Scratch marks

We have an old tradition in SpinDizzy Muck: every year sometime in February or March we elect a mayor. It's a purely ceremonial position, yet it makes a big difference. Trust me, we tried going without. It sucked.

When I first got there (fifteen years ago, yikes!) it was right in the middle of the electoral campaign. My first instinct was to stay out because I was a newcomer. But Jaxen, one of the candidates, told me: "you're here now; it matters to you, too". So I read up on everyone who was running, and their platforms, and cast my vote. We do instant-runoff in SpinDizzy, by the way. That rules.

And you know what? My first or second choice actually won, and they were a fine mayor (Jaxen also won a term later). But as time went on, I became less involved, and one year I was too depressed to vote at all. Can you guess what happened? The candidate I was kind of rooting for lost by one vote.

Granted, we're a small community, but it's that much more important. Community is what we make it, all of us together and each in their own corner. And communities need a focus, or beacon. Not necessarily a leader, but someone who represents them. Someone to rally around.

There's "politics" of the kind that rhymes with "blech", and politics as in the fabric of social life. And someone has to weave the latter, too, because it doesn't happen by itself.

Heinlein is a classic of sci-fi, but nowadays it's fashionable to demonize him because Starship Troopers, his best known book, is considered fascist. But… I loved that book! It means a lot to me. Oh noes, am I the baddie? Or are his critics simply wrong?

Neither. In this essay, I will argue:

1. How Starship Troopers portrays a fascist society.
2. Why the book itself is not, and why it's in fact a good book.
3. That you also need to look at the wider context of Heinlein's other work.

Yes, Starship Troopers portrays a fascist society: one where military service is considered the only contribution to society valuable enough to give you a say. Sure, you can “choose” to be a second-class citizen, uh-huh. That will totally have no real consequences. You… do know what happens when entire categories of people are denied a vote, right? And where have we heard of such a society before? That's right, in the Roman Empire, which indirectly gave us the word “fascist”. Since, you know, they were the first. Funny that.

My main objection is that most of the book doesn't focus on that. In fact the main themes are duty and responsibility. Are you going to tell me those are bad things? Look around you. Look at the politicians running this world in 2022. Think again.

(Also the book features a father and son who part ways over differences only to find new common ground in the end. A happy ending I never had, and now it may be too late.)

Cultural appropriation is a sensitive topic. People react to it much like they react to the word "privilege": they feel accused, they feel guilty, and ask what they're expected to do about it.

Sure enough, the answer is also "nothing special, just be aware of it".

How exactly? Let's look at some typical examples from fantasy fiction:

Ghouls are a Middle Eastern myth. Maybe don't use them out of context, okay?

Banshees are an Irish myth. Maybe don't use them as discount ghosts, alright?

Wendigos are from Native American myth. Not just an exotic local boogeyman.

Yes, it's alright to write stories about people and cultures not like you. And in fact I can think of a very famous British writer who managed to turn even European myths into racist caricatures. Even some myths from her own country. But that's just it. We can do better, right?

I've seen it said on Tumblr that it's okay to use samurai and ninja however we like because have you seen how Catholic nuns are portrayed in manga and anime?

Yo. You wish real Catholic nuns were half as cool. That's the difference.

More recently, I keep seeing strigoi from Romanian folklore featured in World of Darkness-style stories. I don't mind at all. Can't speak for other Romanians. But I beg you to do some reading about them first, because in some ways they're way cooler than the average modern vampire. So is the real Vlad the Impaler.

Nobody thinks you're a villain. And I love to see how other people see me. Just be aware of what you're doing, please.