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Coventry (short story)

Coventry is a science fiction short story by Robert A. Heinlein and part of his Future History series.

A romantic idealist decides to escape the boredom of a too-civilized future by emigrating to the rugged outland beyond the Barrier, where people who refuse to abide by social norms are exiled. He finds not the peaceful anarchy he envisioned but a corrupt democracy and is immediately jailed, losing all his goods. Befriended by the Fader, he breaks jail to warn of an attack on civilization.