specialization is for insects

SPECIALIZATION IS FOR INSECTS


Ah, that famous, or infamous as we shall soon argue, quote from the science fiction writer Robert Heinlein. You know the one I’m talking about, a man should be able to butcher a hog, change a diaper, etc, specialization is for insects. As with so many things in this alternate reality to Sanity Land, this over chewed pabulum irks me to absolutely no end. But, first, allow me to cover my butt just in case some of my minions are nerds. Sure, science fiction nerds which are of course an intellectual ladder rung above fantasy nerds and half the ladder above comic book nerds, but nerds nonetheless. I used to love Heinlein’s books. Some of them I still do. The Cat Who Walked Through Walls is a particular favorite. Anymore, though, I’m not a huge fan. I’ll always acknowledge the debt he is owed, but I certainly don’t hold the author up to demigod status. Look, at heart the man was a juvenile writer. His work rarely rose above that level. As a teenager, I loved his books. Heck, I used to love John Jakes’ historical fiction. But both are too elementary for me now. I’m not a snob, I just want more depth to my fiction. There is nothing wrong with formulistic pulp fiction, in its place. When you just want to turn off your brain and enjoy an adventure.

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I’m certainly not saying Heinlein was writing pulp. He introduced a huge block of the population to libertarian ideas. Probably a huge block that would never read Ayn Rand. But you certainly wouldn’t compare the two writing styles as equal, would you? A visionary, yes. A highly skilled writer, not as much. Not that there is anything wrong with that. The message got out to millions if not tens of millions. For his efforts, perhaps we have a lot less jack booted thugs hanging around, waiting to feel up 90 year olds or three year olds in case either have explosives in their damp diapers ( if you are still flying, you only have yourself to blame- but thank you, anyway, TSA, for demonstrating to the sheep how far from the Constitution the country has fallen ). By reading Heinlein, it was an easy step up to Rand for myself. In my book, RH is a friggin hero. But, was he a great intellect or just a merry storyteller?

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I didn’t know the man, know nothing about his life, and I’m not trying to trash talk him. But, really, is it necessary to worship him to the point that his utterances are the basis for your life decisions? As far as I can tell, he was basically a man of adventure, not a professor. He might have been well rounded in skills working with his hands, a military man, but a deep thinker? Perhaps he was both. I simply have no where near enough information to say one way or another. But the quote, in and of itself, I think needs discussion. Are humans really well rounded in skills? Perhaps in today’s economy, you have the leisure to dabble in many different trades. There certainly is enough time and a surplus of money. But what makes this possible? The super abundance of oil made almost all of our labor unnecessary. We were given make work to keep us passive, not wanting to crush the machines, and consuming. In effect, boredom might compel you to diversify. But before and after the Petroleum Age, you learned the skill that earned your daily bread ( most of us still do only that ).

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Unless you had leisure from wealth, you didn’t have the time to be learning new skills, just to be a Renaissance Man. You’re working dawn to dusk in the fields, and you have energy to learn star charts for navigating a sea you will never see? Come on! Once agriculture became dominant, humans indeed became specialized insects. The hive needed to run smoothly for the Queen, and inquisitive minds in the general population were certainly not conducive to that. Which is why I question Heinlein’s grasp on history or sociology or anthropology. He was a great dreamer, but a student of the human reality? Libertarianism is a lofty, worthwhile goal, and we should get as close to that as possible, but it is also only workable in a resource rich society. I’m certainly no great admirer of specialized work past a certain point, such as brainless assembly line jobs, but humans are not masters of all trades unless it feeds them. To some degree, all our jobs are repetitive, intellectually free pursuits of profits for our debt holders. Our basic job is simply to repopulate and anything else is gravy. We aren’t as smart as we think we are and only wealth surplus allows us the time to sit around and think otherwise.

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I’d like to review the last few books I’ve read. “They Own It All ( Including You ) By Means Of Toxic Currency” is a bit overblown but interesting. I mean, it is a wonderful bit of research and logic, but were the dead trees used wisely? Was it worth my money? In effect, our common law heritage from English tradition was hijacked by the international bankers and replaced with admiralty law. We have no rights to property because our federal reserve notes are not gold but liens on property ( or something to that effect ). It was all wonderfully explained and presented, but the need to “spread the word to end the evil” is, to my mind, tilting at windmills. He who controls the purse can change the rules at will. And no one will upset the applecart until they can’t eat anymore with their fake money. It doesn’t matter who rules us then, they get replaced in a revolution. The bankers are going down even if you take no action until then. So what good is a book like this?

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“Back To Our Future” by David Sirota. I was excited to get this book, how the world we live in now was shaped by the 80’s. Unfortunately, I wasted my $18. It wasn’t a bad book, even if it was a puffed up magazine or blog article, but it certainly wasn’t worth the money and I thought the premise was overblown. Not that he isn’t right, but that hardly anyone thinks this thing through to such a degree. Okay, sure, perhaps we all are guilty of thinking there is no race problem, because The Cosby Show told us otherwise. You would think that if you were well isolated from a black population. If you lived near the ghetto, the hatred and menace lurking right below the surface was readable to all but the most obtuse. But that was almost a third of the book. We ignore race. Another third was “we hate the hippies and love the Leave It To Beaver Republicans”. Again, way over analyzed. For far too long. The part I enjoyed, a nostalgic time machine trip, was far shorter ( I grew up in the Seventies, but in rural isolation with little pop culture exposure, so my late teens and most of my twenties were more memorably imprinted with the 80’s ) and not worth the purchase price.

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“Prairie Fire” by Dan Armstrong was a damn fine novel. It had a slight bit of militia porn to it, but essentially the story was about saving the family farm by embracing more sustainable practices and reducing the influence of grain speculators. It had a very wide reach of subject matter for background and it was very well written. If you don’t mind a detour from semi-auto’s and nuclear fallout, this novel is highly recommended.

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