"So did the Abolition," said Emerson. "But the arsenals are gone." She smiled. The same old line, Laura thought. The old baby-boom generation had been using it for years. Maybe they thought it would help explain while they were still running everything. "But history never stops. Modern society faces a new central crisis. Are we going to control the path of development for sane, human ends? Or is it going to be laissez-faire anarchy?"