dustry installations."

"It sounds to me as though they have a very strong union," said Danley.

"If you want to call it that, yes," Tarnhorst said. "Anything that has
anything to do with operations in space requires that sort of
experience--and there are very few jobs out here that can avoid having
anything to do with space. Space is only a few kilometers away." The
expression on his face showed that he didn't much care for the thought.

"I don't see that that's so bad," Danley said. "Going out there isn't
something for the unexperienced. A man who doesn't know what he's doing
can get himself killed easily, and, what's worse, he's likely to take
others with him."

"You speak, of course, from experience," Tarnhorst said with no trace of
sarcasm. "I accept that. By not allowing inexperienced persons in
critical areas, the Belt Companies are, at least indirectly, looking out
for the welfare of the people. But we mustn't delude ourselves into
thinking that that is their prime objective. These Belt Companies are no
better than the so-called 'industrial giants' of the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. The government here is farcical. The sole job is to
prevent crime and to adjudicate small civil cases. Every other function
of proper government--the organization of industry, the regulation of
standards the subsidizing of research, the control of prices, and so
on--are left to the Belt Companies or to the people. The Belt Cities are
no more than what used to be called 'company towns'."

"I understand that," Danley said. "But they seem to function fairly
smoothly."

Tarnhorst eyed him. "If, by, 'smoothly functioning', you mean the denial
of the common rights of human freedom and dignity yes. Oh, they give
their sop to such basic human needs as the right of every individual to
be respected--but only because Earth has put pressure on them.
Otherwise, people who, through no fault of their own, were unable to
work or get 'space experience' would be unable to get jobs and would be
looked down upon as pariahs."

"You mean there are people here who have no jobs? I wouldn't think that
unemployment would be a problem out here."

"It isn't," said Tarnhorst, "yet. But there are always those
unfortunates who are psychologically incapable of work, and society must
provide for them. The Belt Cities provide for a basic education, of
course. As long as a person is going to school, he is given a stipend.
But a person who has neither