Population problems have a horrid way of solving themselves when they are
not solved rationally; the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse are always
saddled up and ready to ride. The data explosion is now being solved,
mostly by cybernetics’ and electronics’ men rather than by librarians — and
if the solutions are less than perfect, at least they are better than what
Grandpa had to work with. The problem of government has not been solved
either by the ‘Western Democracies” or the “Peoples’ Democracies,” as of
now. (Anyone who thinks the people of the United States have solved the
problem of government is using too short a time scale.) The peoples of the
world are now engaged in a long, long struggle with no end in sight,
testing whether one concept works better than another; in that conflict
millions have already died and it is possible that hundreds of millions
will die in it before year 2000. But not all.
I hold both opinions and preferences as to the outcome. But my personal
preference for a maximum of looseness is irrelevant; what we are
experiencing is an evolutionary process in which personal preference
matters, at most, only statistically. Biologists, ecologists in particular
are working around to the idea that natural selection and survival of the
fittest is a notion that applies more to groups and how they are structured
than it does to individuals. The present problem will solve itself in the
cold terms of revolutionary survival, and in the course of it both sides
will make changes in group structure. The system that survives might be
called “Communism” or it might be called “Democracy” (the latter is my
guess) — but one thing we can be certain of: it will not resemble very
closely what either Marx or Jefferson had in mind. Or it might be called by
some equally inappropriate neologism; political tags are rarely logical.
For Man is rarely logical. But I have great confidence in Man, based on his
past record. He is mean, ornery, cantankerous, illogical, emotional — and
amazingly hard to kill. Religious leaders have faith in the spiritual
redemption of Man; humanist leaders subscribe to a belief in the
perfectibility of Man through his own efforts; but I am not discussing
either of these two viewpoints. My confidence in our species lies in its
past history and is founded quite as much on Man’s so-called vices as on
his so-called virtues. When the chips are down, quarrelsomeness and
selfishness can be as useful to the survival of the human race as is
altruism, and pig-headedness can be a trait superior to sweet
reasonableness. If this were not true, these “vices” would have died out
through the early deaths of their hosts, at least a half million years
back.
I have a deep and abiding confidence in Man as he is, imperfect and often
unlovable — plus still greater confidence in his potential. No matter how
tough things are, Man copes. He comes up with adequate answers from
illogical reasons. But the answers work.
Last to come out of Pandora’s Box was a gleaming, beautiful thing — eternal
Hope.
FREE MEN
“THAT MAKES three provisional presidents so far,” the Leader said. “I
wonder how many more there are?” He handed the flimsy sheet back to the
runner, who placed it in his mouth and chewed it up like gum.
The third man shrugged. “No telling. What worries me — ” A mockingbird
interrupted. “Doity, doity, doity,” he sang. “Terloo, terloo, terloo,
purty-purty-purty-purty.”
The clearing was suddenly empty.
“As I was saying,” came the voice of the third man in a whisper in the
Leader’s ear, “it ain’t how many worries me, but how you tell a de Gaulle
from a Laval. See anything?”
“Convoy. Stopped below us.” The Leader peered through bushes and down the
side of a bluff. The high ground pushed out toward the river here,
squeezing the river road between it and the water. The road stretched away
to the left, where the valley widened out into farmland, and ran into the
outskirts of Barclay
ten miles away.
The convoy was directly below them, eight trucks preceded and followed by
half-tracks. The following half-track was backing, vortex gun cast loose