EbenCooke:

Yeah. Right. Those of us who don't share The Faith are all trampling on your individual rights.

In fact, Heinlein quite directly wrote about a "ruling elite" in Assignment in Eternity, Elsewhen, and Starship Troopers, and strongly suggested it in Stranger in a Strange Land and Tunnel in the Sky All entertaining, engrossing books that I enjoyed very much. I'm not sure Ayn Rand would've approved though.

That you translate any lack of reverence for Rand into a "left/right" conflict suggests something about how you read books and perceive the world. Expressing skepticism about an author you like really does not equate with this "vitriol" thingie you've teased out. It is entirely possible to respect human rights and still not share your ardor for Ayn Rand. To suppose otherwise is just small minded.

see the post above for stranger, which I can't improve on. On starship troopers, Heinlein's idea was that there should NOT be a fixed elite, but those who volunteered to serve their planet be the ones allowed to vote. Now if you didn't do so, you weren't excluded from any other business venture, etc., but if you wanted the right to do something, you had to demonstrate *personal responsibility* first. This was for each generation, not an inherited right.

He said the opposite of what you suggest. (btw, for those who haven't read the book, this is really children's lit, not a philisophical treatise).