WARNING! SOME SPOILERS CONTAINED IN THIS POST!
I finished John Scalzi's The Ghost Brigades the other night, and though I didn't think it was quite as good as Old Man's War, it was pretty damn good. Brigades centers around the Special Forces of the Colonial Defense Force -- the protectors of humanity in a decidedly hostile universe. What I like about Scalzi is that, even though he's a lefty, he doesn't beat you over the friggin' head with his politics. If you've read my pontifications long enough you know that this isn't that big a deal to me; just make it worth my while. Y'know, intelligent writing, make me think, challenge my assumptions ... Mark Millar is a good example of someone who doesn't do this (see here and here among others), and some believe that even those factors aren't good enough. They're like, "Hey, if you believe something, it has to come through in your writing."
I must admit I got a little worried towards the end of Brigades. The villain, traitor to humanity Charles Boutin, tells protagonist Jared Dirac that the [human] Colonial Union is "evil" because they favor conflict over negotiation; indeed, he says that humanity needlessly views 96% of known alien species as hostile. Many of these species are fed up, and have formed an alliance to essentially destroy man as a result. It seemed to me to be a voicing of the "military/industrial complex" threat; that, in order to "validate" its own existence, the Colonial Defense Forces had to "manufacture" conflict. Joe Haldeman used this in his spectacular Forever War. The military never had any real proof that the "enemy" Taurans were responsible for the disappeared human spacecraft. They just assumed they were culpable, and it led to a millenium of interstellar war.
Scalzi avoids this. He has Dirac challenging Boutin's assumptions and solutions, all the while leaving room for the reader to contemplate the totality of Boutin's concerns. I admit I found myself in agreement with ephemeral character Thaddeus Bender from Old Man's War who, as a new volunteer to the Colonial Defense Forces, wonders aloud why the CDF doesn't attempt more negotiation over military action. But Scalzi deals with this at the end of Brigades, and he cautions people to realize that the universe of OMW and GB begins with assumptions that are, well, alien to us, the most important of which is that that universe is decidedly hostile to humans. Still, Scalzi hints at some "resolution" in the conclusion (due in 2007), The Last Colony.
Scalzi uses similar "social class" elements in OMW and GB that some of my fave scifi writers have utilized. For instance, the Colonial Defense Force (CDF) is comprised exclusively of people from the developed world -- the United States, Europe, Japan, etc. -- whereas the actual colonists are exclusively culled from Third World countries. (Figure out the rationale.) Earth is essentially sealed off from the colonies, and forbidden to travel in space. Isaac Asimov's "Spacers" acted similarly -- they settled the first fifty worlds in a wave of colonization, and then simply stopped. They were content with their long lives and luxury provided by all the robots that cared for them. That aside, the Spacers, like the CDF, disallowed anyone from Earth to travel in space. In Asimov's Earth, the teeming billions lived under massive domed cities (using fission power! Go figure.) and were "doomed" to remain that way. It wasn't until hero Elijah Bailey helps to begin a "Settler" revolution, and these "Settlers" eventually spread to the stars and it is they who come to dominate the galaxy ... the Spacers having become too decadent to compete.
In addition, besides being "sealed off" in OMW and GB, Earth is kept from any major technological advancements. This is akin to the ARM (Amalgamated Regional Militia) in Larry Niven's "Known Space" universe. ARM is actually an ... arm (pun intended) of the all-powerful United Nations (God forbid) that supresses any dangerous technology. In Niven's universe this actually works. Earth has a peaceful golden age for over 200 years ... until they encounter -- wait for it -- hostile aliens and then they have to "undo" all the pacifism they've been conditioned to all this time!
Joe Haldeman, is his loose "prequel" to Forever War titled Forever Peace, details an earth divided along north-south lines -- the developed world vs. the developing world. The developed countries make use of "nanoforges" which can create, essentially, anything desired. The First World, as a result, is one large welfare state as want is virtually extinguished. The Third World is obviously not content with the status quo, and they resort to what are essentially terrorist activities to get what they desire.
Currently, there's a good debate going on over at Scalzi's blog, Whatever, on the merits of "Starship Troopers" (the novel and movie, among other tidbits). I'll always stand by my defense of Troopers as a classic among classics, and that it is in NO WAY "fascist" as many claim (most recently by the NY Times' Dave Itzkoff). Usually the people who claim this either haven't really read the novel, or are already prolifically anti-military (or pacifist). If the latter, they ought to consider the reason Heinlein gives for the ascendancy of Troopers' political structure: Veterans of wars were royally f***ed over by their civilian superiors enough so that eventually the vets got fed up and what began in a small town metastacized into a worldwide phenomenon. Don't you think pacifistic lefty types would be sympathetic to the plight of these veterans (but without acceding to their ultimate solution)?
Further, Heinlein states that the population enjoys all of the rights that developed world democracies enjoy today. The only "difference," such that it is, is that only veterans of federal service are permitted to vote. If you think that outrageous, consider what Heinlein counters with: The franchise has always been limited in some way. Then -- 1959, when Heinlein wrote the book -- as now, age is the main limiting factor. Colonel DuBois, in History and Moral Philosophy class, asks how this makes sense -- how is it rational to permit a 50 year old moron to vote ... but not a 14 year old genius?
I once (years ago) got into a heated debate about the whole structure of Troopers back on the SciFi Channel's bulletin board. My opponent's premise was that the governmental structure of the ST world could in no way exist -- that progress inexorably leads to greater and greater freedoms. While conceding that such a structure probably wouldn't arise, I claimed that it could arise especially given the premise of the novel. And this is what Scalzi has argued about Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades: That you have to accept the universe of the novel, not the one you live in nor what you wish the universe to be in the story. I really liked what Jim Wright had to say (in the comment section) about ST over at Scalzi's blog today (my emphasis):
As to SST’s Federal Government, I always thought that it was a reasonable construct given the back story of the novel. War destroys the world at the end of the 20th century, the only organized force (the various militaries) band together to form a new world order based on THEIR ideals of service, duty, and personal responsibility. I always saw this as a simple vehicle to tell Rico’s coming of age story, almost irrelevant to the real story. Workable in the real world or even desirable? Of course not. The comments above regarding the ex-military and their resentment of those who hadn’t served skewing the whole shebang are probably spot on, given human nature. As an aside, I’ve known people who get their back up over the novel’s trashing of the current US Bill of Rights and claim that RAH MUST HAVE BEEN A FASCIST - yet have no problem with the drill sergeant in Scalzi’s OMW trashing the USMC (just an example, John, I’m not bashing you – I loved that scene – and yes, I know it’s comparing apples and oranges).SCIFI is defined as the “willing suspension of disbelief,” what I’ve always found funny is that people can walk right past FTL starflight, giant sentient insects, powered armor armed with personal NUKES under the discretionary control of lowest grunt (described in detail) – but wig out over “Federal Service” which was described only vaguely and from ONLY the view point of the protagonist and the military veterans who train him. I suspect that the civilian viewpoint would be vastly different – Rico’s father gives some small insight into that – but that’s an entirely different novel.
Amen. But this is what my opponent in the debate refused to acknowledge, even a little. He knew Heinlein was a fascist and anyone who even remotely agreed with ST's premise was right behind him. Baloney.
One last thing before I cease this semi-rambling post. I recall as a young teen reading an excellent "Guardians of the Galaxy" [Marvel] comic. The Guardians were comprised of genetically-tailored humans that had inhabited various planets of the solar system. Earth had been invaded by a lizard-like race called the Badoon, and the Guardians eventually led a revolt and liberation. New Guardian member Starhawk (the only non-human member) delivers the pertinent words: Humanity, now that it can travel the stars, cannot take with them their hatred that has festered while under alien domination. It will sour -- destroy -- any chances of amicable relations with friendly (or even indifferent) alien races for all time. This, unfortunately (not "unfortunately" because of the idea, but "unfortunately" because it says something about mankind) has been a plot device for many a scifi yarn -- human automatic distrust of anything alien. Forever War uses this to the hilt. Old Man's War and Ghost Brigades appear to utilize it, at least to a degree. "Babylon 5" used it. The one interesting "twist," as noted above, is Larry Niven's "The Warriors" short story which introduces his famous "Kzin" race. Humans in his universe are the ultimate welcomers, and the harsh realities of the galaxy come crashing down upon them, almost extinguishing the human race as a result; indeed, "friendly" alien intervention is ultimately what saves us.