A Sense of Doubt blog post #1996 - Heinlein's Future History - coming true before our eyes
http://davidbrin.blogspot.com/2017/03/looking-back-at-heinleins-future.html
Saturday, March 18, 2017
Looking back at Heinlein's Future History - coming true before our eyes
This one is so pertinent and important, I tried to find a more public venue for it. But one of the tragic consequences of the Trump Era is the decay of op-ed journalism -- everyone recycling the same whines. I'll speak more of this, at the end. But now -- this just can't be put off, any longer. Prepare to go wide-eyed!
== A chilling forecast: accurate down to the last detail ==
You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic. – Robert A. Heinlein, Revolt in 2100
== A chilling forecast: accurate down to the last detail ==
You can sway a thousand men by appealing to their prejudices quicker than you can convince one man by logic. – Robert A. Heinlein, Revolt in 2100
Robert A. Heinlein’s 1953 "Future History" collection, Revolt in 2100, vividly portrays citizens rising up against an authoritarian theocracy which has taken root in America. A succession of fundamentalist despots have ruled for nearly a century, dating back to the First Prophet, Nehemiah Scudder. John Lyle, a graduate of West Point and now a member of the Prophet's elite guard "Angels of the Lord," joins an underground revolt when he finally begins to question the society under which he always lived:
"I began to sense faintly that secrecy is the keystone of all tyranny. Not force, but secrecy ... censorship. When any government, or any church for that matter, undertakes to say to its subjects, 'This you may not read, this you must not see, this you are forbidden to know,' the end result is tyranny and oppression, no matter how holy the motives. Mighty little force is needed to control a man whose mind has been hoodwinked; contrariwise, no amount of force can control a free man, a man whose mind is free. No, not the rack, not fission bombs, not anything -- you can't conquer a free man; the most you can do is kill him." (If This Goes On-- Chapter 6)
Does that sound familiar? Oh, but you ain't seen nothing, yet. Prepare to be amazed.
Sure, Heinlein's voice is different than mine. But he largely raised me, and I deeply resent it when some folks lazily dismiss RAH as a "right winger" or even "fascist." Sure, there are ways in which he reads rather retro, today. And he yelled "get off my lawn!" at hippies who came to pay homage, after Stranger in a Strange Land.
But he truly saw himself as a champion of equal rights and equal opportunity, even if his characters can seem cringeworthy, through modern eyes. His libertarianism is of another, Jeffersonian-Adam Smithian variety, and while he passed through a phase (the way many college sophomores do, today) saying good things about Ayn Rand, he later outgrew that fetish, when he realized it stood not for open competition, but for selfish solipsism, a trait his characters often spoke of despising.
Of course, our chief overlap is seen in that extract, above. Heinlein and I both portray light as the cleanser and liberator. We must all see as much as we can handle, and then more. It is a citizen's duty to look! And yes, to re-examine things we had been comfortable believing. Transparency is key to reciprocal accountability, which we use to be both free and smart. It is the miracle tool that enables us to question the lies of monsters.
== Amazing prophecy! ==
Is it ironic that the author of a novel about false prophets nailed the future so well? Oh, but it gets much better. Especially the paragraph in bold, below.
Here, I’d like to quote extensively from Revolt in 2100's afterword, “Concerning Stories Never Written,” in which Robert Heinlein takes an incisive look at a possible dark future for our country:
Sure, Heinlein's voice is different than mine. But he largely raised me, and I deeply resent it when some folks lazily dismiss RAH as a "right winger" or even "fascist." Sure, there are ways in which he reads rather retro, today. And he yelled "get off my lawn!" at hippies who came to pay homage, after Stranger in a Strange Land.
But he truly saw himself as a champion of equal rights and equal opportunity, even if his characters can seem cringeworthy, through modern eyes. His libertarianism is of another, Jeffersonian-Adam Smithian variety, and while he passed through a phase (the way many college sophomores do, today) saying good things about Ayn Rand, he later outgrew that fetish, when he realized it stood not for open competition, but for selfish solipsism, a trait his characters often spoke of despising.
Of course, our chief overlap is seen in that extract, above. Heinlein and I both portray light as the cleanser and liberator. We must all see as much as we can handle, and then more. It is a citizen's duty to look! And yes, to re-examine things we had been comfortable believing. Transparency is key to reciprocal accountability, which we use to be both free and smart. It is the miracle tool that enables us to question the lies of monsters.
== Amazing prophecy! ==
Is it ironic that the author of a novel about false prophets nailed the future so well? Oh, but it gets much better. Especially the paragraph in bold, below.
Here, I’d like to quote extensively from Revolt in 2100's afterword, “Concerning Stories Never Written,” in which Robert Heinlein takes an incisive look at a possible dark future for our country:
“As for ... the idea that we could lose our freedom by succumbing to a wave of religious hysteria, I am sorry to say that I consider it possible. I hope that it is not probable. But there is a latent deep strain of religious fanaticism in this, our culture; it is rooted in our history and it has broken out many times in the past.
"It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.
"It is with us now; there has been a sharp rise in strongly evangelical sects in this country in recent years, some of which hold beliefs theocratic in the extreme, anti-intellectual, anti-scientific, and anti-libertarian.
“It is a truism that almost any sect, cult, or religion will legislate its creed into law if it acquires the political power to do so, and will follow it by suppressing opposition, subverting all education to seize early the minds of the young, and by killing, locking up, or driving underground all heretics. This is equally true whether the faith is Communism or Holy-Rollerism; indeed it is the bounden duty of the faithful to do so. The custodians of the True Faith cannot logically admit tolerance of heresy to be a virtue.
“Nevertheless this business of legislating religious beliefs into law has never been more than sporadically successful in this country – Sunday closing laws here and there, birth control legislation in spots, the Prohibition experiment, temporary enclaves of theocracy such as Voliva’s Zion, Smith’s Nauvoo, and a few others. The country is split up into such a variety of faiths and sects that a degree of uneasy tolerance now exists from expedient compromise; the minorities constitute a majority of opposition against each other.
“Could it be otherwise here? Could any one sect obtain a working majority at the polls and take over the country? Perhaps not – but a combination of a dynamic evangelist, television, enough money, and modern techniques of advertising and propaganda might make Billy Sunday’s efforts look like a corner store compared to Sears Roebuck.
"Throw in a Depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negrosim, and a good large dose of anti-“furriners” in general and anti-intellectuals here at home, and the result might be something quite frightening – particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington."
"Throw in a Depression for good measure, promise a material heaven here on earth, add a dash of anti-Semitism, anti-Catholicism, anti-Negrosim, and a good large dose of anti-“furriners” in general and anti-intellectuals here at home, and the result might be something quite frightening – particularly when one recalls that our voting system is such that a minority distributed as pluralities in enough states can constitute a working majority in Washington."
Jiminy! Heinlein wrote that in the early 1950s! Is there anything he did not hit right on the head? Heck, he even nailed the dominionist "Prosperity Gospel" so popular among Ted Cruz types, promising fervid followers that their "material heaven here on earth" will come by righteously seizing the property of unbelievers. (Late note: a prosperity gospel preacher keynotes Donald Trump's inauguration.)
Seriously, read his last paragraph (above) again. Then recall that Heinlein portrayed Nehemiah Scudder taking the White House against the will of a majority, in 2012. (He also spoke of America sinking into "The Crazy Years.")
As for you blithe judgers who dismissed Heinlein as a 'fascist'? Shame on you. He was fighting the good fight before you were born, far more persuasively and effectively than you'll ever be.
Oh, but back to his essay. It gets even more amazing:
“I imagined Nehemiah Scudder as a backwoods evangelist who combined some of the features of John Calvin, Savonarola, Judge Rutherford and Huey Long. His influence was not national until after the death of Mrs. Rachel Biggs…. who left Brother Scudder several millions of dollars with which to establish a television station. Shortly thereafter he teamed up with an ex-Senator from his home state; they placed their affairs in the hands of a major advertising agency and were on their way to fame and fortune. Presently they needed stormtroopers; they revived the Ku Klux Klan in everything but the name – sheets, passwords, grips, and all. It was a “good gimmick” once and still served. Blood at the polls and blood in the streets, but Scudder won the election. The next election was never held.
“Impossible? Remember the Klan in the ‘Twenties – and how far it got without even a dynamic leader. Remember Karl Marx and note how close that unscientific piece of nonsense called Das Kapital has come to smothering out all freedom of thought on half a planet, without – mind you – the emotional advantage of calling it a religion. The capacity of the human mind for swallowing nonsense and spewing it forth in violent and repressive action has never yet been plumbed."
Give Heinlein's Revolt in 2100 a read (available for Kindle.)
Are the parallels with our present situation perfect? Well, no. For one thing, there is the spectacular hypocrisy of U.S. fundamentalist Christians gushing their fervid support for a man who is - in every conceivable measure of action or character - the diametric opposite of Jesus. Even Heinlein could not have written that.
No, this has to be a clarion call. Members of the American center and moderate-left must get past their clichés... like the insipid stupidity of calling old-fashioned Jeffersonian libertarians like Heinlein "right-wingers." For one thing, anyone who loves science, nowadays is, by definition, no member of that cult.
We must be welcoming of fellow citizens who flee the rising, confederate madness. Soon, these will include waves of 'retiring' U.S. military and intelligence officers, potential allies of stunning value in our task of saving civilization! So do not listen to fools on the far-left, who would spit in the faces of such refugees. The far-left can be as crazy as the entire-right has become. Especially if they would reflexively spurn powerful allies, just because they have good posture and sport crewcuts.
Or powerful inspirations, like the science fiction author and American, Robert A. Heinlein.
Honor the legacy of Heinlein and Pay It Forward! Support the efforts of the Heinlein Society -- which promotes education, blood drives and provides books to veterans.
== Addenda ==
Oh, you don't believe that there is a nationwide cabal of fundamentalists who aim for precisely the scenario that worried Heinlein? Read this.
Finally... A Scottish newspaper listed coverage of the Trump Inauguration as a Twilight Zone reboot: "The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history. Sci-fi writers have often dabbled with alternative history stories... It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible..."
== The meta problem, here ==
I had saved up this posting, offering it to every venue I could find (or shortened versions, eliminating my personal voice.) It is interesting, effective and different. But there is the rub.
Look, there's one more factor at work now. Fear. When that emotion reigns, even the side that believes in openness and originality shuts down psychologically. At the very moment when we need a wide stance and originality, mass media have circled the wagons, allocating op-ed soapboxes to pals who re-word the same whines, over and over.
Like the latest wave of ill-considered reactions, screaming about the Trumps' increase in military spending, as liberals fall for a baited trap, reflexively shouting hate at the Military Officer Corps, spurning another set of victims, another fact-centered profession. This is the stupidest thing we could possibly do, right now.
It's not that they are wrong in opposing this tsunami of Confederate madness! Their mistake is a belief that the Union can win this phase of civil war with "resistance" alone, pushing back with grunting sumo. Again and again I cry - as Heinlein did - that this is a time for agility. For judo.
Are the parallels with our present situation perfect? Well, no. For one thing, there is the spectacular hypocrisy of U.S. fundamentalist Christians gushing their fervid support for a man who is - in every conceivable measure of action or character - the diametric opposite of Jesus. Even Heinlein could not have written that.
No, this has to be a clarion call. Members of the American center and moderate-left must get past their clichés... like the insipid stupidity of calling old-fashioned Jeffersonian libertarians like Heinlein "right-wingers." For one thing, anyone who loves science, nowadays is, by definition, no member of that cult.
We must be welcoming of fellow citizens who flee the rising, confederate madness. Soon, these will include waves of 'retiring' U.S. military and intelligence officers, potential allies of stunning value in our task of saving civilization! So do not listen to fools on the far-left, who would spit in the faces of such refugees. The far-left can be as crazy as the entire-right has become. Especially if they would reflexively spurn powerful allies, just because they have good posture and sport crewcuts.
Or powerful inspirations, like the science fiction author and American, Robert A. Heinlein.
Honor the legacy of Heinlein and Pay It Forward! Support the efforts of the Heinlein Society -- which promotes education, blood drives and provides books to veterans.
== Addenda ==
Oh, you don't believe that there is a nationwide cabal of fundamentalists who aim for precisely the scenario that worried Heinlein? Read this.
And yes, central to their belief system are not the words of Jesus, but the diametrically opposite and hate-drenched Book of Revelation. With hand-rubbing delight, they anticipate the torture and death of you and your loved ones and our nation, followed by eternal torment and damnation, plus an end to all democracy, science, ambition, curiosity, questioning, exploration and every other thing that makes us human. And... oh yes, a violent end to the United States of America. And I did not exaggerate a single word. Every single one of those outcomes is directly and explicitly what they pray for, daily.
Finally... A Scottish newspaper listed coverage of the Trump Inauguration as a Twilight Zone reboot: "The Twilight Zone returns with one of the most ambitious, expensive and controversial productions in broadcast history. Sci-fi writers have often dabbled with alternative history stories... It sounds far-fetched, and it is, but as it goes on it becomes more and more chillingly plausible..."== The meta problem, here ==
I had saved up this posting, offering it to every venue I could find (or shortened versions, eliminating my personal voice.) It is interesting, effective and different. But there is the rub.
Look, there's one more factor at work now. Fear. When that emotion reigns, even the side that believes in openness and originality shuts down psychologically. At the very moment when we need a wide stance and originality, mass media have circled the wagons, allocating op-ed soapboxes to pals who re-word the same whines, over and over.
Like the latest wave of ill-considered reactions, screaming about the Trumps' increase in military spending, as liberals fall for a baited trap, reflexively shouting hate at the Military Officer Corps, spurning another set of victims, another fact-centered profession. This is the stupidest thing we could possibly do, right now.
It's not that they are wrong in opposing this tsunami of Confederate madness! Their mistake is a belief that the Union can win this phase of civil war with "resistance" alone, pushing back with grunting sumo. Again and again I cry - as Heinlein did - that this is a time for agility. For judo.
THE YEAR IN NUMBER: 1996
As reported yesterday, in 1996, I was continuing a very significant relationship started in 1995, which would end by August. I would then spend an entire year trying to win her back, ultimately fail, and give up.
For the last year or so I had been trying to break into comics and going to cons with a local company called Chiasmus comics. I created some mini-comics and had been selling them at cons. I started writing for small press comic magazines like INQUEST and Lacunae. I also had been writing a column about comic books for the Kalamazoo Gazette that ended just before 1996 (1994-95). I was also writing a lot in these years for magazines like Builder Architect and Business Insight.
In 1996, I started the massive NATIVE AMERICAN TRIBES project for Gale Research, 50 entries of which can still be found in the research volumes today. This work ate my life through the fall and into 1997 as a late start was caused by the person whom I hired to do the research failed to deliver and I had to find a new researcher. Given how much freelance writing I was doing, I found it much more time and cost effective to pay someone to do research and then do the writing myself whole devoting the time I would research to other projects.
I was still teaching for multiple schools -- WMU, KCC, and KVCC -- while trying to write my own fiction as I put in many hours on CyberSpell in 1996, especially during my extended vacation at the Neahtawanta.
I taught new classes in feature article writing and writing the review for WMU in 1996 and into 1997. It was not my best teaching year as I was doing SO MUCH freelance writing that I was quite overwhelmed, which is part of what led to my girlfriend breaking up with me.
People's History 1996
1996 In the UK Prince Charles and Diana, Princess of Wales get divorced and Mad Cow Disease hits Britain ( BSE ) causing the mass slaughter of Herds of Cows and new laws to stop beef being sold on the bone. A severe Meningitas Epidemic occurs in West Africa. In technology DVD's are Launched in Japan and the number of users on the Internet exceed 10 million This is also the year Ebay and Ask Jeeves is started and the first ever cloning of a mammal Dolly the sheep.
20 Things That Happened in 1996
October 20, 2016
Chandler Watts, Proposal and Marketing Writer
Chandler Watts, Proposal and Marketing Writer
Even though it feels like yesterday, it’s been 20 years since DDC opened our doors and began our work to provide comprehensive public affairs solutions to clients. As we continue to celebrate our anniversary, we decided it’s the perfect time to look back to our beginnings and revisit just how different it was around the world when DDC was founded. From presidential elections to the hottest technology, we’ve picked 20 things that happened back in 1996—highlighting the differences and the similarities from two decades ago.
1. In February of 1996, Pokemon had just been introduced to the world. Today, Pokemon GO is one of the fastest growing games and trends we’ve seen this year.
3. In 1996, Bill Clinton was re-elected President. Today, it’s another Clinton
trying to get elected.
4. The New York Yankees were the World Series Champions, ending an 18-year dry spell.
5. Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls were in the middle of their second three-peat run as NBA Champions. Even 20 years later, everyone still wants to be like Mike.
6. In January 1996, there were only 100,000 websites compared to the current 1 billion websites that exist through the Internet today. Even back then, DDC knew the critical role technology would play in the coming decades.
7. On July 5, 1996, Dolly the Sheep was the first mammal to be successfully cloned.
8. Although originally released in 1993, the Macarena didn’t become a worldwide hit until 1996. You could say a late-sprung grassroots movement led to the song’s eventual success.
9. DDC’s first address in 1996 was on North Fairfax Street in Alexandria, VA. Today, we are located across the Potomac, only a few blocks from the White House.
10. Independence Day (the original) was the largest grossing movie of the year in 1996. In 2016, we were given the long-awaited sequel.
11. In 1996, the average price of a new car was $16,300 across the U.S. In 2016, that number hovers around $33,560.
12. Major League Soccer made its debut in the U.S. in April of 1996.
13. DDC’s payroll included three individuals back in 1996. Now, along with those original 3, we’ve expanded to 147 additional employees and growing every day!
14. EBay started its online auction and shopping website. Twenty years later, there are 164 million active buyers on the website.
15. Tickle Me Elmo was first introduced from Tyco Preschool.
16. In 1996, DVDs were just being launched in Japan. Twenty years later, videos in the digital space have replaced DVDS (and are being used as effective tools to increase engagement in both advocacy and PAC campaigns).
17. The Summer Olympics of 1996 were located in Atlanta, Georgia—it will remain the last time the Summer Olympics were held in the U.S. until at least 2024.
18. The cost of a 30-second Super Bowl ad in 1996 was $1,085,000; whereas, now an ad will set you back $4.5 million dollars—proving paid media has certainly grown over the past 20 years and continues to pack a powerful punch with audiences.
19. Oprah started her famous book club in 1996.
20. Since 1996, DDC has seen its fair share of changes and innovations. And our logo has changed too.
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| https://www.mirrorreview.com/history-of-google-from-1996-to-2019/ |
THURSDAY, APRIL 9, 2015
Brian Eno - A Year with Swollen Appendices (1996)
Title: A Year with Swollen Appendices
Author: Brian Eno
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Year: 1996
Publisher: Faber and Faber
Year: 1996
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| https://curvesofindifference.wordpress.com/2016/02/03/1996-looking-back-in-anger/ |
DJ Shadow
Endtroducing..... (1996)
Instrumental Hip Hop | Mo Wax | ★★★★★
REVIEW Deezer Spotify
Belle and Sebastian
If You're Feeling Sinister (1996)
Chamber Pop | Jeepster Recordings | ★★★★★
REVIEW Deezer Spotify
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| Easter 1996 |
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| Mother's Day 1996 |
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- Bloggery committed by chris tower - 2008.05 -10:10
- Days ago = 1860 days ago
- New note - On 1807.06, I ceased daily transmission of my Hey Mom feature after three years of daily conversations. I plan to continue Hey Mom posts at least twice per week but will continue to post the days since ("Days Ago") count on my blog each day. The blog entry numbering in the title has changed to reflect total Sense of Doubt posts since I began the blog on 0705.04, which include Hey Mom posts, Daily Bowie posts, and Sense of Doubt posts. Hey Mom posts will still be numbered sequentially. New Hey Mom posts will use the same format as all the other Hey Mom posts; all other posts will feature this format seen here.
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