Several decades ago, Joe Haldeman wrote an SF novel called The Forever War about a interstellar war with an alien race fought without FTL drives. As a result, the ships spend a lot of time at relativistic velocities. The protagonist is part of the first military unit which makes a counter-attack against the aliens. The whole story represents 3 or 4 years of his life time, but since he spends so much time at relativistic speeds, something like a thousand years passes on Earth.

During that time things change, a lot. Every time he gets assigned to a new military unit in preparation for a new battle, he's dealing with people from the current Earth. So it's interesting to see what kinds of things happen.

In a sense it's a prediction, though Haldeman clearly wasn't thinking in those kinds of terms. But there were two things which I remember: First, there's a huge cultural change on Earth relating to sexual matters. To put it bluntly, homosexuality is considered normal, and heterosexuality is considered perversion, or a psychiatric disorder to be treated. The protagonist happens to be heterosexual but he soon learns to keep it to himself.

Second, by the end of the book the human race has developed a group mind. Everyone thinks exactly the same, and individuality is completely gone.

What made me think about this was this post at Instapundit. Because it occurred to me that the primary target of "Yes means Yes" laws seems to be heterosexual sex.

Activists have managed over the last 50 years to bring us from homosexuality being considered a perversion and a crime to being something which is legal and tolerated and even not considered particularly unusual.

But that doesn't seem to be enough. Some of the stuff I hear from out there in the real world makes it seem like those same activists want to go the rest of the way -- to not only make homosexuality be considered acceptable, but to make heterosexuality be considered unacceptable.

Consider that site which provided something like 50 choices when describing a person's sex (instead of the traditional two). The traditional two have been renamed as "cis-male" and "cis-female" and you just aren't cool unless you are at least "bi-curious".

It makes me wonder whether a person who declares themself to be strictly heterosexual is viewed as being old fashioned, and brainwashed by traditional culture. Every generation of young people revolts against the norms of the previous generation, and this (and tattooing) seem to be how this generation is doing it.

Of course, one problem with it is that if this attitude prevails, there won't be another generation to revolt against this one.

Anyway, as to group minds, that seems to be coming too. The symptom is "microaggression". On college campuses now any expression of a controversial idea or thought is punished. You will toe the line; you will never disagree with the prevailing attitudes. Colleges now seem to be in the business of political indoctrination.

This isn't intellectual freedom; it's intellectual slavery. And since most of the kids leave college now with crippling debt, it is actual slavery too.

All of this is beginning to frighten me. Am I really going to be considered a pervert just because I like looking at girls? Is this country actually going to become a bastion of enforced uniformity of opinion?

UPDATE: J comments.

Posted by: Steven Den Beste in Weird World at 11:42 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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