за три года

10:55 | 25-09-2009 | Culturology, Literature | No Comments

роман Нила Стивенсона “Snow Crash” уже давно (шаг за шагом) становится реальностью. и дальше все тоже будет в точности по плану:

In this hypothetical future reality the federal government of the United States has ceded most of its power to private organizations and entrepreneurs. Franchising, individual sovereignty and automobiles reign supreme (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 booming, 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 <...>. 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).

а затем прийдут викторианцы.

via.

  

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