Real Newton worked at the mint too, it may not necessarily represent Stephenson's views.
Doesn't Snow Crash have hyperinflation followed by a plethora of private fiat currencies?
Doesn't Snow Crash have hyperinflation followed by a plethora of private fiat currencies?
That's why I was so baffled as to why Facebook glommed on to the term "metaverse" with such fervor. The "metaverse" comes from that book, and is a major aspect of the dystopia. The term does not have positive connotations.
The real world is dominated by corporate domination, Regulatory capture, and stagnation. In the metaverse, it doesn't matter if you are a pizza delivery boy. You have power and agency if you have skills and determination, at least in comparison to the default world
I read the metaverse as a mechanism of control. People will put up with the dystopian hell of their everyday life because they can have the fantasy of power and control in the metaverse -- but in the end, it's the real world that is the only thing that actually matters and that's why it's fought over. Even the fights in the metaverse are just to further the fights in the real world.
Nobody with actual power /really/ cares about the metaverse except insofar as it can affect the real world.
How many brilliant minds signed off on that metaverse presentation I wonder. I'm still shocked. That's a lot of either coercion or people that enjoy smelling their own farts. They spent billions on it. Did I mention I'm still shocked? Shocked! None of it makes sense.
I've long thought that if I had to live in the world of Snow Crash, I would totally want to be in Mr. Lee's Greater Hong Kong over the other corporations. In context of the book, Mr. Lee kinda slapped.
One of the most amusing parts of that book was how the Mafia had recruiting booths at college job fairs, just like the other corporations.