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. Free as the sky . . . more free than the stars, for the stars go where they must. Ah, yes, the People are free." She paused. "But at what price was this freedom purchased?"
Thorby blinked.
"I'll tell you. Not with poverty. The People enjoy the highest average wealth in history. The profits of your trading are fantastic. Nor has it been with cost to health or sanity. I've never seen a community with less illness. Nor have you paid in happiness or self-respect. You're a smugly happy lot, and your pride is something sinful -- of course you do have a lot to be proud of. But what you have paid for your unparalleled freedom . . . is freedom itself. No, I'm not talking riddles. The People are free . . . at the cost of loss of individual freedom for each of you -- and I don't except the Chief Officer or Captain; they are the least free of any."
Her words sounded outrageous. "How can we be both free and not free?" he protested.
"Ask Mata. Thorby, you live in a steel prison; you are allowed out perhaps a few hours every few months. You live by rules more stringent than any prison. That those rules are intended to make you all happy -- and do -- is beside the point; they are orders you have to obey. You sleep where you are told, you eat when you are told and what you are offered -- it's unimportant that it is lavish and tasty; the point is you have no choice. You are told what to do ninety percent of the time
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