Our first purpose was not to be noticed.

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A long time ago I read Robert Heinlein’s The Moon is a Harsh Mistress for the first of many, many times.  I’m pretty sure I was twelve or thirteen at the time. 

For those of you unfamiliar with the plot, the Earth is governed by a United Nations of sorts, and has turned the moon into a penal colony much like England did with Australia.  Subtle difference, though, without certain drugs and strenuous exercise, spending too long on Luna will result in irreversible physiological changes that prohibit living on Earth again except as an invalid.  The moon, through hydroponic farming using water from lunar pockets of ice, has become the breadbasket of humanity.  A massive linear accelerator is used to send cargo packages of grain down the gravity well to feed Earth.

The population of Luna is only partially convicts as the story begins.  Most of the residents have either served their sentences or been born there as “free people.”  Free being a relative term.  The Authority runs the colonies, and there are several. 

The crisis is that if projections are accurate, Luna is going to run out of water soon, and Earth doesn’t care and doesn’t want to know.  And they want “the convicts” to just do their jobs and feed Earth.

So a small group decides that the only way to save Luna is to have a revolution.  Here’s the passage that struck me so many years ago:

Our first purpose was not to be noticed.  Long distance purpose was to make things worse as much as possible.  Yes, worse.  Never was a time, even at last, when all Loonies wanted to throw off Authority, wanted it bad enough to revolt.  All loonies despised Warden and cheated Authority.  Didn’t mean they were ready to fight and die.

This popped up over on FB a day or two ago, a Tweet from Jeremy Boreing, one of the producers of Ben Shapiro’s podcast and other Daily Wire things, I think:

1. Instill fear
2. Lock people in their houses
3. Drive tens of millions out of work
4. Remove the pressure valves:  sports, concerts, bars, theaters. lunch with friends
5. Close the churches
6. Dehumanize through masking the healthy
7. Wait
8. Strike match

I’m not saying that this is that “revolution.” I think it’s another “wet firecracker,” but there will be more of this, more often, until the entire system collapses, because a significant portion of the population, many working in government and media, want it to and are actively, quietly working towards it.  Things have to get worse before Joe Sixpack will be willing to fight and die.

Thing is, I don’t think the Socialists are the ones expecting to die.