"The Mold of Yancy" is a
political
Politics (from , ) is the set of activities that are associated with making decisions in groups, or other forms of power relations among individuals, such as the distribution of resources or status. The branch of social science that studies ...
science fiction
Science fiction (sometimes shortened to Sci-Fi or SF) is a genre of speculative fiction which typically deals with imaginative and futuristic concepts such as advanced science and technology, space exploration, time travel, parallel unive ...
short story by American writer
Philip K. Dick
Philip Kindred Dick (December 16, 1928March 2, 1982), often referred to by his initials PKD, was an American science fiction writer. He wrote 44 novels and about 121 short stories, most of which appeared in science fiction magazines during his l ...
, first published in 1955. It is published in volume four of ''
The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick
''The Collected Stories of Philip K. Dick'' is a collection of 118 science fiction stories by American writer Philip K. Dick. It was first published by Underwood-Miller in 1987 as a five volume set. See Philip K. Dick bibliography for informatio ...
'',
The Days of Perky Pat
"The Days of Perky Pat" is a science fiction short story by American writer Philip K. Dick, first published in 1963 in ''Amazing'' magazine.
Plot
In this novel, survivors of a global thermonuclear war live in isolated enclaves in California, ...
.
[Publication data fro]
''Locus'' magazine's index
/ref>
"The Mold of Yancy" follows an investigation into an off-Earth colony where a seemingly benign totalitarian
Totalitarianism is a form of government and a political system that prohibits all opposition parties, outlaws individual and group opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high if not complete degree of control and regul ...
society has emerged. The eponymous Yancy is a popular public figure who is actually a virtual person, created by teams of 'Yance-men'. All aspects of day-to-day life are commentated on by Yancy through advertisements and broadcast shows, from breakfast cereal to music to politics. The populace of the society are essentially being de-politicized and homogenised by the messages of Yancy. All of Yancy's opinions are the least controversial possible; the way his speech is written appears to be