The Year 2076

I just finished reading an interesting story today.  Go check out http://www.2076book.com/ to get your free copy and read it yourself.  It’s a little over 200 pages, but it’s a fairly fast read as the sentences are small in both length and content.  There are a few more obvious errors than you would expect from a print edition from a well-known publishing house, but that’s OK, it’s easy to overlook.  Don’t let the seemingly simplistic writing structure fool you though, there is some deep thought-provoking ideas in play.  It may be that the author (Robert VanDyke) is trying to come up with his own version of the (in)famous 1984 Orwell classic.  While a little rough around the edges, 2076 is bound to make you think twice about some of the things you see in your everyday life today.  Is this where it’s really leading?

The plot is regarding life in the times of 2076, and it follows some interesting possibilities in technology and politics that are in place now.  Huge apartment towers where you literally never have to go outside?  Yup.  An access card that is your “universal” ID card?  Yup.  Everything automated?  Yup.  Privacy? None.  A political system that cares little for your existance? Essentially.  Total control by the faceless government, backed by muscled goons of it’s private enforcement teams?  Got that too.

Influences appear to be the current state of affairs in the early years of the 2000s, this book expands on the possibilities of where this could end up.  We have politicians pushing to have everything done “for our own good,” plus our increased reliance on computer and robotic automation, plus a focus on removing any type of weapon, while forcing non-stop survielance.  Does this really lead to a safer place for us to live?  Not really.  The bad guys still have guns, and the cameras only catch crimes after they happen

Does the reality of today lead up to the reality of the book 2076?  Hard to say, but it sure has an eerie way of making it sound likely.  We sure could be heading in that direction.  The good part is that the main characters in this book are fed up with their society, and they want to make a change.  They want some of America’s freedoms back.  They are a small outlaw band, but they make the people in charge take notice of them.  Is this a 1984 sequel, or is this a call to arms?  Should we already have noticed 1984 and just need a wake-up call?

Read the book.  Think about the politics.  Think about the struggle.  Think about how the technologies and politics of today really can make this society happen.  Should we let this happen?  Should we fight back now while it’s a lot easier to control?