Living in the 21st century has its perks, but there is no denying that, like every group of people living through their decade, we’ve got our own unique set of problems in front of us. Sometimes it can ultimately feel like some issues are way too much to handle.
We’ve gathered posts from this Facebook page dedicated to sharing people’s thoughts on modern society and why everything feels dystopian. So settle in as you scroll through, upvote the most poignant ones and be sure to add your own thoughts to the comments down below.
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Or creating products with built-in obsolescence that cannot be repaired so that people are forced to buy new every few years,
The term "dystopia" has become ubiquitous in contemporary discussions of literature, film, and political discourse, but its origins trace back to the mid-19th century. Understanding the etymology of this word and the common elements that define it provides insight into how societies conceptualize and critique their worst fears about the future.
It was first used publicly by British philosopher and economist John Stuart Mill in an 1868 speech before Parliament, where he employed it as an antonym for "utopia" by adding the Greek prefix "dys" (meaning "bad") to "topia" ("place").
Authoritarian dictatorships ALWAYS attack, discredit and if allowed, persecute (and even execute) intellectuals... they can't have people thinking for themselves and challenging their authority.
In this speech on Irish land policy, Mill stated: "It is, perhaps, too complimentary to call them Utopians, they ought rather to be called dys-topians, or cacotopians." However, recent scholarship has revealed earlier usage. The original spelling "dustopia" first appeared in Lewis Henry Younge's work "Utopia: or Apollo's Golden Days" in 1747. Jeremy Bentham proposed an alternative term in 1818, "cacotopia" (from the Greek "kako" meaning "bad"), though this never gained widespread acceptance.
yep. The people who gave us the I n q u i s i t i o n thought he went a little too far. That's something to think about.
They don't want to because then they would have to admit that they are wrong!
They don't want to because they want us to die. Their alternative is "no health care for people who can't afford it". This has not been a secret since the publication of Mandate for Leadership, but it does not get NEARLY the column inches it deserves.
Load More Replies...The "President" has been telling us he'll have a "much better plan" in "two weeks" for the last decade.
And don't forget he stopped the fighting in Ukraine within 48 hours of taking office.
Load More Replies...This is supposed to be the greatest country yadda yadda, and all these Republicans can see exactly what's wrong with other country's health care, but apparently we're not so great that we can figure out how to do it better, and the Republicans are the ones that would rather see people die instead of voting the citizens of the US receive viable health care. They're all in bed with the insurance companies.
But they do promote an alternative. It's "Death to the Poor!" Right now the government is at a standstill because they want to cut medical benefits for the poor to pay for tax cuts for the rich.
It did take them nearly 50yrs to overturn Roe v Wade, so be patient. They still have 35yrs to come up with an inefficient health care policy.
I wrote my (GOP) Rep and (DNC) Senator and copied and pasted both letters and alerted them they were getting the same message. I am on ACA, first year I paid $80/mo, this year after cashing in my meager 401k, I pay $370/mo. I should not get a 'break' over someone who pays $180/mo for Medicare 'Part B'. Make an ACA premium no LESS than what a Medicare eligible person pays.
Just think, this was back when it was covered by subsidies. Go ahead and take a look at it now that republicans are refusing to pass subsidies for it in our next budget. It will blow your mind. And your wallet.
Load More Replies...That doesn't mean we should dismantle it without a replacement. It's not perfect but it's better than nothing.
Load More Replies...The Affordable Care act (renamed from Obama Care ACt) is a failure because of him and still is. He lied about all of it. It's affordable-wrong. Everyone that was on it dumped it after 2 months when premiums kept going up. You can keep your own doctor-wrong. Another reason why people dropped it. Everything dems try fails and they continue to show it everyday.
The US spends more per capita on healthcare than any developed country, while millions aren't covered. Universal healthcare could be cheaper, and they wouldn't even have to touch the budget of the Department of War. (And it's still the Gulf of Mexico!)
Load More Replies...None of which have reduced premiums by any significant amount, nor have affected deductibles or pre-existing conditions.
Load More Replies...McCain - "While the amendment would have repealed some of Obamacare's most burdensome regulations, it offered no replacement to actually reform our health care system and deliver affordable, quality health care to our citizens."
Load More Replies...The one thing that's missing is prohibition/reduction of for-profit healthcare.
Load More Replies...The word "dystopia" stands in direct opposition to "utopia," a term coined by Sir Thomas More in his 1516 work of the same name. More's "utopia" derives from Greek words meaning "not" (ou) and "place" (topos), literally "no place," describing an imaginary island with ideal social, political, and legal systems.
As Donnie boy would say, "if not for profit, then what is the use of health coverage?"
While definitions of dystopia vary across disciplines and contexts, scholars and literary critics have identified several recurring elements that characterize dystopian societies. Dystopian societies typically feature oppressive societal control through propaganda, restricted information and independent thought, and the worship of a figurehead or concept by citizens. Citizens experience a sense of powerlessness in the face of oppressive governments run by totalitarian dictatorships or organized into massive bureaucratic institutions.
Exactly. And you don't have to agree with everything your chosen political party stands for.
A defining characteristic is that citizens are perceived to be under constant surveillance. This monitoring serves as a mechanism of control, limiting personal freedom and enforcing conformity. All dystopias feature strict division of citizens by intellect, ability, and class. Dystopian fiction frequently draws stark contrasts between the privileges of the ruling class and the dreary existence of the working class.
Most (if not all) jobs could be performed equally well by a male or female person... Gone are the days when brute strength was the only requirement for a job. Women can work, given the chance, in any field men have traditionally dominated...
Norway has a program that basically finances artists so that they can focus on creating. My buddy, a jazz keyboardist, told me he basically never needs to think about getting jobs as long as he keeps performing and doing music projects in general. I wish this were the norm everywhere.
Citizens live in a dehumanized state where they conform to uniform expectations, and individuality and dissent are considered negative. Some dystopian works depict societies that force individuals to conform to radical egalitarian norms that discourage or suppress accomplishment and competence. Common elements include environmental devastation, mass poverty, and the loss of connection to the natural world. The natural world is often banished and distrusted.
Dystopian fiction features technology more advanced than contemporary society, with the group in power controlling it. This advanced technology serves as a tool for oppression rather than liberation. Society presents an illusion of a perfect utopian world. What appears on the surface to be an ideal society reveals deep flaws and oppression beneath.
Yes. Read American history. The rich made socialism a dirty word so they would stay on top. They fought worker rights and unions and did everything they could to stratify society and make sure they were on top. They gave corporations the same rights as human beings, but gave them no responsibilities to society. Socialism was supposedly evil and society would collapse. Well, s**t's gonna hit the fan for the rest of us under the capitalism they created.
Dystopias, through exaggerated worst-case scenarios, present criticism of current trends, societal norms, or political systems, and typically reflect contemporary sociopolitical realities. Dystopian fictions invariably reflect the concerns and fears of their creators' contemporaneous culture.
I admit I laughed when someone who is bemoaning decreasing numbers of readers uses a word that essentially means the opposite of what they're trying to say. They mean "discord" rather than "discourse".
Everyone deserves a liveable wage... More money needs to be invested in mental health and support programs to help people get back to being able to cope in the (working) world and have a decent life.
The power of dystopian fiction lies in its ability to serve as cautionary tales, warning societies about potential futures if certain trajectories continue unchecked. By understanding both the origins of the term and its defining characteristics, we can better appreciate how dystopian narratives function as mirrors reflecting our deepest anxieties about power, technology, freedom, and human nature.
China is an authoritarian, state-capitalist hellhole that's ethnociding its non-Han minorities, executes almost as many people as the United States, practices forcible organ harvesting, and is rapidly developing income inequality as bad as anywhere else in the world. Plus, they're desperately in need of writing reform if they ever want to achieve universal literacy. That's not worth emulating any which way.
We have reverted to the Naz! era.......only this time it is spreading with little resistance!
As someone who lives in Chicago (actual city, just south of Pilsen), it's been fúcking terrifying and infuriating. I'm just waiting for them to come into Pilsen, Chinatown, and my neighborhood. Yeah, disappear that 80 year old Chinese grandmother who has lived here for 25 years. She certainly is the "worst of the worst". I bought a fúcking "respirator" mask because I'm just waiting for ICE to arrive and I will confront them. We're being invaded and it's not by "illegals".
Seriously. I used to live in that neck of the woods and it is whiter than white. As white, perhaps, as sheets.
I can see this starting to change with the younger generations (I'm in my mid 50s). People do want an actual work-private life balance, enjoying their lives as they go along rather than seeing enjoyment as reserved for their retirement years they may never get to experience.
Being apolitical is being right-winged. Look at this hill, and see me ready to d!e on it.
"It"s not that deep" well if someone is offended maybe it IS that deep !
I don't understand how anyone can possibly be threatened by a minority which makes up less than a percentage point of an entire population... Take a reality check folks. And stop falling for the propaganda of the fear and hate mongers who are trying to have people infighting to distract them from political matters that actually matter.
Not an actual in circulation coin, right? Because then I'll have to stop using cash.
At the rate America is going, there isn't going to be much time left.......................for anything!
That guy is a joke! Just like most of President Cheetos' handpicked psychotic and completely unqualified sycophants...
The day white people will be able to admit that they have a privilege is the day I can rest in peace. And yes, life is hard no matter your skin colour but at least when you're white it's not an everyday concern.
Most people love the constitution as long as they can use it for their own nefarious purposes.
We’re where I feared we’d end up when Reagan was elected.
I don't understand how anyone supported Charlie Kirk, or even took him seriously. He was such a terrible debater.
I said it yesterday under another post, but I saw someone say that men want kids the same way a child wants a puppy. They want the concept of fatherhood without the responsibilities. My own @sshole of a sp3rm sh0oter is a great example of that, and he even managed to do it twice in 2 different continents ! (that I know of !)
They pool money from many and give to those whalo need claims the sum insured is always higher then premium you pay
I tried dialectical materialism. It was too difficult for me to understand.
There are some really good ones here, good enough to trigger a few people I can already predict in advance. 🤣
This isn't society. This is America. You need to understand the difference.
What happens in America... spills over like p*ss in a bed. Is there any country that hasn't been affected by random tariffs for bull-manure reasons? Or the EU pussyfooting around because they don't want to offend the Tangerine T*rd in case he says "sc*ew Ukraine" out of spite? After all, look at his reaction to Canada over a satirical advert. Or Elon Musk proudly supporting Germany's AfD, and stringing along that moron Farage... So, what happens there affects *everywhere*.
Load More Replies...What happens in the U.S. affects other places sooner or later.
Load More Replies...You ever wonder if other people get sick of americans whining about every f*****g thing about themselves all the f*****g time?
It’s an interconnected world. Like it or not, what happens in the U.S. does affect other places.
Load More Replies...Still too many of y'all think there is hope in your team. They are in on it together
History will record, later down the line, that America as a nation died in 2001 with the passing of the PATRIOT ACT. That was the fatal wound. Everything since has been the corpse rotting.
Every country passes dumb laws from time to time (Britain's OSA, anyone?). No, the death of the United States will be recorded as when the populace voted in Trump for a second term. The damage he has done - not only to foreign relations but also to his own citizens... it's rather mind-numbing, really.
Load More Replies...again americans, who think that the world moves around them. Europe were before america, and will probably still stand, when people in usa find a stone to k**l eachother with
The headline reads "50 pics". At 32 I had seen one picture and the rest were cartoons or printscreens of social media posts with individuals' opinions. But it seemed to work well as documentation for most here, so....
Isn't there a lot of other countries you could go to if you hate it in America so much?... the crying here, omg. :))
In case you didn’t notice, it costs a lot of money and you have to jump through a lot of hoops to move from one country to another. Personally, I wish everybody could just live wherever they want to live, without all the hassles. If you don’t want to hear me pointing out the things I don’t like about the U.S., then make it easier for me to leave!
Load More Replies...The ideology being everyone deserves the resources to start their pursuit of happiness.
Load More Replies...That’s not how Prozac works. I’ve been on it. No anti-depressant suddenly is super anti depressing because youve doubled your dose.
Load More Replies...There are some really good ones here, good enough to trigger a few people I can already predict in advance. 🤣
This isn't society. This is America. You need to understand the difference.
What happens in America... spills over like p*ss in a bed. Is there any country that hasn't been affected by random tariffs for bull-manure reasons? Or the EU pussyfooting around because they don't want to offend the Tangerine T*rd in case he says "sc*ew Ukraine" out of spite? After all, look at his reaction to Canada over a satirical advert. Or Elon Musk proudly supporting Germany's AfD, and stringing along that moron Farage... So, what happens there affects *everywhere*.
Load More Replies...What happens in the U.S. affects other places sooner or later.
Load More Replies...You ever wonder if other people get sick of americans whining about every f*****g thing about themselves all the f*****g time?
It’s an interconnected world. Like it or not, what happens in the U.S. does affect other places.
Load More Replies...Still too many of y'all think there is hope in your team. They are in on it together
History will record, later down the line, that America as a nation died in 2001 with the passing of the PATRIOT ACT. That was the fatal wound. Everything since has been the corpse rotting.
Every country passes dumb laws from time to time (Britain's OSA, anyone?). No, the death of the United States will be recorded as when the populace voted in Trump for a second term. The damage he has done - not only to foreign relations but also to his own citizens... it's rather mind-numbing, really.
Load More Replies...again americans, who think that the world moves around them. Europe were before america, and will probably still stand, when people in usa find a stone to k**l eachother with
The headline reads "50 pics". At 32 I had seen one picture and the rest were cartoons or printscreens of social media posts with individuals' opinions. But it seemed to work well as documentation for most here, so....
Isn't there a lot of other countries you could go to if you hate it in America so much?... the crying here, omg. :))
In case you didn’t notice, it costs a lot of money and you have to jump through a lot of hoops to move from one country to another. Personally, I wish everybody could just live wherever they want to live, without all the hassles. If you don’t want to hear me pointing out the things I don’t like about the U.S., then make it easier for me to leave!
Load More Replies...The ideology being everyone deserves the resources to start their pursuit of happiness.
Load More Replies...That’s not how Prozac works. I’ve been on it. No anti-depressant suddenly is super anti depressing because youve doubled your dose.
Load More Replies...
