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?"

"I think so. On the west coast of North America."

"That's right. Well, back in the Twentieth Century, Christian calendar,
they had an economic depression. During it a crackpot organization called
Thirty Dollars Every Thursday managed to get itself on the ballot. Times
were bad enough but had this particular bunch got into power it would have
become chaotic. At first no thinking person took them seriously, however a
majority of people in California at that time had little to lose and in
the final week or so of the election campaign the polls showed that Thirty
Dollars Every Thursday was going to win. So, a few days before voting many
of the larger industries and businesses in the State ran full page ads in
the newspapers. They said substantially the same thing. _If Thirty Dollars
Every Thursday wins this election, our concern will close its doors. Do
not bother to come back to work Monday._"

Ronny was scowling at her. "What's your point?"

She shrugged delicate shoulders. "The crackpots were defeated, of course,
which was actually good for California. But my point is that the voters of
California were not actually free since their livelihoods were controlled
by others. This is an extreme case, of course, but the fact always
applies."

A thought suddenly hit Ronny Bronston. "Look," he said. "Tommy Paine. Do
you think he's merely escaping from New Delos, or is it possible that
Avalon is his next destination? Is he going to try and overthrow the
government there?"

She was shaking her head, but frowning. "I don't think so. Things are
quite stable on Avalon."

"Stable?" he scowled at her. "From what you've been saying, they're pretty
bad."

She continued to shake her head. "Don't misunderstand, Ronny. On an
assignment like this, it's easy to get the impression that all the United
Planets are in a state of socio-political confusion, but it isn't so. A
small minority of planets are ripe for the sort of trouble Tommy Paine
stirs up. Most are working away, developing, making progress, slowly
evolving. Avalon is one of these. The way things are there, Tommy Paine
couldn't make a dent on c