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General Comments / Re: Thoughts and Prayers - Again...
« on: June 07, 2022, 06:29:48 PM »The private army thing has been roundly explored in many good sci-fi books as well.
Heinlein, I will fear no evil:QuoteMy hotel was only five minutes from the medical center." "I must now admit to having taken another liberty, Doctor. Your luggage was packed, your hotel bill has been paid, and all your things were moved to my guest room." "My word. Why?" "Better security." "That hotel seemed secure to me. Armed guards on every door, more armed men operating the lifts-I could not get in or out without showing my I.D. at least thrice. Reminded me of the army. Hadn't realized what an armed camp the States are. Isn't it rather a nuisance?" "Yes. But one grows used to it. Your hotel is safe enough, physically. But the press are onto us now and they can get inside. And so can the police." Boyle looked troubled but not panicky.QuoteThe number of licensed private police in the United States reached triple the number of 'public peace officers. Miss Joan née Johann Smith received over two thousand proposals of marriage, more than that number of less formal proposals, one hundred eighty-seven death threats, an undisclosed number of extortion notes, and four bombs-not any of which she received in person as they were diverted to Mercury Private Courier Service under procedures set up years earlier.
Must have been ten years since I last read this one, if not more, but it seemed to have mostly aged well. Total reliance on private security forces for offense and defense are a staple of the story. It doesn't hurt that it indicates the kind of power that a billionaire type could wield in such a dystopian world. They essentially become above the law, because they have sufficient firepower to be largely immune to the state's efforts to curtail them.
Fiction doesn't indicate anything. It's merely what one person imagines the kind of power a billionaire could wield in such world.