Labor issues in science fiction

Wired magazine has an interesting post about class and labor issues in science fiction.

Most sci-fi — at least most good sci-fi — is a metaphor for something that’s happening, or has happened, in the real world: war, inequality, fear of the “other.” And yes, every so often, labor issues. Since H.G. Wells nestled commentary on the class structure of Victorian England into the pages of 1895’s The Time Machine, science-fiction has offered the perfect template for commentary on current socioeconomic and sociopolitical issues with its focus on “what could happen?” futuristic utopias and dystopias. So, in honor of Labor Day, (which, coincidentally, became a U.S. holiday just a year before Wells published Time Machine) we’ve decided to take a look back at some of the messages about class and labor in genre movies, books and television from Metropolis to Elysium. Not all of them are resounding successes in terms of execution and/or message, but all of them share a common goal of showing the plight of disenfranchised men and women — and the labor issues that continue to trouble our real-life society — through sci-fi eyes. –Angela Watercutter

Source for full article:Wired magazine