Avatar reviews in....

[Dr Mordrid]

given heinleins glorification of a totalitarian society & its military in the book, and looking at what cameron wanted avatar to be about, I´d guess he was consciously staying far, far away.

mfg
wulfman

The Terran Federation was not really a "totalitarian" regime but a form of democratic meritocracy where suffrage (full voting and citizenship rights) was enjoyed only by those who earned it through 2 years of Federal Service, which did not totally consist of military service.

Was it a militaristic society? Yes. Does that mean it wasn't a democracy? No. The two are not mutually exclusive.

Nothing stopped people from having a economic life without FS, but if you wanted to participate in the democratic process you had to have earned it. Lots of people find this rather attractive given the Pollyannish attitudes of many in the electorate who make social demands without context based on experience or any participation beyond what they glean from the tube, net or academically.

Heinlein's concept of an all-volunteer high tech strike force lives large in the US military today, and a few years back a USMC General said out loud that future clothing and equipment should emulate much of the Mobile Infantry's. Heinlein got a lot of things right, which is why the systems developed for the Future Force Warrior system have so many of the features he put in the novel.

[Wulfman]

The Terran Federation was not really a "totalitarian" regime but a form of democratic meritocracy where suffrage (full voting and citizenship rights) was enjoyed only by those who earned it through 2 years of Federal Service, which did not totally consist of military service. Was it a militaristic society? Yes. Does that mean it wasn't a democracy? No. The two are not mutually exclusive.

probably not the right thread for that, and it has been some time since I read the book - but I think I remember the book to mention of a "coup"-like change from a democracy to the government you line out.

anyway, a tiny militaristic society was what cameron wiped out on pandora, so...

mfg
wulfman

[Dr Mordrid]

Mercenaries in the hire of a multi-planetary corporation is what was active on Pandora.

A coup? Kind of. In his timeline 20th century style democracies had failed, probably because of never ending demands by interest groups killing the economy, and the "veterans" took over creating the Federation. Sometimes you have to break eggs to make an omelet.

[Wulfman]

Sometimes you have to break eggs to make an omelet.

and there is the dilemma...

mfg
wulfman