16

I read this short story at least 30 years ago. I suppose it was in a collection, since I rarely read magazines. I don't remember if I read it in English or in French, but it might have been a translation from any language.

All of Earth's food production is just enough to feed the human population, which is strictly regulated : no baby may be conceived unless someone dies. But there is a last legal zoo, and the food to support the few animals there perforce keeps the human population down by a few units. So a very high psychological pressure is put on the owners, even though they are legally allowed to keep their animals. But after hearing for years that they are preventing a few more humans to be born, they finally give up and euthanise their last animals.

The last line of the story is something like "and finally the human population on Earth was allowed to reach its absolute maximum".

Improve this question

1 Answer 1

Reset to default
16

2430 AD by Isaac Asimov. It's been published in a few collections and anthologies,but you probably saw it in Buy Jupiter and Other Stories, which has been published in English and French.

From the link:

But one man, Cranwitz, regarded as a deviant and eccentric because he keeps a few animals as pets, refuses to get rid of these animals, the last non-human inhabitants of the planet.

He is finally persuaded by his sector representatives to exterminate his pets, but also commits suicide. This leaves Earth in 'perfection', with its fifteen trillion inhabitants, twenty billion tons of human brain and the 'exquisite nothingness of uniformity'.

This story is available at The Internet Archive.

Improve this answer
4
  • 5
    This story has an interesting backstory of its own. It was commissioned by an editor who wanted a story inspired by (a quotation about? a poem about? can't recall) a future in which everyone was numbered and orderly and nobody had original thoughts. He wrote this, but it turned out that they wanted a story that contradicted the idea. He wrote a second story titled "The Greatest Asset" that is also included in Buy Jupiter. You may be interested in the pair.
    – Jason Patterson
    Commented Jul 12 at 0:33
  • Thank you ! I'll try and find "The Greatest Asset" too.
    – Alfred
    Commented Jul 12 at 0:38
  • 1
    I found this one by remembering the Greatest Asset!
    – Andrew
    Commented Jul 12 at 0:46
  • @JasonPatterson The quotation is "I often have a nightmare vision of a future world in which there are billions of people, all numbered and registered, with not a gleam of genius anywhere, not an original mind, a rich personality, on the whole packed globe." It's attributed to J. B. Priestley, but I've not been able to find the original source - it only appears in articles about "2430 AD". Presumably Asmiov didn't make it up himself, but it's not in the standard lists of Priestley quotations.
    – Tevildo
    Commented Jul 12 at 22:37

Your Answer

By clicking “Post Your Answer”, you agree to our terms of service and acknowledge you have read our privacy policy.

Not the answer you're looking for? Browse other questions tagged or ask your own question.