An excerpt from Chapter 14:
“See? You’re not the only one who knows big words. Let me tell you something. If you want to live in a moral world, you have to have the power to enforce your morals. That’s why you failed.”
“Enforced good is anything but good. I’d say it’s the opposite of morality. I don’t think anyone should get to decide what’s good or bad.”
“Ha-ha-ha. And why is that?”
“Because no one knows what good actually is.”
“And you do?”
“No...”
“So you don’t get to decide either. So why don’t you shut up?”
“I refuse to believe that there is no absolute truth!” revolted Case, short of slamming his fist on the table.
“Well, good luck finding it. And keep it down before you find something you won’t like.”
“I may not know what good is, but I know what it isn’t. And it’s not this. One thing I’m dead certain about: I did not come into this world to be anyone’s slave or to waste my potential. I don’t want to work the job they want me to work, I don’t want to learn what they teach me, I don’t want to eat what they feed me, I don’t want to take their drugs. I will not be what they want me to be.
“If someone’s morality is crushing another man, then it is not morality. Good is not something anyone can bend as they please. It’s pretty obvious where that leads to. Good must be something built into our nature that no one can change to suit their agenda. Something universal, a value system people would choose to live by freely because it leads to happiness. And if so happens that, some day, I might decide to abandon it, and suffer, then what will come my way, will, be, my, doing. But misery cannot be my only option. I am denied the right to happiness? I’ll make it my right. If I want to pursue morality, I will pursue it. And if I don’t, ultimately, unequivocally, the choice to be miserable should belong to me, me, and only me.” He drew a long breath and concluded with choked resentment. “It must be there, somewhere. So why are we blind?”
“What? What are you smoking, kid? I can’t even follow this nonsense anymore. People can’t choose. That’s why we have experts, to do the choosing for them. What people need is to enjoy life to the fullest, not worry about decisions. Who are you to say your morals are better than mine? Only force can decide that,” decided Tryo, raising a puffy fist to illustrate.”
