The Moon is a Harsh Mistress
Political, Media ·Friday July 3, 2009 @ 23:55 EDT (link)
From The Moon is a Harsh Mistress (R. A. Heinlein):
[After the invading Terran ship is seen to crash in the distance.]
"What happened, Mike? Wouldn't they give you control after you burned their eyes [radar] out?"
"They gave me control, Man."
"Too late?"
"I crashed it, Man. It seemed the prudent course."
Nothing exemplifies the title more than Mike's chillingly practical decision, highlighting an earlier discussion about taking no prisoners (don't want people that will defect, and no good could be seen to come from keeping enemies alive).
In general, though, the book is great because it exemplifies the birth of a libertarian (or minarchist) society. Some interesting suggestions for future government modifications are suggested by the Professor, including having two houses—either elected or even just randomly chosen—one of which requires a two-thirds majority to pass laws, and another which can only repeal laws, needing only support of one-third of the members. The idea of requiring a supermajority to pass law is criticized in The Federalist, but in retrospect I think we'd all be better off if laws were harder to pass and easier to repeal.
DVDs finished: The Godfather DVD Collection, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine - Season 3.
