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To: Broken_Clock who wrote (300240)	12/27/2010 1:49:33 PM
From: Secret_Agent_Man	Respond to of 306849

not disempowered DISEMBOWELED! EVISCERATED

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (300240)	12/27/2010 6:17:30 PM
From: patron_anejo_por_favor	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 306849

>>The two greatest visions of a future dystopia were George Orwell’s “1984” and Aldous Huxley’s “Brave New World.” << Hey! He left out Soylent Green!

To: Broken_Clock who wrote (300240)	12/27/2010 6:30:16 PM
From: Travis_Bickle	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 306849

The best vision of a future dystopia is this, if you have not read it you are doing yourself a disservice: Snow Crash is Neal Stephenson's third novel, published in 1992. Like many of Stephenson's other novels it covers history, linguistics, anthropology, archaeology, religion, computer science, politics, cryptography, and philosophy. The story begins and ends in Los Angeles, which is no longer part of what is left of the United States, during the early 21st century. In this hypothetical future reality the federal government of the United States has ceded most of its power to private organizations and entrepreneurs.[3] Franchising, individual sovereignty and private vehicles reign (along with drug trafficking, violent crime, and traffic congestion). Mercenary armies compete for national defense contracts while private security guards preserve the peace in gated, sovereign housing developments. Highway companies compete to attract drivers to their roads rather than the competitors', and all mail delivery is by hired courier. The remnants of government maintain authority only in isolated compounds where they transact tedious make-work that is, by and large, irrelevant to the dynamic society around them. Much of the territory ceded by the government has been carved up into sovereign enclaves, each run by its own big business franchise (such as "Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong") or the various residential burbclaves (suburban enclaves). This arrangement resembles anarcho-capitalism, a theme Stephenson carries over to his next novel The Diamond Age. Hyperinflation has devalued the dollar to the extent that trillion dollar bills — Ed Meeses — are nearly disregarded and the quadrillion dollar note — the Gipper — is the standard 'small' bill. For physical transactions people resort to alternative, non-hyperinflated currencies such as yen or "Kongbucks" (the official currency of Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong). en.wikipedia.org