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167
The Status Civilization
·
Robert Sheckley
140
For
the
nonconformists,
there
was
Omega.
Capital
punishment
had
been
banished
long
before,
but
there
was
neither
room
nor
resources
to
take
the
growing
number
of
criminals
who
crammed
prisons
everywhere.
The
world
leaders
finally
decided
to
transport
these
criminals
to
a
separate
prison
world,
copying
a
system
which
the
French
had
used
in
Guiana
and
New
Caledonia,
and
the
British
had
used
in
Australia
and
early
North
America.
Since
it
was
impossible
to
rule
Omega
from
Earth,
the
authorities
didn't
try.
They
simply
made
sure
that
none
of
the
prisoners
escaped.
That
was
the
end
of
volume
one.
A
note
at
the
end
said
that
volume
two
was
to
be
a
study
of
contemporary
Earth.
It
was
entitled
The
Status
Civilization.
The
second
volume
was
not
on
the
shelves.
Barrent
asked
the
librarian,
and
was
told
that
it
had
been
destroyed
in
the
interests
of
public
safety.
Barrent
left
the
library
and
went
to
a
little
park.
He
sat
and
stared
at
the
ground
and
tried
to
think.
He
had
expected
to
find
an
Earth
similar
to
the
one
described
in
Whittler's
book.
He
had
been
prepared
for
a
police
state,
tight
security
controls,
a
repressed
populace,
and
a
growing
air
of
unrest.
But
that,
apparently,
was
the
past.
So
far,
he
hadn't
even
seen
a
policeman.
He
had
observed
no
security
controls,
and
the
people
he
had
met
did
not
seem
harshly
repressed.
Quite
the
contrary.
This
seemed
like
a
completely
different
world....
Except
that
year
after
year,
the
ships
came
to
Omega
with
their
cargoes
of
brainwashed
prisoners.
Who
arrested
them?
Who
judged
them?
What
sort
of
a
society
produced
them?
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