Space Vikings

H. Beam Piper was not, perhaps, in the same league with science fiction writers like Heinlein and Asimov, but a couple of his books are classics.  Little Fuzzy is probably my favorite Piper book.  Jack Holloway is a great character who would fit right into the Firefly universe.  Another of Piper's works, Space Vikings, is a space opera of considerable scope that takes place within Piper's Terro-Human Future History.

The hero of Space Vikings is Lucas Trask.  When we meet Trask initially he is a feudal landholder on the planet of Gram.  In the aftermath of a great personal tragedy, Trask becomes what is known as a Space Viking, a raider from the civilized Sword Worlds upon the planets of the old Terran Federation that have fallen back into more primitive conditions.  In the course of his adventures, Trask initiates what may be a new empire and civilizing force in the universe.

Piper was something of a libertarian.  He wrote a great deal about guns, firearms still playing an essential role for humanity even in the far future.  Space Vikings is manly science fiction.  Self-reliance, courage, honor, and common sense are the virtues of Piper's heroes.  The characterizations in his work may seem a little too trite and conventional, and the habits and technologies may seem quaint or anachronistic -- everybody smokes tobacco, but for the most part, Piper's better works hold up well.  His world-building is rich and intriguing, allowing readers to overlook what would be weaknesses in lesser writers.  Past a few necessary leaps for the science and technology to work, Piper leaves few holes for critics to exploit.

Anyway, to the point of my post, Piper projects past history into his future history.  The planetary rebellion depicted in Uller Uprising parallels the Sepoy Uprising of British India.  In Space Vikings, the Sword Worlds, with their relatively small planetary populations, have adopted a benevolent form of feudalism, while the old Federation world of Marduk, with a much larger population, is a representative democracy with a parliamentary government and a nominal royal head of state -- very similar to the British system.

One of the princes of Marduk discusses government with Trask.  The Mardukan is shocked that the Sword Worlds use a feudal system but even more shocked by one of the "checks" in the system.  On the Sword Worlds, everybody has weapons.  On Marduk, where people are allowed to access the ballot box and elect their leaders, weapons are held only by the government.  Trask thinks this is tyranny.  The prince from Marduk thinks letting "the people" have weapons is a recipe for civil war and chaos.  Trask points out that a clever demagogue could take control on Marduk, which turns out to be exactly what happens.

I love firearms, but the issue we face today in America goes far beyond having one kind of gun or another.  We have to decide if we are going to live as free individuals or as slaves of the state.  There is really no middle ground despite the smooth, soothing and persuasive words of our own demagogues.  Free men are armed.  Free men pledge their allegiance and support to their government for mutual protection and benefit.  Slaves do what their masters say, and it does not matter one whit that the masters are "duly elected".  What difference did it make to the slaves on a plantation in the Old South that a new person occupied the Big House?  The same overseers swung the same bullwhips to keep them in line.

It might be time to think about the kind of government that works and what has gone wrong with ours.  It might also be wise to consider that the Founders had no problem with a navy (and would likely consider a strategic, defensive air force as a navy in essence), but they were quite wary of maintaining a standing army which could be used against civilian uprisings.  I think they would also be shocked and dismayed at the militarization and centralization of police powers in the United States. 

We are all familiar with the following quote:   

A democracy cannot exist as a permanent form of government. It can only exist until the voters discover that they can vote themselves largesse from the public treasury. From that moment on, the majority always votes for the candidates promising the most benefits from the public treasury with the result that a democracy always collapses over loose fiscal policy, always followed by a dictatorship. The average age of the world's greatest civilizations has been 200 years.

We really don't know who said it -- but it was almost certainly not Alexander Fraser Tytler to whom it is often attributed.  Perhaps it is understandable that we cannot ascertain the name of the sage for, though it is very true, it is a sad truth, and few of us wish to be remembered for bearing bad news.