blue109 Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 (edited) So...it came up in an earlier thread. SciFi author Robert Heinlein was on point. Had a short day today and nothing new to read so I grabbed an old thin RAH paperback off the shelf. Book is Red Planet, copy 1949. Page 6 : "earth has gotten so musclebound with laws that a man can't breath" Page 13: "these ridiculous regulations offend me. That a free citizen should have to go before a committee, hat in hand, and pray for permission to bear arms-fantastic. Arm your daughter, sir, and pay no attention to petty bureaucrats" 5 min into the book and I remember why I love this guy. Glad he's not around today to see how far we have slipped. Edited February 18, 2014 by blue109 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
unforgiven Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 I looked him up and the titles of his books.Interesting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 Heinlein gave me the bug for science fiction. He could use it to make commentary on our society that no one else was making back then. And he had one overriding theme. If you value freedom, you need to be tough, and stand up for it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
htbde Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 Read Starship Troopers when I was kid. Nothing like the movie. More like armored up powered suits that could fly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 He wrote Starship Troopers in the 1950's, when the technology to do it wasn't even on the horizon. Now it is close to becoming reality. Amazing foresight. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 He wrote a book in 1940 where the US became the first nuclear power. In his world it wasn't a bomb, it was radioactive dust dropped from a plane that would kill everyone. Keep in mind this is before the Manhattan project. In the book, the guy in charge of the project knew other nations would developed it soon and the effects would be bad (cold war) so he staged a coup. He had all of his bombers circling every nation on the planet, and threatened to eliminate them if they didn't agree to give up their air force capabilities. if I remember, he had to make an example of someone (Hiroshima) before the rest fell in line. He hated it, but knew he had to do it to maintain world order. Wonder how the world would look if we took that course after ww2. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 18, 2014 Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 I read that one. Pretty amazing." In "the moon is a harsh mistress" He predicted Space borne mass driver kinetic energy weapons. Makes me think we better revisit the moon when the Chinese do. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted February 18, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 18, 2014 And I just read naval ships are expected to field rail guns in the next 5 years. There is a ship being built right now capable of generating enough electricity to power a medium sized city. Imaging a rail gun firing a multi ton projectile from the moon! No defense against that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dracomeister Posted February 19, 2014 Report Share Posted February 19, 2014 I own and have read almost every book RAH ever wrote (we have something over 6,000 volumes in our home library). I almost every case he pushes the ideas of (1) know yourself and govern yourself, (2) individualism can and will be crushed if government is given a free reign, and (3) it is up to the citizen to limit that evil. He was both prolific and prophetic in his writings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tripledeuce Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Not only that, but he pushed comulsory military service in order to "earn " the right to vote. Respectfully Terry Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EasyEJL Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 And I just read naval ships are expected to field rail guns in the next 5 years. There is a ship being built right now capable of generating enough electricity to power a medium sized city.Imaging a rail gun firing a multi ton projectile from the moon! No defense against that!yeah, I've been following the navy rail gun tests, that poop is scary Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mineralman55 Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 Not only that, but he pushed comulsory military service in order to "earn " the right to vote. Respectfully Terry I'm not sure I'd put it quite that way. In the book "Starship Troopers", you had to have served honorably in order to gain the "franchise" (hold office, vote, etc.) It was difficult to get into the military, and easy to get out. Those not serving were left alone to lead their lives as they wished. Keep your nose clean and nobody bothered you. I could live with that society! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 I'm not sure I'd put it quite that way. In the book "Starship Troopers", you had to have served honorably in order to gain the "franchise" (hold office, vote, etc.) It was difficult to get into the military, and easy to get out. Those not serving were left alone to lead their lives as they wished. Keep your nose clean and nobody bothered you. I could live with that society! ^^^^^^^^^^^^^ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mineralman55 Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 There are so many. This is one of my favorites: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 There are so many. This is one of my favorites: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein Excellent! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gnatshooter Posted February 20, 2014 Report Share Posted February 20, 2014 The original Heinlein was a man. Once he got to chasing pvssy, he was something else. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jtallen83 Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 There are so many. This is one of my favorites: "A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an invasion, butcher a hog, conn a ship, design a building, write a sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve equations, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly. Specialization is for insects." -Robert A. Heinlein <thumbsup> Excellent quote! Words to live by. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 The original Heinlein was a man. Once he got to chasing pvssy, he was something else. Heinlein in his later years got caught up in the sexual revolution that was sweeping the country in the sixties. He did start putting out some strange, "out there" stuff. Yet it was in line with the fact the man was a free thinker. Some of it was a little strange, thats all. Doesn't take away from his good work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blue109 Posted February 21, 2014 Author Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Maybe he drank a little electric kool-aid. More power to him ! Ken Kesey took a few of his ideas from Stranger in a Strange Land. He was a Heinlein fan. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sisco Posted February 21, 2014 Report Share Posted February 21, 2014 Maybe he drank a little electric kool-aid. More power to him ! Ken Kesey took a few of his ideas from Stranger in a Strange Land. He was a Heinlein fan. I did not know that. Thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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