Ray Bradbury: “I think our country is in need of a revolution"

Naturally I like it when a major figure starts talking about revolution, though too often they don't mean a real revolution, but more of a reform movement. Perhaps that's what Bradbury means, I don't know, but I like what he says about there being too much government, though it takes a lot of government to do some of the things he wants, or at least the way he advocates them it would, like a base on the moon and the eventual colonization of Mars. Ray Bradbury, however, is one of my favorite writers, and one of the greatest (and most underrated) American writers of the Twentieth century (though he didn't stop writing when the Twenty-First rolled around), so whatever his position on government, it can't change my admiration of him as a person and a writer, nor my affection for his wondrous fantasy stories.

“There is too much government today. We've got to remember the government should be by the people, of the people and for the people.”

The native of Waukegan, Ill., has never been shy about expressing himself -- he described President Clinton with a word that rhymes with "knithead" back in 2001-- nor is he timid about correcting people when it comes to his own perceived legacy. Bradbury chafes, for instance, at the description of his work as science fiction -- in the past he has pointed out that, to his mind, "Fahrenheit 451"is the only sci-fi book in his vast body of work -- and despite his passion for more national space projects, he is not technology obsessive by any means.

Ray Bradbury hates big government: 'Our country is in need of a revolution'