Heinlein described himself as a libertarian, but his actual views were somewhat mixed. He started out on the left and became increasingly conservative over time.
The key thing about Heinlein (and many other speculative fiction writers) is that they are essentially contrarian. They look at an existing situation and ask why this and why not…
Heinlein described himself as a libertarian, but his actual views were somewhat mixed. He started out on the left and became increasingly conservative over time.
The key thing about Heinlein (and many other speculative fiction writers) is that they are essentially contrarian. They look at an existing situation and ask why this and why not that? What if this? There is a difference between exploring these things in a fictional setting and trying to live them--and there is the danger of confusing the beliefs of the writer (and thinking you actually know their beliefs) with what they are and what they would do in real life.
This is why libertarianism tends to pall as you age. It looks good on paper, but that is really the only place it looks good or works. There si the idealistic striving for certain things--liberty and freedom, but it must (in the end) be coupled with the real questions/issues of how to make it work.
Heinlein described himself as a libertarian, but his actual views were somewhat mixed. He started out on the left and became increasingly conservative over time.
The key thing about Heinlein (and many other speculative fiction writers) is that they are essentially contrarian. They look at an existing situation and ask why this and why not that? What if this? There is a difference between exploring these things in a fictional setting and trying to live them--and there is the danger of confusing the beliefs of the writer (and thinking you actually know their beliefs) with what they are and what they would do in real life.
This is why libertarianism tends to pall as you age. It looks good on paper, but that is really the only place it looks good or works. There si the idealistic striving for certain things--liberty and freedom, but it must (in the end) be coupled with the real questions/issues of how to make it work.
Thank you for a very thoughtful answer.