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The cool thing in the book was that you could opt out of US government protection, choosing instead to live in an enclave with services provided by some private
by CWuestefeld 13y ago
The cool thing in the book was that you could opt out of US government protection, choosing instead to live in an enclave with services provided by some private party.
IIRC, Stephenson presented it as a bit dystopic, but it sounded quite exciting to me.
- XorNot 13y agoIt wasn't opt out. The US Federal government didn't exist. Hence the regions of the book where a guy working for the Mafia is noticing the pings of bullets bouncing off his car as he drives through a rough neighborhood, and idly wonders whether the stains on the road are people who've been smeared into nothingness. It sounds exciting because you're not living it right now. And in the modern world, it is surprisingly easy to recreate that experience - just the cost of an airfare.
- CWuestefeld 13y agoThe US Federal government didn't exist. No, that's not correct. You'll recall that the girl's mom worked for the FBI; in once scene we see the mom going in for a security check. The existence of an FBI clearly implies the existence of a federal government. It's just that their scope was significantly curtailed.