HedgeHog

And relevant to today's world. All were written in the 1950's, except "With a Finger in My I" by David Gerrold, written in 1972.

"The Marching Morons", C. M. Kornbluth

"To Serve Man", Damon Knight

"Grandma's Lie Soap", Robert Abernathy

"With a Finger in My I", David Gerrold.

Here is a synopsis for "To Serve Man", from Wikipedia:

The story is set in the United States in a time that appears to be contemporaneous with the story's 1950 publication date. It is told in first-person narrative by a United Nations translator. The story opens at a special session of the UN where three alien emissaries, the pig-like "Kanamit", are testifying that the purpose of their mission to Earth is to bring humans "the peace and plenty which we ourselves enjoy, and which we have in the past brought to other races throughout the galaxy". The aliens soon supply Earth with cheap unlimited power, boundless supplies of food, and a device that disables all modern armies by suppressing all explosions, and they begin work on drugs for prolonging life. As a further token of friendship, they allow humans to visit their home planet via ten-year "exchange groups".
While the narrator has trusted the Kanamit from the time of their arrival, his friend and fellow translator Gregori has not. Gregori dismisses any notion of disinterested altruism and is certain the Kanamits must have an ulterior motive underlying their actions. Determined to discover what the Kanamit stand to gain by helping humans, Gregori takes a job at the Kanamit embassy to learn their language. This affords him access to a Kanamit–English dictionary, and he later steals a Kanamit book, hoping to translate it.
The narrator has also left the UN to work at the Kanamit embassy, and working together with Gregori, the two determine that the book's title is How to Serve Man. Two weeks later, the narrator returns from a trip to find Gregori distraught, having discovered to his horror that the title is a double entendre. Gregori informs the narrator that he has translated the first paragraph of the book and has determined that "it's a cookbook" (and not a treatise on serving humanity).

HedgeHog

If anyone can find copies or downloads of the stories, would you let me know?

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

To Serve Man Damon Knight (pdf)

Read a lot of Knight's work, including this one. Has a contemporary ring to it, doesn't it?

The Marching Morons C. M. Kornbluth.

Haven't read this one. Yet.

peter11937 Loc: NYS

How about any of the books by Phillip Jose Farmer? Fred Saberhagen's Retif series? H. Beam Piper novels ? Great writers all. And John Jakes' novel Mention My Name in Atlantis if you enjoy humor,.....

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

It was also a "one step beyond" or "outer limits " show.

HedgeHog

You're talking about "To Serve Man"? I saw that on Wikipedia, it was a Twilight Zone episode.

HedgeHog

Thanks, Blade. And yes, it certainly has relevance for today.

Grandma's Lie Soap was about a grandmother with a special type of soap that she used to wash her kids' mouths out when they lied, and thereafter they would always tell the truth. Some entrepreneur discovered and marketed it in toothpaste, so whoever used it would never lie. After a few years, everyone in the country only told the truth. Until someone came along who never used the toothpaste, and he was able to con the country's people into believing everything he said, because no one doubted that anyone could ever lie to them. That's what I remember about it, but I would love to find a copy.

One reason I dislike the "Truth in Advertising Act" is that people become accustomed to thinking no one could ever lie to them. My children found out early on that you can't believe everything you see and hear on television, just from getting toys they saw advertised, that didn't turn out to be what they were led to believe they would be. It's not a bad lesson.

Those stories made a big impression on me when I was younger.

HedgeHog

I love SciFi, the legitimate science fiction, not the science fantasy they write today, have read it since I was a child. I'll check out "Mention My Name in Atlantis".

no propaganda please Loc: moon orbiting the third rock from the sun

your are correct, just looked it up. I was a fan of all those shows
To Serve Man
you should be able to read it here It may be a pdf format.
"To Serve Man" is a science fiction short story written by Damon Knight. It first appeared in the November 1950 issue of Galaxy Science Fiction and has been reprinted a number of times,

Blade_Runner Loc: DARK SIDE OF THE MOON

Link to pdf is posted above.

pafret Loc: Northeast

Saberhagen was an excellent author but I believe the Retief series was authored by Keith Laumer who also wrote the Bolo series. Do you remember the Ferdinand Feghoot extremely short pun-filled stories?

HedgeHog

Thanks, npp. I'll check it out.

HedgeHog

I've referenced "With a Finger in My I" before. David Gerrold says about it: "...a metaphor for Nazi Germany when millions of Germans listened to a deranged paper hanger."

It was anthologized in Harlan Ellison's "Again, Dangerous Visions", 1972.

peter11937 Loc: NYS

Yes, but that did not stick clearly in my mind...Many of those writers were inspired by Robert E. Howard, the creator of Conan and others.... Dr. I. Asimov also wrote and inspired many other writers.