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These 30 Pics Show How Dystopic Our Society Already Is, And It’s Pretty Terrifying
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While we may imagine a dystopian future of thought police, killer robots, and nuclear fallout, the real future predictions are much more boring. Instead of being brutally brainwashed and enslaved by fascist, authoritarian regimes, we have willingly enslaved ourselves. By allowing the top 1% to get exponentially richer, we drown in a sea of debts, tech, advertising, endless wars, environmental destruction, addictions, depression... the list goes on.
Brilliant, isn't it? But it's ok; there's always Facebook to scroll through (Bored Panda too, obvs), Netflix to watch, chemical-laden meals to consume, manufactured outrages over a mermaid's skin color to comment on. Who's got time for thoughtful resistance in this sick, sad world? Even those that think they are resisting by electing bigoted billionaires, bankers and Eton toffs to represent them are simply playing into their hands, as their dishonest, scaremongering claptrap divides us ever further over political, racial and gender lines!
Sometimes we need to take a step back and see the forest for the trees. This list, compiled by Bored Panda, contains some pretty terrifying examples of present-day dystopian society, things that make you realize that beyond all the distractions of trying to survive and thrive in the rat race, something's not quite right with this world.
So if you didn't find the sinister scenes of mindless automatons chanting “send her back” chilling enough, scroll down below to get a reality check on the spookily Orwellian society we are allowing to be constructed, and let's see if we can fix our near future in the comments! If you want to see even more proof of our dystopian world, be sure to check out our previous list!
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The term 'boring dystopia was coined by the late academic and cultural theorist Mark Fisher in 2015. He used it to refer to the "bland, mildly coercive signs that abound in late-stage capitalist society, which foster a vague sense of isolation or unease."
He started a Facebook group that documented these signs as a way to develop consciousness about the world around us. "It was understood from the start to be a consciousness-raising exercise, encouraging people to perceive the actual state of Britain rather than the PR state," Fisher said in an interview with Vice. "Which is surprisingly hard, because there's this mixture of Silicon Valley ideology, PR and advertising which distracts us from our own aesthetic poverty, and the reality of what we have. Which is just all these crap robots…"
This Is Caleb. Caleb Has A Degree In Zoology And Asks His Customers What Their Favorite Animal Is. He Gives Them Facts While Completing Their Orders!
"Boring Dystopia was partly about the fact that no one can care about stuff any more," said Fisher. "It's not that they don't care, but in a city like London, or any intensely pressured urban metropolis—add to that the pressures of capitalist cyberspace and people just feel like they perpetually have no time."
"Our resources for caring are depleted, and that has aesthetic consequences."
Charity
Saddest part is that a lot of celebs even get paid to promote a charity.
Put The Blame Where It Belongs
Let's not forget the politicians and celebrities who fly all over who have huge SUVs .
The Facebook group was short-lived, with Fisher quickly becoming disillusioned with Facebook itself. "For me the point at which the group started to go downhill was when it became like every other Facebook group. It was just recirculating 'content' and sending links, keeping people inside what I would call capitalist cyberspace instead of looking outside at their own environment. It felt like it was reinforcing the condition it was intended to displace," he explained.
"It didn't work at that scale, and you could feel that it wasn't the right place for it… It was just an experiment, and Facebook probably wasn't the right platform. I didn't want it to be diluted."
A Child Can’t Stay On The Transplant List, Solely Because He’s Homeless
After Fisher's tragic death in 2017 at the age of 48, his work remains as his legacy and is as important and relevant as it's ever been. His 2009 book Capitalist Realism is a must-read for anyone wanting to understand the modern world, and his 'Boring Dystopia' group lives on mainly in the subreddit r/ABoringDystopia.
What do you think? Are we truly living in a boring dystopia? Scroll down below to see the rest of the examples for yourself, and let us know what you think in the comments!
Anything Different Would Simply Be Un-American
There is one thing we can do: Get out and vote. Vote for the senators and representatives who aren't afraid to push for single-payer, universal health care. And if someone calls you a socialist, tell them to look at Japan, which a) is hardly socialist, b) has the world's longest life expectancy, and c) has a well-established universal health care system.
People sat there and called me a socialist for wanting Bernie Sanders as president. He's for Universal Healthcare, Free College and taxing the crap out of the 1%. All the friends that were freaking out about it..how they were going to pay 40% of their wages to these programs never looked at the campaign information. It said that if you earned over $230,000 as a couple, your taxes would increase $920 per year! Less than 1%. I asked these friends if they were really that greedy. And I also pointed out that his target was the big earners..like Oprah and Bill Gates. Two people that would probably gladly part with money if they knew it was going to help people.
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"20 - somethings"? Try everyone. It's not just younger people that can't afford dental work.
Ikr? My mom broke her leg and didn't go in right away, then finally had to. It cost her $4000 to see the doctor about that, and when she had some other problems a year later, she refused to go see the doctor again because she wasn't done paying for the broken leg visit and couldn't afford it.
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And even WITH insurance shit you need gets denied all the time. I had a life threatening brain condition and needed emergency surgery, I had a pre op MRI to assess how bad it was, then I needed one directly after to ensure the surgery was done well. I was supposed to have one a few days later after the swelling subsided to ensure all was still well , insurance denied it because I "just had one" despite being told by several medical professionals that things can drastically change after swelling goes down and I needed it to make sure I didnt have a brain bleed or anything else that could kill me. Insurance STILL said no, thankfully I was approved for aid through the hospital and my surgeon said to just get it and the hospital would have it covered because its like $26000 without any help.
As a Brit, our system isn't perfect but i would have all of this if i needed it, the main cost would be new glasses maybe £100 ($80) , even then if i had no money they would give me free prescription glasses, this is just outright fucked up and evil. Bloody shitbags!!!!
The solution is tragically simple: Outlaw lobbying (aka legalized bribery) and make politicians pay for their own healthcare rather than them and their family getting gold level insurance that comes with the job. Then sit back and watch how fast the industry gets overhauled.
Enough will never be enough, the U.S. Government & most definitely Corporate America, doesn’t give a flying fuck about the actual ppl that live here ... unless, of course, the person is rich ... only then do they remotely matter.
Get out and vote for single-payer insurance. Vote FOR the extinct affordable care act (called Obama care).
Even that wasn't affordable. My mom paid for it for a year and finally quit because she was never able to use it without paying the initial fee off first.
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It’s not “the government”. It’s the duopoly, tied to the corporations. It’s all about greed and maintaining their gravy train status quo. Vote for the anti-corporate democrats in the upcoming primaries. Don’t just let any old democrat win that election. Show the party who we REALLY NEED and WANT. Someone like Sanders or Warren. Someone who isn’t in the pocket of corporations. Stop voting for the same shit every four years!!!
If 20 first graders being shot and killed in their classroom, didn't do anything to change our gun laws, then some random strangers not affording healthcare isn't going to make a difference either. We have truly lost our humanity, for the politicians in this country, money, and power trumps everything else.
Not "we." Most people didn't vote for this crap. Until we get corporate money out, we will not have a voice.
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Hard to believe a country of 300,000,000 can't afford the same coverage of a country of 30,000,000.
I have rheumatoid arthritis (it's an autoimmune disease that is progressive and terminal). I was diagnosed with it when I was 20 because I was experiencing the same symptoms my mother was having at the same time at age 40. The thought was that even though it started early in me at least I'd have my diagnosis early on and could start treatment to slow the progression and help manage the pain. I am 31 now and have not been to my rheumatologist in about 5 years because even WITH insurance I have to pay over $200 every time I go and I am supposed to go at least once a month. I can not afford that alone let alone the added cost of prescriptions and lab fees.
Reduce the overinflated costs of healthcare by opening up insurance company ranges to compete with others. Reduce the amount of upcharging a hospital can do by publishing rates.
By having it all come from taxes. Cut out health insurers and force hospitals to publish their chargemasters.
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I am a 46 year old man with a Wife and three year old daughter. I have said every one of these except gluing glasses together. I dont know how much longer I will survive.
Its the greedy scumbags calling themselves Republicans that are stopping kids getting medical care ....... STOP VOTING FOR THEM and if you don't vote you are still voting for them.
lol yes its always republicans fault. orange man bad. never think for yourself just copy and paste what you read on CNN
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Well, I'm un-American and have the same problems, so yeah, that doesn't solve anything, unfortunately.
Let me guess - Polish like me? Agree on that, theoretically everything for free, but you cannot get for free because you have to wait several months, and when you get there you cannot be sure that the help will come. Stomatology is totally not free... I am now in serious problem, and I try to earn to keep my teeth at all, and it will cost similar to car I suppose.
Load More Replies... the USA is actually doing much better under his administration than it did under Obama, so I dont think your assessment is very accurate
Load More Replies... What difference does it make if it's YOUNG people? Older people are dying too...by the droves!
And these same people screaming COMMUNISM when someone tries mentions universal healthcare or social security. You get what you vote for.
i am actually from a communist country and i agree with labeling people who support universal healthcare as communists. in the USSR we had universal healthcare too. have you ever tried getting surgery without anesthesia before? I have. but tell me again how much worse you have it here in the US
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Not just young people have this issue. And we old folk have more expensive problems
I have insurance and have a few mental health issues. I’m supposed to see a therapist 2-4 times a month and a psychiatrist every 3 months. It would cost me $200 a month with insurance and I can’t afford that so I don’t go.
living in south Africa seems great now at lest we have free hospitals and clinics
OP, you may be right. But I suspect that some are spending what little money they have on the latest phone, brand-named clothes, cigarettes, liquor, a car model and year they can't afford, eating out, they probably have a 55 inch flat screen TV... so priorities are relative.
So true and nobody wants to hire you full-time so you can get Healthinsurance
Wow... my country is just getting better and better with every post I see here... this is horrible. Sounds like a dystopian nightmare to me!
In Cuba, all heart care are free, and of the highest quality! In spite of all shameful actions by USA.
Blame Democrats and their ACH for this. It was a great idea, but they screwed the pooch. Everyone needed to have health care insurance to make it work. But they set the fine low enough that young healthy people decided it was more cost effective if they didn't, so prices skyrocketed.
I have health insurance and I haven't seen a doctor in years, because the deductible is too expensive.
The same is in Poland, theoretically for free but in real all costs heavy money... Also government is crazy and prefer to put all money to not employed voters, catholic church, fighting with LGBT (really) or some byzantic stupid projects, like giant airport in the middle of nowhere or totaly not necesary canal... not to hospitals, so ther is lack of doctors, medicine and it starts to look more like in some 3rd world countries no like in civilized country :(
That's really sad. The other day i read an article about young 20-somethings dieing because they couldn't afford their insulin. This should NEVER happen in a "first" world country!
It is mind-boggling to me that we (Americans) are so terrified of universal healthcare. It is the norm in most first-world countries. I can't tell you the number of times I've heard someone say something terrible about socialized medicine and then complain in the next sentence about how they are getting ripped off by their medical care. SMH.
Not just in America... I am in South Africa and can relate to each and every statement. I literally respond to a painful chest with "I cannot get sick, being sick is for the privileged"
The old guard that runs this country couldn't be happier that the younger generations are so mired in student debt and hopelessness. Little do they understand the simply will not live forever...despite what they believe.
Are we talking about the same 20 somethings that spend their days sitting in a Starbucks on their Apple laptops and texting on their IPhones? The same ones that go to Yale to get a 16th Century European Art History Degree then complain about their student debt and the fact that they can't find a job with said degree? Yeah, that's what I thought.
"Charity is no part of the legislative duty of the government." --James Madison
How did this get so messed up? Did Americans ever have an actual health care system that wasn't completely corrupt?
All nonProfit hospitals MUST give FREE care to the community they serve; this is called HCAP 9hospital care insurance program) !!! Large discounts are available and are based ofn on the number of people living in your household AND the total, gross income (before taxes) ) of your household! An example that I processed when I did financial aid for a living: Family of four , only Dad works making $60K per year = 75% OFF his ER bill, but there was a balance the patient must cover out of pocket. cALL YOUR HOSPITAL ( and try to go to the ER on a weekday ! )
I love how they always say young people or 20 somethings. I'm nowhere near a 20 something and I face this every day even when I had insurance. My premiums were so high I couldn't afford to use it. Everyone acted like Obama's healthcare was the great white hope, but my pay went up by $10,000 a year and on that site my insurance went from $75.00 a month to $1,500.00 a month. Read that again. By the time I paid insurance, I was right back where I was to begin with pay wise only with $50,000 in student debt. We are an embarrassment when it comes to insurance. People were fined for not having it, but couldn't afford to get it. Not too many years before I head into retirement and even then I have to pay for insurance. People I talk to think Medicare is free. Not even close. This government provided "benefit" costs a chunk of change for someone who will not be able to pay her utility bills once she retires.
Not one of those statements would have been said by a student in the UK.
Yet some people can take care of themselves and never need a doctor nor dentist. Weird.
If we can't afford healthcare the problem is that healthcare is too expensive. The problem is not that the government hasn't passed a law making you pay for it anyway.
It has been that way a lot longer. I said many of those things when I was 17. I am 61 now.
your government doesn't pay for it though, you do. its called taxes. your healthcare probably costs you more than what it costs for an american
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Because they are giving the least needed amount of money need to provide for certain things. So truly we just need to start saving at age 12 and try not to spend anything from there on. This will allow to have about 2 yearly check ups for 6 year and maybe work in a little more if you don't have 2 emergency office runs. This is saying that health care doesn't go up in cost any more than it already has.
I'm so happy I don't live in the US, sorry for saying so repeatedly, but this is so uppsetting.
What I did was get a job that has benefits so I can go to the doctor. It's not that difficult, I went to a 2 year college and then got a job that gave me benefits, there's a way to do it
Makes me feel better about the 6 months I lived on a £10 pw retainer fee because I was too unwell to work. My ex-boss kept me on that so I got free medical, because it would have been crazy expensive otherwise. I was meant to have been receiving benefits during this time, which take a maximum of 6 weeks to come through, but never did. I live in England
My employer drove me to quit when I finally qualified for health insurance (only managers were eligible because no one else was allowed to work the required hours). The issue is, I learned from another manager that you're supposed to opt out. If you don't take the hint, once you sign up, they start writing you up for every little thing they can so they have an excuse to fire you so that you can't collect unemployment.
Trouble is, government's job isn't to realize nor is it to care. Their job is to listen to the populace. The populace should DEMAND it. But we are too apathetic to do so.
Me. Every one of these I have said, thought and not done for these reasons.
I can't upvote this enough. I'm in my mid 30's and I have not been able to go to a dentist in years either
i am an immigrant, my family all immigrants who moved here with literally nothing but the clothes on our back. lived in section 8 public housing projects and received government assistance. even we were able to get dental care. you must just really be bad with money. get better with money and you wont have this problem. there are people who are literally way more poor than you who are able to take care of their basic needs better than you because they're better at managing their finances. take some budgeting courses or something
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People acting like this is so bad. We here in South Africa struggle with this daily and thats not even the worst.
WOW I can relate to this...had an accident and most of the teeth on the right side had to be removed. It's awful, I can't chew on the right side. Can't afford the $7k+ co-pay unless we luck out and win the Powerball. Sad but true!
Lol I've actually super glued my glasses back together a few times. I've also used tape.
Yes, the current healthcare system is broken. But can anyone honestly say they would be okay with 50% of their paycheck going to the government as taxes in order to pay for universal healthcare?
That was me in my 20s, too. I'm a Boomer. It pisses me off that people in their 20s are STILL so marginalized.
We're a family of 4 in southern California. We can barely afford our apartment with help from family, and my husband just epoxy'd his glasses for the third or fourth time because we can't afford to get him new ones, and I've been needing new ones for a few years now. It's difficult to be able to afford survival these days.
Last time i was sick : doctor charge me 2$, buy 0.8$ antibiotics and stay four days at home with salary pay. Thanks Belgium
Ok so let me get this straight. People complain that college students can't afford to pay their student loans off so as doctors and dentists etc, they charge you to see them. Now you are complaining that you are being forced to pay for their services. Without charging for services you are expecting the government to pay for everything, but that would cost tax dollars. But if they raise taxes the public will complain they can't afford them. I guess you all are going to have to come up with a barter system.
With single payer, the risk pool becomes every American. It costs less for everyone. In addition, the government can cap rates.
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The glasses thing really bothers me. Especially when wealthier people keep pointing to the "Two-Pairs for $59.99" television ads and complaining about how we can afford that. My vision simply doesn't allow for me to wear the cheap glasses. I need to wear glasses all the time to be able to do anything. I have astigmatism, which means I need AR coating if I plan on doing anything at night. I have relatively poor vision, which means I need high-index lenses if I want to have focused vision anywhere but the very center of my vision. That means that my glasses (no-matter where I get them) cost upwards of $500 completely out-of-pocket because my employer's insurance has no provision for vision coverage. That doesn't include the eye-exam or any of the other things the optometrist needs to do. For years I've waved the glaucoma test because that's an extra $75 on top of everything else.
I don't understand - what is the difference - I went through this when I was starting out - no insurance, etc. until I found a job that had insurance (had few in between where I didn't have insurance for years). Even then I had to save up for the things I needed. All of the above I dealt with - it's part of growing up and being responsible. Why does everything have to be given free - why can't you earn it??? It's life.
April Liberals like Dani can never understand the concept of personal responsibility, working to earn your keep etc. they are part of a generation that was raised to believe that they're entitled to everything, that everything should be free, that people who work 12 hour shifts at the hospital should have to serve them for free and get no pay for it, etc. that's just how their poor brainwashed little heads work
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I have a job, a really good paying job , and still cannot afford health insurance. So what is your next answer?
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Health Care
Don't have to wait for it. Come to Ukraine, we are constantly crowdfunding some sick child's care.
Watch This Advert Or Choke To Death
If you need to watch a video before trying to do something to help, it doesn't matter whether there are ads or not; the person will probably die anyway. That's the reason why everybody should learn some very basic first aid skills, like the Hemilich Maneuver, at school, instead of soooo much useless rubbish.
Only In America Would A Restaurant Display On The Wall That They Don’t Pay Their Staff Enough To Live On
Public Relations
And people working in the media industry earn way more than any manual laborer or most of the engineers, scientists, medical doctors...
"Today My Client Was Excited To Push The Elevator Buttons On The Way To Her First Deportation Hearing"
My niece is 5. I cannot imagine her having to represent herself in any legal matters. I'm 30, and I can't imagine representing myself in any legal matters.
Good Article. No Surprises. “It’s Not About Wanting A Pay Raise Or Extra Income, It’s Just About Wanting A Livable Wage”
And yet Trump has the audacity to say how amazing the country is doing and how everyone is wealthier than ever. Prick.
Both Are In The Wrong But Look At How The Pictures Are Depicted
The blindfold of Lady Justice is eaten by the moths and she turns out to be a racist, conservative b!tch.
Not A Bad Plan
I knew a girl who got Hep C from her ex-boyfriend. Her insurance would not pay to fix it unless she was very very ill. As far as I know she still has it. Had she gone to jail she would have been treated and it wouldn't be an issue anymore.
Teeth Are A Luxury Only Paying Customers Are Allowed
I still have all of my teeth- one of them just stays in my drawer now.
Ambulances For 3k? Lets Just Call An Uber
in the US, the cost for an ambulance to take you to the ER is as expensive as buying a new car.
This Is How Expensive It Is To Attempt Suicide In The US
Open Office
The 90s when people were angry about their well paid, stable jobs and about their peaceful life...
Note: this post originally had 62 images. It’s been shortened to the top 30 images based on user votes.
Lot of those is solved by not living in America.
It's still a threat, because the leaders of many countries look up to the USA and want to follow their political and economic example.