Relay-Version: version B 2.10 5/3/83; site utzoo.UUCP
Path: utzoo!linus!philabs!cmcl2!yale!husc6!seismo!lll-crg!lll-lcc!styx!mcb
From: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Newsgroups: talk.politics.misc
Subject: Re: Heinlein's panegyric for the Bomb
Message-ID: <20855@styx.UUCP>
Date: Sat, 13-Sep-86 23:49:15 EDT
Article-I.D.: styx.20855
Posted: Sat Sep 13 23:49:15 1986
Date-Received: Mon, 15-Sep-86 05:36:01 EDT
References: <1071@hoptoad.uucp> <776@mtung.UUCP> <977@whuts.UUCP>
Reply-To: mcb@styx.UUCP (Michael C. Berch)
Followup-To: talk.politics.misc
Organization: Lawrence Livermore Laboratory, Livermore CA
Lines: 33
Keywords: survivalism, nuclear aftermath

In article <977@whuts.UUCP> orb@whuts.UUCP (SEVENER) writes:
> . . .
> I read Farnham's Freehold and it certainly seemed to me to be more of
> a paean to "survivalism" than to actions to stop a nuclear war in
> the first place.  The protoganist is praiseworthy for stocking up
> with everything from food to encyclopedias to prepare for the aftermath
> of World War Last.   His major concern is protecting his survivalist
> fiefdom from looting by others who are starving and so forth.
> But that's OK, because we know that it should be "every *MAN* for himself"
> after any disaster, right?
> . . .  
> The whole impression I recall from "Farnham's Freehold" was that
> nuclear war involved big terrific explosions but if you prepared
> your own survivalist holdout for yourself and you alone, that
> you could make it.  Of course a required part of your survivalist
> gear is at least one gun, if not several, so you can shoot the few
> surviving humans left and assure your own survival.

Of *course* survival equipment includes one or more guns. Do you
suppose the people stopping by your shelter will be looking for a
fourth for bridge? (Would be nice, though.)

I can see Tim Sevener, huddled in a shelter, trying to get a dial
tone on his phone, muttering "I can't seem to get through to the State
Police..." while the bikers are outside grinning.

Apparently Tim faults Heinlein for not making the aftermath of a
nuclear war grim enough, and then faults him for making it sufficiently 
grim that one just might want to keep a weapon handy.

Michael C. Berch
ARPA: mcb@lll-tis-b.ARPA
UUCP: {ihnp4,dual,sun}!lll-lcc!styx!mcb