"Mack Reynolds - After Utopia" - читать интересную книгу автора (Reynolds Mack)

was seldom enough for all. Particularly when we get to
the historic period and the emergence of the priest and
the warrior and finally the noble: Man was pitted against
his fellows for a place at the top. There was room there
for only a small number.тАЭ
The academician shook his head. тАЬSurvival of the
fittest,тАЭ he said. тАЬWhich often meant, under the
circumstances, the most brutal, the most cunning, the
conscienceless. But it also meant the strengthening of the
race. When a ruling class was no longer the most
aggressive and intelligent element of a people, it didnтАЩt
long remain the ruling class.тАЭ
Walter Stein hesitated for a long moment. тАЬIn short,
Tracy, all through history man has had something to
fight forтАж or against.тАЭ He twisted his mouth in a
grimace of attempted humor. тАЬItтАЩs the nature of the
beast.тАЭ
тАЬIsnтАЩt all this elementary?тАЭ Cogswell said. Some of the
heat of his impatience was gone, but he still couldnтАЩt
understand what the other was building up to.
The other said, uncertainly, тАЬI suppose the first signs of
it were evident even in your own period. I recall reading
of educators and social scientists who began remarking
on the trend before the twentieth century was halfway
through. Remarking on it and bewailing it.тАЭ
 тАЬWhat trend?тАЭ Cogswell scowled.
тАЬIn the more advanced countries of your period. The
young people. They stopped taking the science and
engineering courses in school; they considered them too
difficult to bother with. A youngster didnтАЩt have to fight
to make his way; the way was greased. The important
thing was to have a good time. Find an angle so that you
could obtain the material things everyone else had,
without the expenditure of much effort. DonтАЩt be an
egghead. DonтАЩt stick your neck out. Conform. YouтАЩve got
cradle to the grave security. Take it easy. YouтАЩve got it
made.тАЭ
тАЬSome went to the other extreme,тАЭ Tracy said
unhappily. тАЬThey dropped out completely. Left school.
DidnтАЩt care about the material things. The boys grew
beards and long hair, the girls didnтАЩt give a damn what
they looked like. Most of them used marijuana or even
harder drugs. At first they were known as beats, or
beatniks. Later they started calling them hippies. What
was the term?тАж тАШRebels without a causeтАЩ.тАЭ
Betty Stein, who had been silent for a long time, said
softly. тАЬAnd the most advanced countriesтАж so far as
social progress was concerned, countries like Denmark
and SwedenтАж had the highest suicide rates in the
world.тАЭ