Reality tv shows have become more popularized these last few years. Despite the fact that they're not intellectually stimulating, don't have a plot, and are probably not even completely "reality," people love them! Reading about the Metaverse made me think about Second Life, which interestingly enough, was modeled after the Metaverse in Snow Crash. Just like reality shows seem to dominate television these days, games like the Sims entertain by trying to recreate ordinary everyday activities. I personally don't understand how this can be interesting; what is the goal of this "game"? It doesn't have an end goal, unlike traditional video games. There is no competition because there are no winners or losers. If there's no competition and no purpose, where is the thrill?

Early in Snow Crash, when Hiro still has his job as "The Deliverator," he claims to like that job because of the life-or-death, "life on the line," fight or flight adrenaline it induces. "It's like being a kamikaze pilot. Your mind is clear" (5). Unlike that monotonous cubicle job that he could have as a programmer working for a large corporation, it's exciting because there is a goal. Make that delivery in 30 minutes or under, or you're toast. Quite literally. (Isn't it hilarious that the Mafia is in the pizza delivering industry? How fitting...) He's trying to set a PR every time someone orders a pizza.

"Life in America" is steeped in meaningless jobs. Hiro observes that "people just rely on plain old competition...CosaNostra Pizza doesn't have any competition. Competition goes against the Mafia ethic" (5). This corporate version of competition is denigrated. Interoffice, intraoffice politics, and such rely on competition to generate more success, much in the same vein as the technological advancements that came out of the Cold War: who can do it better? It's a "rat race" (5).

Hiro thinks that competition eliminates self-motivation. "Life in America" has strayed far from the Protestant work ethic that helped capitalism evolve. There is no innate desire to work hard for moral or familial obligations. That's why Hiro likes a job that forces him to operate to the best of his abilities. "You don't work harder because you're competing against some identical operation down the street. You work harder because everything is on the line. Your name, your honor, your family, your life" (5).