a good laugh--and before long, he had the whole organization eating out
of his hand. They just voted him into power, and the world into
slavery."

Benson looked around at the others, who were nodding in varying degrees
of agreement.

"Substantially, that's it. He managed to convince everybody of his
altruism, integrity and wisdom," Walter said. "It was almost
blasphemous to say anything against him. I really don't understand how
it happened...."

"Well, what's he been doing with his power?" Benson asked. "Wise things,
or stupid ones?"

"I could be general, and say that he has deprived all of us of our
political and other liberties. It is best to be specific," Anthony said.
"Gregory?"

"My own field--dimensional physics--hasn't been interfered with much,
yet. It's different in other fields. For instance, all research in
sonics has been arbitrarily stopped. So has a great deal of work in
organic and synthetic chemistry. Psychology is a madhouse of ... what
was the old word, licentiousness? No, lysenkoism. Medicine and
surgery--well, there's a huge program of compulsory sterilization, and
another one of eugenic marriage-control. And infants who don't conform
to certain physical standards don't survive. Neither do people who have
disfiguring accidents beyond the power of plastic surgery."

* * * * *