Are we experiencing Brave New World, 1984 or neither (and Happy New Year!)

I’d say a little bit of both, though the actual state of the world isn’t nearly as bad as the world portrayed in either of those novels.

Not sure our world is as clearly dystopian, but it is malfunctioning, those books don’t exactly capture precisely the current zeitgeist but they do offer valid reference points and legitimate comparisons. Eugenics is certainly a possibility and the surveillance state is very, very real. Fox news is as frightening as any propaganda network, it must suck to have to endure that hourly assault on moral decency, in the name of free speech.

I can’t find the exact quote, but Octavia Butler once said something along the lines of “It isn’t the job of the writer to predict the future, but to prevent it.”

Margaret Atwood, in reference to her recent book Oryx and Crake, which is largely about corporate control and genetic engineering run amok, said that she doesn’t write science fiction, but speculative fiction. Her novels are based on trends that she observes in contemporary society (and since then I’ve noticed several things come true, like plans for replacing streetlights with glowing trees and the engineering of spliced spider/silkworms for producing body armor).

James Cameron’s Terminator movies are easily a possibility with current military technology, particularly considering the number of robotic/unmanned weapons being developed, alongside the artificial intelligence programs.

Good sci-fi, I think, is good because it resonates with reality. I also have a theory that sick motherfuckers consume these stories and get the idea that these things are good ideas. All these things have truth to them. In other words, we’re pretty fucked if we freedom loving people don’t stick together.

Our best hope is that empire collapses before it gets much worse, and we have the sense to start living sensibly.

Both novels came true in 2010 for some people. Some found themselves locked up in indefinite detention without legal process and perhaps tortured and others lay sprawled in front of a television set overeating and devoid of thought (I was fortunately in the latter category)

Oh yes, and a Happy New Year to you too!

It seems more like 1984 than any other time. Speech, especially free speech has been redefined, our televisions are certainly capable of watching us, propaganda networks like Fox are popular and spreading lies as if they are news (remember the Death Panels?).

A person that leaked government “secrets” is being prosecuted for sex crimes. Robot bombers, guided in Nevada kill families in Pakistan. Workers are subjugated and corporations are elevated as saviours. Definitely 1984. By the way Texas is already working on changing American History.

Could be?