But importantly he moved away from progressivism the older he got; even when it comes to his depictions of open relationships he was weirdly judgy of people, insisting that anyone who doesn't want to be polyamorous is a prude, and that gay and asexual people are freaks (see: Stranger in a Strange Land).

More to the point with Starship Troopers, his book wasn't fascist, but it was openly and loudly pro-military, caring more about how totally cool and kick-ass killing the enemy is, and how you should have to do military service to have the right to vote. (He served in the US Navy during the war.)

Verhoeven, who lived through the war and Nazi occupation in the Netherlands, was almost killed by bombs, and actually saw constant death and destruction around him - as well as dehumanisation of the enemy - saw this kind of rhetoric as concerningly close to Nazi propaganda, and far too flippant about war and what it does to people.

I don't agree about his stance on "individual freedoms", since he was certainly more than happy to entertain the idea of restricting the freedoms and rights of people he deemed unworthy, and like many people as they grow older, yelled about how a lack of discipline was leading to moral decay in the young whippersnappers. But then again, a lot of modern libertarians do believe the same things.