Story idea: Governments in the future will have predictive technology that allows them to determine whether your newborn child will achieve an income level in a spectrum of: below minimum wage to above a livable wage. In order to maintain a balance in population for “the greater good” and keep wages manageable, governments will offer the child’s lifetime wages to parents of a newborn who will not achieve an economic status greater than a livable wage. The parents are required to donate their child to science in exchange for the wages (which are also paid out as tax exempt wages). The parents do not get to know what scientific study their child becomes a part of.
Steve and Martha have twins and only one of the twins is predicted to achieve economic prosperity, while the other will not. Steve and Martha then have to deal with the hard choice of keeping both children (which they cannot afford) or keeping only the one child who will achieve economic prosperity. The dilemma is further exacerbated by the notion that the one child not given up to science will partially achieve economic prosperity because of the wealth attained from giving up the other child to science!
Being Jared 