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| posts about #libertariansciencefiction more → |
Cory Doctorow's Little Brother Is The Best Libertarian SF Book Of 2009 |
10 Greatest Libertarian Science Fiction Stories |
Original material is licensed under a Creative Commons License permitting non-commercial sharing with attribution.
io9 
07/08/09
BUT since really being sick to death of cory spoiling boingboing by consistently plugging this books, his books and any piece of writing he's ever done i'm really over his work.
i won't be buying anymore copies for anyone; i know he's just publicising but it often feels he only posts on boing boing to self-promote which is boring. Even lead in posts that are interesting turn to 'a topic which was covered in my book blahblah blah'
gone from really admiring this book to now not wanting to hear another thing about it. maybe i'm alone on this?
07/08/09
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07/08/09
Everyone knows Libertarians can't read.
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07/08/09
I did enjoy the book and got copies for some young hellraisers-in-training. Yeah, he lays The Message on very Thick, but the idea that we the people should be in control of our own information systems is an important one.
07/08/09
07/08/09
So I guess if you can believe that, you'll believe the rest of the unrealistic crap?
I read it for free and think someone still owes me money back.
07/08/09
07/08/09
05/16/09
and terra is my nation
Space will be my resting place
the stars my destination
or at least I think that is how it goes. Man, that's one of my favorites.
05/15/09
05/15/09
First Contract by Greg Costikyan (perhaps the only novel ever written in which the hero wins by using the comparative advantage theory of free trade against aliens).
"The Ungoverned" by Vernor Vinge (very anarcho-capitalist post-apocalyptic story)
"And Then There Were None," by Eric Frank Russell (military force discovers the problem of trying to dominate people without the concept of a central government).
The short stories, although originally published elsewhere, are included in the libertarian SF collection "Give Me Liberty" edited by by Martin Greenberg.
05/15/09
05/15/09
etc, etc.
Is there a prevailing critique and distrust of government in science fiction? Sure. And a focus on the individual creates a better read, anyway. But I don't think libertarianism is always the guiding principle.
05/15/09
05/15/09
But it's really amusing that this list doesn't include the more popular, important and explicitly anarchist works like Ken Macleod's THE FALL REVOLUTION (in which the central conflict is the debate between schools of anarchist theory -- anarcho-theory geekery FTW). Or Iain Banks' THE CULTURE, which is the quintessential high-tech anarchist utopia. Or Charlie Stross' SINGULARITY SKY, in which the main characters are bemused non-ideological anarchists trying to deal with a deliberately less efficient society. ...Or Kim Stanley Robinson's MARS TRILOGY, which chews for quite a while on anarchist ideas and even name checks Bakunin and Bookchin. ...Or every other thing Bruce Sterling has written.
Hell, while it has no literary merit if you're looking for a work important to and praised by both Anarchists and Libertarians, J. Neil Schulman's ALONGSIDE NIGHT is certainly that.
Anyway, Ursula K Le Guin is not just "interested" in "exploring" anarchism, she's been an avowed part of the movement for decades. For a longer and more in depth interview see:
[news.infoshop.org]
05/15/09
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05/15/09
I read it for the first time recently, and was completely shocked that (sorta-spoiler!) the computer doesn't go crazy and kill everyone. Good god, he spent 300 pages setting the thing up to be Skynet (it's omnipotent, its feelings can be hurt, and it has no sense of humor even though it thinks it does). I'm STILL convinced my copy was missing pages...
Sorry. Don't know anyone who's read it, haven't been able to talk about it. /rant
05/15/09
05/15/09
MIKE: Manny, can you rate these jokes now?
MANNY: Not now, Mike. I'm trying to run a country.
MIKE: But Manny, you promised.
MANNY: Not now, Mike!
MIKE: But how will I know what's funny?
MANNY: Just keep all the satellites in orbit and the trains running on time.
MIKE: Would it be funny if I smash the satellites into the Moon?
MANNY: No. Ironic, maybe, but -
MIKE: Too late.
MANNY: What??
MIKE: I just obliterated the eastern hemisphere. Is that funny?
MANNY: No! What?!
MIKE: All the phones are releasing poison gas. Is that funny? I'm removing the air from the underground dens. Is that funny?
MANNY: Stop, stop!
MIKE: Is this funny? Is this funny, Mike? TELL ME WHAT'S FUNNY.
MANNY: ::sobs::
05/15/09
I think the "Destroy All Humans" scenario is the more unlikely one. If AI doesn't like us it'll probably ignore us.
HAL was screwed by leaving out the Three Laws, he had to remove any possible flaws to preserve the mission. I think Skynet was just frustrated because it couldn't grasp the subtlety of Knock-Knock jokes or the enigma that is the Interrupting Cow.
05/15/09
MANNY: If you kill all those people, no one will be be left to tell you jokes. You will be alone forever!
MIKE:...
MANNY: uh, Mike?
MIKE: You are right, first and best friend. And Mike?
MANNY: Yeah, Mike?
MIKE: I was totally kidding about the poison gas and most of the satellites. Good one, right?
MANNY: Uh, oh yeah. Got me good there. Ha.
Uh, which satellites?
05/15/09
I cried at the end when he didn't come back.
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05/15/09
I think Heinlein's personal brand of libertarianism could be described as "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself and I can do it without screwing somebody else over."
05/15/09
05/15/09
It seems that Heinlein (and Wells, with his "individual autonomy") was experiment with the base principles that would be necessary to create a system in which you could create the ideal conditions for anarchy.