“Liberty is never unalienable; it must be redeemed regularly with the blood of patriots or it always vanishes. Of all the so-called natural human rights that have ever been invented, liberty is least likely to be cheap and is never free of cost.”
Robert A. Heinlein – Starship Troopers (1959)
Somebody recently had a go at me for expressing my admiration for the writings of Robert A. Heinlein (who I consider to be one of the most rational and hilarious sci-fi writers of the 20th century) because he “sympathised with fascism”.
Honestly, if you can’t sympathise with fascism at all you probably don’t know what it is, or you’ve been indoctrinated into conflating the term with moralistic notions. All of history has been human tyranny. Some tyranny works, some doesn’t. Some is murderous to outsiders, some is subversive to its own people. Even liberty has proven to be destructive and unsustainable in some ways. There are plenty of good things to say about fascism, and you throw out the baby with the bathwater at your peril. I mean, sanctimonious moral posturing aside, how well is the West doing under universal suffrage? Looked like it could have been good, but it’s in tremendous decay now. Can we regain our liberties as a people in the long-run without significant sacrifices in the shorter-term? Will pleading and begging and trying to convince the polity through strong arguments actually bring the libertarian cause to victory?
“The instinct to survive is human nature itself, and every aspect of our personalities derives from it. Anything that conflicts with the survival instinct acts sooner or later to eliminate the individual and thereby fails to show up in future generations. . . . A scientifically verifiable theory of morals must be rooted in the individual’s instinct to survive–and nowhere else!–and must correctly describe the hierarchy of survival, note the motivations at each level, and resolve all conflicts.
Robert A. Heinlein – Starship Troopers (1959)
We have such a theory now; we can solve any moral problem, on any level. Self-interest, love of family, duty to country, responsibility toward the human race . . . .
The basis of all morality is duty, a concept with the same relation to group that self-interest has to individual.”
We will return to aristocracy, and hierarchical top-down rule by sovereigns. Nothing lasts forever, but that will be the model for the 21st century, and when we get there, we’ll probably all find that it’s better for the nation(s) than the slow decay of democracy. I’m not saying it’s perfect or absolutely stable. But compared to what? Give me a Christian monarch over the tyranny of the (increasingly parasitic) majority, any day.
People who say “fascism is evil” (and similar moronic conflations) are usually just trying to cover for their own ignorance, cowardice, or the evil they hide in their own closets.
Robert Heinlein was a great writer BECAUSE he was rational enough to sympathise with fascism.
I’ll leave you today with an excerpt from the screenplay by Edward Neumeier for the 1997 film of Starship Troopers. It’s another good example of the rational separation of moralism (rhetoric/emotional arguments from authority) from empiricism (what actually happens, how things actually work, despite our feelings about them and our wishes).
6 INT NEW UNI HIGH - CLASSROOM - DAY - CARMEN IBANEZ is beautiful, just 18, and quite pleased with herself because Johnny Rico is clearly infatuated with her. RASCZAK (O.S.) The end of another school year, and for me no doubt another failure... Rico, pay attention ! The teacher JEAN RASCZAK, 38, a rugged veteran who proudly displays his missing hand, scowls at Johnny, bemused. JOHNNY Sorry, Mr. Rasczak. But as soon as Rasczak turns back to the class, Johnny begins to sketch a cartoon on his desk's touch screen. RASCZAK Here in History and Moral Philosophy we've explored the decline of Democracy when social scientists brought the world to the brink of chaos, and how the veterans took control and imposed a stability that has lasted for generations since... You know these facts but have I taught you anything of value ? You. Why are only citizens allowed to vote ? Rasczak points at LANNY, 17, with his stump. LANNY It's a reward... what the Federation gives you for doing Federal Service. Rasczak is crestfallen, makes a big show of patience. RASCZAK No. Something given has no value! Haven't I taught you dimwits anything? I guess they ought to revoke my teaching credential... Laughter. Johnny's cartoon, meanwhile, is taking shape: Johnny and Carmen flying round planet Venus in a space ship. RASCZAK When you vote, you're exercising political authority. You're using force. And force, my friends, is violence, the supreme authority from which all other authority derives. CARL JENKINS, 18, a superintelligent geek, jumps in. CARL Gee, we always thought you were the supreme authority, Mr. Rasczak. Laughter. Rasczak grins. RASCZAK In my classroom, you bet. Whether it's exerted by ten or ten billion, political authority is violence by degree. The people we call citizens have earned the right to wield it. DIZZY FLORES, 18, athletic, pretty, no nonsense, chimes in. DIZZY My mother always says that violence never solves anything. RASCZAK Really ? I wonder what the city fathers of Hiroshima would have to say about that. You. Rasczak points at Carmen. CARMEN They probably wouldn't say anything. Hiroshima was destroyed. Johnny presses "SEND" on his desk, and the cartoon appears across the way on Carmen's screen. RASCZAK Correct. Naked force has settled more issues in history than any other factor. The contrary opinion 'violence never solves anything' is wishful thinking at its worst. While Rasczak looks away, Carmen throws Johnny her wonderful smile, and Johnny's gone, checked out, flying round Venus. RASCZAK People who forget that always pay... They pay with their lives and their freedom. Dizzy notices the dreamy look on Johnny's face. So does Rasczak. He points at him with his stump, snaps Johnny to. RASCZAK You. Tell me the moral difference, if any, between the citizen and the civilian ? JOHNNY The difference lies in the field of civic virtue. A citizen accepts personal responsibility for the safety of the body politic, of which he is a member, defending it, if need be, with his life. The civilian does not. RASCZAK The exact words of the text. But do you understand it ? Do you believe it ? JOHNNY Uh, I don't know. RASCZAK Of course you don't. I doubt if any of you here would recognize 'civic virtue' if it bit you in the ass. A bell rings. Rasczak shrugs, indifferent. RASCZAK Well, that's it. Have a nice life.
James Fox Higgins is an author, blogger, podcaster, musician, and social commentator who believes firmly in the power of wisdom, truth, courage, and historical/political literacy, and above all else, CHRIST to transform your ability to not merely cope with the depredations of the fallen world, but to also revel in the adventure of life in Creation! War is coming; face it smiling.