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

After reading The Card, I assumed/hoped that this would be a similar story. It was, in that it was set in the Five Towns. Other than that, there was not much similarity. This was a much more serious work. There seems to be conflicting elements to the story as if the author and the editor went a few rounds over the ending. While, this thought of a battle over the end is purely supposition, I suspect that it occurred and that the editor won.

This story is about a young lady named Rachel Fleckring, a house maid to a moderately wealthy and somewhat eccentric old woman. As the story opens as a local businessman deposits almost 1000 pounds at their house overnight. Shortly thereafter, the two nephews come for a birthday party. One nephew is brutish, but has strong moral character (i.e. quite trustworthy). The other, Louis Fores, is charming while lacking in the moral fortitude department. The scene is set and that night the money vanishes from the house.

This story studies many aspects of love and relationships through the microcosm of these few characters and the theft of the money: the elderly and upstanding Mrs. Maldon, the unscrupulous businessman Thomas Batchgrew, the brutish nephew Julian Maldon, the nephew Louis Fores, and the star Rachel Fleckring. Throughout the story, Bennett opens the readers eyes to the many aspects in which a person can be both wise and foolish in their interactions. We’ll look at that more in a minute.

The story does not have a strong drive towards a climax. In many ways it meanders along seemingly without direction. The key to the story is to study the relationships between the characters instead of seeing it as a mystery novel. There are a few twists, but overall this isn’t a “mystery” story.

I found this a difficult read as it reminded me of the foolishness of some couples I have known. Sometimes one cannot quite get their head wrapped around the seemingly foolish decisions that people make. Why do people turn off their brains when it comes to love? Why do people ignore the sage advice of their elders and become attracted to foolish spouses? I think that teenagers should read this book before they begin dating.

Mrs. Maldon tries to warn Rachel of the flaws in Fores, but cannot bring herself to do so as Fores is family. Rachel, an eminently practical young woman, refuses to listen to any opinions that speak against the character of Fores. She even ignores her own practical nature because Fores makes her feel “wonderful.” Batchgrew is not a model citizen but cares for Rachel and would have helped her if she had listened.

And so the relationships shift and change continuously with Rachel justifying her love of the foolish Fores. Even when Fores treats her poorly, she clings to him as if he was a life preserver and she a drowning soul.

Why? Who knows, but Rachel learns the price of her love.

You can get the audio book here and the text here.

Tags: Arnold Bennett, book, classic, conservative, fable, moral, Personal Development, philosophy, Price of Love, review, talk, youth