Economics is basically the practice of using fiction (objective-sounding symbol games) to control the structure of society. Governments were sold off because the same interests controlled those corporations. Not unlike the role of pre-Enlightenment religion, IMO the only way out is to adopt schema which are more evidence-based. The only real “wealth” ultimately is knowledge.
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I agree, John Brunner in some ways seems to be the original or proto cyberpunk. I read Gibson, Sterling, Shirley, Rucker and others fairly late in the 90s. And then I happened upon Brunner’s “The Shockwave Rider”, and read quite a bit of his other work. His combination of hard science and social issues definitely reminds me of cyberpunk at its best.
There’s at least one before Brunner: Phillip K. Dick. Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? (AKA Bladerunner).
Agreed, and I feel the same way about 1984: everyone mentions Big Brother, the telescreens or, perhaps, doublespeak or “X has always been at war with Y”. I’ve rarely, if ever, heard someone point to the rough quadrilateral or the true purpose of a Floating Fortress.
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Of course, I love much of PKD’s work. I have never considered him to by very cyberpunk, although he was certainly influential. A few of things I think he brought to the game were characters who were “interesting losers” compared to the scientists, soldiers, politicians, etc who have traditionally populated so much of science fiction. And of course a healthy dose (arguably) of paranoia.
But rather than science and society, the focus of most of Dick’s work that I’ve read tends to be very earnest and introspective, more philosophical. Those are qualities that I love, and I love in his writing. But that I think run against the subjects and often slick stylings of prose which I usually associate with cyberpunk.
Ha ha. You and she will get along great.
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Brunner’s writing is consistently good and readable though…
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