SSteinberg.SoftArts%MIT-MULTICS@sri-unix.UUCP (06/19/83)
Was "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" really libertarian fiction just because a bunch of characters spouted the libertarian party line? I don't consider "Little Drummer Girl" liberation fiction or "Moll Flanders" feminist fiction. Remember, they were all living in communes on the moon. Loners (male or female) didn't do too well until they learned how to accomodate to the society. It has been seven or eight years since I read the book but if I remember correctly the plot revolved around a colonial rebellion in which the moon colony was being economically exploited by an out of touch Earth government. The whole book is actually rather Marxist in tone. After all, the bad guys put up the money to develop a moon colony, and arranged to populate the area. The Marxists usually point out that the colonialists exploit the native population which has an intrinsic ownership of land and their own ouput. In this case there was no native population, but the moral imperative was still on the side of the moon dwellers since the moon was now THEIR WORLD (hence the title). As a capitalist I could appreciate the plight of the millions who had invested in developing a lunar colony. There is both money and pride involved here since I know a lot of people who feel that stellar colonization is a human imperative and that a moon base would be a good first step. Finding out that Mars base is less interested in the destiny of mankind and more interested in a better algae farming subsidy would come as a bit of a blow. As a humanist I realized that the people on the colony ARE the lunar natives. Bradbury did this well in his Martian Chronicles when the family finally gets to see the Martians, their own reflections staring up at them from the water in a canal. I approve of "sweat equity" and have seen enough history to know how easily the working man can be exploited. We take a lot of stuff for granted. Look at the Chartists in England, the labor movement here before the NLRB, Japan in the 50's, Poland today, or the moon in Heinlein's book. I still think The Moon ... is one of his best and that a lot of his later stuff was unreadable, which brings me to the GOR books. The GOR books seem to be in an old tradition started by the Marquis deSade who was also an ethical naturalist though the term was still new back then. Their books are largely sex and violence all too liberally larded with philosophical tract. Anyone who can stay sexually aroused for an hour while reading out loud from Free to Choose (or Das Kapital for that matter) has other problems. deSade was imprisoned for excessive leniency during his tenure as a judge. He also had a sense of humor (read Justine through to the end if you can). His heir took a demotion to comte (count) and the current Comte deSade is trying to clear his ancestor's good name. From what I gather the GOR books are a lot more readible than most pornography which isn't saying much. P.S. I know TANSTAAFL comes from The Moon is a Harsh Mistress but if the New York Times is right Yuri Andropov is claiming the same thing.
gcsherwood@watcgl.UUCP (Geoffrey C. Sherwood) (06/21/83)
This is in response to the article which (based on the writer's memory) had the Moon is a Harsh Mistress's crew acting in a Marxist fashion because they threw off the rule of their absentee landlords on earth (I think that pretty well summarizes the article). Oy Veh! A similar situation happened in 1776 in a certain well-known country. Whether a colony ever has the right to throw off the rule of those who originally paid for it is a very complex question (and not one to be brushed off with a 'Marxist' label). Perhaps there is no "right" answer, but history shows it happening time and again. Perhaps the Moon crew had more justification than most because most of the people shipped to the moon were political prisoners, excess population (from China), and so on, who could not return (1G must be murder after years of 1/6 G) and who received no benefit from being shipped there (except remaining alive). Even more importantly, Mike (the computer) gave a prediction that at present rates of consumption (and shipment of grain) the moon would be exhausted of obtainable resources (like water) within 7 years, with canabalism in two more. A prediction like that gives a certain amount of justification to ANY possible solution, historical basis for separation from a mother country (world?) aside. Basic conclusion: If you are going to blast a book, read it. - geoff sherwood - - U. of Waterloo -