"As of last month. It was dissolved. Henceforth we are governed by the
Cabinet, with authority delegated to department heads."
"But that's preposterous! Nobody'd stand still for something like
that!"
"They did stand still, most of them. After a year of careful
preparation--of wholesale _exposes_ of Congressional graft and
corruption and inefficiency. Turned out that Congress was the villain
all along; the Senators and Representatives had finagled
tariff-barriers and restrictive trade-agreements which kept our food
supply down. They were opposing international federation. In plain
language, people were sold a bill of goods--get rid of Congress and
you'll have more food. That did it."
"But you'd think the politicians themselves would realize they were
cutting their own throats! The state legislatures and the governors--"
"Legislatures were dissolved by the same agreement," Wade went on.
"There are no states any more; just governmental districts. Based upon
sensible considerations of area and population. This isn't the
old-time expanding economy based on obsolescence and conspicuous
consumption. The primary problem at the moment is sheer survival. In
a way, the move makes sense. Old-fashioned political machinery
couldn't cope with the situation; there's no time for debate when
instantaneous decisions are necessary to national welfare. You've
heard how civil liberties were suspended during the old wars. Well,
there's a war on right now; a war against hunger, a war against the
forces of fecundity. In another dozen years or so, when the Leff shot
generation is fullgrown and a lot of the elderly have died off, the
tensions will ease. Meanwhile, quick action is necessary. Arbitrary
action."
"But you're defending dictatorship!"
Richard Wade made a sound which is usually accompanied by a derisive
shrug. "Am I? Well, I didn't when I was outside. And that's why I'm
here now."