La plaga de Midas y otras distopías contra el capitalismo

In the supposedly idyllic United States of the 1950s—an era defined by consumerism and the explosion of pop culture—a group of writers from a fringe genre challenged the blissful American Dream from the pages of magazines that looked childish. Through their stories, they offered a scathing critique of the evolution of the very system that appeared to be making society flourish. One of these writers became the editor of the most prominent magazine in this field of speculative fiction: the legendary *Galaxy*. This was Frederik Pohl, a former member of the Communist Party Youth who had renounced Stalinism but not Marxism, and who later gained firsthand insight into the inner workings of capitalism while working at New York advertising agencies. Pohl achieved success with the legendary novel *The Space Merchants*—co-authored with his frequent collaborator Cyril M. Kornbluth—but he also penned dozens of incisive stories. Set in futuristic worlds that can seem somewhat naive to modern eyes, these tales revealed keen insights into the potential for his country to descend into dystopia. Pohl—who maintained his combative spirit until his death well into the current century—extrapolated trends to explore themes such as hyper-consumerism, the omnipresence of advertising, the consolidation of oligarchies, the use of technology to exploit workers, racism, pandemics, the ethical boundaries of medicine, the rise of resigned new majorities, and even apps for finding romantic partners. These stories had never been collected until this volume, which includes texts never before published in Spanish. It stands as definitive proof that scenarios we might face tomorrow have long been subjects of debate among the most inquisitive science fiction writers and readers.