Pay for the Printer

Pay for the Printer

Pay for the Printer is a science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick. First published in Satellite Science Fiction magazine, October 1956 under the title "Printer's Pay".

Plot

In a war-ravaged future, humanity has come to depend on an alien species known as the Biltongs, possessed of the ability to replicate items identically - although the copies only last for a short time. When the Biltongs become decrepit, the humans are forced to rediscover the skill of building.

Interpretation

The story is frequently seen as a criticism of social welfare systems, and the welfare state in general. The humans (who represent the individual, private citizen) in the story are capable of surviving with constant help from the Biltongs (who represent the state), but they are totally unable to achieve their potential or thrive in any way. Only with the elimination of the "safety net" do the humans become capable not only of caring for themselves, but actually advancing their own society as well.


Wikimedia Foundation. 2010.

Игры ⚽ Поможем написать курсовую

Look at other dictionaries:

  • The Man in the High Castle —   …   Wikipedia

  • The Minority Report — For other uses, see Minority Report (disambiguation). Cover of The Minority Report, the 4th volume of PKD s collected stories The Minority Report is a 1956 science fiction short story by Philip K. Dick, first published in Fantastic Universe. The… …   Wikipedia

  • The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick — Infobox Book name = The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick title orig = translator = image caption = one of the limited states author = Philip K. Dick illustrator = cover artist = country = United States language = English series = genre =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Philip K. Dick Reader — Infobox Book name = The Philip K. Dick Reader title orig = translator = image caption = Cover of the first edition author = Philip K. Dick illustrator = cover artist = Zina Saunders country = United States language = English series = genre =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Preserving Machine — Infobox Book name = The Preserving Machine title orig = translator = image caption = Cover of the first edition author = Philip K. Dick illustrator = cover artist = Leo and Diane Dillon country = United States language = English series = genre =… …   Wikipedia

  • The Father-Thing (collection) — Infobox Book name = The Father Thing title orig = translator = image caption = Dust jacket from the first edition author = Philip K. Dick illustrator = cover artist = country = United Kingdom language = English series = genre = Science fiction… …   Wikipedia

  • The Office (U.S. TV series) — The Office Genre Sitcom Mockumentary Created by Ricky Gervais Stephen Merchant …   Wikipedia

  • The Bollandists —     The Bollandists     † Catholic Encyclopedia ► The Bollandists     An association of ecclesiastical scholars engaged in editing the Acta Sanctorum. This work is a great hagiographical collection begun during the first years of the seventeenth… …   Catholic encyclopedia

  • The Legend of Zelda (series) — nihongo| The Legend of Zelda |ゼルダの伝説|Zeruda no Densetsu is a high fantasy action adventure video game series created by game designer Shigeru Miyamoto and developed and published by Nintendo. The gameplay consists of a mixture of action,… …   Wikipedia

  • The Legend of Zelda — This article is about the video game series. For the first game in the series, see The Legend of Zelda (video game). For other uses, see The Legend of Zelda (disambiguation). The Legend of Zelda The Legend of Zelda current series logo …   Wikipedia

Share the article and excerpts

Direct link
… Do a right-click on the link above
and select “Copy Link”