My New Book Read
I recently began reading a book that people have been telling me for quite some time that I really need to read and it is even on the official US Army reading list. For various reasons I kept passing on reading the book, but now I’m glad I finally decided to read this book. This book was written in 1959 and it is amazing how many of the themes of the book fit in with contemporary attitudes today. Take this passage for example:
StarShip Troopers was a good movie if you could get beyond the cartoon feel. Haven't read the book yet.
The book is a whole lot more interesting than the movie. I highly recommend reading the book because it offers a lot of food for thought and the movie would have been a whole lot better if it stuck to the themes in the book. It is a quick read as well so I recommend checking it out.
I've got it as a text file if anyone wants it.
Heinlein has a similar theme in all his books. Well worth the read. I downloaded the entire Heinlein collection for my sony ereader a couple months ago. Pst If interested.
Starship Troopers was, and is, absolutely phenomenal. One of the greatest works of science fiction in print–and it sparked a firestorm of controversy when it was first published. People of a leftward political leaning have a tendency to savage the work and call it "fascist." Which only makes me embrace it even more.
Paul Verhoeven purposely trashed the book when he made the movie of the same name. He thought the book was right-wing extremism, so he went to work mocking the messages of the book when he made the film. That is why the movie was dumb–it was meant to be. It was an obscene caricature of the book, done to belittle the original author and those who enjoyed his work.
Anyway, welcome to the dark side. Hope you end up re-reading the book as many times as I have.
Marcus
I gotta get this book!
C. Ryan's "The Longest Day"
The movie could not possibly have kept up with the book in 1962. Movies back then almost never did. It would have made the already long movie unbearable for the audience of that time. Audiences now can take a 3 hour movie easily and happily but back then it was a different story. Also, many of the themes in the book would have been lost on its contemporary audience.
DUH!? are we REALLY talking about "Starship Troopers"? 1959
Well, don't i feel silly 😛
Well, anyway…a good read and also likely on a list of Army recommended reading somewhere.
I have read most of Heinlein's books but somehow I never picked up Starship Troopers… which I've been meaning to do for years. I'll take a copy of that text file…
…and any other books that might be interesting…
…except erotic stories of sweaty, ball-gagged men engaged in carnal acts dressed as leather-clad Nazis with butt-less chaps.
chickenheadlab@yahoo.com
J!
Hummm? In order to become a citizen, one have to serve in the military. Wow!! What a concept!!!
I think the military service should be requirement in US for all those who wants the permanent Resident alien card (Green Card). They can only serve in the non-security related MOS and units where security clearance is not required. Then after first three years of honorable service, then they can be elegible for "Green" Card for themselves and their direct family members.
Just imagine all those young people who wants the Green Card lining up in front of the recruiting station. I know so many Korean international students and Korean business representatives in CONUS asked me if they can join the US military.
CPT Kim, the problem is that the armed forces cannot knowingly enlist an alien who is not legally admitted. Back in the 1950s Congress passed a law that allowed the enlistment of up to 5,000 foreign nationals into the armed forces, meaning that they could sign up overseas and then be sent to the U.S. for basic and advanced training. Were the U.S. to announce such a program today, there would be thousands of prospective troops lined up in front of the US Embassy in Mexico City at first light tomorrow morning. The "Lodge Act" requirement, by the way, was a five year enlistment so as to make the candidate eligible for citizen ship upon discharge. Coincidentally, this mirrored the Foreign Legion's own 5 year initial enlistment term, which likewise carried the promise of citizenship at the end of the period. In the 1990s, the French dropped the service requirement for citizenship down to 3 years.
I am of the opinion that if a nation cannot enlist its own citizens to fight in its defense than the nation must not be one worth defending.
lirelou,
I am not advocating the importing of potential recruits into our military from overseas. I am just making a suggestions to allowed for those who are residing in the USA legally but does not have "Green" Card. I am talking about those who has Student visa or Work Permit. They are very well documented in DHS BCIS registry when they applied for those visas prior to arrival to US. Problem is that many of them wanted to stay in USA as permanent resident, but their visa will not allowed them to stay any longer once they either graduated from college or finished their contract with their employers.
So here is people who are documented by USG and very well educated but if they wanted to serve in US military, they are not eligible. Some of them lived in states for 4-10 years. Some of them even have children born in USA which made their children automatic US citizen. But I have witness family saparation due to their visa expired and some of these US citizen minors end up staying with someone else in USA and his/her parents had to return to their home country.