The historian in Ross Westley prevented him from being at sea in this. He said slowly, “Perhaps the stated purpose of your organization is very fine, however, I wonder to what extent government is needed for a man to realize his true worth, under any society. Top men will come to the top under any socioeconomic system.”
Altshuler leaned forward. “Are you sure? Or are you confusing the fact that the men in control will proclaim that they are top men? Gangsters such as Stalin, Hitler, Mussolini, Chiang Kaishek and Franco, to name a handful at one period in history, will shoot their way to power, and then, the propaganda machine in their hands, the schools, entertainment and news media in their hands, will proclaim themselves the top elements of the country, the best and most intelligent. Who in Nazi Germany wasn’t led to believe that those who led were the best, most idealistic and dedicated men in the land?”
Pater Riggin took over again.
“Admittedly, some men, of certain types, will struggle to the top given any society. However, many of our most capable are not of this nature. For instance, the early American electrical wizard, Steinmetz, was a cripple. Had he been born a slave in Roman society, he would have been knocked over the head at birth, his potentialities never realized. Some of our artists, poets and such, are not of the caliber to fight. It is no coincidence that the three great poets of the British romantic period, Byron, Shelley and Keats, were all protected from want throughout their lives. Byron was a lord, Shelley a baron, Keats from a well-to-do family. But suppose any of them had been born into a life of child labor in the mills of Manchester? Would any of them have become poets? Their contemporaries, such as Leigh Hunt and Thomas Hood, born into poverty, were possibly their equals in talent, but had to spend their lives doing newspaper work, writing reviews, or humorous verse meant for the semi-literate.”
Ross said, suddenly impatient, “All right, this could go on forever. The point is, you admit that you’re subversives.”
Combs said curtly, “Proud of it.”
Pater Riggin said, “It’s all according to what you’re subverting, Ross Westley, whether or not the term is a derogatory one. Jesus was a subversive, and so were Washington and his coaids.”
Feeling irritation at being on the defensive, Ross struck out. “You tell a fine story, Pater but to reinforce Centurion Combs’ opinion when you first entered, let me point out that you yourself wear a garb that doesn’t exactly proclaim you a liberal. You mentioned Washington, did you ever run into this quotation from a Coaid of his, Thomas Jefferson? In every country and in every age, the priest has been hostile to liberty. He is always in alliance with the despot, abetting his abuses in return for protection of his own.’”
Even as he quoted, the words of Temple Bishop Stockwater about the lesson of Mexico came back to him and he finished by saying slowly, “I am afraid your United Temple sees the handwriting on the wall this time and is attempting to repair its public image.”
“Too late,” Altshuler grinned. “The ball’s already begun to bounce.”
Ross looked at the subversive Temple Monk again. “You haven’t explained remaining in the United Temple.”
Pater Riggin shrugged his fat padded shoulders. “For one thing, it was the perfect protective covering. But there’s another thing, Ross.” His face lost its humor. “A people get the religion they want and deserve, just as they get the government they want and deserve, on an average and given time. A false religion remains a popular one only so long as the people support it; an antiquated socioeconomic system remains only so long as the people support it.”
His chuckle now was sour. “When the majority of the people on this planet no longer accept belief in the Holy Ultimate and the United Temple, which represents this conception, then it will wither away. Not before. Attacking the organization physically might drive it underground, but never destroy it. It will be destroyed only by education and man’s evolution to a higher level of understanding.”
Tilly, who had remained uncharacteristically silent, spoke up. “Rossie,” she said, the old mockery in the back of her words, “you’re desperately fighting your friends and I suspect that inwardly you know it.”
“What’s that supposed to mean, Till?” he snapped angrily.
“I think you know. Individuals, no matter of how much goodwill, are apathetic when it comes to changes in the institutions with which they are familiar. They will put up with almost anything before facing the need of changing basic cultural habits, political forms, religions or socioeconomic systems. For instance, I suspect that in actuality you believe the United Temple to be parasitical. But all your life you have paid it lip service, and I suspect too, in argument about the desirability of maintaining the institution, you would drag up some moth-eaten opinion supporting the need for keeping the ignorant happy, or teaching the basic virtues, or some such. You’ve been dragging your heels about speaking up and announcing what you truly believe.”
He looked at her unhappily.
Altshuler laughed. “Tilly, you sound like a soapbox lecturer, rather than the head of a couple dozen ragged ‘guerrillas’.”
She snorted back at him. “One’s as important as the other, each in its place.”
She came to Ross again. “The same apathy applies in the field of political economy. Look back over your history, Rossie, and consider how long some people put up with ridiculous social systems after everyone in the nation, for all practical purposes, knew them to be ridiculous.
“But that apathy, given a spark, can be changed overnight to the desire for changes. Had you suggested, one year before the Declaration of Independence, that complete freedom from England was the only solution to the problems of the colonists, you probably would have been stoned in the streets. Lenin wrote, less than six months before coming to power, that he never expected to live long enough to see the proletarian revolution. And so it goes.
“Rossie, the Karlists have been waiting a long time for this opportune moment. The Alphaland invasion of Betastan was the spark that set things underway. Not only in Alphaland, where your people are already on the streets in revolt against the war and the government of Number One and his Coaids, but in Betastan as well”
Gonzales, the electronics expert, spoke up for the first time. “And in four or five of the neutrals, according to radio. Karlists in some of those countries were kept from acting, only because they were afraid of the Alphaland air marines intervening if they tried anything, but with this country tied up, the revolt was on.”
Tilly’s voice went persuasive. “What does it take to bring you around, lover-mine? In your secret heart you’ve known for a long time where you really stood. Otherwise you wouldn’t have been leaking information to me that could be used against Number One.”
Ross looked from her to Pater Riggin, to Combs, to Altshuler, to Bernal and the rest. And then, desperately, completely around the circle again.
He stood suddenly. “What do you expect from me?” he demanded.
“Sit down, son,” Pater Riggin said mildly. “Well bring you up to date.”
He pursed his plump lips. “In actuality, there has been as much unscheduled change in Betastan as there has been here. At present, real government is in the hands of the guerrillas, the leaders of whom are Karlists. They wish as quick an end of hostilities as possible so that they can present their program to the people for an immediate vote.”
“And what is their program?”
“Immediate amalgamation with Alphaland, with the eventual aim of world government.”
“WHAT!”
The false Temple Monk looked at him without answer.