History Literature / JenniferGovernment

Often compared with the {{dystopia}} novel ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', ''Jennifer Government'' explores the opposite premise - a dystopia wherein the state has ''too little'' power, allowing the unchecked abuse of power by non-state actors. Taxation was abolished long ago, which one character points to as the beginning of serious problems since it removed people from any sort of investment in the larger society, and almost all government services (including law enforcement and road repair) have been privatized.[[note]]The usual first-world percentage of GDP tied up in government taxation and spending is 40-60%, the bulk of this going towards education and keeping citizens alive and well. Pre-modern/liberal/libertarian states which spent on the level of the USA in the book, such as the real-life USA in 1850 or Qing and Republican China, never mobilized more than 4% of GDP outside wartime. Such states sometimes find themselves ''unable'' to tax more money even when they want to and so have to resort to making/'printing' money even in peacetime.[[/note]] The Government only has the power to investigate crimes against private property and life, and only the funding to help those who can pay.

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: A lot. Hack despite his part in arranging the Nike massacre ends up getting away with his girlfriend, Claire, to live a new life. Billy ends up finally skiing in Aspen with a new girlfriend despite his own involvement in almost killing the President. John Nike is a DownplayedTrope spends twelve years in prison for his crimes despite the murder of multiple kids, the assassination of the US President, and other capital crimes. Played with as while John is a free man, his SmugSnake attitude offends the one man who could give him a high paying job again.]]

* AwesomeMcCoolname: One of the main characters is a French immigrant who changed his name to Buy. As he works for Mitsui, his full name is Buy Mitsui.

-->"You're ''arresting'' me? Are you serious? I don't belong in ''jail''!"
-->"And yet," she said.

* ProtagonistTitle: Named for Jennifer, an employee of the Government.

* PromotedToParent: [[spoiler:Buy, who ends up spontaneously looking after Kate despite knowing nothing about kids, does so extremely well and ends up her stepfather.]]

* CharacterTitle: After the protagonist, Jennifer, an employee of the Government.

* LukeIAmYourFather: [[spoiler: John Nike is Kate's biological father, though he never tells her in person.]]

* PoliticalCorrectnessIsEvil: How people in the United States view "Socialist" countries, such as most of Europe, including the belief that the government will ''cripple the siblings of disabled children'' in order to make sure that they are equal. A teacher points out that the socialist countries don't actually do that. This is possibly a shout-out to [[Literature/HarrisonBergeron Vonnegut]].

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: How people in the United States view "Socialist" countries, such as most of Europe, including the belief that the government will ''cripple the siblings of disabled children'' in order to make sure that they are equal. A teacher points out that the socialist countries don't actually do that. This is possibly a shout-out to [[Literature/HarrisonBergeron Vonnegut]].

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Averted, surprisingly without any lawsuits. The evil corporations that are trying to overthrow the US government include Nike, McDonalds, Burger King, and the NRA.

* {{Jerkass}}: Both Johns, Violet, Holly, and many minor characters. In a society that reveres unregulated capitalism, jerks and selfishness are considered virtues. Hence the characters routinely insult each other and have AllAboutMe attitudes.
* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: A lot. Hack despite his part in arranging the Nike massacre ends up getting away with his girlfriend, Claire, to live a new life. Billy ends up finally skiing in Aspen with a new girlfriend despite his own involvement in almost killing the President. John Nike is a DownplayedTrope spends twelve years in prison for his crimes despite the murder of multiple kids, the assassination of the US President, and other capital crimes.]]

%%* {{Jerkass}}: Both Johns, Violet, Holly, and many minor characters.
%%* TheLancer: Calvin Government is this to his partner, Jennifer.

%%* NiceGuy: Hack for the first half of the novel, and Buy.

%%* StrawmanPolitical: To the point of self-parody.

%%* WritingAroundTrademarks: Averted, surprisingly without any lawsuits.

* CapitalismIsBad: The book's message is that TheUnfettered variety of Capitalism is especially detrimental.

Often compared with the {{dystopia}} novel ''Literature/NineteenEightyFour'', ''Jennifer Government'' explores the opposite premise - a dystopia wherein the state has ''too little'' power, [[NotSoDifferent allowing the unchecked abuse of power by non-state actors]]. Taxation was abolished long ago, which one character points to as the beginning of serious problems since it removed people from any sort of investment in the larger society, and almost all government services (including law enforcement and road repair) have been privatized.[[note]]The usual first-world percentage of GDP tied up in government taxation and spending is 40-60%, the bulk of this going towards education and keeping citizens alive and well. Pre-modern/liberal/libertarian states which spent on the level of the USA in the book, such as the real-life USA in 1850 or Qing and Republican China, never mobilized more than 4% of GDP outside wartime. Such states sometimes find themselves ''unable'' to tax more money even when they want to and so have to resort to making/'printing' money even in peacetime.[[/note]] The Government only has the power to investigate crimes against private property and life, and only the funding to help those who can pay.

* BettyAndVeronica: Hack's choice between sweet, visionary Claire and forceful, greedy Violet.

** Jennifer's entire motivation throughout the book has far more to do with her personal history with John than it does actually bringing justice to dead teenagers
** The reason Hack usurps Claire's group is to avenge himself against the same John Nike, and by extension the company itself. Subconciously, it appears to have been the idea from the beginning, but he only explicitly embarks on the path after he's fired.
* {{Jerkass}}: Both Johns, Violet, Holly, and many minor characters.
* TheLancer: Calvin Government is this to his partner, Jennifer.

* LawEnforcementInc: The Police, and NRA, though both are closer to mercenary services. The NRA even has a private airforce and tanks. ''Tanks!'' Not just knockoffs or ancient Russian Surplus, either; the [=M1A1=] Abrams is specifically named, though it could well be obsolete by the time the book takes place.

* MeaningfulName: People use the name of their employer as their surname, hence all these Billy Bechtels and Jennifer Governments.

* NiceGuy: Hack for the first half of the novel, and Buy.

* PoliticalCorrectnessGoneMad: How people in the United States view "Socialist" countries, such as most of Europe, including the belief that the government will ''cripple the siblings of disabled children'' in order to make sure that they are equal. A teacher points out that the socialist countries do not actually do that.
** Possibly a shout-out to [[Literature/HarrisonBergeron Vonnegut]].

* SkeletonGovernment: Taxes were abolished years before the events of the book, these days the government mostly tries to prevent crime as it happens, and investigate them if the victims can pay for the investigation.

* StrawmanPolitical: To the point of self-parody.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Surprisingly averted for a {{dystopia}} story: the other executives realize the insanity that John Nike's plans would lead them to, and choose to work with the Government to get things straightened out again.]]

* WritingAroundTrademarks: Averted, surprisingly without any lawsuits.

* AnarchyIsChaos: Averted, despite most of the world devolving into anarcho-capitalism. The novel explores a lot of the flaws of the society, including a lack of inhibitions on those who hold power, but there is never a collapse of society into chaos.

** Buy, one of the nicest guys you could hope to meet, ends up killing a man.[[spoiler:It's John Nike and in self defence, so no slight on his character.]]

* BigBad: John Nike.

* CorporateWarfare: Very narrowly averted.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The novel deconstructs the {{dystopia}} fiction genre by flipping its idea of totalitarianism, and exploring the flaws of a society where there is no authority to force accountability for those who have power. Basically, the message is if government becomes weak and lacks power, it will create a power vacuum that will likely be filled by something much less accountable to individual citizens.
* CowboyCop: Jennifer herself.

* {{Dystopia}}: Anything goes if you have the money for it. Everything is privatised, down to emergency services.

* HumiliationConga: [[spoiler:The main John Nike]] gets one at the very end. [[spoiler:After having his attempt to overthrow the government shot down in front of all his peers, he's arrested by the very woman who he thought he'd had killed. Twelve years of prison later, not only can he literally not get a single job he comes across, he's given a verbal smackdown by the Pepsi liason who he'd laughed out of the room]]

* HypocriticalHumour: Hack gets annoyed at a fleeing patron stealing trainers during the attack on Nike, only to realise he was planning on doing exactly that during his own escape.

''Jennifer Government'' is a 2003 novel by Max Barry about a Corporate {{Dystopia}} where the government is powerless. Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, [[{{ExpandedStatesOfAmerica}}the United States has become a globe-spanning corporate empire including The Americas (bar Cuba), the British Isles, South Africa, India, Japan, and Australia]] - a recent acquisition where most of the book takes place. A map provided in the book identifies some countries as "affiliates" and others as "socialist" and "fragmented markets." Government taxation and spending are things of the past, people take the surnames of their employer company, and the corporations are above the handful of laws they have allowed to remain.

The story begins when CorruptCorporateExecutive John Nike signs employee Hack Nike up for a new guerilla marketing scheme, [[MurderIsTheBestSolution killing a dozen customers that buy the latest model of their shoes]] to raise street cred. After Hack outsources the kill to NRA via [[LawEnforcementInc the privatised police]], the Government gets involved. The investigation is led by Jennifer Government, a single mother/secret agent who seems to have a personal stake in solving the case. Another story thread follows Hack's self-employed girlfriend, Violet (later Violet [=ExxonMobil=]) getting caught up in the war between US Alliance and Team Advantage, two "Customer Loyalty" programs that are effectively competing with each other and the government for control of the nation, and Hack getting involved with a group of anti-capitalist activists.

''Jennifer Government'' is a 2003 novel by Max Barry about a [[{{Dystopia}} Corporate Dystopia where the government is powerless]]. Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, [[{{ExpandedStatesOfAmerica}}the United States has become a globe-spanning corporate empire including The Americas (bar Cuba), the British Isles, South Africa, India, Japan, and Australia]] - a recent acquisition where most of the book takes place. A map provided in the book identifies some countries as "affiliates" and others as "socialist" and "fragmented markets." Government taxation and spending are things of the past, people take the surnames of their employer company, and the corporations are above the handful of laws they have allowed to remain.

* DrivenToSuicide: Buy becomes depressed after the girl to whom he gave money to buy sneakers is killed because of the very same shoes. However, he does not know how to use the (very) expensive gun he purchases, and ends up calling Jennifer and asking for help on making the darn thing work. OneThingLedToAnother...

''Jennifer Government'' is a 2003 novel by Max Barry about a [[{{Dystopia}} Corporate Dystopia where the government is powerless]]. Set TwentyMinutesIntoTheFuture, the United States has become a globe-spanning corporate empire including The Americas (bar Cuba), the British Isles, South Africa, India, Japan, and Australia - a recent acquisition where most of the book takes place. A map provided in the book identifies some countries as "affiliates" and others as "socialist" and "fragmented markets." Government taxation and spending are things of the past, people take the surnames of their employer company, and the corporations are above the handful of laws they have allowed to remain.

* CapitalismIsBad: CaptainObvious would like to point this out, granted the book's message is that TheUnfettered variety of Capitalism is especially detrimental.

* {{Deconstruction}}: The novel deconstructs the {{dystopia}} fiction genre by flipping its idea of totalitarianism, and exploring the flaws of a society where there is no authority to force accountability for those who have power. That is, in fact, [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]], when John Nike thinks about how almost all the books writen before the establishment of the current order predict a future dominated by a powerful evil government and considers it an utterly implausible vision. Uncle Sam still exists, but appears to have been warped into the mascot of capitalism itself.

* MegaCorp: US Alliance and Team Advantage, two corporate alliances including the most powerful companies in every field, US Alliance most of the strongest.

* PrivatelyOwnedSociety: Everything, including the Police and even the Government, is privatised.

* SaintlyChurch: The churches run free hospitals.