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put on in Franklin to do some market research. The Chironians thought it was a joke. You should have
seen the kids down there. They thought our ideas of design and manufacturing were hilarious. Our guys
had to give it up as a dead loss.
That s how they get rich, Pernak said. By being good at what they do and getting better. Who but a
crazy would do anything and stay poor by choice?
You mean by reputation, or something like that? Lechat asked, beginning to look intrigued.
That s part of it, Pernak replied, nodding. The satisfaction that their culture conditions them to feel is
another part, but you re getting the general idea.
Lechat picked up his fork again. I never looked at it in quite that way. It s an interesting thought. He
began eating again, then stopped and looked up. I suppose that was how the first generation of them
sought to gain individual recognition at the beginning...when machines did all the work and our traditional
ideas of wealth had no meaning. And it s become embedded in their basic thinking. He nodded slowly
to himself and reflected further. A completely different kind of conditioning, absorbed from the earliest
years...based on recognizing individual attributes. That would explain the apparent absence of any group
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prejudices too, wouldn t it? They ve never had any reason to feel threatened by other groups.
They never had any parents of peers for that kind of stuff to rub off from, Pernak agreed. Classes,
echelons, black, white, Soviet, Chinese...it s all the same to them. They don t care. It s what you are that
matters.
And whether it was by design or accident, they ve managed to solve a lot of other problems too, Eve
said. Take crime for instance. Theft and greed are impossible, because how can you steal another man s
competence? Oh, you could try and fake it, I suppose, but you wouldn t last long with people as
discerning as Chironians. They can see through a charlatan as quickly as we can spot ourselves being
shortchanged. In fact to them that s just what it is. They have their violent moments, sure, but nothing as
bad as what s coming in from Africa on the beam right now, or what happened in 2021. But it never
turns into a really big problem. There s no motivation for anyone to rally round a would-be Napoleon.
He wouldn t have anything to offer that anybody needs.
After another short silence Lechat said, It s a strange system of currency though, isn t it. I mean, it s not
additive at all, or subject to any laws of arithmetic. You can pay what you owe and still not be any
poorer yourself. It sounds I don t know impossible somehow.
It s not subject to finite arithmetic, Pernak agreed. But why does it have to be? Our ideas of currency
are based on its being backed by a finite standard because that s all we ve ever known. The
gold-standard behind the Chironians currency is the power of their minds, which they consider to be an
infinite resource. Therefore they do their accounting with a calculus of infinities. You take something from
infinity, and you ve still got infinity left. He shrugged. It s consistent. I know it sounds crazy to us, but it
fits with the way they think
It certainly puts a new light on things, Lechat conceded. He sat back again, looked from one to the
other, and spread his hands resignedly. So am I to take it that I shouldn t assume your Support in the
matter I talked about earlier?
It s nothing personal, Paul. We think you re a great guy... Pernak frowned and sighed apologetically.
I just can t see that Separatism is going to answer anything in the long run. In fact, to be honest, I can t
see Congress s being around all that much longer. On that planet down there, it s a dodo already.
You could be right, but that s long-term, Lechat replied. I m more worried about what might happen
in the shorter term. I need help to do something about it.
Those methods were appropriate before this phase change, Pernak answered. They don t have any
place now.
What other way is there? Lechat Eked.
Pernak shrugged. Just let the system die naturally.
It might not want to die that easily, Lechat pointed out. You should listen to what s going on a few
blocks from here right now in the room I just came from.
They won t stop anything, Paul, Pernak said. They re up against the driving force of evolution.
Canute had the same problem.
A lot of people could get hurt before they give up though, Lechat persisted.
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