> It must have been something about late 70s / early 80s USA that made everyone feel like we were on the verge of corporate takeover of government. Yes and no.

> It must have been something about late 70s / early 80s USA that made everyone feel like we were on the verge of corporate takeover of government. Yes and no. At the time, Cyberpunk was a fringe movement by some rebel authors. Hence the "punk". Until then, mainstream science fiction was very much obsessed with nice utopias that used technology and communication for the benefit of society in far distant futures. Cyberpunk tore it all down and pointed at the possible nightmare of a not so distant future where all pervading technology leaves you cluelessly behind, crushed under the foot of megacorporate feudalism.