Paradise

City series

Story, first published: Astounding Science Fiction, June 1946


In ... "Paradise", Fowler has forsaken the paradise of Jupiter to do his duty and returned to human form, leaving Towser on Jupiter. Fowler is faced with a difficult decision. Should people be told about this Jovian Eden and risk a mass exodus from Earth? Tyler Webster, Chairman of the World Committee, opposes making the knowledge of Jupiter public, fearing the end of the human race. Fowler, however, angry at the blunders of the Websters and calling them a jinx on humanity, threatens to tell the world.
Things had been looking up for the human race before Fowler returned with his dangerous secret. There have been a thousand years of peace on the Earth, no murders have been committed for 125 years, and with the help of the dogs, the telepathic mutants have been carefully watched. Webster receives a call from Joe (still alive!), who now offers humans the Juwain philosophy. Without revealing to Webster what the mutants want, Joe explains that Juwain's philosophy provides an empathic-telepathic, quasi-mystical capability to sense the viewpoint of another person. ...
After Joe's call, Webster looks through a kaleidoscope he bought for his child and feels a sudden wrench. When Fowler returns to talk, Webster pleads for time, but surprisingly now, he understands Fowler's point of view - he has acquired the Juwain philosophy. Over the city, the mutants have placed a neon sign with flashing colors, the counterpart of the kaleidoscope that gave Webster the Juwain conversion. Now the whole human race has been converted, and Webster perceives the mutants' master plan to end human civilization. With the Juwain philosophy and the news about Jupiter, humankind will most certainly desert the planet. The mutants will be free to develop any kind of society they wish.
As at the beginning of the tale when Fowler was faced with the decision to reveal the Jovian paradise, Webster also must decide whether or not to kill Fowler. But Webster cannot do it - a millennium without violence has made settling an issue by killing impossible.

Ewald, Robert J.: When the Fires Burn High and the Wind is from the North, p.43-44