Mediums of Exchange in Sci Fi

In Isaac Asimov's Foundation, I found the Trader's assertions that they weren't after money interesting. It seems like that IS Hober Mallow's ambition. He ends up wealthy in a swank house with the intention of buying power. His trial made buying power unnecessary but he still ends up a wealthy man. His strategy for peace and dealing with the Seldon Crises was based on simple exchange and trade, but people don't want to trade for the sake of trading. Even traders have an end goal. There is a basic human desire to accumulate wealth as a means to each individual's ends. Mallow takes advantage accordingly. I'm interested in reading the subsequent books to see how civilization evolves past the need for currency.

This also got me thinking about other sci fi series and their mediums of exchange...

Star Wars used Galactic Credits, a fiat currency. From Wookiepedia: "From its inception, the credit was backed by the immense wealth of the planet Muunilinst and the InterGalactic Banking Clan (IGBC). During the Clone Wars, the IGBC backed the currencies of both sides, as it would do again decades later for the New Republic and Imperial Remnant."

The Stargate series centers around the production, use, and trade of naquadah, "a rare, super-dense metal element used by a wide number of different races. Its most basic use is as a weapon: naquadah greatly amplifies energy, making it extremely potent if paired with explosives." I haven't watched enough to know if it was actually used as a currency though.

The twelve colonies in Battlestar Gallactica used cubits even after the apocolypse of their home planet. I found it interesting that they still made bets and would buy things despite the meager circumstances and since it was unlikely the fiat currency of cubits was backed by anything since the colonies were destroyed.

My fave sci fi series Firefly used credits on the core planets and precious metal coinage on the frontier/border planets where Malcolm and his crew spend most of their time stealing and exchanging goods to make their not so honest living.

Star Trek didn't use money. I now want to hunt down the episodes that do deal with trade and the mention of money to ascertain why this is or how they claim to have evolved past the need for currency.

Kim and the Great Game

Many thanks to Kate and Jana for the scrumptious Indian food on Saturday as Jeff enlightened us about the Great Game and we discussed Rudyard Kipling's Kim!

One story I forgot to share regarding the book. I always find it interesting to find a rich history behind such a simple concept as Kim's game - the memory game he practices to become better at intrigue and spywork. I often played this game as a child and as an adult I've played a variation of it at bridal showers. You tell the bride to leave the room and pass out pens and paper to the guests. You tell the guests we are about to play a memory game and to be very observant, they will have 60 seconds. You then have the bride come in carrying a tray with an assortment of items and walk around the room for one minute and then leave again. Then you tell everyone to write down everything the bride was wearing! Groans and giggles erupt as people realize they were tricked.

John and I will send an email soon about hosting the Count of Monte Cristo at the end of September!

Poverty: Structural Constraint or Moral Failing?

In our discussion of A Tree Grows in Brooklyn it was apparent that few of us are used to reading about poverty in a contemporary urban context. In the book, a loosely-fictionalized memoir of author Betty Smith's own experience growing up in a poor section of Williamsburg, Brooklyn, Francie continually confronts her impoverished situation. Her day to day escapades are often rooted in scrounging for scrap metal, pleading for deals from local shopkeepers, and dreaming of a world without the constraints of finances.

Francie's story has a happy ending, though it stands in sharp relief to the stories of countless others that Francie encounters in her Brooklyn: those who, despite their best efforts, cannot rise above the grip of poverty.

Smith depicts poverty as a structural obstacle, ever resistant to success and there to inundate whole families for any misstep - a lost job, an unexpected pregnancy, an ill-timed death. Though Smith does attribute a certain amount of agency to individuals, Francie's escape from Brooklyn is not wholly a Horatio Alger rags-to-riches celebration of pluck and talent. Certainly Katie's insistence that her children devote time and attention to reading from a young age bettered their chances, but it was largely Lady Luck who saved the Nolans: Katie's resilient beauty into middle age and the kindness of an old tavern-keeper are equal parties in their survival.

Do Psychopaths Dream of Electric Sheep?

Lately, I've been hearing a lot about psychopaths.  I think it all started Jarred Loughner and his deadly shooting rampage at Rep. Gabby Giffords constituent outreach event. Loughner sits in prison and said to be mentally ill with psychopathic tendencies, thus he is unable to stand trial. Then, I heard an episode of This American Life called The Psychopath Test and learned that one of the common traits of psychopathy is lack of empathy and remorse. This test - the Psychopathy Checklist-Revised (PCL-R) - asks a series of questions about a person’s history. Through the responses one is supposed to be able to tell whether or not a person is a psychopath. This test is often given to criminals involved in murder cases. If the test results show that the person is a psychopath, their chances of ever getting parole are greatly diminished. There is a belief (with some supporting evidence) that those who score high on the PCL-R have no chance of recovery - they cannot change their destructive and un-empathetic behaviors because they were born with them.  

I got an eerie sensation when I realized the PCL-R was very similar to the Voight-Kampff test in Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? – a former Dead Authors Book Club pick.  It is a post-apocalyptic science fiction novel that asks a seemingly simple question "what does it mean to be a human?" In the same way, our criminal justice system gives the PCL-R to possible psychopaths, the police and bounty hunters in Electric Sheep give the Voight-Kampff test to potential androids.

Francie & Scout: Social Commentary Through the Eyes of Young Women

While there have been several books in our book club that I haven’t been thrilled about reading, I admit I was pretty excited to read A Tree Grows in Brooklyn.  It’s not a book I’d read before, but I am a sucker for a good coming of age novel. I’ve always been intrigued by the early 1900s so I was interested in delving more deeply into that era with a good piece of fiction.

As I read about Francie in A Tree Grows in Brooklyn (1943) I was frequently reminded of one of my other favorite literary young ladies – Scout from To Kill A Mockingbird (1960). I found Scout and Francie to be similar and a true joy to get to know. When Francie was reading on her balcony looking out onto the street, I was right there with her sweating in the summer heat.  And when Scout was poking around Boo Radley’s yard, I could not help but worry that Boo would catch me as well. But more than that, I found them both extremely sensitive to their environments and having strong sense of justice and humanism. They took the moral high ground not out of obligation, but out of practicality – it’s what made most sense to them.

Both books take place at a time of tumult in American society. Brooklyn takes place in a poor community in the later stages of the Industrial Revolution on the eve World War 1 during a time when many people were unable to find a job and a living wage. Mockingbird is set in Alabama just after the Great Depression and illustrates the deep roots of racism and intolerance in a small town. No child is oblivious to the tension in either case, but Scout and Francie are especially perceptive to what is going on around them even through the purview of a child. They go from thinking about playing outside and school work to looking deeply into the heart of poverty, intolerance and other complex societal norms.