I've read and enjoyed most of L. Neil Smith's science fiction novels. I checked out his essays and other non-fiction works almost as an afterthought. I liked them. So when I saw LEVER ACTION, I jumped on it. Guess what? I liked it too. Of course, the issues that are addressed in Smith's science fiction by allegory, implication and exposition-an optimistic, freedom-seeking, pro-gun, science fiction worldview-are addressed directly in this collection of essays and speeches.
I especially enjoyed reading the Introduction in which Smith tells us how he came by the principles in which he believes. My favorite essay is a very short one. On page 226, Smith asks the rhetorical question, "How Much Do You Want to Keep Your Guns?" He then answers his own question in an economical yet impassioned couple of hundred words. It is as beautiful a plea for mutual tolerance and personal freedom as you will ever read anywhere. Read it aloud to get the full effect. Read it aloud to your family and friends. Heck, read it aloud to someone you don't like. It might make a difference.
I have only one minor nit to pick. Because LEVER ACTION is a compilation of previous independently published writings and delivered speeches, there is some repetition. Of course, some things bear repeating.
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For the sake of providing needed information on this collection of L. Neil Smith's essays, the following table of contents is drawn from his Web site (specifically from page http://www.lneilsmith.com/leveractionmore.html): AUTHOR'S NOTE: My Purloined Letters
INTRODUCTION: My Willingness to be Drafted to Run for President
Section I: LIBERTARIAN PHILOSOPHY
1. The LP's First Priority
2. The Atlanta Declaration
3. Bill of Wrongs
4. A New Approach to Social Darwinism
5. The Tyranny of Democracy (Majoritarianism Versus Unanimous Consent)
6. Shop Now and Avoid the Rush
Section II: LIBERTARIAN POLITICS
7. Lever Action -- Accept No Substitutes
8. Hillary Behind Bars
9. Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus Statement of Principles
10. Libertarian Second Amendment Caucus General Resolution
11. The Twenty-Ninth Amendment
12. Tea in a Whole New Bag
13. My Three Tax Programs
14. My China Policy
15. Operation Safe Streets
16. A Desperate Suspension of Disbelief
17. A Lesson in Practical Politics
18. The Return of the Creature
19. Rally Me Not on the Lone Prairie
20. Tactical Reflections
Section III: THE SECOND AMENDMENT
21. Suppose You Were Fond of Books ...
22. Ban a Gun -- Go to Jail
23. The Atrocity Engineers
24. What About England?
25. Nipponese, Ted!
26. Twelve Tips for Safer Schools
27. Kids and Guns at School
28. Murder by Gun Control
29. Armies of Chaos
30. On Concealed Carry and the NRA
31. Screen, Scran, Screwn
32. We Don't Need No Stinkin' Bodges
33. Am I the NRA?
34. How Much Do You Want to Keep Your Guns?
35. Clinton's Crimes Are Hitler's Crimes
36. Diana DeGette Wants You Dead
37. Whodunit? Wellington Webb!
38. Listen to the Women
39. Taking the Mag Pledge
40. Smith & Wesson Must Die
41. Right-Wing Socialism
42. Why Did It Have to Be Guns?
43. A Conspiracy Theory -- Sort Of
Section IV: REPUBLICRAT POLITICS
44. Prometheus Bound -- and Gagged
45. "Do It to Julia"
46. Feeding the Ducks
47. A Revolutionary Proposal
48. Advice to Flat Taxers: Go Jump Off the Edge
49. Bill Clinton's Reichstag Fire
50. Rumplestiltsclinton
51. No, No, Kosovo! No, No, Kosovo!
52. A Note to My Political Allies
53. Security
54. Stars and Bars
55. It's the Stupidity, Stupid!
56. A Tale of Two Hoovers
Section V: A RANT FOR ALL SEASONS
57. An Ant for All Seasons (formerly "Of Ants and Men")
58. The American Lenin
59. When They Came for the Smokers ...
60. Antismokers: Get a Life!
61. The Smoking Goons
62. The Lies of Texas
63. Weird Science
64. When You Wish Upon a Star ...
65. Big Brother is Watching You -- Again
66. I Hate Breakfast
67. Some Not-Quite-Random Thoughts on Americans and Their Cars
68. Sex, Drugs, and Voter Registration
69. The Most Thoroughly "Sanitized" City in America
70. Patching the Patches
71. Scalping Elmo
72. A Culture of Harmlessness
73. The Spider at the Center of the Web
Section VI: SCIENCE FICTION AND LESSER MEDIA
74. On a Clear Day You Can See Bulgaria -- But Who Wants to Look?
75. Merchants of Fear
76. The Manchurian Lobbyist
77. Getting Back at TV Propagandists
78. The Medium is a Massage
79. Parallax
80. I'll Show You Mine If You'll Show Me Yours -- A Challenge to the Canadian Mass Media
81. Robert Heinlein Remembered
82. Don Henley's Revenge (An Open Letter to America's Old Media)
83. Who's the Wacko?
84. A Maple-Leaf Rag
85. Stop the Nagging
86. Unanimous Consent and the Utopian Vision
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"Why Did It Have to Be Guns" is one of the best brief arguments for why the advocates of any sort of "gun control" are not only intellectually bankrupt but also morally corrupt beyond redemption, and how each "gun control" politician must be immediately and unequivocally identified as your own personal mortal enemy, no matter what your political, ethnic, religious, or other demographic characteristics might be. As a whole, this collection is well worth its price, and should be in the hands of any honest, decent, humane person who can read the English language.
