Imagine that:
– Death has been cured. Get hit by a bus? Have a stroke? Get murdered? Your consciousness will be restored from your last backup and downloaded into a freshly cloned body. In forty-eight hours, you’re good to go.
– Energy is free and inexhaustible. Fossil fuels are worthless. Scarcity is a memory. Money is a museum piece.
– Personal power is determined by reputation alone. If lots of people like you and what you create, your reputation skyrockets, unlocking access to cooler toys and faster service. Act irresponsibly or alienate everyone, and you’ll have to make do with the basics (and take the stairs instead of an elevator).
That’s the backdrop for Cory Doctorow’s Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.
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