"You don't notice it after a couple of months," said Reed.
"I don't propose to be here that long," said the commander curtly.
"Let's get back to your grasp of the overall picture." Commander
Breckenridge leaned back in his chair and said, "No doubt you were
exposed to Early North American History. You will recall that there was
a strong pioneering drive in the human race that went on almost from
the date of the discovery of North America until the opening phases
of the so-called 'Industrial Revolution'--that is, beginning of the
electro-mechanical era. Am I not correct?"
"Yes, sir."
"Now, young man, what has become of this strong pioneering drive? How
did it ooze out of the human race? Where did it go, and why? Why are
six billion people living in crowded conditions on Earth, while here
upon Eden, Tau Ceti, a mere hundred thousand people occupy--by your
estimate--some twenty million square miles? Why haven't the crowded
millions of Earth clamored for all this extra space?"
"Perhaps because space travel is so expensive."
"Only in terms of cash. To be sure, it might take practically
everything that a man has to buy passage. I now ask you to estimate
how many men and their families sacrificed everything they had, packed
a few treasured possessions into a Conestoga wagon and headed for the
West."
"I have no way of knowing, sir."
"No, of course not. Let me tell you what happened. In that glorious
phase of Early North America, men, women, and even their children
toiled from sunrise to sunset to scratch out their living. From the
dawn of history, luxury and leisure belonged to the landed baron.
Since wealth went with acreage, any man who could stake out a claim
to acreage could also claim wealth. It was a matter of finding the
unclaimed acreage first."
* * * * *
The commander leaned forward to press his point. "Then came the
industrial revolution and the age of automation. Industrial slavery
ended in a clank of gears. Your little man no longer starved to death
nor toiled twelve hours a day. The finest automobile that the wealthy
man could buy was only three or four times as expensive as the car
driven by the average workman. Therefore the idea of staking out arable
land as a means to wealth became less and less desirable. Automation
hit the farm. The landed baron changed into the elected presiding
officer over a stock-secured corporation.
"Today," said the commander, "the man who leaves his home to migrate
is not abandoning squalor and sorrow in the hope of finding something
better. He's leaving luxury, culture, and leisure. For what? For the
privilege of scrabbling for a bare existence. Now, Mr. Reed, are you
beginning to understand?"
"I think so, sir."
"Good. Then you'll begin to revise your opinion as to the importance of
extending the cruising range of our spacecraft."