Philip K. Dick has done interesting work anticipating the advent of billionaires possessing technological tools so powerful that they easily circumvent and displace traditional models of governance.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? is rather a philosophical inquiry into the character of empathy and its place in our understanding of human nature. Bladerunner, the film based on this novel, integrates Dick's theme of high-tech billionaires, but in the novel the technocrats are secondary to the philosophical theme.
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| Dr. Eldon Tyrell in Bladerunner |
It is one of Dick's most important novels but in regard to the theme of monolithic technocracy, these two novels come to mind first:
The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch
The Penultimate Truth
There are two themes in this novel that could compare to our
contemporary situation: 1) In the novel, ecological
devastation following a nuclear war requires isolating human beings below ground in subterranean
cities (called "ant tanks"). The environmental threat, however, is exaggerated to
control the population, which brings us to the second point of possible
comparison: 2) The elitist control of news and media is total. The
super-rich manipulate their propaganda to keep the Earth's population
underground.
Artist's statement: "Nicholas St. James emerges from his ant tank, the 'Tom
Mix'; he is immediately spotted by two leadies, which are coming to get
him." Source
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