H.M.’s Comments (group member since Nov 03, 2013)

H.M.’s comments from the Utopian and Dystopian Reading Group group.

Bryan wrote: "When I read Huxley's "Brave New World" as a teenager, it sounded pretty good to me.Then I succumbed to the "Oh, but they weren't really human any more" brainwashing. After another 50 years of watch..."

I tend to agree. Being "human" can be good or bad, and what it means to be human is constantly changing. In the world today, there is a lot of bad out there, which I think is what led me to write my original post.

Joe wrote: ""The optimist thinks this is the best of all possible worlds. The pessimist fears it is true."

J. Robert Oppenheimer"

Excellent quote!

This is the topic of my new novel, The Alpha and the Omega: An absurd philosophical tale about God, the end of the world, and what’s on the other planets. In a sense, it is about the ultimate utopia: Heaven. For a full description, check out my website: www.aothebook.com

I have paperbacks and Kindle copies available for review and would be happy to send them to anyone in this group. Please message me if interested!

-Charley

Jonas wrote: "You can basically find many strong links between real life and life in any dystopian fiction of choosing, so my answer would be yes. In many ways it is. I mean, we can see the correlations quite cl..."

definitely. I mean, part of the lack of utopian novels i think can be explained by the fact that novels need conflict, but we do have a very difficult time imagining a fair and functional society. aside from some of the material problems, I think we know that deep down we all have selfish tendencies, and even in a world where we had enough resources and all of our needs taken care of, we would still find things to fight about.

when you say that it might be generalizing too much to say that the whole world is dystopic, do you mean that in some places things are better than others? If so, I would agree that in much of the industrialized world, despite our problems things aren't completely bad, and they have improved over time. But on the other hand, just to play devil's advocate, shouldn't we judge human society on how it takes care of the least among us - and so - back to my original posting, isn't the fact that 10,000 children die per day of preventable causes around the world a pretty damning indictment?

David wrote: "I've got some dystopian shit in my group The Radically Rebellious of a Rambunctious Nature join it, and we can think and laugh our way to the inevitable."

cool, i just joined.

David wrote: "The real question is, how dystopian will the world get if we are unable to come together and work toward solving our global crisis's."

Pretty dystopian! Hopefully that won't happen.

Charley wrote: "Smallo wrote: "We're certainly much closer to dystopia. Material wealth aside, time poverty is ubiquitous worldwide. 1st world is more and more like repent harlequin said the tick tick man."

I am ..."

Just read "Repent Harlequin..." great story, thanks for introducing it to me. The 1st world definitely is more like it, although I'd say that a lot of us do it to ourselves without the need of a Ticktockman controlling us!

Hey everyone, I'm looking for some advance opinions on my new sci-fi/fantasy novel, The Alpha and the Omega, and would love to hear from some people in this group before I publish. My book blurb is below, please email me at hmcharleyada@gmail.com if you're interested, and I will send you a free copy of my 75,000-word manuscript. Thanks!

The Alpha and the Omega: An absurd philosophical tale about God, the end of the world, and what’s on the other planets.

Monday, March 30, 2015 begins like any other day for Zack, a devout atheist with a profitable appointment as an equity fund manager at a top Wall Street firm. He squeezes into the last seat on the subway car and does not say anything to the man sitting next to him selfishly hogging all the space. He grabs a coffee at his favorite newsstand and heads to his office. And later, his eyes wander to the photo of his dead parents on the corner of his desk.

However, a few minutes after the closing bell, a most unusual thing happens. The true and living God of Heaven and Earth walks into Zack’s office and declares that he is real, that he is ending the world and turning Earth into the new Heaven, and that Zack may stay, despite his atheism, because he was a good person.

Once Zack gets his bearings in the stunning dreamscape that is God’s new kingdom on Earth, God introduces him to Lilly, a headstrong former-lawyer for the poor who also once worshipped at the church of the faithless. Together, they explore paradise’s many wonders large and small, such as telepathy, the cloud cities, and never needing to use a bathroom. In this, they find a measure of happiness. However, not everything is as it seems, as it may turn out that God has a reason for not revealing what he keeps on the other planets … and there just might be more than one deity in the universe.

The Alpha and the Omega is a satiric, post-apocalyptic love story. It’s an absurd philosophical tale. It’s a James Cameron-style, Hollywood-blockbuster, sci-fi/action movie waiting to be made. And it will answer all of your deepest questions about the meaning of life and will reveal all of the universe’s wildest, most incredible secrets. I promise.

Smallo wrote: "We're certainly much closer to dystopia. Material wealth aside, time poverty is ubiquitous worldwide. 1st world is more and more like repent harlequin said the tick tick man."

I am all too familiar with time poverty!

I've never read the tick tock man story, but i'm curious now and am going to go look for it. thanks!

Smallo wrote: "Speaking of hell and heaven many more stories in former than latter. Homosapiens relate much more to Lucifer than God. Example paradise lost."

So true! I've actually just written a novel about heaven, exploring what life there would really be like and whether it would work. I'm currently giving out free advance copies and will post my book blurb in the "News from Nowhere" folder soon. Let me know if you are interested!

Hi everyone, consider the following:

1. According to a stat I once read from UNICEF, (and please correct me if I got it wrong), 10,000 children die around the world every day of preventable causes.

2. Hundreds of millions of people around the world currently lack access to clean water, livable housing, and many other basic necessities.

3. Slavery, sex slavery, and torture are still common in some parts of the world.

4. In the U.S., the richest and most powerful country on the planet, our government is helplessly gridlocked and completely ineffectual at solving any of our problems, (which, compared to some parts of the world, aren't even that bad), largely because of the influence of money on politics and a poorly informed electorate.

So let me pose the question, is this current world a dystopia, every bit as evil and disturbing as the novels that we all read, and we just don't usually think of it that way, because it seems normal since we have lived in it our whole lives? How do we know if something is a dystopia? Is it all relative?

Or am I wrong about us not knowing, and does everyone here already think of this world as a dystopia?

Curious for your thoughts.

Charley

Interesting thought - reminds me of the "allegory of the spoons." have you guys ever heard of it? It says that in hell, everyone is hungry, and there's a huge banquet of delicious food in the center, but with some kind of a fence or barrier preventing you from getting to it. everyone has long spoons tied to their hands that reach over the fence, but the spoons are so long, that once you get the food, there's no way to put the spoon in your mouth, so everyone goes hungry. In heaven, it's the same exact thing, except that the people take turns feeding each other.

A little corny, I know, but I think it makes the point that our inner nature influences how we build our world, and whether we create utopias or dystopias. With all the resources we have on our planet right now, we could make it much better if we wanted to, but we don't because of our individual failings.