If you need something to stop you hitting refresh on the Financial Times frontpage as the stock markets do their best impression of the North face of Everest, maybe you should try reading “1337 in 2012”, a story that Jason Stoddard has just thrown up for free on his website.
It’s about financial meltdowns and elections, so it’s more than a little topical. Plus it’ll give you the chance to see how Stoddard walks the Positive-sf walk after hearing him talk the talk…
Here’s the opening few paragraphs:
“I want to know how she did it,” Alexandra Jetter said, almost pushing Gary McCabe down the narrow hallway with her refilled-from-the-lunchroom-for-a-week grande Starbucks. Not a single thank-you for calling him in at midnight.
“Doing it wasn’t hard,” Gary told her.
Alexandra snapped around to look at him, baring yellow teeth. “You didn’t vote for her, did you?”
“Of course not.” Though it had been really, really hard to vote for their pet candidate who promised the Bureau more funding, more growth, good times for everyone again, go back to buying Starbucks every day, hallelujah.
“Then how’d she do it?”
“She ran it like a campaign.”
“Of course it’s a campaign!”
“Not that kind of campaign.“
A snort. “She rigged it.”
Gary just shrugged.
Actually, I think my story Jack’s Gift (here on Futurismic) or Adam Rakunas’ The Right People (also here on Futurismic) might be better examples of “positive” stories.
I particularly like how, in The Right People, both Gene and GR inhabit what could be considered a dystopian world (surveillance, corporate fascism, a rigged reputation economy), but not only *don’t bemoan it at all* but also *rise above it to affect real change.*