I read the subject and thought about it for a long time. Why did I have to think for so long? Let’s go in order.

“Snow Crash” is a classic work in the cyberpunk genre, meaning high tech low life. A hereditary (though I’m not sure if mandatory) trait of cyberpunk is the weakness of the state compared to corporations. Specifically in Stephenson’s work, this is expressed in the widespread proliferation of contractual corporate territorial jurisdictions—US territory is divided into numerous entities managed according to one model or another, distributed on a franchise basis. The Federals also persist as a very strange, gradually fading corporation that has already lost control over the army, navy, secret services, the legislative process, and the judiciary—earning only through unrestrained monetary emission, the privatization of the remains of federal property, and the implicit leasing of the extremely inefficient labor of the remaining budget workers, whose loyalty to the existing order is, for me personally, the most fantastical part. Apparently, the absurdity of this motivation is a conscious plot device. After all, even in Russia, there are quite loyal librarians, museum workers, kindergarten teachers, and other low-paid people working for the state. The difference is that in Stephenson’s world, the Federals provide people with no services and are completely stewing in their own juices.

Thanks to what does high tech exist in the world of “Snow Crash”? This is generally clear. No taxes. No prohibitions. No regulations. First to think of something new—get it implemented. Implemented—get the profit. Therefore, we see serious progress in IT, weapons technology, transport, genetic engineering, and cybernetics. And where do we not see it? We don’t see progress in food production (and this despite successes in genetic engineering). In other words, creating a radioisotope guard dog is no problem, but a radioisotope cell culture that could synthesize tasty and healthy organics from water and stone crumbs using that energy is, for some reason, a problem.

All that’s left is to understand where the low life comes from in this world. This became the subject of my long reflections, as a result of which I formulated a hypothesis about exactly what fantastic assumption generates such a world. The assumption concerns human motivation and states: the values of freedom and, especially, self-expression are immeasurably higher than the values of security.

This explains everything. A new drug appeared with unknown side effects? Holy shit, give me two! Need to ensure pizza delivery anywhere within half an hour? Creating a dense network of kitchens is for weaklings; we’ll just hire the best racers and deliver pizza in racing cars, otherwise it’s not sporty. They pay peanuts, fuck with your head, and force you to do things whose meaning you don’t understand? This is a fucking great role-playing game, I’m the ideal federal employee, a priest of the state cult, of course I agree to this job! Need to deliver a small package from point A to point B in the shortest possible time? Who said “drones”? Throw him out the window. Our couriers will ride skateboards on the highways, clinging to trucks. A company appeared that hires skateboarders to deliver small items? Great, let’s call couriers for every little thing, they’re so kawaii! Fuck the internet, I want to send a handwritten postcard.

And since considerations of self-preservation are practically not a deterrent for people, they will constantly violate others’ boundaries to achieve their own goals. They will invest an extraordinary amount in means of immediate self-expression. Even more in the means of achieving goals of self-expression, regardless of the opinion of others. Disproportionately much in the means of maintaining an exotic order you’ve established in your jurisdiction. And spending money just to eat—my god, how boring! I’d rather wait for rush hour and order a pizza. Not because I’m craving pizza. But because I want it to fail to arrive within half an hour, and have the mafia boss personally apologize to me for the delivery delay. Now that’s a thrill! Now that’s a news event!

In short, the low standard of living in cyberpunk by our standards is a conscious choice of its inhabitants. Roughly the same as the conscious choice of tourists to live in tents or a hermit in a secluded skete. There are no objective contraindications to people living a calm, boring, wealthy, and safe life within this same world. They just don’t want it; that’s just how cyberpunks are. By the way, I wouldn’t be surprised if somewhere in Florida in the world of “Snow Crash,” there are plenty of franchises providing elderly people with exactly such a calm and measured life—this doesn’t contradict the canon at all.