Heinlein at 100

100 years ago, my favorite author Robert A Heinlein was born. He served in the Navy until he was forced to retire due to TB. He worked at a number of different things including mining and politics until discovering writing in the late 1930's. His work brought a full knowledge of hard sci-fi staples such as engineering and physics. What he also brought to the table was an interest in 'softer' subjects like sociology and linguistics.
In the 50's he wrote a series of books aimed at young boys. These stressed self reliance and learning as being critical in living in any unknown situation. They also captured the thrill of science and many of the scientists and engineers during NASA's heyday credit these books for sparking their career paths.
One of the smaller but still important themes Heinlein wrote of was the importance of common decency in everyday society. In the early 80's he wrote that a key sign of a culture on the skids was a drop in manners and politeness. I thought of that today when I ran across this post celebrating Heinlein. It includes a short radio piece that he did in the 50's from the 'This I Believe' series.

Our Noble, Essential Decency

by Robert A. Heinlein

I am not going to talk about religious beliefs but about matters so obvious that it has gone out of style to mention them. I believe in my neighbors. I know their faults, and I know that their virtues far outweigh their faults.

Take Father Michael down our road a piece. I'm not of his creed, but I know that his goodness and charity and loving kindness shine in his daily actions. I believe in Father Mike. If I'm in trouble, I'll go to him. My next-door neighbor's a veterinary doctor. Doc will get out of bed after a hard day to help a stray cat—no fee, no prospect of a fee. I believe in Doc.

I believe in my townspeople. You can knock on any door in our town, say, "I'm hungry," and you'll be fed. Our town is no exception. I've found the same ready charity everywhere. For the one who says, "The heck with you, I've got mine," there are a hundred, a thousand, who will say, "Sure, pal, sit down." I know that despite all warnings against hitchhikers, I can step to the highway, thumb for a ride, and in a few minutes a car or a truck will stop and someone will say, "Climb in, Mack. How far you going?"

I believe in my fellow citizens. Our headlines are splashed with crime. Yet for every criminal, there are ten thousand honest, decent, kindly men. If it were not so. no child would live to grow up. Business could not go on from day to day. Decency is not news. It is buried in the obituaries, but it is a force stronger than crime.

I believe in the patient gallantry of nurses, in the tedious sacrifices of teachers. I believe in the unseen and unending fight against desperate odds that goes on quietly in almost every home in the land. I believe in the honest craft of workmen. Take a look around you. There never were enough bosses to check up on all that work. From Independence Hall to the Grand Coulee Dam, these things were built level and square by craftsmen who were honest in their bones.

I believe that almost all politicians are honest. For every bribed alderman, there are hundreds of politicians—low paid or not paid at all—doing their level best without thanks or glory to make our system work. If this were not true, we would never have gotten past the thirteen colonies.

I believe in Roger Young. You and I are free today because of endless unnamed heroes from Valley Forge to the Yalu River. I believe in—I am proud to belong to—the United States. Despite shortcomings—from lynchings, to bad faith in high places—our nation has had the most decent and kindly internal practices and foreign policies to be found anywhere in history.

And finally, I believe in my whole race—yellow, white, black, red, brown—in the honesty, courage, intelligence, durability, and goodness of the overwhelming majority of my brothers and sisters everywhere on this planet. I am proud to be a human being. I believe that we have come this far by the skin of our teeth—that we always make it just by the skin of our teeth—but that we will always make it, survive, endure.

I believe that this hairless embryo with the aching oversized braincase and the opposable thumb—this animal barely up from the apes—will endure, will endure longer than his home planet, will spread out to the other planets—to the stars and beyond—carrying with him his honesty, his insatiable curiosity, his unlimited courage, and his noble essential decency. This I believe with all my heart.

I owe an immense debt to his writings as he introduced me to many of the fundamental concepts that I define myself by today. From his libertarian classic 'Moon is a Harsh Mistress' to his unapologetic praise of the military in 'Starship Troopers', his controversial look at religion and human customs in 'Stranger in a Strange Land' and (my favorite) a look at what love is in 'Time Enough for Love' his works are still important and worthwhile. A great man and a great writer.