Alfred Bester: THE PUSH OF A FINGER

Summary

Science fiction from the 50s by one of the masters, Alfred Bester. Society has committed itself to complete stability. Nothing is allowed to upset this stability, nothing that is not planned and approved and accounted for in advance. Yes, this is hard to imagine but this has produced decades, nay, centuries of predictable prosperity and peace. Even the newspapers have very little to write about. One reporter however is curious about the "Prog" building, where pronouncements are issued every day just as Moses issued the commandments. Everyone is locked out of course but he wants to know more, he wants in by any means and the results of that obsession are more far reaching than anyone can imagine. What would happen if just a tiny push with a finger to a critical element is made at the very beginning of a process? A little nudge that sends it in a completely different direction? Hmmm?