ble under the scrutiny of this
pretty girl. "I'm a sociologist, Isobel. I suppose I seek Utopia."

She frowned at him as though disappointed. "Is Utopia possible?"

"No, but there is always the search for it. It's a goal that recedes as
you approach, which is as it should be. Heaven help mankind if we ever
achieve it; we'll be through because there will be no place to go, and
man needs to strive."

They had finished their soup and the entree had arrived. Isobel picked
at it, her ordinarily smooth forehead wrinkled. "The way I see it,
Utopia is not heaven. Heaven is perfect, but Utopia is an engineering
optimum, the best-possible-human-techniques. Therefore we will not have
_perfect_ justice in Utopia, nor will _everyone_ get the exactly proper
treatment. We design for optimum--not perfection. But granting this,
then attainment is possible."

She took a bite of the food before going on thoughtfully. "In fact, I
wonder if, during man's history, he hasn't obtained his Utopias from
time to time. Have you ever heard the adage that any form of government
works fine and produces a Utopia provided it is managed by wise,
benevolent and competent rulers?" She laughed and said mischievously,
"Both Heaven and Hell are traditionally absolute monarchies--despotisms.
The form of government evidently makes no difference, it's who runs it
that determines."

Crawford was shaking his head. "I've heard the adage but I don't accept
it. Under certain socio-economic conditions the best of men, and the
wisest, could do little if they had the wrong form of government.
Suppose, for instance, you had a government which was a
military-theocracy which is more or less what existed in Mexico at the
time of the Cortez conquest. Can you imagine such a government working
efficiently if the socio-economic system had progressed to the point
where there were no longer wars and where practically everyone were
atheists, or, at least, agnostics?"

She had to laugh at his ludicrous example. "That's a rather silly
situation, isn't it? Such wise, benevolent men, would change the
governmental system."

Crawford pushed his point. "Not necessarily. Here's a better example.
Immediately following the American Revolution, some of the best, wisest
and most competent men the political world has ever seen were at the
head of the government of Virginia. Such men as Jefferson, Madison,
Monroe, Washington. Their society was based on chattel slavery and they
built a