What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country?

Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by rodgerd on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @01:07AM (#27890268)

> I think.

I dunno, I feel like I'm living in a future designed by folks who looked at Robocop, Starship Troopers, and a few other bits of dystopian sci-fi and instead of treating it as a warning decided that it would make a swell instruction manual.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by RalfWausE on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @02:24AM (#27890638)

Hmm... maybe its my german heritage, but i don't see Starship Troopers as THAT dystopian:

Every politican has skin in the game (mandatory military service for gaining the right to vote or be voted for)

No racism or sexism or other discrimination, at least there are no traces for that in either the movie nor the novel.

If you don't want to join the military: No problem, you don't have any major disadvantages (besides no political participation), see the wealthy family of the protagonist.

Science seems to flourish

Ehm... sorry for the digression... what were we talking about?

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:07AM (#27890839)

Well, the book by Heinlein certainly wasn't meant to be dystopian, so there are sane elements in it.

But the movie was a bit different - maybe you watched the german version? That was a bit softer - the teacher didn't made jokes about the anhilation of Hiroshima there.

It was a deeply militarized society. Brutal. Top down. But yes, at least the politicians had to be part of that, too. (but in reality ... I think you can be in the military and be far away from any danger, like Bush was a fighter pilot, but not deployed at Vietnam.)

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by RalfWausE on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:56AM (#27891070)

Interesting... i think i have to do a rewatch of the movie (this time in english), yes, i have watched the german version, which was "over-the-top", but not THAT "over-the-top"...

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by rodgerd on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @05:45PM (#27899796)

> Well, the book by Heinlein certainly wasn't meant to be dystopian

It literally starts out by re-contexualising the ex-millitary putsch attempts in Weimar Germany as a Good Thing.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @07:38PM (#27900584)

Ok, I have to admit I did not read the full book, just the beginning, but do not remember this. But I was told it was not meant to be dystopian. On the other hand, Heinlein did had some extreme views, though, so I am not sure, what the message of the book actually is.

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Re:What’s it like hauling nuclear weapons across the country? by hutzlibu on Tuesday July 20, 2021 @03:03AM (#27890819)

I think 1984 was used more as a manual, than a warning, despite so many people throw the name around, despite never having read it.

And I always kind of assumed, that Bush watched Swordfish (where the bad guys are only bad, so they can fight terrorism, so are the "good guys") and would have gone on a war on terror, even if 911 would not have happened.

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