Conservative Book Talk

Once I would have said that I leaned Libertarian in my political views. Then I started hearing more about what Libertarian actually believed. From what I can tell, it’s far more than a free-market small government attitude. I started realizing that the underlying philosophy was aggressively anti-God. It just so happened that some of my beliefs overlapped tenents of Libertarianism. So, when I heard that this book would demonstrate the world as a libertarian saw it (and I like some of this author’s other works), I decided to give it a try.

End result: Good story, terrible philosophy.

Briefly stated, the philosophy is that when left alone, men will naturally choose to develop a society in which everyone works together. Government is evil and non-government is good. Unfortunately for that point of view, mankind has a thing called: sin nature. In a perfect world, Libertarians would be right, but as Judges points out, men choose to do what is right in their own eyes and that is often a detriment to others.

Libertarians miss the fact that the government has a legitimate purpose as a restrainer of tyrants, bullies and shysters. Without a strong government (and I still believe in a small limited government) we would be back in the Middle Ages with lots of petty tyrants abusing the locals and trying to usurp one another’s power.

As to the book, the story is quite good. The story is told in retrospect by one of the main characters. The moon was turned into a penal colony. But, if one stayed on the moon too long, they would be unable to return to Earth as changes in their body would prevent it. So, after a person’s sentence was finished, they were stuck on the moon. Soon a colony of free people developed. Without any form of government, this colony “developed” into a wonderful place. Unruly people were spaced. Of course everyone agreed with the decision because it was “obvious” that these people deserved it for violating the understood social contract.

As an aside, Heinlein falls into the trap of assuming that their is no government outside of the people on the moon. But, that’s not true. The environment is truly a harsh mistress. Stupidity and a failure to get along will result in the entire colony dieing a brutal and sudden death. So, while there isn’t a fickle and tyrannical man made government, there was still a restraining inhibiting man’s inherent selfish desires. Failure to do one’s part could lead to a rupture or other cataclysmic event in the life support systems…. So, it is wrong to imply that mankind could live in freedom and harmony without a government. Besides, since evil governments are made up of men, the evil nature of the government must be a result of the nature of men. That point is a bit to subtle for the author.

Anyway, back to the story.

So, this story is about the struggle between an oppressed colony on the moon and their exploitative masters on earth. The main character Manny and his two compatriots architect a revolution from earth with the assistance of their friend: the world’s only self-aware computer. The story spends as much time discussing the nature of the conspiracy against earth as discussing the lifestyle of life on the moon.

Personally, I found the story to be quite exciting though it *is* a style that would probably annoy others. The story is an action story, but it is presented in a recitation of facts manner. In my mind, this works and of course plenty of others agreed, but your mileage might vary.

As for negatives, you have my opinion of the philosophy. Still, there is a small amount of profanity and the moral character of the family lives is problematic. They have strange open marriages and all sorts of odd stuff that is portrayed as acceptable because “it works.” A major underlying philosophy of the book is pragmatism: whatever achieves my goals is OK. gag….

Anyway, despite all the problems or rather because of them, I recommend that you read this book. Learn more about what a Libertarian thinks. And while your learning, enjoy a legitimately good story.

Tags: adventure, Current Events, Matt Gardenghi, philosophy, Robert Heinlein, Science Fiction, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress

Have you ever read a book by Clive Cussler? Strangely enough, I’ve met plenty of people who haven’t read or heard of him, and frankly, that’s a shame. Cussler is an extraordinarily talented writer of adventure stories. He has several series but the most famous is the Dirk Pitt series. You may have heard of the movie Sahara with Matthew McConaughey in it. That was a Cussler story.

The main characters, Dirk Pitt and his side kick Al Giordino, work for the National Underwater and Marine Association. From the NUMA website:

Founded by Clive Cussler, the National Underwater and Marine Agency (NUMA) is a non-profit, volunteer foundation dedicated to preserving our maritime heritage through the discovery, archaeological survey and conservation of shipwreck artifacts.

This quote describes the books precisely and they describe Clive Cussler. Cussler found and raised the Hunley, the first submarine.

Dirk and Al travel the world and go on adventures that combine history, archaeology, and intriguing marine facts into page turning books. The most interesting part? The books typically don’t seem to absurdly impossible. What makes the books even better is that Cussler often ties some alternate theory into the books. Consider Atlantis in which Cussler makes use of the theories of Charles Hapgood (reviewed by me here). Hapgood stands out against the standard interpretations of the scientific community, but his theories aren’t easily dismissed. Hapgood makes credible claims and Cussler ties them into the story. Of course, Cussler does this with many other things as well. Atlantis also references the crystal skulls which apparently are the source of the Indiana Jones 4 script.

I know, that information is useful, but what about the book? The characters are well written and hilarious. The pages turn themselves. And Cussler always gives you reason to stop and think about the way you view things by his choice of plot direction. Whether its his interpretation of Atlantis, a discussion of the smuggling of illegal Chinese immigrants into the US in the 1990s or an alternate view on the Illiad or Odyssey, Cussler challenges your opinions and preconceived notions. So, these are just page turning thrillers, they are also thought provoking.

Dirk travels from submerged mines in Colorado to South America to Antarctica in an effort to find people who tried kidnapped a linguist and tried to kill Dirk and Al. Their search takes them to amazing discoveries and brings them face to face with the most catastrophic event in human history: a universal flood. (Well, OK. Cussler agrees that a mostly universal flood occurred but that humans survived in the mountain tops and not by an Ark.) Still, he has most of it correct here. Beyond that, I won’t say much more on the plot, because I don’t want to ruin it.

There is seldom objectionable content beyond a few swear words so I’d generally recommend that you grab a book, settle down over the holidays and enjoy yourself. You will enjoy these books. At least, I always do.

Please, do yourself a favor. If you haven’t read Cussler (Dirk Pitt series; I’ve never read the Kurt Austen books), please read one over Thanksgiving or Christmas.

Tags: adventure, Clive Cussler, Dirk Pitt, fiction, Matt Gardenghi

Book three of the Alex Rider series. Alex Rider is British, and really, he shines in England. Something about the interactions across the pond seem to flow naturally and be so lifelike I can see the book unfolding in my head. Once you add Americans into the picture, its another story. Or maybe just less of a movie-in-book-form than previous volumes; either way, the Americans stand out like cardboard cut outs on a live action set. Thankfully, that is rectified when our main bad guy shows up (he and the main minions are Russian), and things kick into high gear for another rousing adventure.

PLOT: revolves around Alex getting roped into another mission, this one in America, involving a Russian nuclear nutcase. Instead of the British spy agency backing him all the way, he has to work with two American CIA agents (who aren’t supposed to tell the kid anything), and as usual, nobody knows what they’re actually after, even Alex. Alex, one female agent, and one male agent are soon in Florida, trying to get into the mansion of an impressively protective former Soviet general. His house consumes an entire island, and only a deep underwater cave is left unguarded…

POSITIVE: The world of spies is murky and uncertain in this series (as in real life), and Alex, while clearly brilliant, doesn’t know anything more than the agents he’s assigned with. As in, yay for adult competence! He saves everyone, but only once he’s willing to admit that he doesn’t know very much and so approaches each new thing with caution and humility. The story line also flows very naturally, making the transition from rainy London to the swamps of Florida and eventually the Russian Arctic Circle very natural. One of my pet peeves is “crazy” bad guys who are really just deluded idiots; this one is genuinely crazy, so he’s creepy, but he acts like you’d expect a lunatic to act, with unexpected logic, especially regarding his treatment of Alex. And the supporting minions are developed well enough that they supplement the performance, by treating his insanity as normal. And yes, that will only make sense once you’ve read the book. In short, the author has figured out what makes a good horror story, and applied the principles to his spy tale. He also discusses, subtly, several adult themes of women in the workforce, pride going before a fall, nuclear ethics, manipulation of the media, and security systems and their effectiveness being based on the people running them. These are positive because as an adult I enjoyed finding something to think about over the course of the book, and they are subtle enough that a kid could miss them entirely.

NEGATIVE: This is the darkest book in the series, in my opinion. Usually, authors forget to make the minions behave as if they’ve been minions for a long time, and the illusion of craziness is broken. Horowitz does a good job here of making it very real and therefore very scary. And something like seven different horrific ways to die are presented. Two bad words; many action scenes including bad guy sends minions to their death among the alligators, several life-threatening scenes where a young person is in danger of being electrocuted, eaten alive by sharks, chomped on my mechanical teeth, blown up, nuclear poisoning, ripped in pieces, etc –not graphic, and thereby more terrifying; our hero is unkind to a deformed minion (who wants him chopped in pieces); one stereotypical macho American guy who does stupidly risky things; and several characters consume alcohol liberally and one gets raving drunk.

OVERVIEW: four stars, because as a kids book it’s really rather more mature than it should be, with regard to the creepiness and violence levels. Otherwise, though, it’s very well crafted and though provoking.

Tags: adventure, Alex Rider, Anthony Horowitz, fiction, Mystery, Sincerelyornot, Skeleton Key, youth