Limes inferior
| Author | Janusz A. Zajdel |
|---|---|
| Country | Poland |
| Language | Polish |
| Genre | Science fiction |
|
Publication date
|
1982 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 226 |
| ISBN | |
| OCLC | 314209372 |
| LC Class | PG7185.A364 L56 1997 |
Limes inferior (Latin for lower limit) is a social science fiction dystopian novel written in 1982 by the Polish author Janusz A. Zajdel. Limes inferior, one of Zajdel's best-known works, is a dystopia showing a grim vision of a future society resulting from a merger of the two systems competing at the time - communism and capitalism. It is a seemingly free society, which is in fact tightly controlled through a system of electronic biometric ID cards (Keys), censored media and other forms of social control.
It was recognized as the best science fiction novel in Poland in 1982.
The story is set in a fictional 'Argoland'. All citizens in Argoland are divided into 7 social classes (numbered from 0 to 6) based on their IQ. 'Zeroes' are the top, governing class. The class of a citizen determines what job he gets, and his pay ('red, green and yellow points'). Only people with class between 0 and 4 get any jobs, any promotion is depending on the class more than achievement. This is further true because the economy seems to be centrally controlled government run socialism, that is private property is limited and small private enterprises operate only on the fringes of the general economy.
'Argoland' has an awkward monetary system - its currency are green, red and yellow points. Their value is different - red points are almost valueless - only basic items like basic food can be bought for them, green points have a bit higher value and only yellow points have real value. Conversely, only employed are paid any yellow points, the more the higher their class. That means only those with class over 4 (and practically 3 because there is a shortage of jobs for class 4 and no jobs for lower classes) can get any yellow points officially. Therefore, a black exchange market for points flourishes.
The 'points' are kept on a 'Key' which serves as an electronic wallet. The Key displays the class of its bearer and its other functions are activated by owner's touch on a built-in fingerprint reader. The Key is similar to modern PDAs serving as an ID card, credit card, a watch, a calculator and a biometric reader.
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