21futures

BooksAndArticles

A review of THE MANDIBLES (2016) by Lionel Shriver.

The next 21 Futures book will be an anthology of financial dystopia. 

So, I wanted to read and review the best known recent fiction on the topic. 

***

The book traces the fortunes of the Mandibles, a wealthy family living in a badly decaying New York of 2029.

The US dollar has collapsed, and the family suffer a series of misfortunes which lead to several generations sharing the same Brooklyn brownstone house.

 If things are going badly for a family with huge generational wealth, a widespread financial portfolio, and a slew of assets, imagine how bad things are for the rest.  

Society breaks down at an alarming rate with citizens fighting for basic necessities and healthcare.

The book provides cutting (and often funny) social commentary on the Western worldview, the US health system, and wealth inequality.

The family fortunes go from bad to worse, and they are eventually forced to leave the city in a Grapes of Wrath style journey of salvation.

The cast of characters is broad, and we see kind and good-natured beings break down to their base form, seeking to survive the next day at any cost. 

Ultimately, the story is of a country and of a rotten fiat economy coming to its natural conclusion - hyperinflation.

Be prepared for authorial preaching and summary of big-picture events.  The book passes through the depression years of 2029 to 2047 and we miss out on large swathes of the characters' lives.

Throughout, I found myself devoid of empathy for most of the Mandible family.

Yet, the book is deeply affecting. The scenes painted are not only realistic, but are highly likely to come to pass at some point in ALL countries as our current financial system crumbles.

This is NOT a relaxing bed-time read. In fact, it will likely give you nightmares.

More than any book on investment strategy, macro economics, or bitcoin evangelism, this book shows the dangers of continuing on the same path.

It shows the dangers of not learning, not preparing, and not changing our misguided ways.

This book, more than any, proves the importance of stories in the world of economics.  It is a stark and real presentation of money, 1,000 times more likely to wake wage workers and the financially illiterate from their slumber.

This is the power of fiction.

#scifi #sciencefiction #Dystopia #amreading #BookReviewhttps://m.primal.net/KTLR.jpg 

REVIEW: The Mandibles by Lionel Shirver

Politics_And_Law

Latest opinion piece from 'Maximum Freedom, Minimum Bullshit'.

Is Bitcoin Anti-Democracy?

Bitcoin and stories are much alike. 

They can be described in powerful simplicity or astonishing complexity. Both are unique developments in human history and feed our well-being. Bitcoin and stories are forces for good, but they must be used wisely.

By removing himself from the equation, Nakamoto left it to us to write the future of bitcoin. It’s not surprising that we have been tentative to propose a narrative. Stories have never been decentralized before.

Think of the pyramids, the invention of the printing press, or the release of the iPhone 1. Instead of the technology itself, we focus on the people who made it and how its invention affected us. The story of the pyramids survives in every tourist’s photograph; the joy of reading touches a higher percentage of the world’s population every year; the garage-to-keynote-speaker tale of Apple’s late CEO inspires entrepreneurs worldwide.

To unite interest in bitcoin, we need to be better at telling its stories. Only stories have the power to stop us, to wake us, to make us feel rather than think.

For most people, great change doesn’t arrive from binary logic and a working knowledge of code. Understanding grows through narrative. It is stories that bring change.

What kinds of stories will you write?

More emotion, less code - Why we need more bitcoin stories

📚Ultimate read before you die books?

User21000000

The Mandibles by Lionel Shriver
True Names by Vernor Vinge
Demon Copperhead by Barbara Kingsolver
Lord of the Flies by William Golding
Invisible Cities by Italo Calvino
Things Fall Apart by Chinua Achebe

The World's First Bitcoin Fiction Anthology: Video Trailer (amazing chapter art)

Two referrals within two weeks! Who’s who at Stacker News

realBitcoinDog

Thanks for your support. Still getting to grips with the platform.
Seems like a cool bunch o' plebs here.

Author, ghostwriter, and all-around writing dude from the UK. I try to make normies laugh on LinkedIn.

I'm the editor of 21 Futures, the world's first bitcoin fiction anthology.