"Immediately the tyrant finds that he cannot run the whole show by himself, so he relegates power to able men. The anarchs decide that they are impotent, and elect leaders to run certain phases of the campaign. So we have less of a tyranny on one side and less anarchy on the other. In either case, power relegated is seldom regained, and as the years bear on, war after war is fought and either side approaches a norm." Guy smiled. "Supposing one side wins." "That is a sign that the winning side is closer to the best form of social co-operation." "And when they reach that norm, then what?" "They never reach," said Charalas. "Their struggles cause each of them to rise above the norm, and then they swing like the pendulum below the norm. It is a long, damped cycle." "A damped cycle must eventually cease." "Not when you constantly change the norm," said Charalas. "The norm of prehistoric times is vastly different from the present. Our norm is different than the future norm. Men advance in knowledge and in responsibility, and they resent, bitterly, being judged on laws and rules set up to control their forefathers. City Indilee was the object of ridicule some hundred kilodays ago because some jurist tried to invoke a rule against flying less than five thousand noads above the city." "I've read about that," smiled Guy, reading it from Charalas' mind. "At the time, we'd been landing on the building stages for thirty kilodays." "Right. Another thing, Elanane. Some day anarchy will be the government of man. But not until man has learned to control himself as an individual, to respect the rights of others, and to follow the common wish. Until then we will have government." "Which brings us back to the original question. You said Ertene is stale." * * * * * "I mean it. Elanane--are we capable of running ourselves?" "Obviously." "Then we shouldn't fear a test of fire." "Our ability to keep out of the fight should be answer enough." "Any coward can keep from fighting by hiding. Perhaps these Terrans are right." "Right? Is it right to destroy the people of Pluto with their way of living in comfort?" "Yes. We do not mind killing cattle for food, do we?" "Yes, but--" "No, Elanane, it is no different." "Then how about the ones used by the Terrans for medical experiments?" "Justified. Up to a certain point a race may experiment to good advantage on the lower primates. Eventually, there is little to be known, since the more delicate investigations must be carried out on higher levels of intelligence." "These denizens of the outer moon of one of their planets were not of high intelligence."