FullReads

“And still you say there’s no incentive?”

“For myself, yes–but all of us ought to have the same kind of drive,” said Dirrul.

“Such a condition never existed, Edward. Always there have been a few to make the inventions and the discoveries, a few to create the new dreams and frame the new ideas. Our people are no different. Incentive comes from within the individual–it cannot be imposed from the outside.

“The poorest sort of incentive, therefore, is economic need. Our system provides all our people with the basic necessities for everyday living. Some few of us are content with these and never want anything else. But the great majority work to earn Work-Equivs, which they can spend as they please–on amusement, luxury, education or the races at the Arena.

“Whatever the goal, it is a personal goal, set by each individual for himself. It’s the only kind of incentive that makes any sense. Take yourself as an example–you spend your share of Work-Equivs on additional education because you want to become a space-pilot. By the time you’ve earned the promotion you’ll have lifted yourself to a position of leadership.

“As you are well aware the space-pilot is the politician–statesman is a better word–of the Planetary Union. Through his ingenuity, his skill with languages, his psychological understanding of diverse racial groups, he holds our planets and peoples together, in one union with a common social philosophy. Think how frustrating it would be if you could never move toward your goal, Edward, because everything you earned had to be spent on trivialities–food, clothing, a place to live.”

“All right,” said Eddie doubtfully, “I have an apartment given to me but it has to be here in a worker’s block. If our system provides for us all alike, as you imply, how is it you have accommodations in the Scientist’s Center? Why should you be set apart? Or the poets and writers? Or the space-pilots, for that matter?”

“But there’s no difference in the way we live, Edward. In general people who do similar work and have similar interests are happier if they share the same social environment. The average person, living in a worker’s block, would feel terribly out of place in a scientist’s center, just as I would develop terrific frustrations if I had to live with the mystics or the religious orders.”

Dirrul deftly snatched the last piece of toast as the professor reached for it. “I’ll dial some for you if you like,” he offered.

“Oh, no, Edward! I’m dieting, you see, and I like to think–well, as I’ve told you so often in class, we all practise self-deception of a sort. Usually it’s harmless–and almost always we symbolize it in words. For me the symbol is diet.

“I set up a specialized definition and convince myself that I am dieting if I never directly order fattening food. That gives me an escape hatch. If food is offered to me or if it happens to–ah–to fall into my hands, I can take it and still keep a clear conscience.”

“Perhaps you practise more self-deception than you know, Dr. Kramer,” said Eddie. “For instance, all your fine words about the strength and vitality of our new system–when I was a boy we licked the Vininese Confederacy. We couldn’t do it today.”

“That’s a matter of opinion. We’re at peace now and we’ll remain so.”

“Only because we have the Nuclear Beams. And look how we’ve botched that mess! Our scientists gave the process to the Vininese in order to patch together a peace when we could have destroyed their civilization completely.”

“And our own too–with the weight of such a crime on our group conscience. There’s one thing you still must learn, Edward–scientific progress is made by the sharing of ideas, not the concealment of them. We build the future upon the truths of the past and the present. If some of those truths are hidden away we create falsely on utterly false foundations.”