F. Paul Wilson

Francis Paul Wilson (b. May 17, 1946) is an author, born in Jersey City, New Jersey. He writes novels and short stories primarily in the science fiction and horror genres. His debut novel was Healer (1976). Wilson is also a practicing Osteopathic family physician, having graduated from the Kirksville College of Osteopathic Medicine with a D.O. degree in 1973.

Related Topics:
May 17 - 1946 - Author - Jersey City - New Jersey - Novel - Short stories - Science fiction - Horror - Osteopathic - Physician - Kirksville - 1973

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Among Wilson's best-known characters is the anti-hero Repairman Jack. Throughout his writing - especially in his earlier science fiction works (most notably An Enemy of the State) - Wilson has included explicitly libertarian political philosophy which extends to his "Repairman Jack" series. He won the first Prometheus Award in 1979 for his novel Wheels Within Wheels and the most recent (2004) for Sims. The Libertarian Futurist Society has also honored Wilson with their Hall of Fame Award for Healer (in 1990) and An Enemy of the State (in 1991).

Related Topics:
Anti-hero - Repairman Jack - Libertarian - Prometheus Award - 1979 - 2004 - 1990 - 1991

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Like most American science fiction writers directly or indirectly influenced by Campbell's view of the genre as a literature of ideas, Wilson makes use of his work to speculatively explore trends and technologies as they're currently manifesting. No better example can be found than in his novel An Enemy of the State (published in 1980), which was written during the 1970s, an era that saw stagflation develop in the U.S. economy. In that period, inflation in the United States reached its highest level since World War II, due entirely to the incontinent issue of fiat money by the Federal Reserve. In Wilson's novel, he extends the "squeeze" of confiscatory taxation and currency debauchment to a conclusion involving a Weimar Republic-style hyperinflation that brings down a galactic empire - and from which humanity's only hope of rescue arrives in the form of an anarchist conspiracy to complete the Empire's downfall and replace that government's "official counterfeit" with honest money. Throughout this tense and well-written cautionary tale, Wilson runs chapter headings quoting from economic works such as Fiat Money Inflation in Francehttp://onlinebooks.library.upenn.edu/webbin/gutbook/lookup?num=6949, enabling the reader to readily understand that the government's "monetary policy" is simply another kind of thieving government confidence game.

Related Topics:
Campbell's - 1980 - Stagflation - Inflation - United States - Fiat money - Weimar Republic - Hyperinflation

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