The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Anarchism

Analysis of Lunar Society in Robert Heinlein's Fiction

Oct 27, 2009

Robert Heinlein's utopian vision of a lunar community displays his social ideals, but also their limitations.

Robert Heinlein's 1966 novel, The Moon is a Harsh Mistress presents many positive aspects of an anarchist society. Although the Authority nominally controls the colonies on Luna, in fact the society that has evolved contains many features of anarchism. These elements have emerged in response to several factors: the need to live in close contact with a wide variety of people, the exigencies of living in a dangerously hostile place, the shortage of resources in a harsh environment and an export economy, and the grossly unequal proportion of men to women in Luna. Of these, the factors of population, environment, and gender imbalance enhance the anarchist focus of Lunar society.

Population Density and Hostile Environment

The residents of Luna come from all parts of Earth. The cities' names, such as New Hong Kong and NovyLen (New Leningrad), reflect the dominant populations of each, yet all cities are widely integrated and differences of ethnicity and religion matter little. In addition, most of the residents arrived in Luna as convicts exiled from Earth for either criminal or politically subversive actions.

Lunar society does have a highly developed and complex system of manners and violations of this code often bear extreme penalties. For example, continued failure to pay a debt might result in the debtor being ejected through an airlock without a pressure suit. Although these "rules" exist, they are unspoken and enforced purely voluntarily and on an individual basis. Judges in this system are not legal specialists (since there are no laws, per se), but merely citizens who go into business as mediators for conflicts. In order for a judge to rule on a dispute, both parties must agree to hire the judge and abide by his decision. Mob justice plays a role in maintaining social order in Luna, as violators of socially accepted norms may be eliminated by bystanders.

Although this system seems dangerously unregulated, in practice it provides flexibility on a case by case basis and allows the rules of conduct to adapt easily to changing social norms. If a behavior that was once acceptable becomes threatening to the overall good of the community, there is no need to pass a law restricting that behavior. The social ethos turns against the behavior and effectively outlaws it by common consent, bypassing the unwieldy mechanisms of government. This system reflects the anarchist theory that good people don't need laws to tell them what to do and bad people don't follow laws anyway.

Another factor supporting high levels of tolerance and the development of highly detailed social mores is the hostile atmosphere in which the Loonies survive. A single decompression event could wipe out an entire city, so whatever differences citizens may have, they must be able to work together in an emergency situation. With the possibility of disaster never far from mind, it makes sense for to settle differences quickly and definitively.

Gender Disparity

Because Luna began as a penal colony, the number of men greatly outweighs that of women. Mannie notes that in the beginning there were an average of 10 men for each woman, although that number has dropped in recent years as new generations are being born on Luna. As a result of the shortage of women, the female has achieved a place of high respect in Lunar society. Even touching a woman without permission is likely to get the offender jettisoned through the nearest airlock by a crowd of outraged Loonie men.

Women also have the option of taking more than one husband, as did Wyoh in her younger days. This type of polyandrous marriage is only one of the many variations on the married state. The marriage about which the reader learns most is Mannie's, a so-called "line marriage" in which an original couple invites new members into the marriage so that there are several co-wives and co-husbands of varying ages and degrees of seniority. This structure eliminates problems of inheritance, provides uninterrupted care of children, and ensures the continuity of the family even long after the original partners have died.

In Luna, the type of marriage one makes is not dictated by law. Divorce is also informal and largely controlled by social codes, not laws. The variety of marriage structures reflects the anarchist social structure of Luna, which allows individuals to choose the most efficient path for themselves. By contrast, the older and more traditional societies of Earth are appalled by the dissolution of the one-man-one-woman marriage (and casual crossing of ethnic lines in marriage) and use such apparent sexual license as evidence of Luna's unfitness for self-government.

Conclusion

At the same time Heinlein valorizes "rational anarchism" and demonizes authoritarian government and social mores, he recognizes the natural tendency of humans to seek authority over one another. His ideal society begins to break down as soon as the uniting force of revolution ebbs. By the end of the novel, the newly elected Congress has already begun to make laws restricting behaviors that previously were controlled only by social norms.

Heinlein knows what Utopia looks like, but he also knows it is an impossible dream.

Heinlein, Robert. The Moon is a Harsh Mistress. New York: Orb, 1997. ISBN: 978-0312863555

The copyright of the article The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Anarchism in Utopian/Dystopian Fiction is owned by Nancy Baker. Permission to republish The Moon is a Harsh Mistress and Anarchism in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.