Martinis and Heinlein
I'm sure glad that Vodkapundit Steve Green has returned to blogging. And over the past 24 hours, he has blogged with a vengeance. Just click over and scroll, but pay particular attention to this veritably den Bestean analysis of the Lebanese goings-on.
Just a couple posts later, he covers this hilarious summer project of a couple of British students who are planning a scofflaw vacation. That is, they intend to embark on a crime spree, breaking old and silly laws that are still on the books, though no longer enforced.
This reminds Mr. Green of the proposal in Heinlein's The Moon is a Harsh Mistress to have a bicameral assembly in which one house would be the house of legislators and the other the house of repealers. The legislators would need a 2/3 majority to pass new laws while the repealers would require only a 1/3 vote to repeal existing laws. Great idea, I think.
Speaking of Heinlein, I have updated the quote of the month for March, with a Starship Troopers quote appropriate to the changes underway in the Middle East:
"Anyone who clings to the historically untrue — and thoroughly immoral — doctrine that 'violence never solves anything' I would advise to conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate it. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon. Violence, naked force, has settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives and freedoms."
Update: I was referring above to Steve's month-long hiatus over December and into the New Year. Not sure if that was clear as originally written.
Great quote. I think "Starship Troopers" had a bigger influence on me than any other work of fiction I read as a youth. I still read it at least once a year.
Posted by: Jack Grey at March 2, 2005 01:14 PMThat is one of my favorite Heinlein quotes. I love to pull it out when the pacifists start on a rampage. Normally when I'm done with that quote their only response is a disgruntled mumble of "yeah, well it shouldn't be that way". I've been on something of a Heinlein tear myself lately, Jubal Harshaw, Prof De La Paz and Mannie Davis.
Jack, as much as I love ST (and I must admit it was a primary catalyst for my joining the military many years ago) I have to say "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" is the better book and much more influential on my thinking. Followed closely by "Stranger in a Strange Land", then ST and then "Time Enough for Love".
Posted by: Eric at March 3, 2005 01:44 AM"...conjure up the ghosts of Napoleon Bonaparte and of the Duke of Wellington and let them debate [the doctrine that 'violence never solves anything']. The ghost of Hitler could referee, and the jury might well be the Dodo, the Great Auk, and the Passenger Pigeon."
There seems to be some unintentional irony in the Heinlein quotation. He has Bonaparte pleading the case for pacifism while Hitler acts as impartial moderator. Logically someone like Ghandi or Martin King should argue the effectiveness of soft power, but of course Indian independence and the passage of the voting rights act undermine the point Heinlein wished to make.
Napoleon and Hitler were among the staunchest champions of naked force the world has seen during these last few blood-soaked centuries, to their everlasting regret. All their example shows is that those who rush to plead their case before the bar of violence run the risk that justice will hand down the harshest of verdicts.
Tommy Hall
Posted by: T J Hall at March 5, 2005 11:23 AM