5 steps to Dystopia
American Thanksgiving is just a day away, and I’m thankful I can take the day off and spend some time cooking and eating with my family. I am ALSO thankful I live in such a free and prosperous country as Bulgaria.
No, I’m not being sarcastic. Bulgaria isn’t perfect–and I’m sure your home country isn’t perfect either–but as far as all the basic rights and privileges go, I’m living way better than the vast majority of humans through history.
But what if that wasn’t so? What if we in the developed and developing world lost the life we have worked so hard to build and ended up in a dystopia? How would that happen? So in case you’re not feeling thankful enough, here are some 5-step scenarios to dystopia to remind you how much worse things could be.
Note: the purpose here is first to entertain ourselves, next to talk about writing, and maybe–if we’re being very pretentious–to discuss how to avoid these potential pitfalls as we all march together into a better future.
From Simon Roy: Canada
1: Abolition of environmental protections to allow development of Canada into a resource-exploitation superpower
2: With environmental and native opposition groups being marginalized, the opposition becoming more radicalized and violent as it gets pushed underground
3: Hard-headed government response to opposition leads to open low-level warfare in the regions of the country where resource exploitation industries clash with resistant locals.
4: The underground, untaxed economy booms, and the power of organized crime booms along with it.
5: A corrupt federal government sustains itself on oil revenues, backed by a scared, anti-native voting population.
There’s also this future: http://www.alternet.org/corporate-accountability-and-workplace/corporate-coup-disguise which flows pretty well into what I’ve been writing about. See also http://robot-blood.blogspot.ca/2012/05/after-oil-sands.html.
From Dissecting Worlds: the UK
1) encourage building on coastal flood plains
2) destroy coastal flood defenses
3) make a deal with the deep ones of the sunken city of Ahu-Y’hloa
4) replace the Church of England with the Esoteric Order of Dagon
5) Conquer the world as a new fishy super-race
From Me: the EU
1. Economic interests in free trade do not overcome voters’ nationalism and xenophobia
2. Restrictions on trade and movement between EU states increase until there are no incentives for members to remain members.
3. The EU disintegrates.
4. The gap between wealthy and poor European countries increases, along with nationalist tension.
5. Time for France and Germany to go to war again!
And finally, Bulgaria.
1. Join the Byzantine Empire, await its crushing defeat
2. Join the Ottoman Empire, await its crushing defeat
3. Join the Axis Powers, await its crushing defeat
4. Join the Warsaw Pact Countries, await its crushing defeat
5. Join the EU. Ha ha! Is joke!
So we’ve got some serious attempts at outlining possible bad futures (alright, one serious attempt. Thanks, Simon). What do YOU think?
I want COMMENTS, citizens! Submit them to me, or just submit to me. Either is good.
