The Chilling Reality of the Forever War | Is This Humanity's Future?

The Lensman series is also pretty good with like escalation of weapons and stuff

Thanks!

I like how this guy breaks down books but the fedora and the close face shots or close ups on hands holding books while shaking with a weird black “tattoo” on his wrist makes it cringe at times

You say that at a time in our existence where not only governments are conditioning people to accept homosexuality and transsexual Lifestyles as a normal thing but you're witnessing the World Health Organization the United Nations and in multiple other organizations all at the same time doing the same exact thing

As General Butler said: "War is a racket."

Glad to see art of a dude who I went to high school with on the thumbnail

How do you spend so much time talking about this book and not even mention Marygay?

This book predicted the future - the aliens and ftl

Wow I literally had an idea of a generation ship that only had clones of one man and one woman on it. But it's been done

I randomly looked up Revelation Space when thinking about the Ultras and got through your vid on the Dawn War before i realized I'd watched or listened to ALL your stuff on ASoIaF and Dune years ago. I'm really glad you're doing well at this, your sharp perception and ability to compile oculted themes in these works really impressed me and after binging 4 of your vids from the past year, the hunger to finish The Sprawl and Inhibitor trilogies reawakens.

Can you please do Dead space franchise

Dude where is the game of thrones content this shit is lame

Isadore Keys

It depends if we continue to allow the Power Elites to use War as a population and intelligence bottleneck.

The United States has experienced very few years of complete peace, as it has been involved in various wars, conflicts, and military engagements throughout its history. Since its founding in 1776, the U.S. has been involved in conflicts such as the Revolutionary War, Civil War, World Wars, the Cold War, and numerous other military engagements.

In fact, historians and analysts often point out that the U.S. has been at war or involved in military conflicts for the majority of its history. There are only a handful of years where the U.S. has not been engaged in some form of military conflict, either directly or indirectly.

Estimates vary, but one analysis suggested that the U.S. has been at war or involved in military action for about 93% of its history since 1776. This would leave only about 17-20 years where the country was not engaged in some form of military conflict.

So, the number of years of peace—where the U.S. was not involved in any military conflict—is relatively small compared to the total years of its existence.

The shit hole you live in is already in constant war lmao

I agree that The Forever War is a great book and has many great points and many great failures (as often happens in "prophetic" works. For example, the ongoing worldwide population collapse (arguably driven by government propaganda) ends the need for "turning" or "grooming" children to be homosexual. I'm skipping a number of errors because they would take longer than the script of your video to show.
Where I disagree is that it is the response to Starship Troopers. Unless it is a response to the bad Cliff Notes version that thinks it glorifies war or is about the militarization of humanity. They address different issues. Haldeman is addressing Vietnam, Heinlein is addressing the cultural collapse that he accurately predicted that has been ongoing since the late 60s and is coming to a head now. Both books address alienation (although it is less emphasized in ST) and service. Note that the mass rejection of Vietnam vets has not been repeated, because despite the radical attempt to force the revolution in the 60s, it failed and troops are now honored for their service, even if many think the conflict was wrong.
As an aside, many of the "forward looking" or "progressive" elements of TFW were present in Heinlein's novels, so trying to put him in the "old school" slot incorrectly ignores many of his later works, at least 1/3 of his novels (I'd argue over half) fit in your "new" category.

Love love love this book for the ideas, concepts, and themes it explores from war to time dilation. Appreciate nod to URSULA!

Anyone reading The Forever War that sees glorification of war is not paying attention.

No novels spring to mind, but two short stories told from an alien PoV: "The Things" by Peter Watts, told from the perspective of the entity in "The Thing", and the humorous "They're Made Out of Meat" by Terry Bisson.

You see me now, a veteran, of a thousand psychic wars …

for supporting the xenos

I have a feeling that red rising by pierce brown is next (;

I think Heinlein and Haldeman are really two necessary and valid sides of the same coin.

Heinlein's focus was, at it's core, always the concepts of personal duty and responsibility. It's the idea that liberty doesn’t come without strings attached, and the need for individuals to sometimes rise above their own self-interest in the name of a greater ideal. War, for Heinlein, was an unfortunate eventuality, which must be prepared for, engaged in, and completed with pragmatism.

Yes, these concepts have been, at times, coopted by fascists and warmongers to cement power and position, but that doesn't mean these ideas themselves are inherently bad or wrong. On the contrary, the were coopted because they are commonly viewed as good and even heroic sentiments, and taking them on lent these bad actors an air of moral legitimacy they otherwise lacked.

Haldeman instead focused on the consequences of that coopting and misuse. He highlights the result when these concepts are abused and unchecked, and the the damage that can be done when monstrous means can be rationalized in the names of beneficial outcomes.

Where Heinlein advises, Haldeman warns.

Both are correct.

I just watch. Don't forget the date Department of Education became propaganda HQ.

Forever war - OMG, great!
FOrever peace - yeah, decent SF
Forever free - WTF was that?

Interesting line when Marygay and Mandalle got their Orders to go and battle again:
„But I could’nt shake the feeling that we were going home“
So from his perspective the ship, the other veterans and the soldiers life are very much becoming his home more than the home he felt so far away after coming back.
(Sorry for bad english).

Guy does his research 😊

It's pretty simple
The
Usa are the evil exponential empire
It's as clear as that.

I remember talking with a Vet. He said when I joined the army I became something I was a leader, respected and people trusted in me. When I came back i was nothing.

The things you find strange and off-putting all used to be generally relatable, you're just a hyper-modern progressive, so it gives you the alienating feeling to see something relatable to people not like you.

The book wasn't written for millenials or Gen Z.
The focus on how weird gay stuff is was very relatable at the time.
As someone who wasn't swept up in progressive trends and still remember the world before it became progressive, the alienation is real.

Humans v
reproducing humans ... biological fact.... Humans attempting reproducing bwith ther humans that can't ebd in reproducing humans is a biological defect...untreatable other then choice to not attempt reproducing with same sex humans ..they are still homosexual so it's only a social construct that they not try reproducing or having sexual intercourse with same sex by putting the sexual organ into the colon that tids the body of solid waste... I say allow and encourage that behavior so those defects aren't passed down to other generations ..they already identified the gay gene in DNA and like other defects .. we prevent those birthd whenever possible...the. Parents decide if they want a flier limbed baby or terminate it in the womb . If they discover a serial murder gene. Do we just gnor the fact that we allowed a monster into the word?..I would say the parents can't decide that rsm as it effects all of us....homosexuals??. Only when they hide .. why sepedate gender I locer rooms when gays or kezbos are not separated from normal people .. and your an idiot if you don't think they aren't checking out the bodies of normal people in their locker rooms and showers..... Normal men and women would be checking each other out if we al shared one llocker room....or gaysand kezbos aren't asnoralas other people. Can claim to be both....so we all sghareor you get seperate icker rooms

Is that not kind of a shit take on starship troopers. It’s as pro war as Jarhead.

For non-human perspective sci-fi, I'd recommend the novella Seven Views of Olduvai Gorge by Mike Resnic.

Waiting for a video on the Druuna comics.

A classic novel. "Mindbridge" was quite similar. Let it not be forgotten that Haldeman's output includes 2 Star Trek novels. 🖖

The Forever War was one of the first deep sci-fi's I stuck my teeth into after a hiatus from the genre, read it early 00's. I found the alienation Mandella goes through such a powerful narrative. I didn't find the sexual themes bothersome - a bit anachronistic which is a bit in line when the book was written - but not overly homophobic in the sense of the alienation that Mandella feels - it'd be like someone from the 1950's being thrust into todays world and being confronted with ideas in homosexuality and transgenderism - they would feel alienated and afraid and might not be able to adjust given they haven't had the time to be introduced to the concepts over a long period, as it has been in our society for the past 60 years.

PS - 'Collapsar' is just an older term that was used for collapsed stars - those that become black holes or neutron stars. Effectively in the book they're wormholes formed by collapsed supergiants. Not perhaps physically accurate, but it's sci fi. I liked to think of them as some sort of Einstein-Rosen bridge.

"The government using propaganda to turn people gay for population control is a bit silly." Umm, have you looked at the changing rates of LGBT identification of various generations? The theme of social contagion on the young? It feels like we're already there.

I would like to hear your take on the book called Armor, by John Steakly.

Time for a new outer heaven

Americans don’t know real war…

I’m talking about ordinary folk not the veterans of course

BotNS when? 👀

PLEASE PLEASE PLEASE do a video on "The Eternity Brigade" by Stephen Goldin !! I read it back in the 80s and it has stuck in my head since then. I had to ask on Reddit to find the title because I couldn't remember it, I just remembered some of the major plot points. I ended up reading "Forever War" thinking it might have been "T E B" but still enjoyed Forever War.

"No Pun Intended"

As someone who is getting back into reading, discovering your channel has been a godsend. Keep up the great work and please have more book recommendations. Im slowly watching through your vids and have lots of books on my readlist now.