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

Cogswell looked at Academician Stein. тАЬIтАЩm getting out
of here. Because of you, I appropriated twenty thousand
dollars which wasnтАЩt mine, though it was in my name. I
want it back, Stein. IтАЩll probably need it before I get
organized in this new society of yours.тАЭ
Betty Stein said, тАЬTracy, Tracy. I told you. We simply
donтАЩt use money any more. If there was twenty thousand
dollars, or twenty thousand of any other kind of currency
for that matter, it would probably be in some museum
where people would stare at it in amazement that there
could ever have been such things.тАЭ
He was impatient with her. тАЬWell, whatever the
equivalent is. Credits, or whatever. You must have some
sort of credit cards or whatever.тАЭ
Edmonds said, тАЬWhy?тАЭ
Tracy glared at him. тАЬSuppose you want to go into a
store and buy something.тАЭ
Edmonds flipped his piece of jade again and said
mildly, тАЬItтАЩs fortunate that all three of us went to a lot of
research on your period, I shouldnтАЩt wonder. Otherwise,
half of the time we wouldnтАЩt know what you were talking
about. You see, old chap, we donтАЩt have stores any more.
Not in the sense youтАЩre talking about.тАЭ
Tracy closed his eyes momentarily. He opened them
again and said. тАЬNo stores, eh? All right. Suppose I
wanted some clothes. Which is exactly one of the first
things IтАЩm going to want when I get out of here. How
would I go about getting them?тАЭ
Walter Stein said, тАЬYou would simply dial the
distribution center in Tangier and order them. See here,
Tracy, as your physicianтАФтАЭ
тАЬHow would I pay for them?тАЭ
тАЬYou wouldnтАЩt,тАЭ Edmonds said, as though reasonably.
тАЬNo need to, donтАЩt you know.тАЭ
Tracy glared at him again. тАЬOh, I wouldnтАЩt, eh? TheyтАЩd
be for free, eh?тАЭ
тАЬYes.тАЭ
Tracy shook his head in despair. тАЬI donтАЩt seem to get it.
When I was working in the movement, we commonly
believed that given a sane system of society we would be
able to produce an abundance for all. But everything
wasnтАЩt going to be free . Everybody was going to have to
work. YouтАЩd do your share and youтАЩd get your share. I
think it was a guy named Herman Kahn, in a book about
the year 2000, who predicted that by that time weтАЩd have
a per capita product worth something like $10,000 a
year, and an average family income of $20,000.тАЭ
тАЬFailure of nerve and imagination,тАЭ Edmonds
murmured. тАЬMost of those who tried to extrapolate at
that time had similar trouble.тАЭ