The Congressman then interrupted, "Although I am convinced by what I
have seen, heard, and learned that the ways of life on your planet are
superior to ours, yet your system would not be constitutional in the
United States. An amendment to our constitution to conform to your ways
may not prove successful. Not only our members of Congress, but also
all members of our state legislatures would have to be persuaded that
your way of life is the best. It would be very hard to get them to
agree to your way of distributing the products of industry, for they
would say that impartial distribution of the difference of ability
among individuals in industry and earning capacity is unjust. They all
strictly believe in our system of private enterprise and ownership of
property."
Sun-Rank Banard answered, "I beg to correct them. We do not advocate
the equal distribution of the products of industry regardless of the
difference of ability, earning capacity, and deserved recompense
of the individual. On the contrary, we reward only the deserving,
intelligent, able individual worker and the real inventor or
discoverer. Only they merit the benefits from their work; however,
on Earth the industrialists, the entrepreneurs, and the financiers
wrongly receive most of the credit. Very seldom, and only by hard
struggles does your hard worker or your real inventor reap riches from
his endeavors, regardless of the ability, inventiveness, industry, and
earning capacity of your individual. It is the shrewd manipulator, the
promoter, the wealthy, who first take advantage of circumstances to
promote their own interests; who first seize, finance, and control your
most profitable and basic natural elements, or the most desirable and
lucrative enterprises, discoveries and inventions.
"On our planet the worker goes directly to our academy or laboratory
to submit his ideas, if they have any merits, he gets full cooperation
in working on them. There is no limit on the material, labor cost, and
resources that are expended to help the individual to put through and
perfect his ideas.
"No matter how small or large an article may be, if it proves a
hazardous or injurious one to any one of us, it is discarded. When
a dangerous invention or discovery seems necessary for our welfare,
our scientists can always improve upon it until all danger is removed
and is made safe. In that way the safety and well-being of us all is
promoted.
"The inventor is not only honorably advanced but handsomely
compensated; and he, his wife, during their life and his children,
until their voting age especially benefit from his work.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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