Jay writes:

> I'll assume ou can provide backup for that, and so won't call you on it.
>  Instead, I'll reply:

>          Violence, naked force, has
>          settled more issues in history than has any other factor, and the
>          contrary opinion is wishful thinking at its worst. Breeds that
>          forget this basic truth have always paid for it with their lives
and
>          freedoms."
>                          -- Robert Heinlein, _Starship Troopers_

You may have missed my previous posting outlining my very low regard for
anyone attempting to derive any sort of philosophy from science fiction novels,
thus I'll repeat it again here. I wrote the following almost exactly one year
ago:

=======================================

Jeff writes:

> A few radical ideas from Robert Heinlein:

There are of course some differences between science and science fiction. In
the latter, you can choose for yourself whichever form of escapist literature
you prefer and live in that world for your entire life, if you care to.
Unfortunately, at best, it is only a form of mental masturbation, perhaps
momentarily pleasureable but otherwise completely nonproductive. But once you
go so far as to adopt philosophies taken from dime store novels, you've
almost certainly abrogated any possibility of your making reality any the
better for your doing it.

There are legitimate approaches to the analyses of complex problems. Quoting
science fiction authors is not one of them.

=======================================

If you're going to quote people, your credibility in any argument is wholly
tied to the quality of the people you quote. While the Ghenghis Khan quote,
although apparently real, was a joke, the following is not:

     "Every gun that is made signifies, in the final sense, a theft from
those who hunger and are not fed." - D.D. Eisenhower

Wirt Atmar

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