Mass-immigration occurred concurrently with other major changes that were remoulding Utopian society and suppressing the native people.

Even though the beautiful host of "Good Morning!" smiled continually and appeared impressed with Utopia, one suspected behind the charade lay other feelings. The Big Country had big plans for the World and Utopia's model of society ill-fitted these plans. In the eyes of many powerful Free-for-allers, Utopia appeared little better than a Comsoc nation, and a bad example to others.

As the old Comsoc countries in east Middletopia began to fall, there arose a determination amongst powerful Free-for-all elements to take care of Utopia as well.

Things began to happen. In 1986 the prime minister of Utopia was murdered on the street. At the same time Utopia was to witness major changes to the social structure it had carefully developed since the War. Step by step the limitations on the free movement of capital across national boundaries were abolished, a process that was finally completed in 1989 with the abolition of credit and currency regulations.

Shortly thereafter attempts to defend the Krona ­ Utopia's currency - drove-up interest rates to record levels, which resulted in the bankruptcy of many Utopian companies and mass-unemployment. In order to stave-off bankruptcy threatened banks were compelled to borrow massively from the Utopian Government and abroad. The National debt soared.

The winds of change saw other notable milestones, such as the Mineral Act passed by the Utopian parliament in 1990. Under this act foreign companies were given permission to freely extract minerals in Utopia with no rights of compensation for affected landowners.

During these years Utopia also decided to join the new superpower in the south, the New Empire (NE). In effect, Utopia voluntarily gave up its national sovereignty. Certain politicians had decided earlier to make Utopia's national bank independent, but soon afterwards it was obliged to subordinate itself to the requirements of the NE Central Bank. The New Empire also subordinated the military units of Utopia, in order to use them in possible future wars.

The natural Utopian urge to pay off the huge national debt now played into the hands of the Free-for-all ideologies. It came as a welcome excuse to make cut backs in the public sector and the advanced welfare system. It also eased the way for the selling-off of government and communal property.

Privatisation and bid procedures, free competition and greater self-financing, differentiated remuneration and personal incentive were all catchwords of the day. Golden parachute agreements to the tune of millions became standard among top executives, agreements that cushioned the fall should an executive be forced to resign. It was all about "slaughtering holy cows" and "daring to think differently", the government's always smiling minister, Mona Populin, reassured the Utopians.

In order to lower costs companies severely reduced the number of employees, so much so that it became difficult in many cases for businesses to cover their employees' holiday entitlement. At the same time the number of short time and part time workers increased steadily, with minimal employment security. Businesses made further savings through reducing core maintenance costs.

This all resulted in the decline of the system's ability to deal with unforeseen circumstances. The citizens of Utopia lost out at all levels - as consumers, as customers and as patients in the medical system. These falling standards touched all areas of life, child-care, education, elderly and medical-care, electricity supply, transportation, postal services and telecommunications.

The Utopians also experienced increased pressure at work along with greater insecurity of employment. The number of people reporting in sick and taking early retirement increased massively, the new concept of "burned-out" was introduced to the Utopians.

While times were hard for Utopians in general, the elites in the world of business and politics saw an increase in their income. It was all about remuneration, pension agreements and other benefits. Capital investments and killings in the stock market could result in even higher incomes for many in this group. Driving these changes were a combination of factors principal amongst which was the ruthless Free-for-all ideology and the vast opportunities for individual enrichment offered by the free movement of capital. There was also the increasing financial benefit accrued from the commercial opportunities opened by Utopia's membership of the New Empire.

The result of all these changes was the development of a class society, with a homeless underclass and beggars on the street while the elite enjoyed a lifestyle of luxury ­ as promised by the Free-for-all model. The rich even had their own luxury shops, where items typically cost more than most Utopians earned in a month.

The rift between classes became ever more evident in the liberalised property market. In the most attractive areas prices rose sharply and only the genuinely wealthy could aspire to live in such neighbourhoods. Naturally enough, segregation between the rich and the poor became a reality in Utopia.

In parallel with this economical polarisation, major changes were occurring in the structure and ownership of Utopia's media. To a remarkable degree all sections of the media began to sing from the same hymn sheet ­ all was one. There was only one message; there was only one view of developments in Utopia. What the elite wanted was a pliable proletariat, not free thinking citizens. The media's output came evermore to resemble simple propaganda. The goal was not to educate the citizens, but to brainwash them to the elite's way of thinking. Like Pavlovian dogs they were taught to react to key words and phrases.

On Utopia's television channels the diet of trivia and titillation increased sharply, in order to keep the Utopians' minds off more important questions. Fewer and fewer citizens felt that they had the time to get involved in issues that affected society. Political dialogue died ­ the elite were left free to operate in a de facto vacuum. Instead of serious discussion of topics the media offered bogus TV time-fillers. These were organised with so many participants and with so much ground to cover that nobody ever got to say more than a few words. The purpose of these programmes was primarily to entertain while claiming that a serious question had been aired.

Occasionally programmes were aired with fewer participants covering serious matters. However, if the topic was delicate and likely to stir strong feelings the producers of the program made sure in advance that all the participants held the same basic opinion.

In this context mass-immigration performed several important tasks:

1. It created hostility and division between different population groups in the lower social orders, which helped greatly in manipulating them.

2. It pushed other important questions off the political agenda. With so much attention being given to the problem of immigration, sweeping changes in power could, and were, carried out.

3. It became a weapon to mentally suppress the Utopian people. It created feelings of guilt and fostered an attitude of hopelessness amongst Utopians.