Definitely not. Verhoeven (the director) is a WW 2 survivor (he was living in the occupied Netherlands as a child) and he very obviously satirizes the fascism of the book. See also: RoboCop.
I don’t disagree, but it’s a lot more subtle in the book. Basically, the book just presents the society as it is and lets you draw your own conclusions, while the movie lays on the satire pretty thickly.
I read the book just a couple years ago thinking it would be awesome because the book is usually better than the movie, and oh my God. I can’t believe someone actually thought that kind of government would be rad.
I’m not sure if Heinlein genuinely thought it would be rad. He did play around with a lot of ideas in his books. Stranger in a Strange Land is totally different and full on hippie communism or whatever you’d call it, which is in a bit of a contrast to Starship Troopers. And then there’s the Finnish matriarchy in one of the books. Of course another explanation was that he just radically changed his minds but I dunno.
Interesting stuff, nevertheless and IMO really good book if you like military scifi.
If you read his books in the order they were written, you can watch him transition from liberal socialist to authoritarian conservative to individualist libertarian, or what he called rational anarchist.
Also HOLY SHIT did the man like to write about his own kinks.
Also HOLY SHIT did the man like to write about his own kinks.
The spanking I can get past, but the extensive genetic analysis in “The Tale of the Twins Who Weren’t” in Time Enough for Love was a tad… indulgent of something.
Right, so if I don’t serve I don’t get to vote. That’s fucking wild. Let’s look at Israel for how great compulsory service is and a beacon of democracy then shall we
Who gets to vote is decided by a vote? How did they get their right to vote? That’s a great incentive for current voters to prevent anyone who didn’t agree with them from getting voting rights in the future.
Yeah sure, until civil war breaks out decades later over the huge portion of the population that couldn’t vote because it was democratically decided that they were the wrong skin color. It’s not like this is some untested idea.
I always find it interesting to read stories investigating alternative ideas. I’m generally very left wing in my views. Stories like starship troopers are 1 way of doing it.
The thing is, such a system has some significant advantages. You just need to paper over the cracks. The biggest issue is the requirement for an external enemy. Without one, it would likely turn inwards and destroy itself. In the book’s case it’s the bugs that provide this. They are also not mindless. You start the book with a terror raid on an ally of the bugs, proving they are capable of interstellar diplomacy. It’s designed to “persuade” them to stay out of the war, but they also idly use nuclear weapons on civilian targets.
A “benevolent dictator” funnelling public funds and lives into an offensive war effort to keep the populace unified in hate sounds, and is meant to sound hellish. It’s an unnecessary waste of resources and lives that comes at the direct expense of providing for your people.
Common goals, with a strong unifying purpose for 1. Opportunities for significant advancement. Significant investment into medical care. Strong leadership direction. An extremely egalitarian society. Filtering of those in power.
Just because it’s a horrifying setup doesn’t mean it doesn’t have advantages. It’s possible to dissect a large complex idea and extract useful tools from it. It also helps you better see the pitfalls, both to help you make decisions on it, and explain the problems to others.
A couple of examples. The Nazis significantly improved the fitness level of a large chunk of the population. Nazi scientists were also critical in America making it to the moon. The current German autobahn road network is one of the best built in the world.
Just because the source is horrifying doesn’t mean everything it is attached to is also horrifying. The catch is separating the 2, or explaining why the cost is not worth the benefit.
And just to clarify. I’m a strong proponent of a robust social safety net. I also think all “natural monopoly” infrastructure should be controlled by a government owned non profit. Capitalism and nationalism should be treated like fire. A fire in a hearth will keep you warm. A fire in a smelter will help make steel. A fire in your bedroom will kill your family. Useful, but controlled and channeled.
The parts of that book that aren’t heavy handed philosophy are great. There’s some fuckin awesome sci Fi hidden in the book that’s pretty much “Atlas shrugged for the military”
That movie might be the only case of an adaptation purposefully doing a severe putdown of the source material.
I know I lived under a rock and all, but what is the movie’s name?
Starship Troopers. It’s great.
It’s campy trash that’s fun and has some interesting meta background.
Like the guy on the pic being Filipino, for example.
I still wouldn’t say it’s fascist, rather paleo-Republican. Too nostalgic about Athens or the Roman republic.
Did we read a different book or did the adaptation also eat the onion like all the fascists referencing the film?
wait…
Definitely not. Verhoeven (the director) is a WW 2 survivor (he was living in the occupied Netherlands as a child) and he very obviously satirizes the fascism of the book. See also: RoboCop.
So does the book.
I don’t disagree, but it’s a lot more subtle in the book. Basically, the book just presents the society as it is and lets you draw your own conclusions, while the movie lays on the satire pretty thickly.
I read the book just a couple years ago thinking it would be awesome because the book is usually better than the movie, and oh my God. I can’t believe someone actually thought that kind of government would be rad.
The movie more borrowed the name than anything. “Bug assault on outpost 9” is the origination story.
I’m not sure if Heinlein genuinely thought it would be rad. He did play around with a lot of ideas in his books. Stranger in a Strange Land is totally different and full on hippie communism or whatever you’d call it, which is in a bit of a contrast to Starship Troopers. And then there’s the Finnish matriarchy in one of the books. Of course another explanation was that he just radically changed his minds but I dunno.
Interesting stuff, nevertheless and IMO really good book if you like military scifi.
If you read his books in the order they were written, you can watch him transition from liberal socialist to authoritarian conservative to individualist libertarian, or what he called rational anarchist.
Also HOLY SHIT did the man like to write about his own kinks.
The spanking I can get past, but the extensive genetic analysis in “The Tale of the Twins Who Weren’t” in Time Enough for Love was a tad… indulgent of something.
That whole book was an incest wankfest
How do you world build if you don’t feature your kinks prominently, front and center?
Imagine if you will, a ring that could render you completely invisible to the naked eye…
There is a lot of good arguments in that book.
A system where you have to do something positive for your country to vote isn’t the worst idea.
… And who, exactly, gets to decide what is something “positive” enough to warrant having your voice represented? Fucking yikes my dude.
Citizens vote on it I imagine.
It was a very democratic society all you had to do was serve.
Right, so if I don’t serve I don’t get to vote. That’s fucking wild. Let’s look at Israel for how great compulsory service is and a beacon of democracy then shall we
Israel is way more militaristic than the society in Starship Troopers. That isn’t a fair comparison.
Who gets to vote is decided by a vote? How did they get their right to vote? That’s a great incentive for current voters to prevent anyone who didn’t agree with them from getting voting rights in the future.
Same as women voting or 16 years old or people without land.
People vote on who gets to vote
Yeah sure, until civil war breaks out decades later over the huge portion of the population that couldn’t vote because it was democratically decided that they were the wrong skin color. It’s not like this is some untested idea.
Okay you’re right. An elite few should hold the power on who gets to vote and who doesn’t.
Nah, that’s a pretty shit idea bro.
What if I were to tell you, in the book, you could do it by being a social worker, a teacher, or any form of civil service?
Its a facist utopia, if you’re a facist it IS great.
I always find it interesting to read stories investigating alternative ideas. I’m generally very left wing in my views. Stories like starship troopers are 1 way of doing it.
The thing is, such a system has some significant advantages. You just need to paper over the cracks. The biggest issue is the requirement for an external enemy. Without one, it would likely turn inwards and destroy itself. In the book’s case it’s the bugs that provide this. They are also not mindless. You start the book with a terror raid on an ally of the bugs, proving they are capable of interstellar diplomacy. It’s designed to “persuade” them to stay out of the war, but they also idly use nuclear weapons on civilian targets.
I liked the general approach, but my own system designed by the same method plus my, not author’s personality would look completely different.
A “benevolent dictator” funnelling public funds and lives into an offensive war effort to keep the populace unified in hate sounds, and is meant to sound hellish. It’s an unnecessary waste of resources and lives that comes at the direct expense of providing for your people.
What are the advantages?
Common goals, with a strong unifying purpose for 1. Opportunities for significant advancement. Significant investment into medical care. Strong leadership direction. An extremely egalitarian society. Filtering of those in power.
Just because it’s a horrifying setup doesn’t mean it doesn’t have advantages. It’s possible to dissect a large complex idea and extract useful tools from it. It also helps you better see the pitfalls, both to help you make decisions on it, and explain the problems to others.
A couple of examples. The Nazis significantly improved the fitness level of a large chunk of the population. Nazi scientists were also critical in America making it to the moon. The current German autobahn road network is one of the best built in the world.
Just because the source is horrifying doesn’t mean everything it is attached to is also horrifying. The catch is separating the 2, or explaining why the cost is not worth the benefit.
And just to clarify. I’m a strong proponent of a robust social safety net. I also think all “natural monopoly” infrastructure should be controlled by a government owned non profit. Capitalism and nationalism should be treated like fire. A fire in a hearth will keep you warm. A fire in a smelter will help make steel. A fire in your bedroom will kill your family. Useful, but controlled and channeled.
People used to think that a lot.
They still do too, which is concerning.
The parts of that book that aren’t heavy handed philosophy are great. There’s some fuckin awesome sci Fi hidden in the book that’s pretty much “Atlas shrugged for the military”