Is an Armed Society a Polite Society?
The roots of a widely articulated pro-gun slogan from a work of fiction
By: Devin Hughes
Hamilton Felix and his friend Monroe are enjoying a night out at a decadent restaurant. They settle in at a balcony table where they could watch the rest of the crowded restaurant below.
As they dine on a very expensive Bouillabaisse (fish stew) and chat, Monroe attempts to crack one of the crab legs and it slips from his grasp, tumbling off the balcony. Concerned, Monroe rises from his seat, but Hamilton assures him that he will “repair” the situation. As Hamilton looks below he sees that the errant crab leg has fallen into a young lady’s drink that then splashed on her. She is seated with seven companions, with two of the men armed and ready for a confrontation. The younger of the two men rests his hand on his gun, but the older gentleman requests the privilege of handling the situation.
Hamilton, attempting to defuse potential bloodshed, begs forgiveness for the act of clumsiness and the disruption of the party’s evening. Prepared to draw his weapon if need be, the older gentleman demands assurance that the unpleasant interruption was indeed unintentional, as otherwise honor and custom would demand bloodshed. Hamilton reassures the gentleman and offers reparations for the disturbance. The young woman splashed by the crab shrugs that it was no big deal, and the gentleman concludes that the thought of recompense was sufficient to cover the unintentional offense.
The parties satisfied and honor restored, both tables are about to return to their dinners when a voice from the opposite balcony calls out the cowardice inherent in resolving such a breach of decency in a peaceful manner. Hamilton requests the privilege of answering the newcomer, and when the older gentleman at the table below accedes, Hamilton confronts the intoxicated young man who is seated at a table with a group of friends, all of whom are armed. Ignoring his friends’ efforts to get him to back down, the young man hurls insults about Hamilton’s supposed lack of refinement, manners, and courage. Hamilton responds in kind, unable to back down now that the entire restaurant is intently watching.
The young man draws his firearm, but not quickly enough. A loud bang reverberates through the restaurant, causing every armed man to leap to his feet, gun in hand.
But the duel is already over, with the young man slouched at the table, supported by his friends. A woman in the restaurant below laughs, piercing the tension. Everybody goes back to their business, and the friends of the young man wave over the Hamilton to signal that they yield and no further action is warranted. Hamilton returns to his dinner, laughing that “A little excitement peps up the appetite.”
If this scene sounds like a complete work of fiction, you’d be correct in this case. It appears in the 1948 science fiction novel Beyond this Horizon by Robert Heinlein. So aside from containing an absurdly unnecessary gunfight, what does a book from 1948 have to do with today’s discussion over whether firearms make us safer?
That’s because the book contains a far more famous line in it: “An armed society is a polite society.” Yes, you are reading this correctly. One of the most well-known and widely articulated slogans approvingly deployed by pro-gun advocates comes from a 1940s work of fiction, and the “polite society” being described is one in which shooting someone over a crab leg is completely normal.
However, it gets even better (or worse, depending on your perspective).
The “an armed society is a polite society” quote is just one part of a much longer conversation, and the text surrounding the cherry-picked phrase provides some important context to the values of such a society.
“Well, in the first place an armed society is a polite society. Manners are good when one may have to back up his acts with his life. For me, politeness is a sine qua non of civilization. That’s a personal evaluation only. But gun-fighting has a strong biological use. We do not have enough things that kill off the weak and the stupid these days. But to stay alive as an armed citizen a man has to be either quick with his wits or with his hands, preferably both. It’s a good thing.”
Indeed, the “polite society” in Heinlein’s book, while technically being an economic utopia, is in fact one comprised of trigger-happy, honor-obsessed genetically engineered supermen who are often bored with life, culminating in a violent honor culture explicitly built on eugenics and cemented by ritualistic, performative gestures of extreme “politeness.”
As the perilous scene of the errant crab leg conclusively demonstrates, the idea that “an armed society is a polite society” is a complete fiction even within the work of fiction it was written.
Devin Hughes is President and Founder of GVPedia
Beyond This Horizon book image courtesy of Long Gone but Not Forgotten
The book is a critique of the society depicted. As you point out, it is dysfunctional in a wide variety of ways, and the heroes slowly discard their own preconceptions and try to fix things.
Please note that the work in question is clearly identified as "science fiction." A staple element of SF is the investigation of the "what if..." or the "if this continues..." possibilities. Speculation is inherent in the writings of most SF authors, and Robert Heinlein is a prime example of such. To properly understand his values on this (or any) subject one must be familiar with virtually all of his writings, both fiction and non-fiction. While I have no doubt that this website would take issue with the values of RAH, the beliefs and values that are found in his writings do represent a legitimate political and philosophical viewpoint worth considering and debating reasonably.