-Poul Anderson, "Quixote and the Windmill" IN Anderson, The Complete Psychotechnic League, Volume 2 (Riverdale, NY, February 2018), pp. 7-16 AT p. 12.
"'Ever since the Cybernetic Revolution the number of employable people has been falling on an exponential curve. We literally have no use any more for anyone but creative and administrative minds, of a caliber our grandfathers would have thought very high indeed.'"
-James Blish and Norman L. Knight, A Torrent of Faces (New York, 1967), BOOK ONE, 1, p. 23.
Two fictional futures with a common theme.
"'To pay for this, a slight reduction in basic credit issue; there will be things we can't afford any longer, but, really, very minor. No worse.'"
-Genesis, PART ONE, V, p. 42.
"'...World Resources is considering cutting the basic ration - in fact, the decision's already made.'"
-Blish and Knight, op. cit., 2, p. 33.
The cut is explained and will be too small to be noticed. In both A Torrent... and Genesis, everyone on Earth lives comfortably and it is decided to make a very small reduction in their incomes. However, in Genesis, this decision will be democratic.
1 comment:
Kaor, Paul!
It still remains my conviction, given the desperate situation seen in "Quixote" and Blish/Knight's story, that only a frontier off Earth would provide a sufficient relief from the inevitable mass despair, anger, ennui,etc., caused by massive technological unemployment.
Democratic? Yeah, right! One vote, once only and then the AIs hold all the real power and do all the real decision making. Humans become their pampered, idle pets! (Snorts)
Ad astra! Sean
Post a Comment