Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 46 — page 61: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION instead of just having to adapt ourselves we found that there “were people whose job it was to see that we adapted and to make things hard for us if we didn’t. Psychology, from being simply a science of the mind, became a conditioning force, became a major power, in fact. And since the emer- gency of war continued, psy- chology had to do the same, its power growing all the time, forcing into us and our whole society the acceptance of war asthe prime governing factor in our lives.” Patrick remembered his father’s words on the same subject and interrupted the old man to tell him what the General had said. Whittam nodded. “Ex- actly,” he grunted. “Your father hit all the nails right on their various heads. We’ve become the slaves of electronic machines and psychologists, and ever since man came to live underground those two powers have been getting stronger and stronger, with the result that nowadays most people grow up in complete acceptance of the type of life they have to live, and of the war itself, even. Those that can’t accept the status quo are, through psychosurgery, al- tered so that they do accept it.” 60 ‘““What about the ones that can’t be altered?’’ Patrick asked, his voice husky now that he had come to matters that affected his own life. The old man stared at him fixedly. ““Those that can’t be altered are potential menaces in a society geared for total war and for nothing else. They are potential riot-leaders, possible starters of civil wars, probable lowerers of public morale. And, therefore, they cannot be allowed to mix with other people; nor can the Deep Cities afford to keep them in institutions or the like because a large _per- centage of these malcontents have certain strange abilities that, if consciously controlled and directed, would make their possessors just as danger- ous inside the walls of an institution as outside them. No, Patrick, the ones that can’t be changed by psycho- surgery are killed.” He didn’t question the old man’s words. Somehow he was aware that this man, to whose house he had so mys- teriously travelled, was speak- ing of things that he knew to be true and was not simply repeating rumours or con- structing the tale from an over-powerful imagination. “These ones that can’t be comichooks.conm