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"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." - Robert Heinlein

by georgekv 17y ago

ShabbyDoo 17y ago
I suspect that that statement was not meant to include murderers.
- wglb 17y ago
  In one or more of his stories, a proprietor of a small business was lauded by the community for killing a would-be burgler and putting his head on a spike outside the restaurant. (e.g., Time Enough For Love, the married identical twins and proprieters of a restaurant). So, yes, I think it was.
- kragen 17y ago
  Heinlein was a big enthusiast of violence.
  - dmm 17y ago
    What does that mean? His novels certainly contained violence but I don't recall any of them expressing enthusiasm for it. And a man is not his writings. Scifi authors often explored worlds with different values and conditions. For example many of his novels contemplate polygamy and alternative marriage/family structures but I have never heard anything to suggest that he himself practiced anything like that.
nebula 17y ago
Are you kidding? or do you have a stone for your heart? An innocent eleven year old kid died because her parents are morons, and you respond to that with a wisecrack taken out of context. <quote> The night before she died - and she would have been in intense discomfort - her parents called the founder of a religious website and prayed with him on the telephone. But they did not call a doctor. If Kara had been taken to hospital, even at that late stage, insulin could have saved her. She could have been home in a few days and chirpy by the end of the week, as my son was. </quote>
krschultz 17y ago
Parents negligently killing their children is great for society? There are plenty of things to quote in the world, why you would chose that one in this place is beyond comprehension by a sane individual.
jwhitlark 17y ago
I suspect that much of America's advantages come from not just having choice, but the understanding that just because people will frequently make bad ones, doesn't mean it's a win to get rid of the ability to choose. Painful to lose people in stupid ways, but some of those stupid choices turn out to not be so stupid, in the end.

"A society that gets rid of all its troublemakers goes downhill." - Robert Heinlein

ShabbyDoo 17y ago

I suspect that that statement was not meant to include murderers.

wglb 17y ago
In one or more of his stories, a proprietor of a small business was lauded by the community for killing a would-be burgler and putting his head on a spike outside the restaurant. (e.g., Time Enough For Love, the married identical twins and proprieters of a restaurant). So, yes, I think it was.
kragen 17y ago
Heinlein was a big enthusiast of violence.
- dmm 17y ago
  What does that mean? His novels certainly contained violence but I don't recall any of them expressing enthusiasm for it. And a man is not his writings. Scifi authors often explored worlds with different values and conditions. For example many of his novels contemplate polygamy and alternative marriage/family structures but I have never heard anything to suggest that he himself practiced anything like that.

nebula 17y ago

Are you kidding? or do you have a stone for your heart? An innocent eleven year old kid died because her parents are morons, and you respond to that with a wisecrack taken out of context. <quote> The night before she died - and she would have been in intense discomfort - her parents called the founder of a religious website and prayed with him on the telephone. But they did not call a doctor. If Kara had been taken to hospital, even at that late stage, insulin could have saved her. She could have been home in a few days and chirpy by the end of the week, as my son was. </quote>

krschultz 17y ago

Parents negligently killing their children is great for society? There are plenty of things to quote in the world, why you would chose that one in this place is beyond comprehension by a sane individual.

jwhitlark 17y ago

I suspect that much of America's advantages come from not just having choice, but the understanding that just because people will frequently make bad ones, doesn't mean it's a win to get rid of the ability to choose. Painful to lose people in stupid ways, but some of those stupid choices turn out to not be so stupid, in the end.