Our Earliest Training: Stranger in a Strange Land
Originally Published in the Kansas Government Journal – July/August 2025
When I was growing up in small-town Iowa, the television stayed off during dinner—except for Saturday evenings when it was time for Star Trek: The Next Generation. During that special exception to the rule, my family and I would explore strange new worlds with the crew of the U.S.S. Enterprise. The show sparked an interest in science fiction when it came to choosing books. While I mostly read history these days, I still come back to Vonnegut, Orwell, and Huxley as some of my favorites.
One writer I discovered later in life was Robert Heinlein, sometimes known as “the dean of science fiction writers.” Despite his influence on the genre, Robert Heinlein escaped my reading list until adulthood. Once I began, however, I quickly buzzed through a number of his books, including Stranger in a Strange Land, one of his most famous works.
Perhaps it is not so surprising that I missed out on Stranger, since it was regularly on banned-books lists. Given its irreverent-at-best treatment of religion, the book may not have been in stock when I was choosing what to read. Yet in adulthood, Heinlein’s book had me thinking about cities and League services, in addition to its many themes on humanity.
In Stranger in a Strange Land, Heinlein tells the story of Valentine Michael Smith (Mike), a human who was raised by martians before returning to earth as an adult. Mike’s experience with the martians grants him extraordinary powers, and he soon captures the imagination of the world. Mike’s many peculiarities are on display as he learns what it is to be human.
We see the learning process as Jubal, Mike’s guardian and father figure, attempts to prepare Mike for life on earth. Jubal is wealthy and talented, and he comes across as an idealist who spent a lifetime bathing in cynicism. Early in the book, Jubal offers this observation: “It is almost impossible to shake off one’s earliest training.” The analysis had me thinking about the challenges that local leaders face while serving their communities—particularly in a cynical age.
It is easy to find examples at every level of government where conflict, disagreement, and hyper-partisanship reign. These traits are often accompanied by a cocksureness that too often interrupts effective problem-solving. It is for these reasons that I love working with cities. We tend to see less of the bad and more of the good at the local level and more willingness to “shake off one’s earliest training.”
When I think back to my younger days, I remember how prone I was toward staunch partisanship. But after years of seeing how things typically work at the city level, I’ve grown far more interested in working with people who have ideas focused on building community at the local level.
One place where we see this mindset in abundance is through the League’s Municipal Training Institute (www.lkm.org/MTI). During my first tenure with the League, I had the privilege of overseeing our educational programing. It is striking how much humility and curiosity it takes to keep learning as an adult. Not only are you investing precious time, but it requires an open-handedness to seek out more information to continue improving. And when it comes to governing wisely, this is the exact attitude that is necessary for effectiveness.
Thomas Jefferson once gave the following advice to his nephew:
I never saw an instance of one of two disputants convincing the other by argument. I have seen many, on their getting warm, becoming rude, & shooting one another. Conviction is the effect of our own dispassionate reasoning, either in solitude, or weighing within ourselves, dispassionately, what we hear from others, standing uncommitted in argument ourselves.[1]
While not quite solitude, our workshops provide an opportunity to listen, think, and reason on the ever-complex subject of governance. Many can’t begin to appreciate how many subjects converge at the local level, and it is a big lift to run cities effectively. I appreciate our leaders who are willing to continue the effort of learning and modeling informed and effective leadership.
This mindset ties back to one of Jubal’s many observations on humanity. Later in the book, he observes that:
Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried. Democracy's worst fault is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.
Our citizenry may look at the current political climate and have increasingly low expectations. They may be inclined to buy into the cynicism that too often dominates politics. Yet the reason democracy is “about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried” is not because it reflects our worst faults. It is because we have the freedom and responsibility to grow beyond them. That’s the brilliance Heinlein explores through Mike’s journey: we are not bound by our earliest training. We can learn, change, and build something better.
The possibility of growth is a significant reason why I admire local leaders so deeply. Across the state, there are officials who cast off cynicism to learn, serve, and lead. In an era with decreasing confidence in our institutions, cities can provide a close-to-the-people example of what it means to govern well and embody democracy’s best traits. Doing so provides a reminder that there is hope that grows out of evaluating what is, while reaching for what might be.
[1] Thomas Jefferson to Thomas Jefferson Randolph, November 24, 1808, Founders Online, National Archives, https://founders.archives.gov/documents/Jefferson/99-01-02-9151.
In addition to the column above, I thought the following excerpts were interesting or descriptive writing:
Jubal to Duke (his tech employee): “It is almost impossible to shake off one’s earliest training…If you had been brought up by martians, you would have the same attitude toward eating and being eaten that Mike has.”
Jubal to Duke: “Duke, how could you learn so much about machinery but so little about how you, yourself tick?”
Smith’s description of Jubal’s friend’s readiness and concern as he was about to be arrested by authorities is a beautiful representation of friendship and the natural concern we have for the friends of our friends: “With a sudden burst of empathic catharsis Smith learned that all these friends were water brothers of Jubal—and therefore of him. This unexpected release from blindness shook him so that he almost lost anchorage on this place. Calming himself as he had been taught, he stopped to praise and cherish them all, one by one and together.”
Jubal to Ben: “Democracy is a poor system of government at best; the only thing that can honestly be said in its favor is that it is about eight times as good as any other method the human race has ever tried. Democracy's worst faults is that its leaders are likely to reflect the faults and virtues of their constituents.”
Becky to Jubal: “The profession lost a great talker when you weren’t born twins.”
After Jill said she wanted no present, Mike thought the following: “While water brothers spoke rightly, sometimes they spoke more rightly than others.”
Before taking Mike to the Forsterite Church, Jubal was concerned about them converting Mike. Jill asked what he was going to do: “Nothing. Just fret.”
After Mike’s failed attempt as a magician, the carny gives this advice: “You mustn’t offer the chump what he can’t swallow…A chump wants to believe—but he won't let you to insult what intelligence he has. And even a chump has brains of a sort. You have to remember that."
Mike: “People laugh because it hurts... because it's the only thing that'll make it stop hurting."
“[A true artist] can make you feel the quiet, endless tragedy that there was never a girl born who ever grew older than eighteen in her heart...no matter what the merciless hours have done to her.”
Jubal to Ben: “What is love? Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own.”
Martian Happiness: “Functioning the way a being is organized to function.” Sam, the professor, notes this is a tautology in English but a working set of instructions in Martian. Consider, however, how this principle dovetails with Christianity: God’s design puts us in the best position to live life fully.
Mike to Jubal: “Goodness without wisdom always accomplishes evil.”
