Below are just the first few paragraphs ... interesting thoughts.
The whole article here:
http://www.wired.com/techbiz/people/magazine/16-02/st_thompson
Why Sci-Fi Is the Last Bastion of Philosophical Writing
By Clive Thompson 01.18.08
Recently I read a novella that posed a really deep question: What would
happen if physical property could be duplicated like an MP3 file? What if a
poor society could prosper simply by making pirated copies of cars, clothes,
or drugs that cure fatal illnesses?
The answer Cory Doctorow offers in his novella After the Siege is that you'd
get a brutal war. The wealthy countries that invented the original objects
would freak out, demand royalties from the developing ones, and, when they
didn't get them, invade. Told from the perspective of a young girl trying to
survive in a poor country being bombed by well-off adversaries, After the
Siege is an absolute delight, by turns horrifying, witty, and touching.
Technically, After the Siege is a work of science fiction. But as with so
many sci-fi stories, it works on two levels, exploring real-world issues
like the plight of African countries that can't afford AIDS drugs. The
upshot is that Doctorow's fiction got me thinking
