RE: rooting for the Americans

From: Damien Broderick (thespike@earthlink.net)
Date: Sat Jan 18 2003 - 13:13:40 MST


[me:]

>> Heinlein felt insulted to be given
>> contrary advice on his own soil about the actions of his own nation;
>> Clarke quite correctly spoke out in defence of us all, Americans and
otherwise.

[John K Clark:]

> Interesting! What side was Clarke on?

I don't have his biography with me, but as I recall his objections were
twofold: it wouldn't work, and it would dangerously destabilize the system
of mutual terror that had kept us safe until now (i.e. then). He was derided
by several space engineers in the meeting on the first point, but clearly he
hasn't resiled from it:

http://www.tiscali.co.uk/entertainment/scifi/interviews/arthur_c_clarke.html

< "As you doubtless know, I had a bit of a fight with my old friend Bob
Heinlein over this Stars Wars [SDI] business. I'm glad that the crazier
schemes - putting an umbrella over the United States, for instance, which
was utter nonsense - have vanished. Some of those more ridiculous notions
are now part of history. But there are quite a few things which we must
continue to do. It's a dangerous world and a lot of nasty people are likely
to have nuclear weapons and delivery systems, and I'm afraid a certain
amount of military application and study has to carry on." >

In a discussion of Greg Bear's EON, at
http://dspace.dial.pipex.com/l.j.hurst/gbear.htm , we find this account:

< In the Acknowledgement Bear lists the Citizen's Advisory Council on
National Space Policy ("Citizen" here means member of a small US right-wing
pressure group). An account of the CACNSP by Gregory Benford, "Dancing With
the StrawMan", can be found in Far Frontiers vol V, Spring 1986. It details
how the group, of whom Benford was one, in the early eighties produced the
idea of SDI and sold it to the White House - "Here was the President, using
phrases and ideas that first surfaced in casual swimming-pool talk less than
a year before ... But with a sinking feeling I heard Reagan envision a total
defence of our population". It goes on to describe how Arthur C. Clarke, who
was opposed to the pollution of space by weapons but whose early
astronautics work could be used in SDI, was attacked by the group -
"Heinlein attacked as soon as Clarke settled into Larry Niven's living room
... Foreigners on our soil should step softly in discussions of our
policies, Heinlein said. Clarke was guilty of 'British arrogance'". So, in
the words of the Star Warriors, it will not protect even all the USA and the
rest of the world can go hang. >

Just so. On the second point, Heinlein was clearly out of order; this was
not a matter for USians alone, it had the capability of capsizing the whole
international balance of power. I believe Clarke `apologized' to calm
Heinlein down, but not because he felt he'd been wrong in making this
important point on Homeland soil.

Damien Broderick



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