The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress

Robert A. Heinlein

The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress (1966)

Traduzido em português com o título Revolta na Lua (porquê mudar para um título tão árido quando o original é tão evocativo?), este livro do ciclo Future History, ao qual me tenho dedicado recentemente, trata da sublevação que levou à independência de Luna, até então uma simples colónia das Nações Federadas da Terra.

Partindo do pressuposto de um computador tão expandido e melhorado nas suas capacidades que, um dia, se torna auto-consciente, com a sua capacidade de análise e previsão alerta para um futuro negro que ameaça a colónia lunar a curto prazo, a menos que toda a sua gestão seja radicalmente modificada. É essa luta, desde a constituição de uma rede clandestina e adopção de tácticas subversivas, passando pela revolução e guerra da independência, até ao reconhecimento da soberania, que constitui a narrativa desta obra, vencedora do Prémio Hugo em 1967.

O referido pressuposto continua um tema actual; muitos se têm questionado se o contínuo acréscimo de computadores à rede, onde cada um deles equivale a um neurónio, eventualmente poderá levar à auto-consciência da própria internet...

One man demanded to know why, since we paid no taxes, we colonists thought we had a right to run things our own way? After all, those colonies had been established by Federated Nations—by some of them. It had been terribly expensive. Earth had paid all bills—and now you colonists enjoy benefits and pay not one dime of taxes. Was that fair?

I wanted to tell him to blow it. But Prof had again made me take a tranquilizer and had required me to swot that endless list of answers to trick questions. "Lets take that one at a time," I said. "First, what is it you want us to pay taxes for? Tell me what I get and perhaps I'll buy it. No, put it this way. Do you pay taxes?"

"Certainly I do! And so should you."

"And what do you get for your taxes?"

"Huh? Taxes pay for government."

I said, "Excuse me, I'm ignorant. I've lived my whole life in Luna, I don't know much about your government. Can you feed it to me in small pieces? What do you get for your money?"

They all got interested and anything this aggressive little choom missed, others supplied. I kept a list. When they stopped, I read it back: "Free hospitals—aren't any in Luna. Medical insurance—we have that but apparently not what you mean by it. If a person wants insurance, he goes to a bookie and works b-Out a bet. You can hedge anything, for a price. I don't hedge my health, I'm healthy. Or was till I came here. We have a public library, one Carnegie Foundation started with a few book films. It gets along by charging fees. Public roads. I suppose that would be our tubes. But they are no more free than air is free. Sorry, you have free air here, don't you? I mean our tubes were built by companies who put up money and are downright nasty about expecting it back and then some. Public schools. There are schools in all warrens and I never heard of them turning away pupils, so I guess they are 'public.' But they pay well, too, because anyone in Luna who knows something useful and is willing to teach it charges all the traffic will bear."

I went on: "Let's see what else—Social security. I'm not sure what that is but whatever it is, we don't have it. Pensions. You can buy a pension. Most people don't; most families are large and old people, say a hundred and up, either fiddle along at something they like, or sit and watch video. Or sleep. They sleep a lot, after say a hundred and twenty."

[...] I looked at list. "I'll lump the rest of this together by saying we don't have any of it in Luna, so I can't see any reason to pay taxes for it. On that other point, sir, surely you know that the initial cost of the colonies has long since been repaid several times over through grain shipments alone? We are being bled white of our most essential resources... and not even being paid an open-market price. That's why the Lunar Authority is being stubborn; they intend to go on bleeding us. The idea that Luna has been an expense to Terra and the investment must be recovered is a lie invented by the Authority to excuse their treating us as slaves. The truth is that Luna has not cost Terra one dime this century—and the original investment has long since been paid back."

Li anteriormente:

Stranger in a Strange Land (1961)

O Homem que Vendeu a Lua (1951)

Revolta em 2100 (1953)