"The Scientific Enterprise Board had wanted to launch missions, telemetric probes at least, beyond the Solar System. But authorization was not forthcoming. Even the Gearchy must take taxpayers' opinions into account when planning something so expensive, whose rewards would be delayed for years and would never amount to more than pure knowledge."
-"In The Shadow," p. 94.
"The Directorate takes a bit of political pressure off itself with each colony it establishes..."
-"The Alien Enemy," P. 73.
Here is a second parallel. Although the Gearchy and the Directorate are two different dictatorships, both are subject to political pressures. One major difference is that the Directorate's colonies are extra-solar whereas the Gearchy has not yet got out of the Solar System.
As a comment on the first quotation, it is unpredictable when pure knowledge will turn out to have practical applications.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
Strictly speaking, we don't really know ENOUGH about the Gearchy or the Directorate to classify them as dictatorships as the word is usually understood: a despotism which came to power illegally and is regarded as illegitimate.
Yes, pure knowledge gained by scientific research can have unexpected practical applications. A good reason for continuing such researches!
Sean
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