New Ideas for a New Century of SF

Okay, now instead of those worn-out SF retreads, let me suggest some new thematic possibilities, that break out of the established mode, and some stories that might arise from them.

The Culture of Blame: Personal responsibility has almost been litigated out of existence in modern America. Do you have lung cancer? Well, it's not because you made a choice to smoke, it's because evil tobacco companies forced you to smoke using pernicious mind control beams. Are you a murderer? A rapist? A child molester? It must be those danged Hollywood movies and violent video games. Consider a story imagining the implications of a society in which personal responsibility had been completely abrogated. Suggested Title: No Blood, No Foul.

Identity Politics: Consider a story depicting a world in which social worth is entirely rooted in political ethnic identity. I can imagine this as a crime story, in which cops solve violent crimes by investigating the ethnic backgrounds of the people involved, and deciding who is the victim based on historical social repression. ("Let's see Lou, looks like one of these guys murdered the other one. One guy is African American, that's 3 points, and an immigrant, that's three points. The other guy is handicapped, 3 points there, and gay, that's 3 pts." " Geez, Frank, it's gonna pretty tough to decide who the victim here is." "I got it, Lou! See if you can find out if one of them was vegetarian. That's just the lead we need to bust this case wide open.") Suggested Title: For the Good of the Community.

The Culture of Celebrity: Our culture already has become so materially prosperous that fame, not wealth, is the arbiter of status. We also live in a culture where people will confess to cheating on their spouse with a horse just to get on Jerry Springer. Consider a story about a media-crazed future in which the only people who matter are people who appear on television. (How hard is that to imagine?) Furthermore, image enhancement technology allows people on TV to look like flawless physical specimens, and the genpub (people not on TV) literally mutilate themselves trying to live up to that unachievable ideal. Suggest Title: Didn't You Used To Be Somebody?

The New Censorship: Consider a story in which free speech is public health issue, and people with "unregulated opinions" are quarantined. With Speech Codes, Hate Crimes Laws, and stopdrlaura.com, we are not very far from that point already. Suggested Title: IMHO.

So, look, that's four out-of-the-box ideas and I haven't even had breakfast yet. So, what do you say? Let's stop abusing that poor expired equine, throw out those old wineskins, and start recycling aluminum cans, instead of story ideas.

James Wittenbach also publishes original science fiction at www.fool-cola.com.