BE ch 11 parable

[Joseph Tracy]

March tells parable of city with powerful ruler who would sneak around town in disguise doing his work in secret. When he was infrequently recognized he bribed them with Gold or Silver… “‘You have been exposed for a moment to a highly toxic form of energy,’ is his usual formula. ‘Here is a sum I trust will compensate you for any damage done. Soon you will begin to forget, and then you’ll feel better.’

“doing his work in secret.”   Even according to this poweful ruler, for others to see what he was doing in secret was being "exposed for a moment to a highly toxic form of energy”.   A great deal of this novel, along with P’s other novels have to do with secrets and equally important who gets to have secrets defended by law, power, money, hired killers versus who does not get to have secrets, particularly secrets about the powerful ruler, but as the balance shifts even the most trivial secrets become marketable or perhaps threatening.  9-11 was a cusp for that shift in balance and BE concerns the bleeding edge of technologies that allow powerful rulers to do their work in secret. 
    A directly related historic example is the phony secret information about weapons of mass destruction that was used to justify mass slaughter in Iraq. Many independent investigators revealed the complete lack of evidence for this claim but were igored my major media. The largest worldwide demonstration in human history assembled in cities everywhere to oppose the war. On NPR it was given something like 2 minutes.   But "soon you will begin to forget and then you’ll feel better."

Police states are places where truth is a highly toxic form of energy and truthtellers are publicly tortured and jailed.