Was he brought in to punish the warehouse workers? I don't recall any explicit reason but my impression was that it had more to do with Muldberg failing at the job and so he was replaced. ML4E (talk) 20:37, October 5, 2018 (UTC)
- I may have misinterpreted, but that came in the same paragraph as the reference to Simpkins having his cigarette rations cut. It sure seemed like one more instance of the party screwing with him. TR (talk) 05:11, October 6, 2018 (UTC)
- Really? Forcing a smoker to smoke less seems like a step in the right direction, albeit a small one. If I were a dictator with that kind of power, I'd only make cigarettes available to people I wanted to see dead. Turtle Fan (talk) 05:56, October 6, 2018 (UTC)
- Likely the thought was that addicts would be easier to control. (In fact I recall the Chekist who accepted Ussmak's defection reflecting on that point when Ussmak made a steady supply of ginger one of his conditions for surrendering the base he'd seized.) However . . . Turtle Fan (talk) 00:17, October 7, 2018 (UTC)
- Guess he wound up the slave of two masters. Turtle Fan (talk) 00:17, October 7, 2018 (UTC)
Yes, I recall that Simpkins felt it was one more punishment but it seemed to me Muldberg was in some disgrace for allowing dissidence to develop in the warehouse and so the party replaced him with an even harder liner. On reflection, I may be reading too much into it, namely the way authoritarian systems work. As I say, I don't think there was any explicit statement, one way or the other. Leave it as is. ML4E (talk) 16:54, October 6, 2018 (UTC)