The Water Thief
The Water Thief is a 2012 mundane science fiction novel by American writer and philosopher Nicholas Lamar Soutter about a hyper-capitalist future in which "corporations own everything, even the air we breathe".
Plot
Charles Thatcher is a typical citizen in a future hyper-capitalist society.He is the property of Ackerman Brothers Securities Corporation and in this society, every commodity, even air, is sold on the market. The population is kept under control with horrific punishments delivered by a corrupt, profit-driven police service.
Given that turning in thieves of resources is incentivized with the profit motive, when Charles sees a woman steal rainwater, his first thought is to call the police. Hoping to secure a larger reward, he tells authorities that she is not only a water thief; he claims she is a revolution-minded militant who is agitating for the return of the ancient system known as “government.”
She disappears, and he realizes that his creative editorializing in his report may have in fact been true. As he connects with the underground resistance, he learns more about the hyper-capitalist nature of the ruling corporations. At the same time, he even starts to wonder if the lure of profit is tempting the revolutionaries.