A woman asks the man, who are you?
Man replied I am pickpocket.
Woman surprised by this naked admission – do you mean that you pick other people’s pockets?
Man said, yes, but not any more. He further added, there was a time when people used to wear cloths, and these cloths had pockets, and I used to pick them.

Woman – what do you do now?
Man – I go around and collect these old clothes, as there are museums who are collecting to show to the next generations that there was time when people used to wear cloths.
Woman – is this a well paid job.
Man replied, yes it is. I can afford to have a one good meal a week and a woman for the night.
Woman – then it must be well paid job. Do they need more people to work for them?

Man – Yes they need people all the time.
Woman – listen, I am well educated, have an M.A. in Literature and philosophy. I understand the world around me and beyond.

Man whispered, please say no more. It is not only that they wouldn’t give you any job, they may not you to be around. If you understand things, you will be considered a dangerous person to the national security. They may even kill you.

They only want robots, which they feed instructions, to go around following those instructions and once a week they will feed the robot with some coins.
Asking question is not the norm of day. I say no more. The man disappeared.”

This was a short Panjabi story, I read nearly forty years ago. It is so true today.