Originally Posted by Sephirex
It's not a vision we should strive for...But there's nothing wrong with celebrating and expounding upon the works of great authors. Even those who wrote of dystopias and suffering.
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Not so sure about that. If everyone knew the cost of war I'm sure we would avoid it more.
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Federal Service is not necessarily military, although it is suggested that hardship and strict discipline are pervasive. According to Poul Anderson, Heinlein got the idea not from Nazi Germany or Sparta, but from Switzerland
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Service=Voting Power.
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Yeah, It's a weird book, it's basically the third reich in space, except the master race is humans. Easily half the book is just long author tracts on why fascism is awesome.
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The book has been accused of being fascist. But imo and Heinlein's it is not. It's an extrapolation of 1950's politics.
And in noway is it the "Third Reich' In space. Not sure if we read the same book.
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Defenders of the book usually point out that although the electoral franchise is limited, the government of the Terran Federation is democratically elected. There is freedom of speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of conscience for non-citizens ("residents"). The military service is entirely volunteer, with no conscription: infantrymen can even resign just before being sent into combat, with no sanction other than discharge without the right to citizenship and the vote. The society described in the book is multiracial, multi-religious, and multi-ethnic. The protagonist Juan Rico is Filipino and others in his training group are American, Japanese, German, Australian, and Turkish, and one or two have recognizably Jewish last names. Women play a prominent role in the military, especially as pilots and ships' captains. Many also argue that Heinlein was simply discussing the merits of a "selective versus nonselective franchise."[33][volume & issue needed] Heinlein made a similar claim in his Expanded Universe and further noted that 95% of "veterans" were not military personnel but members of the civil service and that only retired veterans could vote or hold office.
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Our society is on track to becoming more like Heinlein's Terran Federation.(Just look at the past decade)
You want to go to college? Want benefits? ? no loans after college? Join the military.
2012-07-27, 01:24 PM
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