Friday, March 4, 2016

Suspended Disbelief: Nightmarish Dytopian Future Closer to Reality Than I Thought

When I was a kid, I didn't really like science fiction much.  I couldn't successfully suspend my disbelief.  The scenarios presented seems too far fetched.  I didn't buy it.

That has all changed.  I now get Star Wars, Mad Max, The Hunger Games, Harry Potter, even.  All of them.  Why?  The 2016 presidential election campaign has made a believer out of me.

We've got it all here.  Coming soon to a neighborhood near you.

The misogynistic, evil demagogue who has and bullied his way into  power.  Got 'em.  More than one candidate, actually.


One legitimate religion.  Non-followers, non-believers are identified, vilified, beaten, imprisoned or exiled.  Got that.

Uneasy, polarized coalitions formed to combat common enemies.  Yes, sir.

Mistrust of media, news and communication.  Yup.    

The caste system in place. The haves and have nots.  The threatened upper class.  The easily identified, evil lower classes. We got them, too.

A proliferation of weapons and easy access.  Everyone has a gun.   Shot them before they shoot you.

Vigilantes.  "Good guys" shooting "bad guys."  Remember, if in doubt, the white ones with guns are OK.  

Desert wasteland.  Yup.  Did you see that, globally, last year and this year are the two warmest on record?

Dwindling resources.  Environmental disasters.  Uncontrollable diseases.  Flint, Michigan?  Brazil? Zika?   Check.

Humanoid Robots.  Well, we have the killer military drones and the toy commercial ones, too.

By the way, Samsung is coming out with a new smartphone with a virtual reality viewer attachment! Don't bother to pre-order.  You won't need it.   The show outside your doorstep will be entertaining enough.  Or, stay online.  The Apocalypse is streaming live.