Frustration
Isaac Asimov
Herman Gelb turned his head to watch the departing figure. Then he said, “Wasn’t that the Secretary—”
“Yes, that was the Secretary of Foreign Affairs. Old man Hargrove. Are you ready for lunch?”
“Of course. What was he doing here?”
Peter Jonsbeck didn’t answer immediately. He merely stood up, and beckoned Gelb to follow. They walked down the corridor and into a room that had the steamy smell of spicy food.
“Here you are,” said Jonsbeck. “The whole thing has been prepared by computer. Completely automated. Untouched by human hands. And my own programming. I promised you a treat, and here you are.”
It was good. Gelb could not deny it and didn’t want to. Over dessert, he said, “But what was Hargrove doing here?”
Jonsbeck smiled. “Consulting me on programming. What else am I good for?”
“But why? Or is it something you can’t talk about?”
“It’s something I suppose I shouldn’t talk about, but it’s a fairly open secret. There isn’t a computer man in the capital who doesn’t know what the poor frustrated simp is up to.”
“What is he up to then?”
“He’s fighting wars.”
Gelb’s eyes opened wide. “With whom?”
“With nobody, really. He fights them by computer analysis. He’s been doing it for—I don’t know how long.”
“But why?”
“He wants the world to be the way we are—noble, honest, decent, full of respect for human rights and so on.”
“So do I. So do we all. We have to keep up the pressure on the bad guys, that’s all.”
“And they’re keeping the pressure on us, too. They don’t think we’re perfect.”
“I suppose we’re not, but we’re better than they are. You know that.”
Jonsbeck shrugged. “A difference in point of view. It doesn’t matter. We’ve got a world to run, space to develop, computerization to extend. Computerization puts a premium on continued cooperation and there is slow improvement. We’ll get along.—It’s just that Hargrove doesn’t want to wait. He hankers for quick improvement—by force. You know, make the bums shape up. We’re strong enough to do it.”
“By force? By war, you mean. We don’t fight wars anymore.”
...
