[aresant]

A fun sci-fi read would be about a futuristic government that "subsidizes" an Industry for much-debated, but ultimately politically driven reasons.

Rather than simply making cash-handouts, however, the Government & the Industry conspire to hide these handouts by creating new by-products for sale to consumers.

The Industry grows and rejoices, extending its products into as far ranging lines as sweeteners, fuels, and plastics.

To drive adoption they interrupt the free market through price manipulation and straight forward mandate from their "Environmental" agency.

Despite overwhelming evidence that consumers are being harmed by these by-products - record obesity, less efficient engines, and environmental damage - the subsidies only grow.

I'd like to see how the protagonist would drive change as presently my best solution is to rage via comment board into the echo chamber.

[lostlogin]

Am i missing the joke? Whats sci-fi about this? And how many industries are like this? Meat, diary, cars, arms, power, oil, medical, prisons. And these are just the ones that come to read from stories I have read recently.

[uvdiv]

He's bitter about corn subsidies in the US.

"sweeteners, fuels, and plastics" -- high fructose corn syrup, corn ethanol, corn ethanol-derived polyethylene

"price manipulation and straight forward mandate from their "Environmental" agency." -- corn ethanol subsidies, corn ethanol mandates

etc.

[mmanfrin]

  Am i missing the joke?

Yep.

[Androsynth]

The joke is that there is nothing sci-fi about this :)

[rprasad]

It is sci-fi in the sense that it involves speculation as to future interefence in various scientific endeavors on a industry-wide scale (i.e., soft sci-fi) by extending numerous historical examples of such practices. Also...it takes place in the future.

[jere]

CORN SUGAR by aresant