Many other problems are associate with overpopulation. Right now, we'll take a brief look at poverty and unemployment first. Perhaps the definitive treatment of poverty in SF is 'The Midas Plague' by Frederic Pohl. In an age of abundance, the whole economic consumption: the less wealthy you are, the more you need to buy with monthly ration-coupons. I also recommend its less- familiar sequel, 'The Man Who Ate the World'. Unemployment was already covered in a previous column, but I'll cite some more examples of unemployment-oriented SF here anyway.... 'The Junkmakers' by Albert Teichner: once every decade, the government announces a Festival of Obsolesce, during which all types of technology are publicly destroyed, so that new items can be manufactured and sold, thereby generating work. 'Farmer on the Dole' by Audrey and Harvey (I think their surname was either Johnson or Wilkes). A married couple is looking for a new home, and the real estate agent supplies them with a handgun for eviction purposes. They're sent to the residence of an elderly woman, who understandably enough doesn't want to leave. The husband can't go through with it, until his wife points out, 'If we don't get this place, someone else will!'.... 'The Census Takers' by Frederik Pohl: Their job is to reduce excess population by terminating 'Overs' for six weeks each year. 'The Little Black Bag' and 'The Marching Morons' by C.M. Kornbluth. Two related (yet very different) stories built on the premise that the wrong people took the responsibility of birth control to heart, leading to the general deterioration of human intellect (warning: politically incorrect material found here!). 'Billennium' by J.G. Ballard: In which overpopulation is 'handled' through compensation, by establishing limits on the amount of personal living space available to any individual. 'Love Conquers All' by Fred Saberhagen: This novel presents a culture which attempts to balance birth control and sexual freedom; the protagonist is on the run because his wife is expecting another child. 'Build-Up' by J.G. Ballard, 'The World as Will and Wallpaper' by R.A. Lafferty and 'Benji's Pencil' by Vance Aandahl (I think): Are three very different stories about a future in which the population has grown to such and extent that the entire planet has become a single vast city. Ballard's protagonist is searching for free space. Lafferty's hero discovers that his city which is 'everywhere different' really just consists of virtually identical suburbs and the main character of 'Benji's Pencil' is a cryogenic resurrectee who mourns the death of poetry in a world where nature no longer exist. Back to White Knight #11 Table of Contents Back to White Knight List of Issues Back to Master Magazine List © Copyright 1998 by Pegasus-Unicorn Productions This article appears in MagWeb (Magazine Web) on the Internet World Wide Web. Other military history articles and gaming articles are available at http://www.magweb.com