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The Moon is a Harsh Mistress: Book Three (Warning: Spoilers)
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MikeH92467
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Since I'm going "off Island" for Thanksgiving week and my Internet time will be severly limited, I think I'll go ahead and post some summary thoughts here, which is not to say I might not visit the other two threads at some point.
A lot is made in some places of this novel being the springboard for a new Libertarian movement. I think that's grossly exaggerated and I think it grossly oversimplifies what RAH was trying to do.
I really think that it's worth remembering that Heinlein created an imaginary universe that was in effect a Libertarian utopia, but remember the cost of how they got there. The worst riff raff, scum and the excess population of earth went into an outer space Botany Bay or Devil's Island, if you prefer. Conditions were horrifying bad, and only the very toughest and smartest survived to achieve the societal balance that he describes.
Thinking that this "Libertarian Utopia" could be achieved in a nation with already established structures of government strikes me as, at best, naive, at worst downright stupid.
In the end, Mannie asks "are food riots too high a price for leaving people alone?" but, remember, it's a question, not an answer. Mannie doesn't know for sure if what he did was right, considering how the government was regulating everyone and everything. Of course, if you look at a prosperous and growing nation that at least has self determination, even if it strayed from the Libertarain Utopia, I would say he did what had to be done, regardless of the outcome.
If you haven't made it to the segment with the final showdown with Earth, I think it's as exciting and realistic as any science fiction I've ever read.
Someone once raised the issue of what really happened to Mike? Did he commit suicide, or did he go into some sort of Catatonia? A pshrink acquaintance once told me he thought it was suicide, if you agree, why would he do that? Did he realize that Prof was right and the society could never really be free if he was pulling the strings? Maybe he was afraid of becoming Landru.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Yanks and my best to all the Euros over this wonderful holiday.
A lot is made in some places of this novel being the springboard for a new Libertarian movement. I think that's grossly exaggerated and I think it grossly oversimplifies what RAH was trying to do.
I really think that it's worth remembering that Heinlein created an imaginary universe that was in effect a Libertarian utopia, but remember the cost of how they got there. The worst riff raff, scum and the excess population of earth went into an outer space Botany Bay or Devil's Island, if you prefer. Conditions were horrifying bad, and only the very toughest and smartest survived to achieve the societal balance that he describes.
Thinking that this "Libertarian Utopia" could be achieved in a nation with already established structures of government strikes me as, at best, naive, at worst downright stupid.
In the end, Mannie asks "are food riots too high a price for leaving people alone?" but, remember, it's a question, not an answer. Mannie doesn't know for sure if what he did was right, considering how the government was regulating everyone and everything. Of course, if you look at a prosperous and growing nation that at least has self determination, even if it strayed from the Libertarain Utopia, I would say he did what had to be done, regardless of the outcome.
If you haven't made it to the segment with the final showdown with Earth, I think it's as exciting and realistic as any science fiction I've ever read.
Someone once raised the issue of what really happened to Mike? Did he commit suicide, or did he go into some sort of Catatonia? A pshrink acquaintance once told me he thought it was suicide, if you agree, why would he do that? Did he realize that Prof was right and the society could never really be free if he was pulling the strings? Maybe he was afraid of becoming Landru.
Happy Thanksgiving to all my fellow Yanks and my best to all the Euros over this wonderful holiday.
