Rite of Passage

“As for our planetary policy, I don’t believe that it needs fresh justification. The reasons for it are clear enough and they have not changed. We do live in a precarious balaflce, but there is reason for our living so. If we were to abandon the Ships and take up life on one or more of the colony planets, inevitably much of the knowledge that we have preserved and expanded would be lost or mutilated. If we were to take up life on one of the colonies, we would be swallowed and lost, a small voice in a population many times our size. In the exigencies of making a living under primitive conditions — and the most advanced of the colonies is still primitive — how much time would be left for art and science and mathematics? These things require time, and time is one thing that is not free on the colonies. Much that is around us could never be transported to a planet and preserved if the Ship were left behind. It could not be reproduced on any planet. It would have to be abandoned.

“We do live in a balance. We use and we re-use, but once we use and re-use we lose something that we cannot replace ourselves. We are dependent on the colonies for our survival. That is a cold fact. We are dependent upon the colonies for our survival. To gain the things we have to have in order to survive, we must give something in return. The only thing we have that we can spare to trade is knowledge — we cannot give it away as Mr. Persson has suggested in the past that we might. We cannot give it away. It is our only barter for the means to continue to exist as we want to exist. The only alternative to our present policy — the only alternative — is to abandon the Ship. I don’t want that — do you?”

As Daddy finished, the Assembly applauded again. I wondered if the same people were applauding who had applauded Mr. Persson. When they quieted, Mr. Persson spoke again.

“I deny it. I deny it. I deny it! It is not the only alternative. I agree that we live in a balance. I agree that we fulfill a necessary function and cannot abandon it. But I still believe that the colonies, our fellow heirs, deserve better of us -than they have received. Whatever is decided about Tintera, it is a tragedy as it stands today. It is an indictment of our policy. We have other alternatives to this policy. Without even spending time on it, I can think of two, either of which is preferable to our present course. Our dependence on the colonies is artificial. We pride ourselves on our proven ability to survive. We pride ourselves that we have kept ourselves tough, mentally and physically. But what does our toughness prove? We think it proves much — but actually? Nothing! Nothing because it is all a waste. How could we prove our fitness? We could hunt up a planet and produce for ourselves the raw material we need. Or for another, we could actually attempt to apply some of our avowed scientific superiority and devise a method by which we could avoid any dependence on any planet, colony or uninhabited, for raw material. We could devise a method to make the Ship truly self-sufficient. By either of these courses we would los-c nothing in doing what we should have been doing from the beginning — sharing knowledge, teaching and helping to make something of the human race as a whole.

“I accuse us. I accuse us of being lazy. We meet no challenges at all. We drift instead on a lazy, leisurely, floating course that takes us from planet to planet, meeting no challenges, fulfilling none of our potential, being less than we could be. To me, that is a sin. It is an affront to God, but more than that, it is an affront to ourselves. I can think of nothing sadder than to know that you might be more than you are, but be unwilling to make the effort. We could be raising our fellow men from the lives of squalor and desperation that they lead. You don’t wish this? Then I say it would be better to leave them alone completely than to follow our present meddlesome, paternalistic, repressive course. We have the power to explore the stars. If we were willing to take the chance, we could travel to the end of the Galaxy. That is within our power and it would certainly add to the knowledge we claim to be interested in. But our present life is parasitical. Can we leave things as they now stand?”

The debate went on for two hours. After Mr. Persson and Daddy had spoken, it went to the Assembly. At times, it was extremely bitter. At one point, someone said that a sign of the sterility of our life was that we in the Ship had no art.

Mr. Lemuel Carpentier rose to dispute this. That was the only time during the evening that Mr. Mbele spoke. He bowed to Mr. Carpentier and then he said simply, “Sir, you are wrong,” and took his seat again.

In the end, the lines were drawn so plainly that everyone knew where he stood. At the end of two hours, my father rose and called a halt to the debate.