Post by thorgrimm on Nov 13, 2007 17:29:40 GMT 1
Since its debut in 1959, Robert Heinlein's novel Starship Troopers has been one of the most popular, and controversial, works of science fiction ever published. Written in a few weeks as a response to a proposed nuclear testing moratorium and other issues, it has been interpreted and misinterpreted, praised and excoriated. It recently generated hundreds of "reviews" on the Amazon.com website, not bad for a book published 48 years ago!
Long on philosophical discussions about citizenship, government, and sociology, this is a book that can be read on several levels: classic coming of age story, political commentary, and science fiction adventure. It virtually defined the powered armor sub-genre of military science fiction.
Lest anyone later accuse me of having a hidden agenda, let me make my agenda public at the outset: Starship Troopers is my second favorite book of all time, only surpassed by The War of the Worlds. And I have no problems with people disliking or even condemning the book for its contents; it is a controversial work, and while I personally think that "polemic" is a little extreme, I can see why someone might describe it that way. What I do not accept, though, is condemning the book on the basis of willful ignorance or poor reading comprehension.
This is not to say that Starship Troopers doesn't have its flaws; it can be preachy and with a narrow focus, thus giving rise to the impression (incorrect, I believe) that Heinlein was only focused on the military. To further complicate matters, Heinlein occasionally makes contradictory statements about the society portrayed in the book. While I disagree with Heinlein on a number of issues (including the one that prompted him to write the book in the first place), I do agree wholeheartedly with his take on citizenship; that with rights come responsibilities, and that many if not all of the major problems facing the western democracies today, especially the United States, are the result of people having forgotten that simple fact.
The Plot
The novel is told by Juan Rico, a young trooper in the Mobile Infantry, the Terran Federation Army's 22nd-century equivalent of the 82nd Airborne. Chapter One opens with a quick strike mission on a world of the Skinnies, the humanoid allies of the Federation's main foe, the insect-like Arachnids. The story then flashes back to Johnny's graduation from high school, and his decision, on a whim, really, to sign up for Federal Service over the objections of his wealthy industrialist father. After some aptitude testing and preliminary screening, young Johnny finds himself at a boot camp so rigorous only one percent of the recruits finish basic training. He survives, is assigned to a unit, takes part in a few operations, almost gets killed, goes career, attends Officer Candidate School, is commisioned, and eventually commands his own unit. Interspersed through this are flashbacks to his high school History and Moral Philosophy course.
These flashbacks are not filler; indeed, in many ways they are the core of the book. For in the flashbacks we learn that in the Terran Federation of Johnny's day, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through some form of volunteer "military" service. Those residents who have not exercised their right to perform this Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (free speech, assembly, etc.), but they cannot vote. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas. This is a society where John Kennedy's "Ask not want your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" isn't simply a musty old speech, but a core political philosophy.
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Starship Troopers isn't really a book about the military, being a soldier, or even government; it's a book about civic virtue, and what distinguishes a citizen, in the sense of one who recognizes that, with rights, come responsibilities, and that the two are proportional, from a non-citizen. The military is a good model for this discussion, because it involves (at least theoretically and, I think, usually in practice) a relatively straightforward instance of consciously placing the interests of your society above your own personal interests.
Does that invalidate the example of a public health worker who, through selfless devotion and long hours (but no actual physical danger) discovers a cure for cancer? Of course not; that person is (probably) a true humanitarian, a good member of society, and may have other characteristics that mark a citizen. Then why require Federal Service? Because the decision to say "I will place myself at personal risk" is a test, an example of someone putting not just their "money where their mouth is," but potentially their life as well. Everything else being equal, a person who meets this requirement is more likely to have the characteristics that define a good citizen than someone who was not willing to serve. On the other hand, in the United States the US Public Health Service is one of the seven uniformed Federal services (the uniform looks almost identical to the Navy, although the commander, the Surgeon-General, has an Army-style rank), and its members serve under military discipline, shop in PXs, and in time of war operate as part of the Department of Defense. Whether there is a Terran Federation equivalent, though, we don't know. Although given Heinlein's own predeliction, I would surmise there is.
Many have described the book as being simplistic. To the degree that it is simplistic, that's because its intended audience, 12-to-14-year-old boys, generally haven't read Plato, More, etc. by that point in their lives, and probably aren't interest in reading them, either. I don't think this is a fatal flaw for adults, I'm in my 40s, and when I reread it recently, I was struck by how much the book still has to offer.
It is, however, contradictory and confusing in places. For example, Rico's father states that war is very rare, yet the MI require officers to be combat vets, which implies that war is not rare; Heinlein's statement that a career military man is more likely to die than to finish his term also indicates that service might involve more combat than Mr. Rico's statement would lead you to believe. I suspect that the OCS combat prerequisite might be the preferred policy, but one which is not always able to be followed.
Another example of this type of confusion lies in Heinlein's various statements about the relationship between the MI as a branch and the Amy as a whole. Unless specifically referring to a non-MI branch, Heinlein tends to use "Army" and "Mobile Infantry" interchangeably. Of course, this might simply be parochialism on the part of the narrator, in much the way that submariners refer to there being two types of ships, "submarines" and "targets."
Overall, this confusion both arises from and is negated by, in my mind at least, the argument that it isn't really about the military. The details of the MI are not the point that Heinlein was trying to make; they are means to an end, not the end itself.
I look forward to any other opinions on this book.
Cheers, Þórgrímr
Long on philosophical discussions about citizenship, government, and sociology, this is a book that can be read on several levels: classic coming of age story, political commentary, and science fiction adventure. It virtually defined the powered armor sub-genre of military science fiction.
Lest anyone later accuse me of having a hidden agenda, let me make my agenda public at the outset: Starship Troopers is my second favorite book of all time, only surpassed by The War of the Worlds. And I have no problems with people disliking or even condemning the book for its contents; it is a controversial work, and while I personally think that "polemic" is a little extreme, I can see why someone might describe it that way. What I do not accept, though, is condemning the book on the basis of willful ignorance or poor reading comprehension.
This is not to say that Starship Troopers doesn't have its flaws; it can be preachy and with a narrow focus, thus giving rise to the impression (incorrect, I believe) that Heinlein was only focused on the military. To further complicate matters, Heinlein occasionally makes contradictory statements about the society portrayed in the book. While I disagree with Heinlein on a number of issues (including the one that prompted him to write the book in the first place), I do agree wholeheartedly with his take on citizenship; that with rights come responsibilities, and that many if not all of the major problems facing the western democracies today, especially the United States, are the result of people having forgotten that simple fact.
The Plot
The novel is told by Juan Rico, a young trooper in the Mobile Infantry, the Terran Federation Army's 22nd-century equivalent of the 82nd Airborne. Chapter One opens with a quick strike mission on a world of the Skinnies, the humanoid allies of the Federation's main foe, the insect-like Arachnids. The story then flashes back to Johnny's graduation from high school, and his decision, on a whim, really, to sign up for Federal Service over the objections of his wealthy industrialist father. After some aptitude testing and preliminary screening, young Johnny finds himself at a boot camp so rigorous only one percent of the recruits finish basic training. He survives, is assigned to a unit, takes part in a few operations, almost gets killed, goes career, attends Officer Candidate School, is commisioned, and eventually commands his own unit. Interspersed through this are flashbacks to his high school History and Moral Philosophy course.
These flashbacks are not filler; indeed, in many ways they are the core of the book. For in the flashbacks we learn that in the Terran Federation of Johnny's day, the rights of a full Citizen (to vote, and hold public office) must be earned through some form of volunteer "military" service. Those residents who have not exercised their right to perform this Federal Service retain the other rights generally associated with a modern democracy (free speech, assembly, etc.), but they cannot vote. This structure arose ad hoc after the collapse of the 20th century western democracies, brought on by both social failures at home and defeat by the Chinese Hegemony overseas. This is a society where John Kennedy's "Ask not want your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country" isn't simply a musty old speech, but a core political philosophy.
__________________________________________________
Starship Troopers isn't really a book about the military, being a soldier, or even government; it's a book about civic virtue, and what distinguishes a citizen, in the sense of one who recognizes that, with rights, come responsibilities, and that the two are proportional, from a non-citizen. The military is a good model for this discussion, because it involves (at least theoretically and, I think, usually in practice) a relatively straightforward instance of consciously placing the interests of your society above your own personal interests.
Does that invalidate the example of a public health worker who, through selfless devotion and long hours (but no actual physical danger) discovers a cure for cancer? Of course not; that person is (probably) a true humanitarian, a good member of society, and may have other characteristics that mark a citizen. Then why require Federal Service? Because the decision to say "I will place myself at personal risk" is a test, an example of someone putting not just their "money where their mouth is," but potentially their life as well. Everything else being equal, a person who meets this requirement is more likely to have the characteristics that define a good citizen than someone who was not willing to serve. On the other hand, in the United States the US Public Health Service is one of the seven uniformed Federal services (the uniform looks almost identical to the Navy, although the commander, the Surgeon-General, has an Army-style rank), and its members serve under military discipline, shop in PXs, and in time of war operate as part of the Department of Defense. Whether there is a Terran Federation equivalent, though, we don't know. Although given Heinlein's own predeliction, I would surmise there is.
Many have described the book as being simplistic. To the degree that it is simplistic, that's because its intended audience, 12-to-14-year-old boys, generally haven't read Plato, More, etc. by that point in their lives, and probably aren't interest in reading them, either. I don't think this is a fatal flaw for adults, I'm in my 40s, and when I reread it recently, I was struck by how much the book still has to offer.
It is, however, contradictory and confusing in places. For example, Rico's father states that war is very rare, yet the MI require officers to be combat vets, which implies that war is not rare; Heinlein's statement that a career military man is more likely to die than to finish his term also indicates that service might involve more combat than Mr. Rico's statement would lead you to believe. I suspect that the OCS combat prerequisite might be the preferred policy, but one which is not always able to be followed.
Another example of this type of confusion lies in Heinlein's various statements about the relationship between the MI as a branch and the Amy as a whole. Unless specifically referring to a non-MI branch, Heinlein tends to use "Army" and "Mobile Infantry" interchangeably. Of course, this might simply be parochialism on the part of the narrator, in much the way that submariners refer to there being two types of ships, "submarines" and "targets."
Overall, this confusion both arises from and is negated by, in my mind at least, the argument that it isn't really about the military. The details of the MI are not the point that Heinlein was trying to make; they are means to an end, not the end itself.
I look forward to any other opinions on this book.
Cheers, Þórgrímr
