Authentic Science Fiction Monthly No. 52 — page 33: what you’re looking at

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

AUTHENTIC SCIENCE FICTION being what it is, wars in- evitably resulted in an in- creased birth-rate. We don’t have wars now and so there is no cutting down of the surplus, so we face starvation instead.” “Interesting, but hardly ap- propriate to our own Cir- cumstances.” “Thats where youre wrong. It has everything to do with us. That’s why we are here, for one thing. Even though we’re ten light years away from home, yet we have brought our traditions with us. Obedience to a superior officer. Obedience to a code with which, logically, we now have no part. Obedience, always obedience, and yet we still never reason out for ourselves why we _ should obey at all.” “Anarchy?” Gerald shrugged and twitched his rod, more for something to do than for any hope of catch- ing a fish. ““We can’t have that.” “Why not?” “Well, it wouldn’t work for one thing, and...” “You see? You mention a word, then refute it in the same breath, and yet you haven’t any real reason for refuting it at all. Anarchy, you say, and then immediately state that it wouldn’t work— because? You don’t know why? You haven’t thought about it.” “Well? Would it work?” “On Earth, no. Our civi- lisation is too interdependent for an individual to exercise free choice. In order to work at all our social system de- mands that the individual be subordinated to the state. Anyone trying to practise anarchy would soon becrushed by the majority who, while not knowing just why, recog- nise the fact that their exist- ence depends on total obedience to the dictates of law and order. In such a society no one dares to be too different. You know of the chickens, of course?” “Yes. Take a chicken, dye it a different colour or make comiclooks.com