 Dubois also ridicules the idea of inalienable rights, such as "Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness", arguing that people only have the rights that they are willing to fight and die for to protect.The novel appeals to scientific authority to justify this position; Dubois repeatedly states that his argument is mathematically demonstrable, statements which have led scholars to label the novel "hard science fiction", despite its social and political themes.The "moral decline" caused by this situation is depicted as having caused a global war between an alliance of the U.S., Britain, and Russia against the "Chinese Hegemony" in the year 1987.