I can't believe that you'd never read Starship Troopers. In my opinion it is one of three books that are must reads. Especially being from the United States, it is key to remember that we (US Citizens) take ridiculous amounts of pride in a system (Constitutional Representative Republic) which is just as arbitrary as any other ... it just works for us.

BTW, only recently found your blog. We met at DDXP, you spent some time with my wife Kate discussing women and gaming and we both played the Delve several times with Max and Brian.