The Hunger After You're Fed, by James S.A. Corey

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(Near-Future SF) In a world where everyone has basic income, a secretive writer speaks to a generation that struggles to make their comfortable lives meaningful. (3,763 words; Time: 12m)

Rating: ★★★☆☆ Average

"The Hunger After You're Fed," by James S.A. Corey [bio] (edited by Nicholas Thompson), appeared in Wired issue 01|17, published on December 13, 2016 by Condé Nast.

Mini-Review (click to view--possible spoilers)

Pro: Superficially, the narrator simply wants to talk to Héctor but ultimately learns that it isn’t possible. More deeply, the piece explores the question of how humanity would react to a world with no poverty, where everyone enjoyed a basic income sufficient to support their families. What would people replace that focus on staying alive with?

The Hedonistic Treadmill is the controversial idea that no matter what good or bad things happen to you, you’ll settle back to about the same happiness level you had before.

“Those with a ‘why’ to live can bear almost any ‘how’” is a great quote. It’s a loose translation of Friedrich Nietzsche (Twilight of the Idols; 1888) “Hat man sein warum? des Lebens, so verträgt man sich fast mit jedem wie?“

Con: Given the format, there’s not much room for character development. It feels like the introduction to a world where the author might set a more developed story in the future.

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James S.A. Corey Info: Interviews, Websites, ISFDB, FreeSFOnline

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