[ What does that look mean? He expects something. Looks of expectation...unnerve him. But nevertheless, the clone, hesitantly, ventures: ]

It seems like that's a necessary part of their self-image. And a method of control, too. On Jackson's Whole, they say that if you're smart enough and ruthless enough you'll succeed - but here, they say that if you work hard enough, you'll succeed. That means if you're not successful, you're not working hard enough. You're lazy. It probably suppresses class conflict.