From: vagans@inanna.eanna.net   
      
   Curious Gene  wrote:   
   > vagans@circuit-riders.net wrote:   
   >   
   >> Mine's Mr Lee's Greater Hong Kong.   
   >   
   > There aren't many of those to choose from, although I suppose   
   > it depends in some way on your view of what the perfect society   
   > is. The Raft is probably pretty nice if you're well armed and   
   > have a big boat.   
      
   I agree that whether something is dystopic or not is a matter of one's   
   perspective.  While rooting around for stuff to put on the website, I   
   came across an early critique of SC. The author, being pomo-enabled,   
   found it dystopic. The author refers to "the dystopian logic of   
   cyberpunk", which, apparently, is self-evident because he doesn't   
   elaborate the idea. Just plunks it down on the page.   
      
   I can't consider the non-existence of a centralized global totally   
   managed state a sign of dystopia. Throw in Mr Lee's Greater Hong Kong,   
   and other FOQNEs, and I'd say progress has been made towards making   
   living life pleasant --  or,  "the world of the burbclaves and the   
   shattered mosaic of (dis)enfranchised society", as the author finds   
   it, no doubt troubled by the absence of a totalizing state, and by NS   
   not providing a vision of a future full of enthusiasm and positivity.   
      
   The Raft is plagued by L. Bob and his scheme to create dystopia (at   
   least from my perspective it's dystopic), but I can see the utopic   
   possibilities. Might have made a nice sequel.   
      
   All to say at the end of a long day's travel, I'd rather pull into Mr   
   Lee's Greater Hong Kong than a Holiday Inn.   
      
   > I'd say the island of Stateless, but that's stepping into more   
   > run-of-the-mill Sci-Fi. Maybe the Gernsback Continuum. Does it   
   > count if it doesn't even exist in-story?   
   >   
      
   Whatever floats your raft 8-)   
      
      
   --   
     (__)    Sourcerer   
    /(<>)\ O|O|O|O||O||O   
     \../  |OO|||O|||O||   Mirroring the shadows of futurity   
      ||   OO|||OO||O||O   since 1993   
      
   --- SoupGate-Win32 v1.05   
    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)