"Damon Knight - Turncoat" - читать интересную книгу автора (Knight Damon)

"there is one amendment I should make to the state-ment I have just made. There is, in this room, no
representative of the advertising industry. The reason for that will become apparent in a moment.
"My company, gentlemen, spends seven million credits each year on advertis-ing and promotion. I
believe that figure is not greatly out of line with the aver-age figure of our respective companies. Now let
me ask you this. How would you, as representatives of your companies, like to increase the sales of your
prod-ucts and services, while at the same time reducing your advertising and promo-tion budgets to
exactly zero?"
At his signal, two young men came forward, one on either side of the table, and began to pass out
large rectangles of plastic. Mounted on each was a glossy sheet of paper bearing a three-color sketch of
a young man and woman standing under a golden cornucopia, from which a shower of jewelry, miniature
automobiles, hams, fountain pens and fur coats was descending into their outstretched arms. The
banner-line was:
FREE! FOR A WHOLE YEAR!!!
"That," said the bulky man after a few moments; "is what I might refer to as the advertisement to end
all advertisements. As you will note, the text here has been drawn up to represent sample brand names
and lines of products from each of the companies and associations represented at this table. You will
note that some companies have one brand name or line of products mentioned, while others have two or
more.
"That has been done, in every case, to represent five percent of each company's gross yearly sales.
And also you will note that the total of the free goods and services amounts, pricewise, to the same
percentageтАФfive percent of the different items that the North American Consumer wants and needs. In
other words, each company will take a one-hundred--percent loss for one year on five percent of its
products, in order to induce the consumer to buy all the products of that company, exclusive of all
other competi-tors. I have here"тАФthe young men stepped forward again and distributed piles of
documentsтАФa table of esti-mated profit and loss resulting from this offer, based on an enrollment of ten
mil-lion heads of families the first year. I be-lieve that in every case, the capital reserves of every
company represented here will be ample to cover that first year deficit."
For the first time, one of the other men at the table spoke up. "I believe," said a thin-faced oldster,
"that this would be characterized as an association in restraint of trade, Mr. Dine."

The Deadly Cycle

IN EVERY age there have been those who sought, for reasons of power or profit, to
shackle men's minds. A character named Hitler believed in the Big LieтАФand it is true that
for a while you can sell almost any idea, no matter how senseless, to enough people to
make a difference. But in every age there are minds and spirits which cannot be deformed,
no matter what the pressures, no matter how big the lies. Truth will out, if we may be
pardoned a cliche, although sometimes it takes a devilish long time.
'Meanwhile, there is little to suggest that the deadly cycle of intolerance and rebellion will
not continue to be repeated in the future as it has in the past. Only as man becomes more
ingenious the patterns will become more clever, the tortures more refined, the rebellions
more cunningly fought. TURNCOAT reminds us that a thousand years from now Jefferson's
warning about the price of liberty may have greater point than ever as Iron Curtains give way
to atomic force screens.
тАФThe Editor

"Our legal department has covered this question very thoroughly, Mr. Hoyle, and they assure me that
the offer is perfectly legal. Our respective com-panies will be associated only for the purpose of this
offer. There will be no consolidation of capital, no interlocking directoratesтАФnothing whatever of that
nature, yet. There is no compulsion to accept the offer on the part of any per-son whatsoever. All we are