Since I wrote my review of the science fiction novel
Starship Troopers by Robert Heinlein, Carl
Benjamin, the YouTuber "Sargon of Akkad", has produced his promised video
documentary about it, see:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVpYvV0O7uI.
I must say that it has made me reconsider my own position. Sargon's review is
based on both the book and the film adaptation and he claims that Paul
Verhoeven does not really understand the book he is satirizing. I myself said
that I suspected the book itself is a very subtle satire. Sargon denies that
the story promotes fascism and brings some intriguing analysis to bear. He compares
the human society in the setting to some archaic forms of real world democratic
statehood. He says that it is fairly similar to the
Roman
Republic that lasted from 509 BC to
27 AD. There are two castes of individual, but the "civilian" and
"citizen" system is not a symptom of fascism. The Terran Federation
appears to be fairly libertarian and prosperous. The atmosphere of Johnny
Rico's school days is similar to that of being a youth in 1950's
America;
rich, free and optimistic. The civilians are not slaves; they enjoy legal
rights and own private property, as is obvious from the lifestyle of Johnny's
parents, both in the book and the film. The state does not dictate and
interfere in the personal lives of the people, whether citizen or civilian. All
people have the right to apply to try and earn citizenship; however, even after
the
Buenos Aires attack, there is
no draft. The Mobile Infantry remains a strictly volunteer force throughout. The
licence to have babies that is discussed in the shower scene in Verhoeven's movie
does not occur in the original book. There is also political accountability.
After the massacre of the Mobile Infantry on Klendathu, the Sky Marshal, leader
of the Federation, resigns. In a fascist society political power is never
abdicated in such a way. Another difference to fascism is that the Federation
has a free media, in fact it is far more candid that the media in today's real
world. The newsreels, one of the best elements of the movie, are perfectly
willing to show very gruesome scenes from the battlefield. Also one of the
funniest scenes in the film is the TV debate about the intelligence level of
the bugs between two very eccentric pundits who vehemently disagree. In a
fascist media no dissenting opinions are tolerated. Sargon also makes the
important point that the bugs are the aggressors and the Federation is acting
in self-defence. This would make the war a legitimate one under the Kellogg-Briand
Pact. The narrative of both the book and film is not in sequence and has a
complex network of flashbacks making it hard to follow. This is why the rights
and wrongs of the war appear so ambiguous. The war started when the bugs destroyed
Buenos Aires by steering a giant
meteor towards it. All the people in the city were killed.
Service to the Terran Federation is the social contract that
gives a citizen political power and Sargon of Akkad explains how that is
different from fascism and he is correct. He states that it is actually similar
to what Dr Jordan Peterson proposes. The society we have now spoon-feeds the
people unconditionally. This does not only breed lassitude; it also creates
dependency. If citizenship was something people had to earn then it would be an
incentive to live more productive and independent lives. However this still
doesn't excuse the militarily religious aspect of the story and the point I
made in my own review about how that is unfair and makes the populace
vulnerable to abuse. Every philosophical point Heinlein and Sargon propose is
dependent on the state being a benevolent entity. What if it is not? What if it
is something pathological like so many of the governments of the real earth?
What if the
Buenos Aires attack was
a false flag? Sargon claims that the federal service system would naturally
weed out corruption, but I'm not so sure. The
Roman
Republic appeared unable to prevent
Julius Caesar taking it over and creating the
Roman Empire,
see:
https://hpanwo-voice.blogspot.com/2018/06/caesar-alien.html.
Also, as I said myself, the story is based on the premise that the Federation
was created not only for the benefit of all the earth's people, but also with
their consent. There is no description anywhere of any nationalist rebellions
in any formerly independent country in the world. If such a rebellion arose,
would the people be permitted to leave the Federation? Would a Brexit-like
process be allowed? We are never told. There's no doubt that Heinlein
entertained many different political positions during his lifetime, but he did
not become more rightwing with age, as Sargon claims. In the background link I
mention
Friday, a novel from his
later period. The central protagonist of the story is a genetically engineered
secret agent from the future. She is an amiable character who is very
bighearted in a world where most people are indifferent and cruel. There is
nothing militaristic about the heroes of the book; in fact they are very
non-military kinds of people who fight back against excessive police violence,
state bureaucracy and political corruption, as well as the bigotry and stupidity
of their families and friends. The main character is also bisexual and
promiscuous, although she is capable of passionate love. I much prefer
Friday to
Starship Troopers and indeed I find it hard to accept that they
both have the same author. Robert E Heinlein must have been a very complicated
person.
