Science-fiction is a far cry from the world of the law, politics, and the other drivel I muse about on this blog. Recently, however, I ran across a book that takes an interesting and speculative look at all those topics. I read it and enjoyed it, and I found the thought experiment insightful and mind-popping.
After, I wrote a review, which has since been published over at Walker of Worlds, a science-fiction/fantasy blog run by Mark Chitty. The book has also won an award by a libertarian organization for best novel of the year. I recommend you check it out. Here’s a few snippets from the review:
Justin Cord wakes from a cryogenic sleep to a world where each individual is incorporated at birth, their shares traded on the open market. Using the capital raised through sale of shares, individuals finance their education, business ventures, homes and investments. Corporations—real companies, not just individuals incorporated—are more powerful than governments, produce and regulate their own currency, and control the lives of the individuals in whom they own stock.
And that’s the rub for Cord. For while he is and was an avid defender of capitalism in the 21st century, incorporation of the individual strikes him as a form of slavery. Despite the unprecedented wealth and technological progress it has created, Cord can’t help but see injustice in the system of ownership of others. As he pushes back, fighting against the giant corporations that want to own a piece of him, he begins to reveal cracks and fissures that will lead to systemic change and revolution.
Pick up the book at your local library or book seller for some easy reading and thought provoking fiction.
Related articles
- An aside: a book review at Walker of Worlds (lawafterthebar.wordpress.com)
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[…] For an interesting look at how an economy where private enterprise issues its own money, check out the speculative novel “The Unincorporated Man” by Dani Kollin and Eytan Kollin. […]