Just wanted to thank two fine blogs for adding Target Centermass to their blogrolls:
Argghhh!!! — I’m honored.
The Fire Ant Gazette — Love the many moods of Abbye.
Also, to update a recent Reciprocity, John at TexasBestGrok has moved Target Centermass from his “The Green Hills of Earth” category to his “The Moon is a Harsh Mistress” listing. Unfortunately, I haven’t read Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress [hanging head in shame], so I don’t know how to interpret this. Rather than pester John, however, I have instead resolved to read it next and harass then, if necessary. FYI, John has a new SFBabe Poll up, so go vote on the hottest Dr. Who companions.
As always, if you’ve linked or blogrolled Target Centermass and I haven’t found you, please send an email or post a comment. No good deed should go unrewarded.
Comments
2 responses to “Reciprocity IX”
By all means, please read the book. It can be a bit challenging, so I’ll be interested to see what you think.
The blogroll is pretty easy to explain. The top section is reserved for libertarian bloggers, and is named such because The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is usually acknowledged as a libertarian “manifesto,” along with, e.g., Ayn Rand’s Atlas Shrugged.
“The Green Hills of Earth” section is for the wide variety or non-libertarian, non-space bloggers. The “Starship Troopers” section is for the space and SF bloggers. And the “Between Planets” section is for the offbeat, humorous, or hard-to-categorize bloggers.
Hey Gunner, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is a must read. There are so many layers to this book. The main character, Manny, is a classical everyman who just wants the government to leave him alone. His mentor, Professor de la Paz is a professional revolutionary who espouses the philosophy of Rational Anarchy. The basic idea is that we each are individually responsible for our actions and ethical choices, regardless of laws and regulations. This is the classic absolute libertarian position. And then there is Stu LaJoie, a Constitutional Monarchist, because democracy is too dangerous to be left to the people. Heinlein lays out a “perfect” (by my lights anyhow) society that has all the things a person needs in a free market with no government bureaucracy or regulation. He then proceeds to show that mankind’s urge to tell each other what to do (nanny government, as I call it) will ultimately replace a truly libertarian system (as we have seen in our own country over the past 200 years).
On that note, what is the deal with our urge to pass laws to stop people from doing things? Have you ever noticed that no one ever wants a law passed so they won’t do something. Instead it is always so that you won’t do something they think is wrong.