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TROOPERS_AGAINST_RACISM

                                                    December 7, 2017

                                     From some material posted to
                                     a discussion at crookedtimber.


In the Heinlein novel "Starship Troopers", Johnny Rico
is clearly Filipino, but we learn that very late in the
story, in passing.  This is evidently a thoroughly          He mentions that
"post-racial" society, and we pick up on this just by       his family spoke
implication: the fact that he's not white doesn't seem      Tagalog.
to matter to anybody, it's barely worth commenting on.

                Samuel R. Delany found this the most
                striking thing about the book.

In comparison, the aliens they're at war with are
treated with casual contempt, they're labeled with
what amounts to ethnic slurs: "Skinnies" and "Bugs"
(ala "Japs" or "Gooks").  The nature of their
civilizations is of no interest, whatever their
motives are for fighting have been made irrelevant by
the stated philosophy: "All wars are the result of          Or maybe, an
population pressure"-- every species expands or dies.       alliance--
Given that philosophy, diplomatic negotiations of any       presumably
sort are completely off the table: kill 'em now or          temporary-- for
later are the only choices.                                 the sake of
                                                            killing some
The idea that we might someday form a larger                third species?
federation of intelligent species, much in the way
that the different races and nations of earth have
unified, that would be just crazy talk.

    And to my eye, there's something oddly disturbing
    about the "Skinnies"-- the "Bugs" are depicted as
    just scary monsters, but the "Skinnies" that Rico
    is busy trying to slaughter at the outset of the
    book seem rather human, you get the feeling that
    there's something very wrong happening.

           
  But all of this is just a grim necessity     
  for the survival of the race that gave us    
  such specimens as Johnny Rico, who we care          
  about not at all.                            
                                               
  Grant "Starship Troopers" it's premises, take
  it on it's own terms, and as likely or not   
  you'll walk away feeling "What's the point of
  any of this?  Fuck it, let 'em all die."     



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