Jennifer Government

Jennifer Government (titled Logoland for the German and Italian editions) is a black comedy written by Max Barry. In 2003 it became Barry's second published novel, following Syrup in 1999. The novel is set in a world of the near future in which most nations (now controlled by the United States) are dominated by for-profit corporate entities while the Government's power is extremely limited. It is similar in satiric intent to George Orwell's 1984, but speaks to the implications of too little government power, rather than too much. Because of this, some readers see the novel as a criticism of libertarianism.

Setting

The story takes place several years (what year exactly is never mentioned) after the United States has taken over the entire Western Hemisphere (except for Cuba), South Africa, the United Kingdom, Ireland, Iceland, India, Japan, South Korea, Oceania, Thailand, Myanmar, and (most recently) Australia. Russia is said to be affiliated with the US, but not fully absorbed; whether or not Russia actually belongs to the US is not explained. With so much land under the US's control, international trade becomes no longer needed, and thus the US cuts itself off from countries that it has not yet taken over. Amongst these other countries is the European Union, which is thought of by Americans to be "socialist" (though it is hinted at that Europe never became socialist and is instead still the same as it is in modern times; the "socialist" concept is possibly a result of corporate propaganda). The language of all US lands is now "American", the language formerly known as English (only American English is spoken now; British English no longer exists).

Either before or after this take over, taxation is abolished, which eventually leads to the US becoming an anarcho-capitalist state (referred to as "capitalizm" in the book). In this new state, the Government is privatized, having to do work only within its budget. This makes the Government unable to write new laws, leaving it with its only job being the prevention of crime. Crimes can also be solved, but only if they can be paid by the victim or the victim's family.

Outside of the Government there are two other "law enforcement" agencies: the Police and the NRA. The Police is now also privatized, having been reduced to a combination of law enforcement and mercenary agency, but only gets involved if paid to do so (police bribery is legal and routine). The NRA has meanwhile become a complete mercenary-for-hire organization able to deploy a fully equipped army, now as powerful as the US Army (the latter organization appears to no longer exist).

Most large corporations are now allied into one of two massive customer loyalty programs, US Alliance and Team Advantage, which compete with each other in an extremely fierce manner. US Alliance members include Nike, IBM, Pepsi, McDonald's, the NRA, and several of the most popular brand-name corporations. Team Advantage members include the Police, ExxonMobil, Burger King, and several companies that hold secondary status to the popularity of US Alliance corporations.

People now take the surnames of the corporations they work for. For example, an employee of ExxonMobil whose first name is Dan would be named Dan ExxonMobil. A person with two jobs hyphenates their name; thus a person working for both Nike and McDonald's would have the last name Nike-McDonald's. Charity workers can also use their charity's name in a hyphenated surname, but this is uncommon. Unemployed people have no surnames, and thus go only by their first names.

Schools are now sponsored and controlled by corporations that sell products to children, such as McDonald's and Mattel. Though little is said of the education given at them, it is hinted that much of it is corporate propaganda. Children who attend school are given the corporate sponsor's name as a surname, with a hyphenated name sometimes given to point out the surname of the parents.

Other notable new aspects of society include ambulances that require pre-payment before they can be dispatched, the abolishment of welfare, total deregulation of weapons, and privately owned roads that have toll booths set up on them.

Plot

As part of a scheme hatched by the ambitious marketing executive John Nike, a lower-level merchandising worker named Hack Nike is contracted to kill teenagers and steal their new Nike Mercury sneakers, priced at $2,500 a pair (and costing 85 cents to manufacture), in an effort to improve the "street cred" of the shoe. When he subcontracts the hit to The Police, who themselves subcontract it to the NRA, the plan goes awry. Meanwhile, Jennifer Government, a Government agent with a barcode tattoo under her left eye, is tracking down who is responsible, fueled by a personal score to settle.

Characters

• Jennifer Government - Government agent with a barcode tattoo, later revealed to be that of Malibu Barbie. Jen has a vendetta against John Nike, whom she once had a relationship with as well as a daughter.
• Hack Nike (later simply Hack) - Merchandising officer for Nike. After being semi-forced into signing a contract to kill teenagers for John Nike's new marketing plan, Hack accidentally sets off a domino effect of crime. Though not a very assertive person at first, he becomes a threat to Nike later on when he joins an anti-corporate terrorist group in order to get back at Nike.
• John Nike - Vice president of marketing for Nike and the novel's antagonist. John initially sets out to improve sales of Nike Mercurys; later, he sets out a plan to destroy the Government in an attempt to make large corporations the only ruling power in the world.
• Violet (later Violet ExxonMobil) - Hack's unemployed girlfriend. Violet initially sets out to sell a computer virus to ExxonMobil, officially to test the corporations computer defensive systems, but becomes caught up in the fight between US Alliance and Team Advantage when she is contracted to use her virus in an attack against rival corporations.
• Billy NRA - A fired construction worker who wants nothing but to be able to go skiing. In his attempts to go on vacation, Billy accidentally joins the NRA, where he is forced into several extremely deadly assignments that he just barely survives. Despite being very skilled at sharpshooting, Billy is unwilling to kill anyone, and often runs away from assignments. Partially due to his lack of intelligence, Billy is repeatedly apprehended by the Government, which attempts to use him to infiltrate the NRA; in turn the NRA does the same, only to accidentally allow him to escape.
• Buy Mitsui - A stockbroker who is having doubts about his job and his life. Buy is a witness to the first Nike shootings; his inability to save one of the victims gives him the impression that nothing he will be able to do in his life afterwards will amount to anything of any importance. He becomes depressed and suicidal as a result. After a failed attempt at suicide (he wasn't able to release the safety on a gun he purchased) he contacts Jennifer Government for information on how to use the gun. He develops a relationship with Jennifer because of this, and he is dragged into the battle between Jennifer and John Nike.

Adaptations

To help promote the novel, Barry created a spin-off Internet game entitled Jennifer Government: NationStates, in which players run their own countries.

In 2001, the film rights were optioned to Section 8, a production company owned by Steven Soderbergh and George Clooney. In 2005, Louis Mellis and Dave Scinto, writers of Sexy Beast, were chosen by Clooney and Soderbergh to write the screenplay.

ISBNs

• ISBN 0385507593 (hardcover, 2003)
• ISBN 1400030927 (paperback, 2004)
• ISBN 140007634X (e-book, 2004)

External links

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• Max Barry's Jennifer Government page (http://www.maxbarry.com/jennifergovernment/)
• Jennifer Government: NationStates website (http://www.nationstates.net/)