I always viewed this novel as one that, obviously, treated military service with a lot of respect. But I was never able to read it as an unequivocal advocation, even in-text, of military hierarchies (which seemed framed as a necessary evil) or the government portrayed there (kind of a mixed bag).

Heinlein had quite a gift for setting up a speculative scenario and seeing it all the way through. His own personal beliefs certainly made appearances, but more than that his books thoroughly explore ideas with which he may or may not have agreed before, during, or after.

While Starship Troopers absolutely shines a positive light on the individual soldiers and on certain military values, it also puts the vast majority of the fictional culture out there pretty neutrally, leaving it up to the reader to judge where it's good and where it's bad.

I always viewed this novel as one that, obviously, treated military service with a lot of respect. But I was never able to read it as an unequivocal advocation, even in-text, of military hierarchies (which seemed framed as a necessary evil) or the government portrayed there (kind of a mixed bag).

Heinlein had quite a gift for setting up a speculative scenario and seeing it all the way through. His own personal beliefs certainly made appearances, but more than that his books thoroughly explore ideas with which he may or may not have agreed before, during, or after.

While Starship Troopers absolutely shines a positive light on the individual soldiers and on certain military values, it also puts the vast majority of the fictional culture out there pretty neutrally, leaving it up to the reader to judge where it's good and where it's bad.

I personally came away with a strong negative impression of certain parts of the government and military administration that I don't think I would have taken away if they weren't up for grabs.