Riders of the Purple Wage is probably Farmer's most thematically joyful and technically innovative piece of writing.

In the "Afterword" Farmer included with this novella's first publication, he explains that he was inspired to write it by the "Triple Revolution Document," a memorandum sent in 1964 to President Lyndon Johnson by a group of American liberals and social radicals. This document argues that a "triple revolution" in three areas — cybernation, weaponry, and human rights — requires a fundamental re-examination of our values and institutions. Furthermore, this revolution's resulting social problems can be solved only by "planned societies," or societies based on massive government support of education, a guaranteed annual income, and "an economy of abundance" allowing citizens the freedom to choose either to pursue an artistic career or not to work at all. This almost touchingly naive and optimistic exercise in social planning gave Farmer the...