Have we ever not been? Slave state — apartheid state — Vietnam/Watergate — Corporate state — Fury Road (2016-present)
― a man often referred to in the news media as the Duke of Saxony (tipsy mothra), Saturday, 11 December 2021 22:25 (two years ago) link
the people in the mayfield candle factory that collapsed worked 12-hour shifts that paid $8 an hour. 110 ppl were inside. 40 ppl are still unaccounted for. they haven’t recovered a survivor since 3 am. pic.twitter.com/CsIIfLw3Pc— Tracy Moore (@iusedtobepoor) December 11, 2021
― papal hotwife (milo z), Sunday, 12 December 2021 05:12 (two years ago) link
it’s legal in kentucky to fire someone for refusing to work mandatory overtime— Tracy Moore (@iusedtobepoor) December 11, 2021
― papal hotwife (milo z), Sunday, 12 December 2021 05:14 (two years ago) link
The notion of local dystopias is an interesting one. Could be that there was an egalitarian paradise unfolding just a continent or two over from Mad Max.
― coombination gazza hut & scampo bell (wins), Sunday, 12 December 2021 11:49 (two years ago) link
Zardoz is another one. Although The Eternals are mainly a bunch of insufferable bores and their egalitarian paradise is pretty lame, but you wouldn't complain about it if you were being held captive by Charlotte Rampling.
― calzino, Sunday, 12 December 2021 13:16 (two years ago) link
Slave state — apartheid state — Vietnam/Watergate — Corporate state — Fury Road (2016-present)
We didn't start the fire, etc.
― ma dmac's fury road (PBKR), Sunday, 12 December 2021 14:04 (two years ago) link
Let's see what all we have...you got this one.
US combined laissez-faire capitalism on it's drug industry and combined with heroin blow-back from the 'war on terror' created the opioid epidemic for fun and profit killing over a million Americans since 1999.
― earlnash, Sunday, 12 December 2021 15:21 (two years ago) link
Getting back to the topic at hand, Le Guin wrote a book about a moon. Also was there some Cold War global political framework in her gender-bender book? I don't recall.
Climate catastrophe is going to be pretty universal IIRC.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Saturday, December 11, 2021 1:14 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
which is v little to do with the point about 1492 is it
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Saturday, December 11, 2021 1:17 AM (yesterday) bookmarkflaglink
It is though (unless I'm misreading). The USA is the biggest historical contributor to the climate crisis. An argument could be made that if 1492 never happened, there would be no global crisis. Same for much of global environmental destruction -- Amazon forest all gone? Thank Ronald McDonald.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Sunday, 12 December 2021 18:51 (two years ago) link
Local teachers in South Dakota “Dash for Cash” to help their classrooms by fighting over $5,000 in $1 bills while the crowd hoots and hollers. pic.twitter.com/azwGJKhaKU— Eoin Higgins (@EoinHiggins_) December 12, 2021
― mookieproof, Sunday, 12 December 2021 23:29 (two years ago) link
they're going to remove that rug at some point
― my hands are always in my pockets or gesturing. (Karl Malone), Sunday, 12 December 2021 23:34 (two years ago) link
and then charge them for it!
― calzino, Sunday, 12 December 2021 23:37 (two years ago) link
An argument could be made that if 1492 never happened, there would be no global crisis.
Are we talking a world where Europe never came into contact with the Americas?
― Daniel_Rf, Monday, 13 December 2021 10:32 (two years ago) link
I can’t live without potatoes
― A Pile of Ants (Boring, Maryland), Monday, 13 December 2021 14:19 (two years ago) link
-LL McCooljay
― hopefully this review helped someone (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 December 2021 15:46 (two years ago) link
It would have happened eventually.
― Christine Green Leafy Dragon Indigo, Monday, 13 December 2021 16:40 (two years ago) link
OTM
― When Smeato Met Moaty (Tom D.), Monday, 13 December 2021 16:56 (two years ago) link
Lol, Neanderthal.
― Santa’s Got a Brand New Borad (James Redd and the Blecchs), Monday, 13 December 2021 17:14 (two years ago) link
NEW: Drone startup BRINC, which just pulled a $25 million VC round, says it was inspired by the 2017 Vegas shooting to build non-violent robots. I obtained a video showing their original mission was a border patrol drone system designed to tase migrants https://t.co/TclkWOO3eM— Sam Biddle (@samfbiddle) December 13, 2021
― mookieproof, Monday, 13 December 2021 17:51 (two years ago) link
Right but I'm saying the timeline where America turns the Earth into a toilet wasn't necessarily predetermined.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 13 December 2021 18:46 (two years ago) link
Maybe ecocide is the dharma of the human race idk.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 13 December 2021 18:47 (two years ago) link
this is all god's fault. god put the oil in the ground, fully formed, 8000 years ago
― my hands are always in my pockets or gesturing. (Karl Malone), Monday, 13 December 2021 18:49 (two years ago) link
it was all predetermined
idk these guys predicted it pretty early
https://i.ibb.co/f4P96K0/index.jpg
https://i.ibb.co/cFmrLPX/index.jpg
― hopefully this review helped someone (Neanderthal), Monday, 13 December 2021 18:50 (two years ago) link
Yeah I never loved the band but those album titles stuck with me.
― recovering internet addict/shitposter (viborg), Monday, 13 December 2021 19:42 (two years ago) link
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CczFit6tGhs
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Monday, 13 December 2021 20:07 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll is closing tomorrow.
― System, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/kentucky-tornado-factory-workers-threatened-firing-left-tornado-employ-rcna8581
― towards fungal computer (harbl), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 01:21 (two years ago) link
personally idgi. fresh produce in american supermarkets is quite bad and expensive, every major city in the world has decent markets, etc. i guess it's better if it's brightly lit and you can listen to an instrumental soft jazz version of after the gold rush? https://t.co/g3b5LOgBcD— joolsd (@joolsd) December 14, 2021
― xyzzzz__, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 13:59 (two years ago) link
which Publix plays that?!? I'm happy if I get early '80 Boz Scaggs.
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 14:12 (two years ago) link
I regret starting a thread that functions as an invitation to post the most depressing news you can find, but more narrowly the degree to which the US seems to be embracing core elements of the most prominent fictional dystopias is pretty striking! Sadly not cyberpunk this time:
https://pen.org/scope-speed-educational-gag-orders-worsening-across-country/
And it’s getting worse. In the month since the report’s release, state lawmakers introduced 12 new bills, bringing the total to a staggering 66 educational gag orders for the year in 26 states, 12 of which have passed into law.Here’s what’s happening: The recent group of bills includes seven in Missouri and one each in New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. All 12 of these bills target K–12 schools, four include provisions that would impact colleges and universities, and four include a focus on state agencies, other state-funded institutions, and “places of learning.” Six of these bills specifically ban “critical race theory,” making a total of 20 state-level bills introduced this year with such explicit prohibitions. Six of these bills contain explicit prohibitions against teaching or using curricular materials from “The 1619 Project,” bringing the total of these to 17 for the year.
Here’s what’s happening:
The recent group of bills includes seven in Missouri and one each in New Hampshire, New Jersey, North Dakota, Oklahoma, and South Carolina. All 12 of these bills target K–12 schools, four include provisions that would impact colleges and universities, and four include a focus on state agencies, other state-funded institutions, and “places of learning.” Six of these bills specifically ban “critical race theory,” making a total of 20 state-level bills introduced this year with such explicit prohibitions. Six of these bills contain explicit prohibitions against teaching or using curricular materials from “The 1619 Project,” bringing the total of these to 17 for the year.
― rob, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:04 (two years ago) link
xxp I remember back in the 80s, we hosted some soviet kids. When we took them to the supermarket, they lost their shit.
I think the original tweet is referencing that, not that Safeway is better than a local French produce market.
― DJI, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:29 (two years ago) link
we do have abundant food (not everywhere, of course) of mostly mediocre quality. it's ok.
the critical race theory mess is one of the factors in favor of dystopia
― towards fungal computer (harbl), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:46 (two years ago) link
to me
xxp I remember back in the 80s, we hosted some soviet kids. When we took them to the supermarket, they lost their shit.I think the original tweet is referencing that, not that Safeway is better than a local French produce market.
― mardheamac (gyac), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 17:48 (two years ago) link
So was communism.
― DJI, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 18:00 (two years ago) link
I guess that’s the kind of joke that lands better with boomers.
― mardheamac (gyac), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 18:59 (two years ago) link
And that's the kind of joke that lands better with people from 2017.
― DJI, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 19:18 (two years ago) link
the tweet is responding to libertarians tweeting photos of american grocery stores to prove a point
― towards fungal computer (harbl), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 19:21 (two years ago) link
american supermarkets are among the purest products of american capitalism and therefore accurately reflect all our most popular theories about health and happiness, from gluttony to asceticism, all packaged in convenient sizes for easy consumption. it's a design that's been copied all over the world, with appropriate modifications to suit local tastes and incomes. almost any praise or criticism you want to make about supermarkets can be justified using real world examples.
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 19:26 (two years ago) link
from gluttony to asceticism, all packaged in convenient sizes for easy consumption
cf. Randall Jarrell's A Sad Heart at the Supermarket (1960) and the companion poem "Next Day"
Moving from Cheer to Joy, from Joy to All
― Jeremy Ironist (Ye Mad Puffin), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 19:36 (two years ago) link
You want to know dystopia? Sometimes I have to go to three different supermarkets to get everything I need.
― Jeff, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 19:58 (two years ago) link
I regret starting a thread that functions as an invitation to post the most depressing news you can find
You cannot design a thread that wouldnt fall prey to this within ten mins have you seen this site lately
― fix up luke shawp (darraghmac), Tuesday, 14 December 2021 20:15 (two years ago) link
no.
lol
― DT, Tuesday, 14 December 2021 23:31 (two years ago) link
Automatic thread bump. This poll's results are now in.
― System, Wednesday, 15 December 2021 00:01 (two years ago) link
whew I had doubts
― So who you gonna call? The martini police (Alfred, Lord Sotosyn), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 00:22 (two years ago) link
"I can't answer without sharing my personal definition of dystopia"
5 voters just laying it all down
― my hands are always in my pockets or gesturing. (Karl Malone), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 03:24 (two years ago) link
https://t.co/fFOE6vEXOc pic.twitter.com/PPoldWoOdT— District Sentinel (@TheDCSentinel) December 15, 2021
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 15 December 2021 11:46 (two years ago) link
we should maybe do a "worst living american" poll
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 15:26 (two years ago) link
impossible. polls are limited to only 50 choices
― more difficult than I look (Aimless), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 17:37 (two years ago) link
maybe a poll to make the poll
― When Young Sheldon began to rap (forksclovetofu), Wednesday, 15 December 2021 18:11 (two years ago) link
Which is not, as of yet, a problem since the psycho football coach being forced to teach geography has to make the conscious decision to break multiple laws by bringing his Glock to school on a regular basis. Not just removing those decisions but encouraging him to do so will inevitably result in new tragedies.
― papal hotwife (milo z), Thursday, 25 April 2024 22:47 (one week ago) link
Much more worried about competence with guns.
― nashwan, Thursday, 25 April 2024 22:48 (one week ago) link
i look at where i live and i see a sort of "laissez-faire" dystopia, where people do all kinds of fucked up shit and nobody does anything about it because what are you gonna do? talk to the cops about it?
alabama, tennessee, are they like that too? i don't really _know_ what the rest of the country is like these days. i don't know what "normal" is supposed to be.
― Kate (rushomancy), Thursday, 25 April 2024 22:51 (one week ago) link
stochastic incompetence doesn’t count the same
― schrodingers cat was always cool (Hunt3r), Friday, 26 April 2024 00:07 (six days ago) link
ahhhh, i don't feel that way. _334_ is a perfectly good dystopia if you ask me. for that matter stochastic incompetence is _part and parcel_ of any true dystopia, the way that incompetence is weaponized against marginalized people without even _needing_ any overt exterminatory action to be taken. that's what makes something a dystopia, when something is enshrined as an institutional norm.
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 26 April 2024 00:43 (six days ago) link
Milo and I often don't see eye to eye but even I know what he meant
― ain't nothin but a brie thing, baby (Neanderthal), Friday, 26 April 2024 03:16 (six days ago) link
(my own 'stochoastic incompetence' comment was pure, unfunny in too too many ways, dark wise assery, sorry all).
― schrodingers cat was always cool (Hunt3r), Friday, 26 April 2024 03:39 (six days ago) link
no worries, that's one of those instances where the 'tism flared up and i literally didn't recognize the layer of sarcasm lol
― Kate (rushomancy), Friday, 26 April 2024 03:56 (six days ago) link
Zeno of Elea: "bye, Hon, I'm just running out to the stoa for a few things."
Zeno's wife: "careful, bro - you'll never get there if your plan is to repeatedly travel half the remaining distance."
― alpaca lips now (Ye Mad Puffin), Friday, 26 April 2024 09:00 (six days ago) link
https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2024/apr/25/flint-michigan-water-crisis
Years after the emergency, the Michigan city is yet to replace all lead pipes and affected families are still awaiting justice
― rob, Friday, 26 April 2024 13:01 (six days ago) link
replace this whole thread with one of the pictures of SWAT snipers setting up at campus Gaza protests
― papal hotwife (milo z), Friday, 26 April 2024 13:05 (six days ago) link
otm. I'm trying not to spam the board with stuff about the protests, but it sure feels like a police state this morning
― rob, Friday, 26 April 2024 13:12 (six days ago) link
It's simple. pic.twitter.com/M6pHdOA4YU— President Biden (@POTUS) May 1, 2024
― xyzzzz__, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 17:02 (yesterday) link
I no longer have a Twitter account but that seems destined to become the most-ratioed tweet since Elmo's
― The king of the demo (bernard snowy), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 17:06 (yesterday) link
I used that exact four-word phrase the other week in a discussion of assisted suicide (I'm very pro-, and think depression is just as valid reason as, say, ALS to pull the plug on oneself). Wonder if President Joe shares my feelings.
― Instead of create and send out, it pull back and consume (unperson), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 17:18 (yesterday) link
quick, it's international workers' day and the cops are busy tear-gassing students protesting genocide, now's the perfect time to overthrow capitalism
― Kate (rushomancy), Wednesday, 1 May 2024 19:10 (yesterday) link
going to a rally in a bit, will bump thread later if capitalism overthrown
― rob, Wednesday, 1 May 2024 19:12 (yesterday) link