Social Issues
Warren is a social activist. He has lived in San Fran for about 10 years. His passion is fighting for worker rights for the peasants who work on farmland around San Fran. He fights for higher wages, shorter hours (they often are forced to work 80 hours per week) and better working conditions. The government does not support Warren’s passion. In fact, he is on their wanted list as a trouble maker.
Warren cannot use the APM system. He know that if he buys an APM card (even under an assumed name), it is likely that he will be arrested. His picture is already on file in the APM security system. If he ever would attempt to load an APM carrier, his image would be identified and the police would be waiting for him at the next hub.
The APM system keeps data from every passenger’s travel forever. This is the same data that the APM software needs to operate and become more efficient. This data is also available to the police who may want to track the movement of someone. By tracking Warren’s movement and the movement of others that Warren associates with, the patterns can be used to locate and jail.
-
Sally lives in a town that also has an APM. It has been operational about the same time as San Fran. She used the APM every day when it was first built and the fares were very reasonable. Now the fares have gone up so much that she rarely has money to use the APM.
When the APM was first built, the fares were very cheap. Like in most APM towns the government built the APM in a cooperative effort with business. The operation of the APM was very profitable. Within a few years, a group of wealthy businessman convinced the politicians that they could run the APM better than the City. They bribed many government politicians who became personally wealthy by agreeing to sell the APM to the businessmen. Now the APM is too expensive for many of the city’s poor to ride.
-