"Utopia? Never!"

By THOMAS M. DISCH
The stranger would not admit that New Katanga was a paradise, though he accepted citizenship willingly enough. Little did he know that he was right.
But I assure you ... his guide replied.
There's always a fly in the ointment, the visitor continued. Injustice is part of human nature. A society can't do without it.
These are special conditions.
That is the first injustice. Other planets don't have gobblers.
But they do!
It's not the same thing. You've seen the gobbler-fleece from Morpheus IX. It's no better than wool. Only here in New Katanga....
Utopia, his guide corrected.
Only here is their fleece as tough as iron—
And soft to the touch as watered silk. His guide sighed deeply; truly, there was nothing like gobbler-fleece.
Your planet's prosperity is possible, however, only at the expense of Federation worlds that can't raise gobblers.