"No Renewal" by

While listening to this story, I thought that there were two conflicts present that were almost intertwined, those conflicts were Man vs. Society and Man vs. Technology. The two are combined only because of the constant views on an elderly man now out casted by the technologically inclined society. During his lifetime he had to endure many hardships such as, the acceptance of euthanasia of the elderly when they reach 50 years of age, the extinction of almost all lifeforms excluding human beings and even seeing the major depletion of natural resources like Trees, Plastics, real food and much more.

Considering all points of the changes this man went through almost seems realistic relating it to the now. Even comparing our current day way of life to how it was 20 years ago there is a significant difference. In the late 1980's and early 1990's there was a major fear of technology advancing so fast that it would lead to our own extinction like it was leading to many different endangered species. Predictions of this catastrophic event are coming closer to a reality not too far away. With the increasing cost of living and decreasing amount of more natural resources we have available it could be possible even in my lifetime, which is a little concerning.

Although some points of the story aren't what I can see happening in the late future like euthanasia of the elderly. In our growing society we are beginning to have a greater acceptance for the elderly which is why I can not see in the future with a dependence of the elderly being put to sleep at age 50. The climactic ending of the story was quite disturbing to picture the man over by the window sill realising that he is now one of the many to be put to sleep and released from this doomed society of man dependant on the world to save them without giving anything back to it.