Year of the Jackpot 11

afford to build a house? You might as well blame it on wheat
acreage. We don't know why; it just is."
"Sun spots, maybe?"
"You can correlate sun spots with stock prices, or Colum-
bia River salmon, or women's skirts. And you are just as
much justified in blaming short skirts for sun spots as you
are in blaming sun spots for salmon. We don't know. But the
curves go on just the same."
"But there has to be some reason behind it."
"Does there? That's mere assumption. A fact has no 'why.'
There it stands, self demonstrating. Why did you take your
clothes off today?"
She frowned. "That's not fair."
"Maybe not. But I want to show you why I'm worried."
He went into the bedroom, came out with a large roll of
tracing paper. "We'll spread it on the floor. Here they are,
all of them. The 54-year cyclesee the Civil War there? See
how it matches in? The 18 & % year cycle, the 9-plus cycle,
the 41-month shorty, the three rhythms of sun spots
everything, all combined in one grand chart. Mississippi
River floods, fur catches in Canada, stock market prices,
marriages, epidemics, freight-car loadings, bank clearings,
locust plagues, divorces, tree growth, wars, rainfall, earth
magnetism, building construction patents applied for, mur-
dersyou name it; I've got it there."
She stared at the bewildering array of wavy lines. "But,
Potty, what does it mean?"
"It means that these things all happen, in regular rhythm,
whether we like. it or not. It means that when skirts are due
to go up, all the stylists in Paris can't make 'em go down.
It means that when prices are going down, all the controls
and supports and government planning can't make 'em go
up." He pointed to a curve. "Take a look at the grocery ads.
Then turn to the financial page and read how the Big Brains
try to double-talk their way out of it. It means that when an
epidemic is due, it happens, despite all the public health
efforts. It means we're lemmings."
She pulled her lip. "I don't like it. 1 am the master of my
fate,' and so forth. I've got free will, Potty. I know I have
I can feel it."
"I imagine every little neutron in an atom bomb feels the
same way. He can go spungi or he can sit still, just as he
pleases. But statistical mechanics work out anyhow. And
the bomb goes offwhich is what I'm leading up to. See
anything odd there, Meade?"
She studied the chart, trying not to let the curving lines