Status Quo

"Status Quo" by Mack Reynolds is a science fiction story that unfolds in the early 1960s following Lawrence Woolford, a government worker in Greater Washington, who is pulled into a complex plot involving fake money and a secretive group called "the Movement." Woolford's investigation takes him through layers of societal expectations and government procedures, bringing him face-to-face with a young suspect, Susan Self, who alleges her father's involvement with this group pushing for social change. As the story progresses, Woolford finds himself questioning the Movement's goals, the reasons behind the counterfeiting, and the very structure of society and individual freedom in this complex web of secrets, conformity, and power.