As Jesse and Jack both mentioned, as the story has progressed, dystopian themes have become increasingly apparent. While at first I was surprised by the speed at which the U.S. seems to be deteriorating in the story (what with the riots, and economic slide, and declaration of no confidence from the Chinese Central Banker, etc.), upon reflection that speed seems fairly reasonable. The roots of the economic and political problems the U.S. is facing seem to have been around for some time, and oftentimes in our own world the really visible changes or conflicts happen rather quickly (for example, the Arab Spring). The deterioration and rebellion presented in this book also reminded me a bit of the Arab Spring in terms of the role that the army (or National Guard) plays in these uprisings (as it’s rather unclear if  their all working for the same people, or whose side their actually on).

I also agree with Jack that the focus on consumerism in this society serves as a distraction to people, allowing them to ignore the U.S.’s problems until it is too late to solve anything. While people do seem aware of politics to some degree, (such as Lenny’s parents who support Rubenstein), and while politics does play somewhat of a prominent role in the Media (such as Noah’s friend Hartford Brown’s politically commentary show (which he mixes with video of himself having sex)), normal citizens seem removed from the political process itself, content to discuss or critique policy in a shallow way as opposed to really trying to change it. In some ways, this behavior is not too dissimilar to current behavior in America—though many people voice their opinions on politics with friends or family, fewer actually bother to do anything to create change or become part of the political process. In the story, though, this attitude has been projected into the future, and the result of this seems to be that the U.S. government no longer represents the people, but is rather a sham, and is simply lead by one person, Defense Secretary Rubenstein.