"A Happy Day in 2381"
by Robert Silverberg
Form: Short story
Year: 1970
ID: 421
Publication history:
- ????: LHomme Descend du Songe, Omnibus Mass market paperback, in French as Jour de bonheur en 2381
- 1971: Moonferns and Starsongs, Ballantine Mass market paperback, ISBN 345-02278-5, 244 pp.
- 1971: The World Inside, Doubleday Hard cover book
- 1972: The World Inside, Signet Mass market paperback, 174 pp.
- 1972: A Day in the Life, Harper & Row Hard cover book
- 1973: Survival Printout, Vintage Mass market paperback
- 1973: Total Effect: Survival Printout, Vintage Mass market paperback
- 1976: The City: 2000 A.D., Fawcett Mass market paperback
- 1976: Earth in Transit, Laurel Leaf Mass market paperback
- 1976: Nova 1,
- 1977: Dertien Dwaalwegen, Meulenhoff , ISBN 90-290-0667-6, 320 pp., in Dutch as Een Blijde Dag in 2381
- 1978: The Best of Robert Silverberg Volume 2, Gregg Hard cover book
- 1978: Science Fiction: Contemporary Mythology, Harper & Row Mass market paperback
- 1983: The World Inside, Bantam Mass market paperback, ISBN 0-553-23279-7, 167 pp.
- 1985: Welten der Zukunft VII: Ein glcklicher Tag im Jahr 2381, Heyne Mass market paperback, ISBN 3453312767, in German as Ein glcklicher Tag im Jahr 2381
- 1996: Chute dans le réel, Omnibus Hard cover book, ISBN 2258040590, 1070 pp., in French as Jour de bonheur en 2381
Other resources:
[None on record]
Comments:
One of those if-this-goes-on stories, this one sparked by Catholic doctrine regarding the sinfulness of birth control. In 2381, the Earth is dominated by a culture that believes life is sacred, therefore they should make as much of it as possible. All society's resources are geared towards this end. People live in massive pyramidal buildings housing hundreds of thousands each, leaving the majority of land available for farming. The planet's population is 75 billion and climbing. Citizens are expected to start reproducing as soon as their bodies are physically able, and a 17-year-old girl with eleven children is a hero. And they're all very happy (and don't ask what happens if you're not). This story forms Chapter 1 of The World Inside.