"Arcady And Boris Strugatsky. Prisoners of Power" - читать интересную книгу автора

degens do hate - more than I believed possible for people to hate. You hate
them less than they hate you. And I want to know why."
"Now listen. I'll explain it to you again. In the first place, they are
degens. They hate all normal people. By nature they're vicious, like rats.
And second, we interfere in their affairs. They would like to do their dirty
work, get their dough, and live in clover. And what do we do? We say to
them: 'Freeze! Hands up!' What do you expect them to do, love us?"
"If they're all as vicious as rats, what about that landlord? H they're
all bought, as you say they are, why was he released?"
Guy laughed.
"That landlord is a coward. There are plenty of those, too. They hate
us, but they're afraid. They know it pays to be nice to us. Besides, he's a
landlord, a rich man. You can't buy him off so easy. He's not like that
dentist. Mac, you're funny; you're like a kid! You know that all people
aren't alike, and neither are the degens."
"Of course I know," interrupted Mac. "But, take the dentist. I'll bet
my shirt he wasn't bought. I can't prove it to you, but I feel it in my
bones. That dentist is a courageous, decent man."
"You mean degen!"
"Have it your way. A courageous, decent degen. I saw his library. He's
well educated. He knows a thousand times more than you or the captain. Why
is he against us? If everything is as you say, why doesn't an educated man
like that know it? Even when threatened with death, he tells us straight to
our faces that he's for the people and against us. Why?"
"An educated degen is doubly dangerous," Guy lectured him. "Just being
a degen, he hates us. But if he's educated, he can spread that hatred
everywhere. Education, my dear friend, is not always a blessing. Like a gun,
it depends on who has it."
"Education is always a blessing."
"I disagree. I'd rather see all the Khontis ignorant. Then, at least,
we could live like people instead of being always afraid that they'll get
us. If they were uneducated, we could control them better."
"Yes," said Mac in a strange tone, "we know how to do that all right.
We know very well how to be cruel."
"You're talking like a child again. We'd be very happy to convince them
by rational persuasion. It certainly would be less expensive and less
bloody. But what would you do if persuasion didn't work?"
"That means they do have convictions, doesn't it?" Mac interrupted. "If
a well-educated person like that dentist is convinced he's right, then where
does Khonti money come into the picture?"
Guy was fed up with Mac's arguments, so as a last resort he began to
cite the Creators' Code. But Mac broke in, calling out suddenly: "Rada!
You've had enough sleep! Your legionnaires are starving to death and want
your company!"
Guy was surprised to hear Rada's voice come from behind the screen.
"I've been awake for a long time. You've been shouting as if you were
on the drill field."
"What are you doing home?" asked Guy.
Wrapping her robe more closely around her, she came out from behind the
screen.