I just finished reading an excellent book, The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, written by the master of science fiction, Robert A. Heinlein. Sometimes the real world nonfiction current events are so depressing that I have got to take a break. I have read where others here have considered reading Atlas Shrugged written by Ayn Rand. Before you do it you might take into consideration reading 1,324 pages of Atlas Shrugged vs 384 pages of The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress.
The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress is a delightful book with themes very similar to Atlas Shrugged. I won't spoil it, but I actually like the ending of it more than the ending of Atlas Shrugged. Here are some quotes to perk up some interest:
I beg you -- do not resort to compulsory taxation. There is no worse tyranny than to force a man to pay for what he does not want merely because you think it would be good for him.
I will accept any rules that you feel necessary to your freedom. I am free, no matter what rules surround me. If I find them tolerable, I tolerate them; if I find them too obnoxious, I break them. I am free because I know that I alone am morally responsible for everything I do.
I was not joking when I told them to dig into their own pouches. It may not be possible to do away with government sometimes I think that government is an inescapable disease of human beings. But it may be possible to keep it small and starved and inoffensive and can you think of a better way than by requiring the governors themselves to pay the costs of their antisocial hobby?
Please consider this an Open Thread Diary.
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