Maxim reviewed Friday by Robert A. Heinlein
Solid social sci-fi
4 stars
The fiction is okay, not Heinlein's finest – but the social aspect feels eerily relevant today. Just two quotes (the novel is from 1982!):
"Pick one. A theocracy ruled by witchburners. Or a fascist socialism designed by retarded schoolboys. Or a crowd of hard-boiled pragmatists who favor shooting the horse that misses the hurdle. Step right up! Only one to a customer!"
"Only in California will you find the clear-quill, raw-gum, two-hundred proof undiluted democracy. The voting age starts when a citizen is tall enough to pull a lever without being steadied by her nurse. <...> Three years ago a grassroots economist noticed that college graduates earned, on the average, about 30 percent more than their fellow citizens who lacked bachelor's degrees. Such an undemocratic condition is anathema to the California Dream, so with great speed, an initiative was qualified for the next election, the measure passed, and all California …
The fiction is okay, not Heinlein's finest – but the social aspect feels eerily relevant today. Just two quotes (the novel is from 1982!):
"Pick one. A theocracy ruled by witchburners. Or a fascist socialism designed by retarded schoolboys. Or a crowd of hard-boiled pragmatists who favor shooting the horse that misses the hurdle. Step right up! Only one to a customer!"
"Only in California will you find the clear-quill, raw-gum, two-hundred proof undiluted democracy. The voting age starts when a citizen is tall enough to pull a lever without being steadied by her nurse. <...> Three years ago a grassroots economist noticed that college graduates earned, on the average, about 30 percent more than their fellow citizens who lacked bachelor's degrees. Such an undemocratic condition is anathema to the California Dream, so with great speed, an initiative was qualified for the next election, the measure passed, and all California high-school graduates and/or California citizens attaining eighteen years were henceforth awarded bachelor's degrees. A grandfather clause backdated this benefit eight years. This measure worked beautifully: the holder of bachelor's degree no longer had any undemocratic advantage".