he talks about the move away from the cities because of the ready availability of inexpensive and fast personal transport.

Simaks’ book is a fantasy, and not even a very good one- though I enjoy it because of the way he deals with the dogs.

What it does do, though, is highlight the way we are being controlled. Rahm and Daley before him are trying to make Chicago a car-free city. Gas prices are driving people to smaller cars and making them drive less.

An immobile population is much easier to control. Think about that.