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Robert Heinlein, the author of such books as ‘Starship Troopers’ and ‘Stranger in a Strange Land’ gives his thoughts about the concept of decency.
I wonder if he would think the same these days with the advent of the Internet and people connected 24 hours a day, just a cell phone call away from you.
Our Noble, Essential Decency – Thisibelieve.org: I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.
Take Father Michael, down our road apiece. I’m not of his creed, but I know that goodness and charity and loving kindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I’m in trouble, I’ll go to him. My next door neighbor’s a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat—no fee, no prospect of a fee. I believe in Doc.
Click on the link above to continue reading.
An observation on one of Heinlein’s notes regarding phones in one of his anthologies where he provided a lot of extra comments.
He asked the phone company to provide a phone that the ringer could be turned off on. Apparently stray calls had interrupted his writing on a few occasions. The phone company at the time required that at least one phone on the line have a functioning ringer. Robert’s solution was to have them put that phone in the garage.
Heinlein was one of my favorite authors. He helped shape my teenage mind. But, he never convinced me of that message. Perhaps I’d be happier if I could believe as he did. However, I see our species going extinct in short order, long before we have any capability to get to the stars. Hell, we haven’t even been to the moon in over 30 years.
If we survive the next 200 years or so, he may well turn out right. I just think that the odds are small and shrinking that we will make it that long. There are far too many people on this planet ignoring the fact that we are causing the exact same type of event that caused 4 of the 5 great mass extinctions on this planet (excluding the one we’re in for the moment).
Check out Under A Green Sky for far more detail than can be put in a blog post.
The intro material is sloppy enough that I’m not interested in reading the referenced material.
So he knows a few people who are decent? Its not revelatory to me that a religious person might be kind to those outside his faith, nor that vets might like animals. What prejuedice about the common man does this reveal in Heinlein?
I’ll get my Norman Rockwell/O’Henry portraits else where.
His sentiment might have been true in the 1950s but, sadly, it isn’t true now.
#4. Humanist philosophical thought, in an empathic way has played an important role in civilization since Plato. It’s absence from US religious and political life has been noticed from as far back as the 17th century, in fact in almost all modern republics there is a noticeable absence or diminishing of Platonic philosophical consideration. Heinlein may have been reading Bertrand Russell, at the time he made these statements.
Heinlein, exactly as with Ayn Rand, provides some important and energizing ideas which are nutritious for the moral and ethical development of youth.
But as the process of maturity continues, and we (normally) develop a full sense of empathy and conditional identification with other members of our society and our species, we necessarily outgrow them both – but without having to discard some of the valuable insights they gave us.
R.A.H. was the kind of guy who hoped for the best but was prepared for the worst. An optimist for the most part. And for the most part, I hope he was right about the potential of our species. We’re going to need the best we can summon from ourselves, soon.
The problem with a Humanist Philosophy is that it only sees the Results of decency and not the Source.
Show me the Source and I will show you God, or at least a knowledge and understanding of things greater than (humanist)Self.
#9: The source of decency is within the person him- or herself.
Pretty simple, no magical deities or flying spaghetti monsters need to be invented. No need for fear of the deity or trying to flatter said deity either.
“Show me the Source and I will show you God, or at least a knowledge and understanding of things greater than (humanist)Self.”
Crap.
The source of any and all human decency is in the human mind, specifically those minds intelligent enough to understand that in order to be treated as one wishes to be treated, which is to say, decently, by others, it is obviously necessary to first do the same oneself – that is, treat others decently.
No deity or mystical nonsense required. Just intelligence and empathy.
Scott, I think we had a surge of prosperity and freedom for a while. We probably will never again have the chance to get off this planet we just had.
One bunch started whining about how we should “fix the problems here on earth before we try to explore space”, never mind that the problems here are just black holes that would soak up all the wealth thrown at them.
I suspect another bunch read his stories about colonies gaining their independence from the founding nations. Two nations have been founded by outside forces with the intent they become independent: Liberia and Israel. Both were intended to get rid of unwelcome minorities.
The other nations were intended to benifit the founding nation somehow, and not intended to ever be turned loose. (Yes, some were dumped eventually, but they were not founded with intent to turn loose.)
I keep thinking how China turned around and banned trade with outside nations, throwing away a 100 year head start on Europe (on top of the 1000 year head start as a civilized nation.)
Isolationist idiocy.
“One bunch started whining about how we should “fix the problems here on earth before we try to explore space”, never mind that the problems here are just black holes that would soak up all the wealth thrown at them.”
How sad – and how true.
The same well-meaning but short-sighted types that persist in sending food to people who will then live enough longer to produce even more mouths doomed to starvation – help a few stay alive now, so that more can starve to death down the road. Sentimental, yes. Rational, no.
If you think feeding the starving masses in the Third World is a good idea, you need to read this.
I’ve lived in some really bad-ass places — right among gangs, prostitution, drug dealing and even street gun battles, bombings, kidnappings, riots, etc.
Being kind and polite was my trick for staying human in those conditions.
If you look at the heroes of the Holocaust, Rawanda and similar — they are often just people who refuse to compromise their common decency.
All cats search for The Door Into Summer.
So do we.