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from The Algebraist p.180-181 by Iain M. Banks
The little man looked at him for a moment. 'Mr. Taak' he said, sitting back sounding patient. 'I've inspected your profile. You're not stupid. Misguided, idealistic, naive, certainly, but you are not stupid. You must know how societies work. You must at least have an inkling. They work on force, power, and coercion. People don't behave themselves because they are nice. That's the liberal fallacy. People behave themselves because if they don't, they'll be punished. All this is known, it isn't even debatable. Civilisation after civilisation, society after society, species after species, all show the same pattern. Society is control: control is reward and punishment. Reward is being allowed to partake in the fruits of that society and, as a general but not unbreakable rule, not being punished without cause.
