Not exactly. The government in starship troopers is nationalistic, but not fascist; it’s a liberal limited meritocratic democracy, people still have power but only those that earn the power (somewhat like the Roman Republic but that’s a whole other story filled with socii and quasi-autonomy).
“Starship Troopers” the book is blatantly fascist, Heinlein became a fascist in his later years.
“Starship Troopers” the movie IS a parody of fascism, Verhoeven literally based the Starship Trooper’s symbols on Nazi iconography.
"Although some contemporary critics and audiences considered Starship Troopers to be an endorsement of fascism, Verhoeven said, “whenever you see something that you think is fascist, you should know that the filmmakers agree with your opinion.”
Ha I also asked my dad about it maybe 10-15 years ago. He’s a huge scifi fan and I tore through his library of asimov, Heinlein, silverberg, Anderson, etc as a teen 10 years before that. He remains convinced that it’s a satire from a conservative about dangerous conservatism. Which is funny to write as a lefty
Militarist liberal, shaped by his experience in the US Navy during WW2. He’s been accused of thinking of the ideal military officer as a modern warrior-poet.
People who call him an outright fascist are simply wrong, though he meant Starship Troopers seriously. The movie was written and directed as satire, by a director who never finished the very short novel, so don’t consider it as a source of Heinlein’s views.
While he puts military service on a pedestal, the most fascistic element of the work is probably his endorsing of “citizenship through service,” ie you have to earn your vote through a year or whatever of government service. In the movie it’s implied as military only, the book makes it clear you can also do civil service.
That is probably the most common misunderstanding of the novel, even Wikipedia claims it is military only.
I guess it depends what meaning of “liberal” you go by. In the US he would not be a liberal at all (in the sense of a Hubert Humphrey).
He was consistent career-long in hating a few things as far as I can tell : prudery, collectivism, and slavery (although he’d say the last two are redundant).
“Cold warrior libertarian with a frontier fantasy” is I think how I’d try to say it for an American audience.
Yeah but they are only facist against bugs. And bug sympathisers. And anyone who criticizes the armed forces. And any member of the military who disobeys orders.
The government within the book and movie is within the limits of liberal theory, militaristic, but liberal. It is meritocratic as civilians must earn their citizenship and have a right to choose not to, and it is a limited democracy in the same vein; not all choose to partake.
The SS uniform is purely from the movie and is purposefully chosen. Sargon of Akkad makes his position pretty clear in the video linked, if you’d bother to watch it; “You love Starship Troopers because you think that when the fascists come, and you are called upon, you will pick up a rifle and do your duty like you know you should… Nowhere in the world at any point in history has man lived lives of such tranquility, abundance, and freedom than under a liberal democracy.”
How you get fascist from those sentiments is beyond me.
Why? This is a scene from a satirical movie parodying fascism
And?
Not exactly. The government in starship troopers is nationalistic, but not fascist; it’s a liberal limited meritocratic democracy, people still have power but only those that earn the power (somewhat like the Roman Republic but that’s a whole other story filled with socii and quasi-autonomy).
“Starship Troopers” the book is blatantly fascist, Heinlein became a fascist in his later years.
“Starship Troopers” the movie IS a parody of fascism, Verhoeven literally based the Starship Trooper’s symbols on Nazi iconography.
"Although some contemporary critics and audiences considered Starship Troopers to be an endorsement of fascism, Verhoeven said, “whenever you see something that you think is fascist, you should know that the filmmakers agree with your opinion.”
Also Sargon is just a fascist puppet.
The book was a commentary on fascism. Not a celebration of it.
I thought that when I read it too, but I asked my folks and they were big scifi fans at the time, and it’s unironic.
wikipedia also says its unironic, for what its worth:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Starship_Troopers#Criticism_of_militarism
If you read Heinlein’s wikipedia page it also checks out:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robert_A._Heinlein#Views
Ha I also asked my dad about it maybe 10-15 years ago. He’s a huge scifi fan and I tore through his library of asimov, Heinlein, silverberg, Anderson, etc as a teen 10 years before that. He remains convinced that it’s a satire from a conservative about dangerous conservatism. Which is funny to write as a lefty
Heinlein also wrote characters who spoke approvingly of their hyperlibertarian society in The Moon is a Harsh Mistress.
I think his politics aren’t so easy to pin down.
Sure they are.
Militarist liberal, shaped by his experience in the US Navy during WW2. He’s been accused of thinking of the ideal military officer as a modern warrior-poet.
People who call him an outright fascist are simply wrong, though he meant Starship Troopers seriously. The movie was written and directed as satire, by a director who never finished the very short novel, so don’t consider it as a source of Heinlein’s views.
While he puts military service on a pedestal, the most fascistic element of the work is probably his endorsing of “citizenship through service,” ie you have to earn your vote through a year or whatever of government service. In the movie it’s implied as military only, the book makes it clear you can also do civil service.
That is probably the most common misunderstanding of the novel, even Wikipedia claims it is military only.
I guess it depends what meaning of “liberal” you go by. In the US he would not be a liberal at all (in the sense of a Hubert Humphrey).
He was consistent career-long in hating a few things as far as I can tell : prudery, collectivism, and slavery (although he’d say the last two are redundant).
“Cold warrior libertarian with a frontier fantasy” is I think how I’d try to say it for an American audience.
lmfao, how do you look at this and think: “liberal limited meritocratic democracy”
https://www.imdb.com/media/rm3136367104/tt0120201
they couldn’t have come closer to a Nazi SS uniform other than actually putting a red band with a swastika on.
also as others said, Sargon of Akkad is a fascist cunt.
Yeah but they are only facist against bugs. And bug sympathisers. And anyone who criticizes the armed forces. And any member of the military who disobeys orders.
The government within the book and movie is within the limits of liberal theory, militaristic, but liberal. It is meritocratic as civilians must earn their citizenship and have a right to choose not to, and it is a limited democracy in the same vein; not all choose to partake.
The SS uniform is purely from the movie and is purposefully chosen. Sargon of Akkad makes his position pretty clear in the video linked, if you’d bother to watch it; “You love Starship Troopers because you think that when the fascists come, and you are called upon, you will pick up a rifle and do your duty like you know you should… Nowhere in the world at any point in history has man lived lives of such tranquility, abundance, and freedom than under a liberal democracy.”
How you get fascist from those sentiments is beyond me.
Found the fascist
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