Security and confidence don’t come cheap, especially in a world where both are in short supply. In his novel The Price of Everything, author Jon McGoran delves into a future where the wealthiest look for both — and those in their employ potentially pay the price.
JON McGORAN:
Every writer has their own process—some start their stories with a character, others a theme or a setting. My stories always start with an idea, and my latest book, The Price of Everything, has a lot of them.
One of the central ideas is the concept of money as a physical vulnerability for a society, a weakness and potential vector for harm, especially relevant to a society like ours that is so focused on money.
The Price of Everything takes place in the near future, after a cyber war has cratered the internet, collapsing electronic commerce and cryptocurrency, and leading to an economy dependent on super-high-denomination cash. When you consider the current prevalence of phishing scams, credit card scams, identity theft, etc., you don’t have to squint too hard to see how today’s system might be untenable. One character even reflects on the olden days (meaning now): “Even as a kid he never trusted all that e-commerce stuff. He couldn’t understand how the older generation fell for it the way they had. They must have known everybody was getting ripped off, way before the Cyber Wars and the Upheaval. But they had gone along with it anyway.” …
Source: The Big Idea: Jon McGoran | Whatever
Recent Comments