Inside Vernor Vinge's FBI File

VERNOR VINGE-THE Hugo Award-winning science fiction author who passed away in March 2024—imagined a world where individuals, not governments, held the power.

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His 1981 novella True Names fea- tured hackers known as “warlocks” fight- ing a corrupt, incompetent government, while his 1985 novel The Peace War made the case for anarcho-capitalism.

“People are more diverse and distrib- uted and resourceful and even coor- dinated than any government,” Vinge told Reason in 2007. “That's a power we already have in free markets,” he said. His ideas and influence extended far beyond libertarian circles; his 1993 essay, “The Coming Technological Singularity,” has become a guiding concept in the modern tech industry.