13:33.712-07:002017-08-20T18:13:33.712-07:00In Response to David Brin on Heinlein
by J. Neil S...In Response to David Brin on Heinlein<br />by J. Neil Schulman and Brad Linaweavwe<br /><br />https://plus.google.com/104324786572486752059/posts/D6pKMrPFiB7J. Neil Schulmanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13967846232457955275noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-61039397062052533482017-08-20T07:58:30.371-07:002017-08-20T07:58:30.371-07:00All lottery winners has a secrets they will never ...All lottery winners has a secrets they will never share to the public 90% will keep the secret of their success to the grave, but in this life of no mans own you have to help others in other for you to gain more help in the future, its been seven years now i have been playing the lottery the highest win i won was $700, night and day something inner always tell me that there is a perfect way to win the lottery so i continue my search which lead me to Dr. Zadson the great voodoo doc who cast a lottery spell for me and i won ($13,000,000,00) i never doubted him cos i was introduced to him by a colleague at work who had won $4,000,000,00. Hurry now and contact him at eduduzadsontemple@yahoo.com or text him on +1240-892-4311Eitanhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06062313239585497206noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-77958828240653370762017-08-19T11:14:29.215-07:002017-08-19T11:14:29.215-07:00I can't imagine Heinlein as being a Trump supp...I can't imagine Heinlein as being a Trump supporter. He would have quickly dismissed the man as a braggart and a fool, which he obviously is. He might support Rand Paul, but might have stopped to ask, "OK, what about the people who aren't already rich?"Zepp Jamiesonhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/16261339498383415026noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-83654531350147321502017-08-19T10:53:14.350-07:002017-08-19T10:53:14.350-07:00I love Heinlein and have read (and in many cases r...I love Heinlein and have read (and in many cases re-read several times) every piece of literature he's written. I'm a staunch conservative and love his writing. I do lean a little to the libertarian side of conservatism, but I still consider myself a conservative. This article seems very biased. It's the author's opinion and he's welcome to it. I voted for Trump (what other choice did we have?!haha) and I'm proud that I did. I think most of the negativity towards Trump is being fabricated and promoted by the media, the left, and unfortunately the regular people who watch the news and believe the fake news they're being told. The left wants racism, they want to be offended. It's their way of life. Also they're pissed they lost the election so they are going to do everything they can to make Trump and the people that voted for him miserable. They will not stop until he's gone. This is not really about "racism", or "hatred" (other than their hatred of Trump). I think Heinlein would be ashamed of anyone on the left (the left of the last 10 years or so). They are the racists, fascists, haters, and trouble makers in general. But hey, that's just my opinion. Maybe they all just need more love, hugs, patchouli oil, and a job. You know, like the terrorist they love so much. Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-40079080702643357842017-08-18T17:12:59.936-07:002017-08-18T17:12:59.936-07:00None of it is science.
None of it is science.<br />Anonymoushttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06349622160787261197noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-45564067999571673912017-08-18T12:42:36.663-07:002017-08-18T12:42:36.663-07:00You still want Bernie, even after he accepted a pa...You still want Bernie, even after he accepted a payoff from hillary??billdeserthillshttps://www.blogger.com/profile/00879707574980771355noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-71563401309901098992017-05-22T03:22:08.735-07:002017-05-22T03:22:08.735-07:00Life is good when you have your love ones around y...Life is good when you have your love ones around you, I am saying this because when i had issues with my lover i never seen life as a good thing but thanks to Dr. AGBAZARA of AGBAZARA TEMPLE, for helping me to cast a spell that brought my lover back to me within the space of 48hours. My husband left me for another woman after 7YEARS of marriage,but Dr.AGBAZARA help me cast a spell that brought him back to me within 48hours. I am not going to tell you more details about myself rather i will only advise those who are having issues in there relationship or marriages to contact Dr.AGBAZARA TEMPLE through these details via; ( agbazara@gmail.com) or call him on WHATSAPP: +2348104102662? bloggerhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03361286358896892000noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-59085278367682868262017-05-12T18:19:31.423-07:002017-05-12T18:19:31.423-07:00This comment has been removed by the author.Lazarus Longhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791637796507296449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49475028390024182712017-05-12T18:15:55.386-07:002017-05-12T18:15:55.386-07:00Hi David,
I have left my Google identity intact to...Hi David,<br />I have left my Google identity intact to represent my affinity for this post. I started reading Heinlein back in the mid 70's at the tender age of 12. I picked up Starman Jones in my high school library and loved it. I then left his young reader stories behind and next dove in with both feet to my personal favorite, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress followed quickly by Stranger and I Will Fear No Evil. I cannot begin to describe the influence RAH has had on my life, how I look at religion, logic and science. Thank you for your words about RAH and I am sure that his legacy and prescience will live on. <br /><br />KevinLazarus Longhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05791637796507296449noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-2496302183603541362017-04-08T16:12:35.611-07:002017-04-08T16:12:35.611-07:00I read almost every book Heinlein wrote in childho...I read almost every book Heinlein wrote in childhood. He influence me more in my thinking than any other author. And yes I have notice too that much that he wrote about (the crazy years) seems to be happing today.<br />bigstevehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/06302947486142672773noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-49853086791997999312017-04-07T13:33:54.141-07:002017-04-07T13:33:54.141-07:00I'm the anonymous author of the above ("A...I'm the anonymous author of the above ("Anonymous") post, #354. <br /><br />Reading through the comments, I've learned that D. Brin prefers the use of pseudonyms, yet graciously allows posts without even that much of an identifier. <br /><br />I often post anonymously as I share RAH's dislike of societies "complex enough to require IDs" (I too was practically "raised" by him), yet am happy to comply with this reasonable request. Also wanted to dispel any thoughts that my post was just anonymous trolling. So as Bruce Willis' character in the first "Die Hard" said, "call me... 'Roy'"Roynoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8587336.post-20633047038360998302017-04-07T11:21:29.514-07:002017-04-07T11:21:29.514-07:00Hi, not sure if this has been mentioned in the 300...Hi, not sure if this has been mentioned in the 300+ comments above, but I don't think it's quite accurate to write "Robert A. Heinlein’s 1953 "Future History" collection, Revolt in 2100, vividly portrays...". <br /><br />Revolt in 2100 is merely one part of the "Future History" series, which contains over a dozen (maybe two?) stories written/published over a span of many years.<br /><br />Fully agree with the larger point that RAH/Revolt in 2100 was prescient though.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com