Questioning the beneficence of scientific rationality and technological progress is almost as heretical as denigrating patriotism. Poets are held of little account in our society, so their license is free for the asking. Operating without poetic license, however, opens one to a variety of charges, ranging from lack of objectivity to muddled mysticism. In weighing such charges, it is essential to bear in mind that rationality is not the exclusive preserve of science and technology. Other modalities of experience have their own peculiar rationality. The belief in the social necessity and inevitability of computer utilities, databanks, management information systems, and sundry computer applications is not based on reason alone. It is the reflection of a political faith built into the scheme of modern history, with an internal logic akin to that portrayed in the Theatre of the Absurd. If the past is any guide to the future, we cannot afford to acquiesce in moral bankruptcy. There are always other choices so long as the paralysis of will is not complete.