mercredi 25 février 2015

Story identification - replicators causing a society collapse


I cannot recall the title of a story that explored the social consequences of introducing StarTrek-like replicator technology in current society.


The plot centered on a village-sized community that (like other communities) received a recently developed device that could manufacture anything cheaply. It was running 24/7, and every person (or family?) was given a time-share on the device to produce whatever they wanted. Initially this was very nice, people fulfilling their needs and wants, and most of them quitting their day jobs.


However, this means that eventually emergency services and law enforcement cease to function, and the society degrades to anarchy - the protagonist (or their relative?) escapes after an attempted rape that noone cares to prevent, and in the end they enter a commune based on a requirement to work (even to produce goods that could be replicated) and also share in military/defense duty.


I believe that I read it some 2-3 yars ago; and I probably read it on the internet - I'm not sure if it has been published on paper. It wasn't a short story but a longer one, and I think that I stumbled on it on some article that listed various very different possible results of replicator-like tech, and listed stories that described opposed beliefs about what would be the result.





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