Walkaway, Cory Doctorow (4.0)
This most recent Cory Doctorow cyber punk tale offers some
of his past themes mixed with a newer take on large scale issues our society
appears to be facing, particular the effects of the division of wealth and
power. In his near future, society has reached a post-scarcity point (i.e.
everything essential can be made from a machine on demand), so normal jobs have
become somewhat superfluous. More and more disillusioned youth have ‘walked
away’ from society to find a new beginning. At first this is fine with the
general society and specifically the powerful rich. But once a group of
walkaway professors discovers a way to possibly live forever, the power balance
shifts and all eyes turn to the disparate walkaway groups as threats. The book
follows a couple of interesting characters as they choose to walkaway and the
effect family, money and power have on their decisions. Doctorow, as usual,
weaves creative technology into a driving plot. He goes deep enough into
technology to likely lose a few readers, but if you enjoy examining the
possible effects of a post-scarcity age on a have/have-not society – you’ll
find plenty to chew on here.
I really liked this book and recommend it to most people I know. Like most of his previous books there is a strong philosophical message throughout the book but it helps the plot and characters along and isn't quite as onerous as for example an Ayn Rand book. If technology were to quickly create a post-scarcity economy it seems like this is a very plausible scenario as to what might happen.
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