The C. M. Kornbluth Reader — C.M. Kornbluth

The Adventurer. For every evil under the sun, there's an answer. It may be a simple, direct answer; it may be one that takes years, and seems unrelated to the problem. But there's an answer—of a kind....The Altar at Midnight. Doing something for humanity may be fine—for humanity—but rough on the individual!The Luckiest Man in Denv. To get the break of his life, all Reuben had to do was turn the death trap into a jackpot!The Marching Morons. In the country of the blind, the one-eyed man, of course, is king. But how about a live wire, a smart businessman, in a civilization of 100% pure chumps?The Psychological Regulator. The nurse at the desk of Floor 24, Ward 5, flexed a smooth, tan arm and looked at the hall chronometer. She sighed inaudibly. 20:13:09, said the dial. Search the Sky. DECAY... Ross stood on the traders' ramp, overlooking the Yards, and the word kept bobbing to the top of his mind... Decay.the SYNDIC. There have been a thousand tales of future Utopias and possible civilizations. They have been ruled by benevolent dictatorships and pure democracies, every form of government from extreme right to absolute left. Unique among these is the easy-going semi-anarchistic society ruled by THE SYNDIC.With These Hands. No self-respecting artist can object to suffering for his art ... but not in a society where art is outdated by technology!