Thanks for the input. :o) I'm glad that I was able to tickle and tease with this short piece. Actually if you do the math on the premise of the "Santa" system, it averages out to a normal human life span... I think. I was never very good with numbers so you'll just have to trust in my uncanny powers of "guess-timation." What I was hoping to bring out were the positive sides of the system. That it is "rewarding to be good", and no longer is "goodness its own reward". Unfortunately my botched handling of the language made readers latch on to the negative darker side of the system. What this system is designed to eliminate are thieves murderers and psychopaths (and all other types that do society some harm). Unfortunately the system is sooo vague that it also nets in bums, mendicants, vagrants and useless lumps that take up space in front of television sets. I am familiar with both "Soylent Green" and "Logan's Run" and I suppose they might have been strong influences here. Not familiar with the first one though. :o) I would like to point out that while the "Santa" system might be similar to these previous works, my main lead in character is on the other side of that equation, and that I am selling the premise that the system is actually "good" for society. While Logan had some pretty nameless adversaries, my bounty hunter is faced with some equally nameless "statistics that need correction". Logan's problem was pretty straightforward, my bounty hunter is open to the classic complex internal conflicts that made Philip K. Dick's blade runner such an excellent character. Not that I would even attempt to go down that road. :o) How can I rehash this piece and make the positive side a bit more palatable? Thank you for your input. - M

Mind Over Matter
"If you don't mind, then it don't matter."