The Caves of Steel

 

I recently reread The Caves of Steel by Isaac Asimov. I've read it many times before, but I noticed something I hadn't seen before.

It was written in the 50s, but the story happens thousands of years in the future. All of Earth's inhabitants live cheek by jowl, enclosed in giant monolithic Cities. Everything is regulated, centralised and efficient. Food - mostly artificial yeast cultures - is rationed and eaten in huge communal dining rooms. Poor people eat nothing else, but those with higher status may earn the right to a real chicken drumstick - or even to eat at home a few times a week. Toilet and washing facilities are communal - a basin in your own home is another hard-earned privilege. Population is controlled. Houses are small, and the poorest live in grim barracks.

The reason for this? It's the only option, owing to the massive population of earth, which has now reached a whopping 8 billion!

Wait a minute. We're at 8 billion now...