Starship Troopers [Hardcover]

I have, and it is neither of those things.

"Starship Troopers" is, plain and simply, a sci-fi book which speaks of a society of fascists (and by fascists, I mean the original meaning of the term - a group who all pull together for the common good and sacrifice personal goals for those of the body politic) in a war against alien invaders and agressors. It is a novel of heroism and loyalty, duty and self-sacrifice.

Fundamentally, it is not a way to run a society - it would never work. But neither is it something to avoid at all costs. Perhaps if we were expected to give something for the franchise (as the Citizens in the novel have to) we might take it more seriously. Perhaps if we had civic responsibility drummed into us we might have some. Perhaps the UK and the US wouldn't be in the mess they are if we thought of others before ourselves.

None of these concepts are alien or even unpleasant - most people would agree that some civic responsibility would be a good idea. But Heinlein is brutal and harsh in the way he puts them forward.

Perhaps that will make us tune away from what he has to say, or perhaps it will make us listen.

Either way, read this book - maybe for the social comment, maybe as satire. Maybe just for the first appearance of powered infantry armour and an utterly elite group of warriors loyal beyond anything we can dream of. No matter what your views or opinions, no matter what your taste in sci-fi, "Starship Troopers" should be in your library.

A world at war, and a harsh regime with harsh doctorines. Maybe Heilien was trying to get the feel of what it was like to live through WWII, the temporary changes in society as well as life in the US Navy, but he has produced a masterpiece.

I have read it four times in the last three years. The powered armour, a sort of armoured space suit with weapon systems, radar, and a radio system customised to the chain of command are an excellent peice of SF imagination. Really taking the infantry man into space. And jumping out of an areoplane, well read the book....

The best part of the book to me is explaining what makes military organizations successful, using the science fiction context. In today's world, fewer and fewer people will have that experience. As a result, many important lessons about learning and cooperation will not be understood. Seeing the material in the context of a science fiction story makes it much more interesting.

The book basically argues that the lessons of the military can be carried over into every other area of society. That's taking the argument too far. Many people will find the idea of having people publicly lashed or hung for their crimes to be going to far. That's a step backward, not a step forward. On the other hand, holding parents more responsible for what their children do would probably reduce crime. If and how to do that is a question that reasonable people could differ about.

The intergalactic relations in this book are pretty disappointing. It is assumed that only strength through violence will be recognized. The Cold War experiences showed that strength through potential violence can also work. Perhaps there are other less violent models that would work as well. Mr. Heinlein could have taken a more optimistic view and advanced our understanding more, even if he showed that the more optimistic approach didn't work.

The descriptions of preparing for battle and the gear that the mobile infantry uses were interesting to me. Mr. Heinlein suggests a cross between infantry and armor that is very imaginative. The flaw of this idea is probably that you could not protect people well enough for them to survive.

I found the idea of people randomly shooting off nuclear weapons in a "raid" to be pretty frightening. Perhaps we need to be frightened in this way from time to time, to stay in touch with the potential risk of this happening.

After you finish thinking through Mr. Heinlein's case for a more virtuous republic, I suggest that you think about what strengths of your country's current political system would be eliminated by such a change.

Seek to do the most good as the first question you consider!

Donald Mitchell...