It struck me, last year, watching the BLM protestors, especially during the early weeks following the death of Floyd, how sober and sincere most of them appeared. They were doing the good thing, sending the good message. It seemed to me they wanted to be doing good, and maybe needed to get out in the streets showing their goodness. Of course the pandemic lockdown had its effect, but I think many people simply need to be *seen* doing good.

Is this partly because the power of religion in everyday life in the West has diminished over the decades? That humans have a longing for something beyond proveable reality, and without traditional religious ritual and belief we’re more vulnerable to cultish movements like CRT and wokeness? It seems clear that goodness in the context of religious practice is no longer enough, and that people have to prove their goodness through other means. Maybe this also explains the elevation of Floyd as an heroic martyr. I don’t know, I’m just wondering.

Heinlein served in the Navy, although probably not for as long as he had intended, and never saw wartime action. However, the training back when was a bit more rigorous than it appears to be now, so that probably didn’t hinder his learning.

Heinlein’s experience in the Navy exerted a strong influence on his character and writing. In 1929, he graduated from the Naval Academy with the equivalent of a Bachelor of Arts degree in Engineering, ranking fifth in his class academically but with a class standing of 20th of 243 due to disciplinary demerits. Shortly after graduation, he was commissioned as an ensign by the U.S. Navy. He advanced to lieutenant, junior grade while serving aboard the new aircraft carrier USS Lexington in 1931. He worked in radio communications with the carrier’s aircraft. Radio communications was then in its earlier phases. The captain of this carrier was Ernest J. King, who served as the Chief of Naval Operations and Commander-in-Chief, U.S. Fleet during World War II. Military historians frequently interviewed Heinlein during his later years who asked him about Captain King and his service as the commander of the U.S. Navy’s first modern aircraft carrier. Heinlein also served as gunnery officer aboard the destroyer USS Roper in 1933 and 1934, reaching the rank of lieutenant….In 1934, Heinlein was discharged from the Navy due to pulmonary tuberculosis. During a lengthy hospitalization, and inspired by his own experience while bed-ridden, he developed a design for a waterbed

I would like to know what the demerits were for; probably something interesting.

Despite a long “acquaintance” with RAH, I didn’t know this:

During World War II, Heinlein was employed by the Navy as a civilian aeronautical engineer at the Navy Aircraft Materials Center at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyard in Pennsylvania.[41] Heinlein recruited Isaac Asimov and L. Sprague de Camp to also work there[34] While at the Philadelphia Naval Shipyards, Asimov, Heinlein, and de Camp brainstormed unconventional approaches to kamikaze attacks, such as using sound to detect approaching planes.[42]
…
In 1980 Robert Heinlein was a member of the Citizens Advisory Council on National Space Policy, chaired by Jerry Pournelle, which met at the home of SF writer Larry Niven to write space policy papers for the incoming Reagan Administration. Members included such aerospace industry leaders as former astronaut Buzz Aldrin, General Daniel O. Graham, aerospace engineer Max Hunter and North American Rockwell VP for Space Shuttle development George Merrick. Policy recommendations from the Council included ballistic missile defense concepts which were later transformed into what was called the Strategic Defense Initiative, or “Star Wars” as derided by Senator Ted Kennedy. Heinlein assisted with Council contribution to the Reagan “Star Wars” spring 1983 speech.

This looks to be the closest that VDH came to being in the military, as opposed to writing about it (Wikipedia): “[he] held the visiting Shifrin Chair of Military History at the U.S. Naval Academy, Annapolis, Maryland (2002–03)”

Apparently, Heinlein started out as a “flaming liberal” (according to Asimov) and “socialist” (campaigned for Upton Sinclair), but ended up as a pretty rock-ribbed conservative; strains of both competing ideologies are IMO evident in his fiction.

Interestingly, VDH also used to be a registered Democrat until 2000 (per Wikipedia), but was most likely a classic liberal rather than a socialist, as his research undoubtedly showed the problems with the latter political framework.

I suspect both would echo Reagan’s “I didn’t leave the Democratic Party, the Democratic Party left me.”

However, Reagan never repudiated his admiration for Roosevelt and the New Deal; he primarily objected to some of the later Democrat policies, which were already trending toward today’s unhinged ideology of taxation and welfare, and (shades of Antifa) the bullying tactics of the unions, especially when directed against himself.

As usual, he was one of those liberals mugged by reality, which may also be true of Hanson, due to the disastrous Democrat-delivered decline in California, but doesn’t seem to feature in Heinlein’s bio.

https://presidentialhistory.com/2015/05/why-ronald-reagan-left-the-democratic-party.html

He’s a man of the earth. He’s stayed on his family farm in spite of his advanced .education and lofty spot at the Hoover Institution. It has required courage as the San Joaquin Valley has been hit hard by drought and crime. The path of least resistance would be to sell out and move to greener pastures. He’s not about to do that. If California is ever to recover, it’s going to take people like him taking the lead

Jordan Peterson provides some insights into goodness: “The Best Men I Know Are DANGEROUS” (building a strong character)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zSErYhxNLX0

Heinlein saw it: “But goodness alone is never enough. A hard, cold wisdom is required for goodness to accomplish good. Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.”

There’s a reason why the road to hell is paved with good intentions.