Poll: are we living in a dystopia?

[DrScoobs]

i was having a discussion with my friend about whether the world today is a dystopia.i am honestly not sure. i think that it has certain characteristics of a dystopia but isnt at the level of bleakness that i would call dystopian.

what do you think on this matter?

 

[NeutralDrow]

Depends on where you are.

Here in the U.S., no. Not in the least.

 

[Gooble]

Kind of...we live in a world where no one can actually bothered to make any changes despite their desire to do so.

 

[LordCraigus]

I think you're taking the pisstopia.

But seriously I'd generally agree with you, it's certainly not a utopia, but I don't think it's a dystopia either, we still have room to go much lower.

Then again if we were in a dystopia, would we really know?

 

[DrScoobs]

Then again if we were in a dystopia, would we really know?

which is why i have created a poll on it. it is a matter of personal opinion. i know some people who would say that we are living in a dystopia.

 

[Nargleblarg]

Not really we are at the peak of modern technology health care and law enforcement so no. (but it depends where you are though)

 

[DannyBoy451]

I'd call North Korea a dystopia...and Newcastle.

 

[Flupke]

Not here in Canada, but I'm sure many people in other parts of the world feel that they are.

"Dystopia is the vision of a society in which conditions of life are miserable and characterized by poverty, oppression, war, violence, disease, pollution, and/or the abridgment of human rights, resulting in widespread unhappiness, suffering, and other kinds of pain."

- Wikipedia

 

[Legion]

I've always been under the impression that for something to be a Dystopia it had to be built with the intention of it being a Utopia. Not sure why.

Either way I say no, because the world is ran the way it is on purpose.

A funny realisation came from watching the film "American Gangster" recently. If the police managed to stop/reduce drugs/vice being imported and sold illegally then thousands upon thousands of police would be out of jobs, therefore we need drugs/vice to keep the economy rolling.

 

[ThePoodonkis]

It depends on your location, I suppose. Places in the US, Canada, Britain, Australia, et cetra, not in the slightest.
But places like Somalia, Sudan, et cetra, yes. Very much.

 

[gmer412]

Not really we are at the peak of modern technology health care and law enforcement so no. (but it depends where you are though)

"In a dystopian world, in the early 21st century, millions starve and live in poverty under governments that are no help to them or are to corrupt to help, while, elsewhere, others sit and grow fat on the profits made from companies that trod on the poor (wow this is a long sentence). Those same poor grow poorer by the day, and few care enough to help." Nah, doesn't really work.

 

[Ignignoct]

i was having a discussion with my friend about whether the world today is a dystopia.i am honestly not sure. i think that it has certain characteristics of a dystopia but isnt at the level of bleakness that i would call dystopian.

what do you think on this matter?

If you could say that having a sore throat is like bubonic plague, then yes, we're sort of in a dystopia.

...

Which means no.

 

[AmrasCalmacil]

Since I haven't been beaten to death by Civil Protection or dragged off by the Thought Police, I'm going to have to assume that we're not living in a dystopia.

 

[Pyre00]

Dystopia is a relative term.

We will always just be in a midtopia, because we will always want more. If someone was taken from a midtopia and put into something they consider to be a dystopia, then they are in a dystopia. To the people who have always been there, they are in a midtopia.

 

[Lord George]

Do you have access to the internet? Then your not living in a dystopia.

 

[SirCannonFodder]

Depends on where you are. Certain parts of the world are definitely dystopian, but in western society we've got it pretty damn good.

 

[ElephantGuts]

Hell no. Unless your definition of a dystopian society is any society that isn't perfect.

A funny realisation came from watching the film "American Gangster" recently. If the police managed to stop/reduce drugs/vice being imported and sold illegally then thousands upon thousands of police would be out of jobs, therefore we need drugs/vice to keep the economy rolling.

This is true, and something I've also thought about. A lot of the things that we recognize as bad actually can play an important part in society. Another example I thought of was when I was thinking about times when a gang or Mafia group pr such really had control of a city, even more than the police or government. They could actually be more effective at establishing peace and order than a police force. So if a government decided to work with a Mafia group and control them for the city's benefit, instead of working to eradicate them, people would be a lot better off.

Sort of a "working for the greater good" thing.

 

[fulano]

Africa and latin America sure qualify, and maybe Russia or China. Sure, the world is messed up but few estates can actually meet the needed requirements of corporate oppression, rampant misuse of technology, thriving countercultures, etc.