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enough food to go around, enough land, enough resources. Why do people fight one another? It's all because of the politicians. They don't care about the people. They're only after money and power.

‘The world is very advanced technologically. Why should egotistical politicians have control, make all the major decisions? Let's put a computer in charge. Then government ministers would be nothing but computer programmers, processing data, with no ego trips, no stupid pride, greed, or chauvinism. It'll all be for the common good.’

We hid our tolerant smiles as he unfurled his naive theory, but Karl himself was terribly enthusiastic.

‘Of course it's a difficult plan to carry out, so it's advisable that one nation be first to revolutionise itself, and then its neighbours will follow suit until the entire world has adopted the new system. One central computer will control the whole world, and that will be mathematical cosmopolitics.’

Soon Marcus and Karl went to sleep on their soft ‘featherbeds’ like nice little bourgeois. Kevin and I stayed up talking.

We left the ranch the next morning after we had bid the señora farewell with mixed feelings. We could see people working in the fields at a distance. Again we passed the herd of skittish