(no subject)

[pktechgirlbackup]

me: i just abandoned this book called The Unincorporated Man
friend: That's probably not a good sign.
me: it's about a wealthy man from our time frozen and woken up 300 years in the future, when individuals are incorporated and sell shares of themselves to pay for education (also, your parents own a share in you). everyone's goal is to get 51% of themselves so they can eat a damn twinky if they want to
but with the exception of parental ownership, everything is voluntary
the hero leads a quest to topple this system and institute taxation instead
friend: Huh.
me: this book was the book of the year for the Libertarian Futurist Society
I don't think that words means what they think it means
friend: It sounds like the initial society is a Libertarian's dream.
me: you would think so
Irfaan: And this is why I shouldn't think - there's the translation overhead of dealing with those that don't.

Comments

[crystalpyramid]

Having gotten all the way through it, I should admit to being a little confused about which side the authors are actually on.

[stolen-tea.livejournal.com]

That future kinda sounds like the Libertarian Utopia, except with all externalities accounted for. But that probably makes it abhorrent to the strain of libertarianism that revolves around "I want to do whatever I damn well please"...

[pktechgirl.livejournal.com]

"...and I want other people to pay for it, with no call on my own resources". AKA the "keep the government out of my medicare" people.

not as far future as I thought

[crystalpyramid]

Apparently either Unincorporated Man is less creative and sfnal than I thought, or someone with a bankroll read it and started getting ideas. Either way I'm sort of scared:

http://opinionator.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/05/30/instead-of-student-loans-investing-in-futures/?smid=fb-nytimes&WT.mc_id=OP-SM-E-FB-SM-LIN-IOS-053111-NYT-NA&WT.mc_ev=click