Content Warning
Picked up a scifi novel (Praxis, by David Gerrold, author of The Trouble With Tribbles, The Man Who Folded Himself, and many, many others) about two college students arrested during a riot, who escape indentured labor by agreeing to emigrate to an unknown world (and who quickly marry to improve their odds of being accepted for emigration).
I was expecting some adventure, maybe some romance. I wasn’t expecting unnerving relevance.
control is to get rid of as many progressives as possible. That means emptying the state-subsidized schools and purging as many of us as they can. They were going to get us one way or another.” “You can’t prove that—” “I don’t have to. Look at the socio-metrics. You studied chaos theory. This country is teetering on the edge. It’s primed. One good push in the wrong direction and you can destabilize the entire structure of government. Martial law gives you the opportunity to restructure whatever you want regardless of the consent of the people. We might be the lucky ones, getting out of here now. Before it happens.”
José shook his head. “I think the judge made it clear to the agent. She expects us to emigrate. She was doing us a favor, you know.” “Yeah, I know.” “You want to stay here—?” “What I wanted was to stay in school—” “Well, that’s not gonna happen. You and I are officially separated from that career path. As of twenty minutes ago—twenty-one minutes now.” José leaned forward and took my hands in his. “James. Jim. Husband. We are caught in the middle of a coup. The only way the regressives can seize