Ronny was irritated by her know-all air. He tapped the book he'd been reading with a finger. “They don't control the government. Avalon's got a three-party system. Any time the people don't like the government, they can vote in an alternative.”
“That's an optical illusion. There are three parties, but each is dominated by the fifty families, and election laws are such that for all practical purposes it's impossible to start another party. Theoretically it's possible, actually it isn't. The voters can vary back and forth between the three political parties but it doesn't make any difference which one they elect. They all stand for the same thing—a continuation of the status quo.”
“Then you claim it isn't democracy at all?”
Tog sighed. “That's a much abused word. Actually, pure democracy is seldom seen. They pretty well had it in primitive society where government was based on the family. You voted for one of your relatives in your clan to represent you in the tribal councils. Every one in the tribe was equal so far as apportionments of the necessities of life were concerned. No one, even the tribal chiefs, ate [pg 048] better than anyone else, no one had a better home.”
Ronny said, snappishly, “And if man had remained at that level, we'd never have gotten anywhere.”
“That's right,” she said. “For progress, man needed a leisure class. Somebody with the time to study, to experiment, to work things out.”
He said, “We're getting away from the point. You said in spite of appearances they don't have democracy on Avalon.”
“They have a pretense of it. But only free men can practice democracy. So long as your food, clothing and shelter are controlled by someone else, you aren't free. Wait until I think of an example.” She put her right forefinger to her chin, thoughtfully.
Holy smokes, she was a cute trick. If only she wasn't so confounded irritating.
Tog said, “Do you remember the State of California in Earth history?”